Italy with kids
 

We have been to Italy many times and I am looking for new places. We have been to the major areas,(Rome, Venice, Bologna, Florence, Sienna, Amalfi coast)We're interested in perhaps seeing the smaller cities like Parma, Verona and maybe the Adriatic coast. I have a week to travel before I must be in a small town near Cassino. The kids are 6 and 3. We are flying to Milan and will be driving down. I thought a couple days by lakes and then another stop or two north of Rome before my final destination. Any thoughts of where kids might enjoy? I would also like to set up a base for 2-3 nights at a time and take day trips from there. Any thoughts on good base locations.

What time of the year are you going? Your kids would probably like a beach vacation, and there are nice beaches south of Rome. An especially nice town is Sperlonga, and it's not far from Cassino.

I am going the first half of August. Any Northern Italy tips?

Any of the lake areas will be great, especially in summer. I'm particularly fond of Lake Como, but I live there. Lake Garda has amusement parks, water parks, etc., but your kids may be too small for those? It could be miserably hot, so staying near water is probably a good idea in any case.

There are ferry services on all of the lakes; your kids might enjoy just riding in boats around the lake for a day, with stops here and there for meals and gelato and walking around. The boats are generally pretty big and have enclosed indoor areas where you don't have to worry about them falling overboard.

best regards,
Deirdré Straughan

beginningwithi.com (personal)
www.tvblob.com (work)

August is of course a bad time as everyone is at the beach, so don't go there! Me I would say Piedmont of course as I live here and am passionate about the area, but not sure about with kids, Turin does have some kid friendly attactions, but this is really adult wine country. So I would suggest a few days at one of the lakes (I like Maggiore myself, I think better for the kids with the cable car and the islands) and then why not Genoa, the hordes will be on the beaches not in town and this is a fascinating city, Venice's medieval rival, lots of adult and kid things to do and see (www.cittadeibambini.net)and on the road to Rome