Italy - Rome, Venice, and Florence
 

Hello, we will be going to Italy next summer (July 2016). We will be staying a few days each in Rome, Venice, and Florence. Can anyone recommend the best places/location/area to stay in these three place? We are first time visitors coming with 4 adults and 3 kids aged 6, 10, 13. Would you recommend traveling by train through italy to these places ? Many thanks for any input!!

Hi Kamara!

This is a lovely itinerary!

My suggestions, highly personal, of course, are:

Fly open jaws, that is arrive to one city, leave from other.

We like trains very much, and they are very reliable, plus your trips are relatively short.

In Rome, we like being near Piazza Navona or Trevi Fountain, but you will receive as many opinions as posters.

In Firenze, we prefer near the train station, but of course, the city is small, and you will be fine in many other zones.

The same is valid for Venezia, we were perfectly happy near the train station, walking to everywhere.

Enjoy your planning and your trip.

thank you very much for your insight! Very helpful.

Do you recommend staying near the colloseum in Rome?

The colloseum is a little farther from most of the other sites so I wouldn't stay in that area.

It seems everyone has a favorite area in Rome, so I won't tackle that one other than to say a lot of people think the area near the train station may not be the best.

For Venice, the train station area isn't my favorite. There's nothing wrong with it, but it is a bit removed from most of the interesting sites and areas, and that area tends to get overrun with day trippers and tourists in general who are coming from or going to the station. Other than that, most areas you choose in Venice will be OK, as long as it's in the city proper and not in the suburbs like Mestre or on the remote Lido.. The city itself is compact and walkable. Personally, I like the Santo Stefano area the Dorsoduro, but that's just me.

Similarly, Florence is small and compact, meaning most areas are OK. Some people like the Oltrano district, across the bridge, but it isn't centrally located. The last time we stayed there, we were near the Santa Maria Nuova hospital. We liked the neighborhood, and it was walkable to most of the sites, but you would probably need a cab to/from the train station.

Thank you very much.

What people are calling "central" to Rome or Florence is really totally subjective. To me, the Vatican is not "central" to the major sights of Rome but the Colosseum is -- and maybe yor kids will be more interested in the Colosseum and the other sights near there than they will be in touring the Vatican. You will probably only spend 1 day there at most.

Likewise, the heart of the Oltrarno area -- which people enjoy because it is less mobbed with tourists -- is less than a 15 minute walk to the Duomo, which is as central as central can be to Florence.

There is so much to see every step of the way, no matter which direction you are coming from, that it often takes people forever to get to where they intend to go -- and so they imagine the distances must be greater. But the historic centers are really very small, so if you find nice lodgings near the Colosseo or in the Oltrarno, don't think you won't "central."

All that said, I would give the edge to staying in pedestrianized areas with young kids. Around the piazza Navona, the piazza della Rotunda, the Campo de'Fiori, or on the via del Corso, the via Margutta or near the Trevi fountain. For Florence, almost all of the core is pedestrianized between the Duomo and the river. The area around the piazza della Republicca might be nice. Of course, all of Venice is pedestrianized! But you might want to resist the temptation to stay right on the Grand Canal because it can be noisy.

For Rome in particular, in July, it would really repay the effort to get a basic understanding of the bus system and metro system. Not only is it fun and interesting to ride the bus in Rome, it can really keep spiritis up on a hot day.

Arriving with your luggage in July, not knowing where you are going, of course you will want a taxi (even though the place where vicenzo stayed is less than a 15 minute walk from the Florence train station). But after that, don't be afraid to hop on some wheels when you need to. On or off the bus, all 4 adults should be using money belts, since it is easy to get distracted shepherding kids, looking at maps, and Rome and Florence and Venice have plenty of eagle-eyed pickpockets.

With so many people, 3 small kids, trekking from place to place can be a real project - versus just a couple moving around.

So in all 3 cities I would stay as close to the center as you can - but part of that may be controlled by your hotel budget and how many rooms you are looking for. In europe the basic room is one double bed for 2 people - so it might be 3 rooms - one each for the two couples and put all 3 kids on one room. But the configuration will depend on which kid(s) go with which adults. But be aware that a family room is usually only for 4 people - and finding one for 5 people can be tricky. And most hotels have only a couple of family rooms.

With more info - including a nightly hotel budget in euros - and for how many rooms - people can provide more specifics.

sandra: You're right about the distance to the train station in Florence, but I hesitated recommending walking when considering the OP's family circumstances.

We spent three nights in an Airbnb apartment near the Colosseum, which worked well for my husband and me. We were close to Metro lines and bus stops, so it was pretty easy to get where we wanted to go.

Lee Ann

We are looking for 3 to 4 bedrooms and Airbnb is our best option i Think,we already booked all our rooms for Ponta Delgada,Lisbon. Lagos and Barcelona.we are still thinking were to book in Rome close to the colosseum or Trevi Fountain?

Thank you all for your help. I will post soon went i make my booking in Airbnb for rome florence and Venice.

Thanks

Look at the map and think about where you will be spending time. Colosseum for most people is a half day event for which optimizing your stay based on a one time event might not make sense. Also why Trevi Fountain? If that optimizes what you want to do over your stay in Rome, ok. If you want to see the Trevi Fountain itself, you might not want to visit the place more than once if you don't like a zoo like environment. There are hardly anyone at the fountain before 9am, however. They are "supposed" to be done with the maintenance by this time. https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/we...-di-trevi.html. Perhaps by the time of your visit, they are done.

Somewhere near the Trevi fountain is a great location for seeing a lot of Rome, but you don't want to be right at the fountain due to noise at night. It is possible your kid will want to visit the fountain more than once.

If you stay on the side of the Colosseum that is in the direction of the Trevi fountain, you can also walk to most everything you will want to see and do in Rome, with the exception of visiting the Vatican. But taking the metro for your "Vatican day" will be easy. If you stay in that area, Hostaria Nerone is a great option for dinner with your group.

If you have any doubts about the convenience of a location, take a tourist map of Rome (you can find them online to print out), and put an X on all the sights you know your group will want to see. Look for a rental at the center to your personal X marks. That should be the meaning of "central."

Sorry -- I meant to write "kids" and not "kid"

Venice near the station is not my idea of fun, it depends on the age size of the kids but I'd stay near a vap stop, cause struggling through the alleys may be a bit tiring.

Rome, not near the station, unless driven to by finances. But as Sandra says, stay in a ped. area as you can visit a lot on foot.

We tend to stay near the Vatican, just because it is more family type area but we don't mind the odd commute to a site, while with this size of flock (or is there a term for a "herd of cats") getting to and from a site might be a bit stressful.

The buses in Rome in July are overheated sardine cans and miserable. The #8 tram is a good option if you choose to stay in a place like Trastevere - as long as you're in close proximity to the tram stop and the Ponte Sisto pedestrian bridge. Trastevere's side streets are quiet, the area is charming and you can easily walk to Rome's historic centre over the aforementioned bridge. Cross over it, walk down the street opposite and you are seconds from Campo di Fiori.
The #8 tram takes you to Piazza Venezia which is a 'bullseye' kind of place - the Pantheon/Piazza Navona in one direction and the Colosseum/Forum in another - and it is air conditioned - and it runs on time and doesn't get stuck in traffic like buses can.
Rome's historic centre is certainly walkable but in July it can be insufferably hot so having access to quick and air-conditioned transport is a good idea - especially with kids who can become fed up and overwhelmed with sightseeing sometimes.

Some information on Trastevere is here

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/tr...articles/77701

Thank you all for your help.

very good points about the advantages of staying in Trastevere and being able to use the #8 tram Blueeyedcod. That sort of tip can make all the difference to a trip especially with fractious children, plus as you say Trastevere is a lovely area to wander around in the evening and is very close to the Campo dei Fiori if that's where you want to be.

I've recommended the Trastevere before and had some people protest that it's not central enough. I think a look at a map will settle that question for the OP.