Judy

I am not sure you owe the travel agent anything.

THR

^ Agreed. The travel agent should really have pointed out these issues in the itinerary; seeing a travel agent isn't an obligation.

StCirq

<<Your travel agent has already done a bunch of work for you,>>

Yes, but the work was totally inappropriate for this client. And we don't even know whether the TA chose decent hotels. I'm guessing not, as factors like young children didn't keep the TA from making really bad choices about activities and touring.

brookjen

What everybody else said. We took a few trips with our kids when they were little, in Rome, Tuscany, London etc - and our kids were new yorkers and experienced walkers/urban excursion takers but it was tough. The best parts of these trips were the parks and country areas where they could safely run around. And the different and exciting modes of public transportation - trams, boats, subways etc. what was tough was the narrow little streets and cobblestones and whizzing cars which meant that stroller pushing and attending to kids was a pain. The sordid conditions of staying in a hotel with no in-room eating facilities, crowded conditions in one room (or two rooms with no supervision in the second...) An apartment or a place in the country from which you can tour by care are both infinitely better. Restaurants are also difficult and the hours (late in evening) are not realistic for a family with small children who will fall apart and want to be at home after a day of touring.

Frankly, our best trips all involved staying in places where we could have a babysitter so all of our touring did not involve the kids - when we did take them out it was to hill towns, the forum, ostia antica etc - places where they could run- and not to museums, churches, and long walks around town.

Kids do like train trips but I would limit the number of moves for the reasons already stated by others.

Milan does not have much to recommend it for a visit with kids - very trafficy.

In the end, my best advice is to wait and have this trip when your kids are older and will enjoy and remember it - or find a way to leave them at home. Even if its just the two of you, I would slow it down and drop some of the package elements. Give yourself some more time to see and enjoy a smaller number of destinations.

lorettajung

I am sure the OP owes the travel agent nothing.

The OP asked for a "quote". Any business person who agrees to give a "quote" is also agreeing to do the work it takes to produce a quote on spec.

There are some businesses that will not give you a quote without you putting down money that will be deducted from the final price should you purchase their complete services. That was not the case here.

nytraveler

The OP doesn't owe the TA anything since the trip recommended was obviously inappropriate for a family with 3 small kids.

and no, frequently the travel agent can;t give the same prices on more modest hotels - since the hotels don;t pay commissions - so the TA has to either charge the customer for for his/her time - or jack up the rates the usual 15% or so.

mhazli

Thanks guys for the very useful info. Will defnitely have to leave out Florence from my itinerary then. My daughters will be too small to appreciate David anyway.

Any advice on making online booking for the trains. How do i book so that we all can seat together? From the treintalia website, I was under the impression that i can only book one ticket at a time, consequently.

mhazli

Also will appreciate recommendation for hotels suitable for family in Rome, Venice and Milan?

Any advice on places where baby stroller is not accessible?

Thanks in advance

lorettajung

Venice is full of small bridges over its canals -- hundreds and hundreds -- so if you have a stroller, you have to carry it over the bridges.

You will find much of antique Rome is not stroller friendly, and you may also find not every place in Rome is fun to walk with kids since there are no sidewalks and you must share the narrow streets with cars and motorcycles.

Your best bet looking for hotels is to use booking.com. For Rome, this hotel might work very well for you (I've never personally stayed there, so read the reviews):

http://www.booking.com/hotel/it/resi...FYZV3gody1sAdw

If you don't like that hotel, you might look for one you do like in the same neighborhood, because it is a more stroller-friendly part of Rome.

Others can advise you on booking trains, but I also will say that Italians will be very accommodating about helping you all to sit together even if your tickets get mixed up. They are very family-oriented and will change seats with you if need be.

lorettajung

You might pick up a few tips about Rome from this:

http://www.fodors.com/news/story_1919.html

If you don't get an answer here about your tickets, you should start another thread. You can buy family tickets with reduced rates for your children, but I'm not an expert in how to use the online system to do that.

Lexma90

I'm not expert at trains, but in going to the trenitalia website, I was able to enter information for 5 people (2 adults, 3 kids under 12) going Florence to Rome on a random day next week. Looked like family pricing. It gave me the option of automatic seat assignment or you could select all five seats yourself.

There are so many trains between your destinations that you could always wait until your day of travel to buy the tickets. I assume you may pay higher prices, but it would give you more flexibility in your schedule.

On getting your kids around, unless you need a double stroller or two strollers for the youngest, you may find that a back carrier is easiest for getting around the cities, due to issues already explained. Or a light umbrella stroller, so you can easily pick it up and carry the stroller (with kid) over bridges, up curbs, around cars, etc.

Booking.com, I used once, and I did not reconfirm. I prefer to book with hotels directly. Sorry, I don't have advice on hotels with 5-person family rooms.

nytraveler

For hotel you will need to search for those that have family rooms - and specify number of people and types of beds. Four is the usual number of guests - but with 3 tiny kids they can probably squeeze you in - but you must ask for a crib in advance if you want one.

aguamineral

You must be certain when booking hotels that you notify in advance that you are 5 people. Some hotels do not have any rooms for more than 4 people, and by law they are not allowed to let 5 people stay in the room, even if one is sleeping the same bed with others. If you show up with 5 people and didn't tell them in advance, they will not let you stay. So be sure you let them know you are 5 people and have them confirm that reservation. If they have confirmed it, then it isn't a problem.