JaxandCo

Hi, we are at the early stages of planning a summer (August 2014) trip to Italy, inspired by this summer's visit to the Italian Tyrol/Lakes area. We will have 19 days/18 nights and are flying in/out from the UK and then will be using trains and buses and a lot of walking! Our kids will be 16, 14, 13, 13 and 7 and are pretty keen (tolerant!) of culture/art/museums/watching the world go by etc although are also pretty active - loving swimming, biking and climbing. Have done some research and read through the forums here which have been great but have a few questions about our specific itinerary if anyone has some thoughts...

We are considering the following:
Flying into Rome - arriving 10am - 3 nights
Train to Naples - 5 nights - with Pompeii, Capri, Amalfi Coast - day trips
Train to Florence - 4 nights - with Pisa, Siena and Lucca - day trips
Train to Venice - 4 nights - with Pauda (maybe Verona?) - day trips
Train to Milan - 2 nights - flying out departing 5pm

We would rather limit our stays to less places than a night in one place, a night in another (unless completely recommended) and do longish day trips than move all 7 of us from place to place - needless to say!

So I am wondering three things:
Does this look like it covers most of the main places (this is a trip based on seeing the wonders of Italy so are not looking for much downtime). Are we omitting anything that we shouldn't?
Secondly - does these break down of nights in each place seem realistic - we are flexible and can shift nights spent at each place around.
Finally - we can also do the whole trip in reverse - as in fly into Rome and out of Milan - is there any 'better' way to go round?!

Thanks for your help.

BigRuss

<i>Train to Naples - 5 nights - with Pompeii, Capri, Amalfi Coast - day trips</i>

The day tripping is probably more convenient from Sorrento as an area base.

Add time to Rome.

michelhuebeli

Just wondering - since you've been before and obviously are in easy reach from the UK, could you contemplate making one more Italy trip in years to come? Could you skip one or two of the cultural heavyweights this time, and trade them for some fun time with beach activities and such? This looks to me like a culture-vulture trip, and in the hot and extremely crowded vacation month of August this could be more than you all bargained for.

Florence and Venice will be bursting at the seams, you'll be tripping over yourselves and everybody else while stumbling around in lockstep since you can't move faster than the masses around you. That can be infuriating. Go back another time, for a week in Spring or Autumn.

After Rome (give it more than 3 days/nights!) and the Amalfi Coast etc. I suggest a week on Sardinia, where the energetic youngsters can be active and carefree - see www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/sardinia for example. Not just great beaches, but great hikes in the mountains, and a nice "away from it all" real holiday feeling.

bobthenavigator

Can you go in June?
I like your trip, just not in August.

JaxandCo

Thanks for the replies... Looks like more time in Rome then! Husband has been before so I might have been influenced by him getting more enthused by other places. Will look at Sorento as an option... Can only do August, bound by school holidays although it's the last 2 weeks so maybe a tiny bit quieter?

Should I be considering it might be a bit much for the kids? Heat and crowds... The last 3 years have been activity holidays so they are in theory quite keen to do this but it might be a bit too full on..?

tuscanlifeedit

This year during the first week of September, Venice was very hot and very crowded. Vaporetti were uncomfortable, with way too many people jammed on each boat and loading and unloading passengers took very long. We were specifically there for three days for the Biennale, which was removed from the crowds, and otherwise, I would have been so unhappy.

I second the idea to stay in Sorrento rather than Naples. Have a pool.

I agree with adding time to Rome.

Florence will be very hot and crowded. Would you consider staying someplace like Lucca and taking the train to visit some other places?

JaxandCo

I appreciate that it will be hot - but we look forward to some warmth all year and are good at finding ways to cope! We usually like to swim most days - does anyone know about public pools in say Rome or Florence - if I can factor those into each day then I know we will be happy!

As for crowds - best tips to avoid? See the main sights early as possible or as late? Does staying say for 5 days in a place allow you to soak up the atmosphere away from the crowds and then when you visit the main tourist places just understand that you deal with it? Or when you say it will be crowded - there is no place to escape?

dreamon

I think your plan sounds fine (although I don't know the Amalfi coast at all).

I know that there is a lot to see in Rome but I would not take time away from any of your other places to add to Rome, especially in summer.

Perhaps consider staying in either Lucca or Siena instead of Florence and doing day trips from there, just because they are smaller, slightly less urban and the kids might feel happier going off by themselves there.

If you want to visit Verona, maybe you could check if you could leave your luggage at Verona train station and visit enroute to Milan. That would save the return journey.

I've never been to Europe in August but have usually found that it is possible to avoid the crowds by going to the less touristy parts of town and getting up early. Taking a siesta in the afternoon can be a nice idea (down time for reading, cards, games, snoozing), allowing you to stay out later at night. Crowds aren't always such an awful thing - they can add a feeling of vibrancy sometimes.

Be aware that it is very easy to get separated in Venice so make sure everyone has the name and phone number of the hotel where you are staying. It's a wonderful place for kids (and adults). And do get off the main route between the train station and P. San Marco.

Enjoy!

bvlenci

I would spend little time in Florence in August, unless you're planning to visit lots of churches and museums. It really is bursting at the seams, and is almost always much hotter than either Rome or Venice, because it's not near the sea and is in a natural bowl, with little air circulation. You might want to stay in Lucca, from where you can visit both Florence and Pisa as day trips. I would perhaps skip Siena, although it's a lovely city, but also very crowded in the summer, and not easy to get to from Lucca.

Venice is also very crowded in August, but there you can usually get away from the crowds, who cluster in a few specific spots and on a few streets. It's also usually not as hot as Florence. You might want to stay on the Lido, where your kids could swim. Make sure you stay near a vaporetto stop, to avoid a long commute into central Venice. Verona is a very nice day trip from Venice, maybe even better than Padova.

I always consider four nights (three full days) to be the minimum in Rome, because it's a very large city with tons of things to see and do, apart from museums. By the way, Rome has over a dozen wonderful museums, most of which are virtually unknown to tourists, so are never crowded. I would suggest visiting some of these rather than the Vatican Museums, which are unbearable in August. Rome is much larger, so although there are crowds, they're spread out over more territory.

I don't know of any public pools that are convenient to the center of Rome. Again, you could consider staying in Ostia Lido, which is the closest beach to Rome, so again your kids could use the beach. You can get into the city on the little Lido train, which you can ride using a normal Rome bus/metro ticket. There are also single-day and three-day passes, which save money if you use public transportation for four or more trips. (A single-trip ticket includes transfers, and is good for 100 minutes.) I should warn that both lidos (Venice as well as Rome) are going to be very crowded in August, and I would book a hotel early if you decide to do that.

WWK

Is there a reason - other than Pompeii- that you're not staying in Sorrento or on the Amalfi Coast? I really like Naples, but I think in the summer with kids along, either of these other destinations would be preferable.

WWK

BTW, keep in mind that Pompeii is an easy day trip from Sorrento, or, if you take a car back to Rome which is almost cost-effective with so many people- you can stop in Pompeii on the way back.

mamcalice

By all means, stay in Sorrento. It makes trips to the AC, Pompeii, Capri, etc. much easier and it will be easier to fit in a swim each day there. I would stay in Florence, too. Siena will likely be just as hot and many day trips will be easier from Florence. Avoid heat and the worst crowds by sightseeing early and swimming in the afternoon. I know getting an early start isn't the easiest thing with teenagers! Enjoy your trip.

JaxandCo

dreamon "If you want to visit Verona, maybe you could check if you could leave your luggage at Verona train station and visit enroute to Milan. That would save the return journey."
That sounds a great idea - we are travelling really light anyway - small day/backpack only! Plus great suggestion re getting separated in Venice - likely for us!

bvlenci - that is great advice re Florence, I haven't checked the weather into much detail yet! Lucca is an option I will look into to. Siena we have to go to as our youngest is called Sienna and she is very excited about that bit! Venice - I was hoping someone could say we could get away from the crowds. We all love just wandering and being so finding out of the way places to explore is what we tend to do. I will look into the Lido area and staying near a vaporetto stop. Definitely adding a night to Rome - decided and will have a look at the area you suggest. Hoping to book all accommodation in the next week so hopefully in time.

WWK - I just fancy Naples - maybe crazy??! Also maybe because lots of the places we looked at to rent (self catering) in Sorrento need a car and we are definitely not using a car on this trip. We usually drive from the North of England to Europe and this year we have decided less driving will equal less stress - hopefully! But I am keeping the Sorrento option open...

Mamcalice - swimming is what is enticing about Sorrento so still an option. Good to have another opinion re Florence... The teenagers aren't too bad at getting up at all, we are lucky - but the logistics of getting seven people going means we are often slow starters - will need to work on it!

dulciusexasperis

I see a lot of day trips but not many days actually in the places you are considering staying in. One day trip in a 4 day/5 night stay somewhere makes sense but 2 day trips when you are only staying in a place for 3 days/4 nights does not in my opinion.

I say this for 2 reasons, you will pay more to stay in a city than in a smaller town. The reason to do that is because you want to spend your time IN that city. If you are day tripping you are paying city prices without the reason for doing so.

Second, even a day trip means you spend your time getting from A to B and back to A. That is 'travel time' and as such is not time spent IN any place, either the city or the place you day trip to/from. Travel time is lost time.

People often confuse their desire to 'see as much as possible' or 'get us much out of it as we can', etc. The confusion comes from the belief that quantity is the answer to getting the most out of their time. The word MUCH is not synonymous with the word MANY. The way to get as much as you can out of travel is to spend your time IN places, not in BETWEEN places.

Move less, see/do more. In travel, less is always more.

JaxandCo

dulciusexasperis -- good advice thank you. I guess I was just listing all the things we might consider doing but from experience this will whittle down to less and like you said - more time in the actual place we are staying in. Out of the main places we have thought we would stay at - Pompeii, Siena and Pisa are probably the only ones day trips that we are all very keen to visit for all sorts of reasons - the rest are ideas.