sara

I am trying to plan a trip to Italy which will include our 3 1/2 year old daughter. I need some suggestions on good cities to visit with a small child as well as kid friendly hotels. We are mostly interested in upscale hotels which will have lots of modern amenities. Help!

dimitra

Hi Sarah - my hat is off to you for traveling that far with a toddler. I have seen many people do it in my day, and know I could never. <BR> <BR>My advice would be to stay in the port towns along the coast. Here you will find many families with children the same age for her to play with. <BR> <BR>As far as hotels go, stick to the typical Hilton and Sheraton chains for modern amenities. I don't know what cities you're planning to visit, but if you give me more details I can help further.

shelly

Hi. When are you planning your visit? We are planning a visit to Venice, Rome, and Florence at the end of July with our 5 year old. We will post some helpful tips on this site when we return - if you haven't gone by then. Wish us luck!

sara

Hi! We are planning our visit for next Spring, perhaps in April - less tourists, less hot weather. Please let me know how your trip goes with your five year old; I need all the help I can get planning. As far as cities we are planning to visit, right now I am wide open as to any suggestions out there. Maybe two major destinations where we could stay and then make a lot of sidetrips from to interesting sites would be good. What's the general attitude towards kids in Italy as opposed to other European destinations (I'm an American but I grew up in France and Belgium - was treated not so great by the French as a kid, but really great by the Belgians).

dimi

Sara - Italians are by far, the kindest to Americans - especially the kids. May I suggest visting Vencie, Rome (with a stop off in Florence), and then south to Sorrento where you can take ferry day trips to Capri and Positano. If you need more info - email me directly.

kam

Italians love children and they are welcome almost anywhere. I would stick to the north of Italy and stay in smaller towns. Take a look at Tuscany and Umbria--Capri is wonderful, but there's a lot of walking (and lugging a 3 1/2 year old???) Verona is a great medium sized city. It's been so long since I've had a 3 1/2 year old, but we did a bit of travellilng with our cousins and their 5 year old (they live in Italy). Everyone was very kind to her and actually spoiled her in restaurants etc by giving her special things. Don't worry--good luck. <BR>

Molly

We may be going to Italy in October with our 5 & 7 yr old boys. Keep my edress & get back to me then. I'll let you know where we went and what we did, what was good and what didn't work. Our kids are used to us dragging them around, we just lug around coloring books and things to read. If they get bored they can do things while we enjoy ourselves!

fred copeman

hi imfred copeman age 9 im going to italy this august i thinkyou should visit rome and tuscany <BR>have fun!