Hello! I'm planning a trip for my family (we have two kids 8 & 10), and since we never get a chance to go abroad, I could really use the expertise of this forum! Basically all we know is we want to go to Italy for two weeks in early July. We live in NYC so the idea of a big crowded city does not really appeal- we want to be immersed in a different culture, eat incredible food and see beautiful sites (that's what one goes to Italy for, right?). We can fly into wherever is convenient, and can go by train or bus - I just need some help being pointed in the right direction! Where would be a fun area to try to explore? Of all the cities, I would love to take my kids to Venice, and I understand there's no getting around the crowds that will certainly be there. But perhaps there are lovely quieter but also very special areas near there we should explore? Any and all advice and tips are welcome!

Welcome to Fodors. OK -- does it have to be Italy and specifically Venice and/or southern Italy? At that time of year southern Italy will be extremely HOT, and Venice extremely busy. Have you considered the Italian mountains or any other countries?

To echo janis a bit, the entire country will be hot in general, less so in some mountains. You do realize that Venice is in the northern part of the county? The further south you go, the more hot and humid it gets. I think folks were reporting equivalent of 110°F in Rome and further south in June through August last year. Something to think about, especially if you are planning on going to places with less than optimal air conditioning and/or do not have a lot of ways to escape the heat. I can handle 110 in NorCal, but I am not out and IN it like I would be as a tourist.

Venice Is my favorite city. But it gets extremely crowded. It's not a very big town in reality but with crowds, heat and humidity - it can be a nightmare. That is not to say you cannot enjoy it with some advanced planning.

I'd avoid the Campania region and Amalfi Coast. Crowds with gusto. You may do better in Puglia and Calabria - but again, very hot.

EDIT: perhaps you can give us a better idea over your and your family's interests? Good food and beautiful sites can be just about anywhere. Maybe peruse a guidebook from your local library that gives an overview of the entire country?

The south gates so hot the have le pausa, a great big 3 hour rest in the middle of the day to sleep.

You might like a farm/fortress stay in Puglia with a pool or a find a town/ city like Martina Franca or Lecce which can train or fly/bus into from Rome.

If the heat it too much then the Dolomite mountains might be the thing or say Brescia.

Italy has fantastic train system cheap.

When you say you want to see great sites, do you have some specific ones in mind? If you're interested in the most famous ones, they are generally in the cities (Venice, Florence, Rome). I don't mean that there isn't much in other areas, but that's where the main familiar ones are. If you aren't interested in those, there is plenty to do, but tell us more about your interests.

Do you want to drive at all, or stick to trains? If you want mostly smaller towns, you might need to drive, depending on where you stay (more likely if it's an out-of-the-way place with a pool).

As pointed out, it will be very hot. I was in Puglia (pretty far south) for the first 2-1/2 weeks in June this year, and temperatures ranged from 85-109. Then 5 days in Rome, where temperatures ranged from the high 80's to 98. July will be even hotter. Pretty hot, especially for young kids. Don't leave your hotel without plenty of water!

When I go to Venice I stay for at least a week, and I have visited in the summer months. I find a longer stay more rewarding because it's much easier to get off the beaten track. But that might not work for your group.

In any case, you might want to consider Le Marche and/or Abruzzo, which aren't so difficult to reach from Venice if you're willing to rent a car and they're not as far as trekking all the way down to southern Italy if Venice is indeed a must for you. Those regions aren't as touristed as some other areas. You could rent a car after Venice and do some exploring. One year I took the train to Pesaro after a week in Venice. Picked up a rental car there then tooled around northern Le Marche. Another visit, we toured southern Le Marche (after time in Umbria), then road tripped down through Abruzzo--including time in Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso--arriving in Naples, where we returned the car and continued the holiday in Campania.

But I agree with SusanP--you need to decide what the "great sites" are that you want to see.

I'm wondering if you might like Slovenia. It has beautiful scenery and I think would be less crowded than Italy. Venice is quite close by, you could go there first, then fly home out of a different airport, to save backtracking. If that might be appealing, also look at Rovinj in Croatia. We loved Rovinj, there was a ferry from Venice in the port when we were there. All these places are reasonably close to each other.

You could fly into venice, spend some time there and then make your way to the south.
the south of Italy will be very hot. With children I would base myself in Sorrento perhaps or anywhere along the Amalfi coast (except Positano which will be heaving with people) that has a decent pool and great shuttle transfer services.
Or as others have suggested you could always do Tuscany - rent a house with a pool, have a car and visit some of the lovely towns in the area.

I wouldn't go south in Italy in the summer and can't imagine your kids really enjoying the Amalfi coast. It sounds like Venice is a priority despite the fact it will be crowded and is not in southern Italy. You may wish to think about heading to the Dolomites, although a car there would be helpful, or to Croatia.

If you want to go much further, northern Europe is usually cooler than Italy in the summer.

I think KTravel has identified an interesting option -- Croatia's Istrian peninsula was Italian until after WWII, and still has a more Italian feel then anywhere else in that country. With two weeks, you could spend some time in Venice (with all the above warnings taken on board) and then travel into Istria. From there, you could go further into Croatia or visit Slovenia or....

As Travel_Nerd suggested, a good guidebook or two could prove invaluable at this point in your planning.

As a European I tend to not go further south than Alsace in July or August due to Climate Change. But if I do (Slovakia last year) at a mere 35C I was cycling and all I can advise is avoid AC as much as possible and get your body to acclimatise to the heat as much as possible, that will mean two or three days of "gosh" and then you will be fine as long as your clothes are sensible and you keep drinking. With children that means a bit of extra responsability. I'd also avoid cars as they can be roasting.

Factor in access to a pool or at least a shady garden (trees and patches of water really help), you will also see more fine water sprays in public spaces in southern Europe being used to help people around towns. When looking for accom, try and stay in traditional buildings as you will find local regulations will limit AC and some modern buildings are only useable with AC cranked up. Do the obvious like choose the north side of the building to stay in, openable windows and make sure you close shutters on buildings on the south side if you go out in the day. If staying in the country finding accom on a hill also increases the chance of air movements and plan your day around early starts, a break in the middle of the day and long evenings. You will find kids out late (11pm) in Italy is very normal because they are rested during the day.

Thank you all for this - I knew that asking such a broad and open-ended question would be difficult to answer but this is already very helpful! I hadn't thought of Croatia, but am intrigued, especially about Istria. Basically the reasons I am thinking of Italy are this: my own love of antiquity and art history, a national cuisine that my children already love and know (they can be persnickety eaters but live for pasta), and just the stark contrast in culture that italy would provide from our american lives. I guess the reason I had assumed southern Italy was I had heard that it would be less crowded, but presumably that is because it is uncomfortably hot?

The south has moved from being just an Italian destination to a more global one, that is all.
Each European country has a different culture.
Italy doesn't really have a national cuisine, but it has regional cuisines. Some parts eat more rice than pasta.

July temperatures in Italy are usually around 95 degrees Fahrenheit. It can get warmer, of course. But it may also get cooler.
The first half of July is not high season in Southern Italy. Places popular with people from Northern Europe, Asia or America,
like Amalfi Coast, Naples and surroundings, Marina di Camerota, Tropea, Ostuni, Taormina, Sciacca....... will be crowded nevertheless. Others may be half empty.

"my own love of antiquity and art history"
Here you must make a choice:
antique Roman sites, antique Greek sites, antique Punian sites, antique Estruscan sites, pre historic sites, Celtic sites,
medieval Byzantine buildings, medieval Arab buildings, medieval German buildings......
You can find all that in Italy, but you cannot visit more than 1 per cent of it in 2 weeks only.

Indeed--lots of seafood (and rice too) in Venice and environs. Was there in November with my mother, a decidedly unadventurous eater, and she struggled a bit. But there will usually be something on menus to appeal to kids.

There are Roman ruins in Instria, including an amphitheater in Pula. Again, a good guidebook should prove valuable.

honestly, if that is the reason and your kids love pasta I would stick to Italy.
I was in Sorrento in August one year, and while really very hot I didn't hate it. We visited Pompeii and went on day cruises around the grotto's. Saw dolphins in the water. It was really lovely. Our hotel had a roof top pool which we used every day.

Read what Leely2 wrote. I agree. The Adriatic Coast of Italy. Anywhere from Senigallia south to the Gargano promontory. Pick two bases and take day trips from there.
You really need to offer a lot more information before getting targeted responses.
Do you have a budget in mind?
Rental car an option?

I live in Le Marche, near Senigallia, and agree that this would be a reasonable destination in July. Last year it was quite hot, but it was nowhere near as hot as Rome or Florence. Before this year, we had air conditioning only in our bedroom, and used it only a few nights each summer. After a very hot June 2024, we had air-conditioning installed in several other rooms, but neither July nor August was as hot as June, so once again we didn't use it often. We were amused at times to see that it was hotter in London than at home.

Senigallia is a very attractive seaside town, with an interesting historic center, and a reputation for top-notch dining. There are several Michelin-starred restaurants, and many other excellent restaurants just below the Michelin-star level. Le Marche in general Is known among Italians for its excellent cuisine.

In the interior of Le Marche, there are castles, hill towns, museums, and ancient Roman archaeological sites. In fact, it's said that Le Marche is "all of Italy in a single region".

In Le Marche, the mountains are very near the sea in most places. If you stay halfway, you can easily visit both in a day (if you have a car). There are numerous long, sandy beaches, and some mostly unvisited small beaches reachable only by boat. In the mountains, there are hiking trails, medieval monasteries and little fortresses

Venice is not really a good day-trip destination from Le Marche, although I have done day trips to Venice several times, usually to see an art exhibition, but also to give a whirlwind look to visiting relatives.

If you decide to visit Le Marche, let me know, and I can suggest activities for your family.

BVlenci, thank you for your post. As I've written before, we spent about 4 nights in Senigallia a few years ago and it was among our favorite Italian destinations. We were there in the fall, after beach season but warm enough to walk on that long, wide beach. It's one of those rare towns that seem to have everything for a vacationer....historic sights, walkability, great food (Uliassi!!), easy day trips.....and almost no foreign tourists that we spotted.

Why do people shun the summer months in a beach resort town? As long as you have a chair and umbrella, who cares if the beach is packed--great people watching. I get it that hotels might be at their peak rates and maybe restaurants are difficult to book, but ii would think in July the entire coast might be lovely.... I don't think I have been in Europe in July or August since I was in. my 20s--the days of hitchhiking across the continent!
Maybe I ought to rethink! I'd love comments on that..maybe late June through mid July (??)

I'd love to return and see more of Le Marche and Abruzzo so your posts are so very welcome. I wonder about a drive along the Adriatic, beginning from Venice (direct flights from NYC) all the way to the Gargano, in about 3 weeks or so....not including time spent in Venice. I will think about this idea and begin my own thread in not too long. Anyway, thanks again for all of your help here with your home region and the rest of Italy. I'm so sorry we did not get to meet when I was nearby!