Missypie's Trip to Italy with Kids: What the kids enjoyed most
 

We're back from Italy. I'll post a more detailed report later, but I thought I'd quickly post what my kids enjoyed most, for the benefit of any families that might be heading out soon. We have a son 15, a daughter 13 and a daughter 10.

ROME:

St. Peters - climbing the dome is like a fun house; plus the sheer size of it is amazing.

Forum Tour (we used Icon)

The Pantheon

The Borghese Gallery - the girls aren't huge art lovers, but the sculpture was so incredible that everyone loved it

Renting a surrey in the Borghese park (because the weather turned so disasterously bad [hail!] that we couldn't help but laugh).

My son loved seeing all the Angels & Demons sites.

FLORENCE:

Not having the traffic that Rome had.

Shopping (daughter 13)

Playing on a playground with Italian kids (daughter 10)

"The David"

VENICE:

Seeing the canals and riding the boats

Feeding the pigeons!!! My 10 year old could have done that all day.

And of course, they loved the gelato everywhere.

Welcome home, Missypie! It seems like just yesterday that you left. I am looking forward to reading more wonderful details of your adventure.

Diane

great trip report! :)

One thing I forgot: Everyone loved the mask shops in Venice...the once where they make the masks and have animal faces, etc. So cool!

Thank you for this information, missypie.

I'm hope you all had a great time, and look forward to the full trip report!

So you did the surrey rides, good for you! Glad they enjoyed them. Did you see any of the slalom course skateborders in the park?

No skateboarders, but probably because of the weather. When we were in the Gallery, the weather was beautiful. After we rented the surrey, the sky started getting dark; then it started to sprinkle - no worries, the surrey had a cover. Then it started to pour; then HAIL! We got so wet, because of course, even once it stopped, the little cover was full of rain, so when we turned corners, it sloshed on us. I was proud of the kids that they could laugh about this rather than complaining.

Can't wait for your more detailed trip report to give to my sister. She will be going to Italy next March with children about the same age as yours and is wondering how she can keep everybody happy! Been reading your other post on fashion, so are the Italian women wearing only jeans? What is the most common cut? Do they do slim cut or straight cut? Thanks!

Slim jeans, mostly. I didn't notice a lot of the pencil thin ones. Certainly NO jogging suits or stretch pants on Italian women; any other slacks were dark.

Missypie,

Love the surrey adventure! I'm sure it wouldn't have been half as memorable without the hail!

Loved the surrey idea. We'll be at the Borghese next week. Where do you find the rides?

Can't believe you are home already! Welcome back. Thanks for the quick info and I'm looking forward to your trip report. We leave with our guys, 12 and 15, on Friday.

I am especially interested in any other Venice tips or insights, particularly any other stuff your 15 yo son liked.

Sounds like you had a great time! :-)

I look forward to the rest of your report. There must be something about the Galleria Borghese and hail! In March, the day started out with blue skies, but by the time I got to Borghese, I was drenched and suffering the stinging of hail on my hands! And when I got there, the storm had taken out the electricity, so they closed the Gallery. Just one more reason to go back to Rome (not that I needed any encouragement...). :-d

Welcome back Missypie! We're leaving July 4th and we're planning for hot weather. After reading your post maybe I will pack my pashmina just in case...I'm wearing clothes I feel comfortable in...black jacket and jeans with cami's (beige, white, black). Three skirts and a beige jacket. Three blouses - short sleeved. I have three pairs of shoes, Merrel sandals, Merrel walking shoes, and Ecco tennis shoes (blue). I am definitely brining my exteremly illogically high heeled pointy pink BCBG shoes for an evening out on the cobblestones! LOL! I will walk on my tippy toes if I have to! I can't worry about skinny women - I'm not! I'm a size 10 and in shape but "full bodied" as I would say. Luckily I love to tour and focus on what I can see and do! Did you do the Scavi tour? Did you take a gondola ride? I have several days at my family's request that are unbooked....ideas of where to go but no firm plans. Can we still get into museums and get tickets on trains if we book one day in advance?

Hey, it's so great to hear info about travelling with kids. My husband and I are taking our two (girl age 6, boy age 8) to Tuscany, Rome and then on to Spain this August. Thanks for the tip about the surrey in the Borghese Gardens (hopefully hail season will be over;-) Any other suggestions would be most welcome! We plan to take it easy and enjoy people watching, pizza and gelato, but I would love to incorporate fun ways to learn about art and history.

Fun4all4, my 15 year old was very engaged on this trip. As I mentioned, in Rome he loved seeing the Angels and Demons sites. He has an incredible memory, so he was able to give a better description of what the sculpture on the Fountain of the Four Rivers symbolized than the guide book did. He also announced in Florence that he liked Gothic architecture much better than Baroque (I do, too, but it was cool hearing this come from the mouth of a 15 year old.)

We did the Secret Itineraries Tour of the Doges' Palace in Venice. Our 15 year old really enjoyed it; the others thought it was a bit of a yawn.

To everyone with kids, I would recommend buying the Rick Steves guide book for each city you will be visiting. We used them for his museum/church tours, because he gives just enough information for child/teen attention spans, but can be very funny (we're still laughing about some of his comments).

Zydecoqueen, we did not take the Scavi Tour. I read that they are really trying to enforce the 15 year old age limit; my 10 year old looks 10 and my 13 year old looks 11. Note, however, that it is quick and easy to tour the rest of the crypts and see the resting place of John Paul II, etc.

We also didn't take a gondola ride. It was so crowded that wherever we went (even in the smaller canals), the gondolas were lined up one after another, tip to tip, like a Disney ride on a track. It just seemed like a silly thing to do. We did, however, take the traghetto (an un-fancy gondola) to and from one of the churches for .50 euro per person. That gave the kids a taste of a gondola and seemed to satisfy them.

The gift shops at many of the museums and churches-specifially those in Florence and Venice-have TERRIFIC chidrens' books that explain the art in a fun way. I bought a few books for the kids before our trip, but didn't see any of these on Amazon.

One more thing, especially when touring Rome and Florence: Be prepared for religious questions from your kids. When you climb the Duomo in Florence, what you see up close is a fabulous huge fresco of the Last Judgment, with graphic scenes of Hell. (It's a lot more interesting than the heaven part, where everyone seems to be just wearing nice clothes and chatting.) It prompted my 10 year old to ask questions about whether there is a literal Hell, etc. It would be very difficult to tour Rome and Florence and not see a lot of religious art. Parents should be prepared to share with their kids what THEY believe about saints, Hell, the divinity of the Madonna, etc.

Hi Missypie! I believe we were in Italy the same time as you! I say that because we were on our Vatican Tour when the horrible storm came through with HAIL! Wow! We still had a magical time, as it sounds like you did also :-)

One more thing about taking kids to Italy: One cannot avoid seeing postcards of David's genitals up close (some decorated like a face!), aprons and boxer shorts decorated with male genitalia, etc. My girls announced early in the trip, "Italians are pervs!" If this kind of thing bothers you greatly, be prepared to avoid pretty much all souveineer stands and gift shops.

Missypie, I enjoyed your comments here. I'm glad your kids liked the Borghese Gallery as I'm getting a few groans about visiting museums.

I like your comments regarding the (almost) unavoidable postcards of David's genitalia. When I was 14, my parents took our family to Europe. Many people commented "Oh, what an educational experience." My siblings and I always thought of all the nude statues and postcards we viewed on the trip and agreed it had been quite educational!

Thanks missypie,

We have reservations for the Secret Itineraries Tour so that sounds great.

On this trip we will be in the Swiss Alps, Milan, Lake Garda and Venice so will not get to take them to Rome or Florence this time.

I am a little embarrassed :"> to admit this, but when DH and I were in Rome and Florence (without the boys) last year, the favorite souvenir that we brought our older son was a pair of "David Boxers." We are not particularly sensitive about that kind of stuff and our whole family got a huge laugh out of them - and, he wore them! But, it could be uncomfortable for some so the warning is appreciated and valid.

Thanks again!