I will be travelling with family (4 kids) to Italy in July 2012. We arrive in Milan and we were planning on going to Lake Cuomo for 3 days, Venice for 2 days, Florence and Pisa for 2 days and Rome for 3 days. What is the best way to move between these cities? I would love suggestions for Lake Cuomo especially. We are flying from Rome to ireland and will spend a week in Ireland also

It is Lake COMO.
You might consider a car at first, and then drop it at Venice. A car sure is more convenient with 4 people. But, after Venice the trains will be your only feasible option.

Just so you know, it's Lake Como.

"Best way to move between these cities"? Since a car isn't necessary for any part of your itinerary, I'd be tempted to say go everywhere by train. But how old are the kids? How much kid stuff (strollers, car seats if driving, etc.) will you be bringing? Will there be only two adults supervising the luggage and getting everyone on/off trains?

You might want to price out the train costs v. large car rental (plus parking everywhere). I think a rented car in this situation could be very expensive but perhaps easier overall. If you could re-order the trip and fly into Venice and out of Rome, you'd only have a car from the departure from Venice to the arrival at Rome.

If you do decide to rent a car, you need to carefully consider the luggage space in the car/s offered and pack light.

If you are flying transatlantic, overnight to Italy, have a driver take your family to Lago di Como. (That is its name.) If you are unused to driving in Italy, you don't want to make your first experience of it jet-lagged out of Milan.

The most scenic towns on the lake are Bellagio, Menaggio and Varenna -- but if you get a great deal for your family in other towns nearby consider it, so long as the town has a boat dock. (George Clooney doesn't live in the 3 towns I mentioned, and he has a pretty amazing view.)

There is frequent boat service circling the towns of the lake, so you would probably get very little use of a car if you picked one up at the airport. You'd probably also need to pay a lot just to park it.

My impression of kids is that they love train or boat travel. When you are ready to move on to Venice, you can either take a long boat down the lake to the town of Como, where you will also find a train station. Or you can take a short boat ride to the town of Varenna and walk a bit uphill to the train station there, and use trains to get to Venice.

I've seen travelng families do very well in Italy's train stations. (I live in Italy.) Kids seem to be real troopers when it comes to having a backpack or pulling a roller -- or both!

Have a great time.

I just realized you may have wanted to see some sights in Milan. If so, the whole pick-up-the-car-as-you're-leaving-Venice plan doesn't work. You do not want to drive into Milan.

I wouldn't stay in different hotels for the Florence and Pisa days. You can train or bus from Florence to Pisa in about an hour and see the main sights in one day. The one-way train fare is under 6 euros per person for adults.

If you want helpful lodging recommendations, you need to tell us your budget, what type of room configurations you're looking for and any other pertinent info as pertains to your family.

After you've decided what you want to see/do on Lake Como and where your base will be, look into multi-day ferry passes to see what savings you might achieve.

http://www.navlaghi.it/eng/c_crociere.asp

I have a couple of disagreements with Jean about renting a car. First, a car is more of a liability than a help in cities, because the traffic is insane and it's very hard to find your way around. there are Zones of Traffic Limitation (ZTLs) where you can't drive without receiving a whopping fine through the rental agency months after you get home because they identify the license plate with a camera and track you down. Since you do not, repeat NOT, want to drive in the cities, you have to park the car and pay expensive parking fees. Second,, a large car may be more of a burden because of impossibly narrow streets and parking places.

I agree that if your kids are old enough to help with their bags, use boats and trains. And they will
love the novelty. and the train stations are usually right in the center of town where you want to go.
The part of Florence where you want to go is walkable in half an hour. The same is true for Pisa. and I don't have to explain why you don't need a car in Venice. .

A log depends on the ages of the kids. If they are old enough to carry their own luggage on and off trains and reliable enough to stay with the group and not wander off train travel makes sense.

If the kids are too young to deal with their own luggage, if you will have a lot of "stuff" like strollers, diaper bags etc - and the kids are young enough that you need to hang onto them - then travel by car will be easier.

To travel by car you need to either stay in hotels outside city centers (except Venice - where you park the car at the Piazzale Roma) or arrange stay in hotels in city center that have garages and will give you passes allowing you to enter the pedestrian only zones in a car.