My wife and I are considering spending 2 weeks in Italy this July with our 2 1/2 year old daughter. She travels well and spent a month in Florence last Fall and LOVED it (we rented an apartment from Windows on Tuscany).<BR>Any suggestions on a July destination? A coastal town with a beach/swimming would be preferable.

While I don't have a suggestion for a destination, I thought I would offer some feedback about July in Italy with children. Our daughter also travels well, and we had gone to France in October 2000 (she was 8 at the time)and she loved it. The following July, we traveled to Venice for my neice's wedding. She fell in love with Venice, but not until we spent 2 days in the hotel room acclimating to the heat. It was very, very warm and her system just could adjust as quickly as mine or my husband's. She actually almost fainted. We only had one week, so it was a bit frustrating to spend two entire days in the room. (My husband and I took turns staying with her while the other went exploring.) A coastal town might be much cooler. Although, we are getting ready to go back to Europe this June and Italy is on the top of her list.

Thanks for the info. We were thinking about Venice as we could also go to the nearby beaches. Enjoy your trip this June!

You might want to consider staying in the Lido instead of Venice. I don't know what your budget is, but the Westin on the Lido has a beautiful pool and beach area which would be perfect for your daughter. Too, it would allow you to escape the crowds and heat of Venice proper. The vaporetto stop to St. Marco's Square is an easy fifteen minute stroll from the Westin, or a little less from Albergo Quattro Fontane, which is where we stayed last summer.
I would also recommend one of the northern lakes (Maggiore, Como, Orta or Garda) which will be a bit cooler in July. We had a wonderful time in Stresa last summer, stayed lakeside at the Hotel LaPalma, which has it's own small beach and lakeside pool. From there, it would be possible to tour the Borromean Islands (one of them has extensive gardens with gorgeous white peacocks which your daughter might enjoy seeing!) and parts of Switzerland.

Have a wonderful time!

We would suggest you the very beautiful, often underestimated, coastal italian town of Trieste and its Riviera, in the Venitian arch, only 90 miles from Venice, with a lot of things to see and do, an incredible cable-tramway to the upland, touristic grottos, fairy-tales castles on the mediterranean sea , churches, mediterranean gardens, historical buildings, many cheap ferry lines to beaches,castles and islands in the surroundings,and
so on.
We have found an illustrated guide on the web : www.trieste.int.tc (in english).You'll enjoy it !

If you are after nice beaches, the further south you go, the better beaches get. With a 2 years old, you may consider villaggio La Francesca in Scario (www.lafrancesca.it), with very comfortable bungalows in the middle of a small wood, two small decent beaches, a good restaurant and daytrips available to nearby beaches. Also L'Isuledda (http://www.isuledda.it/) in Sardinia might be a nice destination with a child. I have been to La Francesca in Scario (and I know that there is another similar village near Cinque Terre, but I have not been there) a few years ago and found it very nice, while my in-laws go pretty often to l'Isuledda in September and find it of their liking for a quiet holiday in a nice setting an with a very clean beach handy.