Four of us (2 adults and 2 boys ages 9 and 11) will be in Italy for 10-12 days. I have been to Rome, Florence and Venice before but my husband and the kids have never been. We definitely want to go to Rome but I don't particularly want to go to Florence or Venice. We will be going at the end of March so I am thinking about going somewhere south after visiting Rome. What would you recommend?

If you have a week after a few days or Tome, I suggest Sicily. Great place, full of character and variety. Read up on it and see.

Hi. I can't imagine not wanting to go to Firenze or Venice. What is it you didn't like there and what appeals to you ?
No cities ? More like hiking ? Beach ? (March...) ?
Would be helpful to give you more ideas.

With ten days total in Italy, I don't think combining Rome and Sicily makes much sense. There's no way to "see" Sicily in a few days.

As Woin says, we really need to know more about what you're looking for.

Going south in March; I'd look at Sicily (easily the best idea) or Naples (my number 2).

You can fly into Sicily and do a limited tour, I'd plan for 3 nights in Palermo and 3 nights in Syracusa as a minimum, though 4 would be better. That leaves you 4 nights in Rome.

Thank you. I will look into Sicily.

WoinParis, there is nothing I did not like but I love exploring new places so I would love to go somewhere else. Venice and Florence are still an option though if other options are less attractive

It is very easy to go on the train to Napoli and Sorrento from Roma. It is only one hour. When you are there it is It is easy to visit Pompeii. When the weather is nice you have the possibility to hike with the boys on Vesuvius, the volcano, or you take a boat to Capri. That is very beautiful. If it is too much wind to go to the island you have the possibility to walking above Sorrento with beautiful views of the sea. Or take a bus or taxi to visit the Amalfi cost.

It is not easy to go to Sicilia if first you go to Rome. The train is too long and it is too early for boats in March. It is too long to drive and not nice. So you must buy plane tickets. When you are in Sicilia you must rent a car to do the best things with a family. I don't think Palermo is best for a family. There is more to do if you stay in Napoli or Sorrento and you don't need the car.

It is not expensive to go to Napoli and Sorrento. You can buy tickets for the train with the discount for the family. With a family I think it is best to stay in Sorrento. In Napoli there are too many motorcycles and people drive crazy. In Sorrento, you have children you can have them walk outside with no problems. It is very safe. But if you go to Sorrento you should visit Napoli for one day because there are many strange things that children like to see. The food is very nice there if your family likes pizza and pasta. You go to Pompeii of course. Also in March there are beautiful lemons in Sorrento. The smell is fantastic.

I felt that Sicily is really good using the local buses, yes you have to be aware of the timetable but so what. The town to town buses are good too.

AlItalia is very slowly going bust so there are plenty of cheap flights going everywhere.

personally I think that trying to negotiate Sicily with the family for a such a time- limited trip is not as good an idea as combining it with Naples and Sorrento.

Ideally you would fly into Rome and out of Naples but if that's not possible, assuming you fly into Rome and arrive early in the day, you could go straight to Sorrento via Naples and stay there for a few days. Then get the train to Naples, stopping off at Pompeii and storing your luggage at the station [or use a car service which will wait for you while you tour the site] and stay there for a couple of nights, ending in Rome for the rest of your trip. The boys will love Rome - our kids did, though they were a bit older when we went there for the first time.

you could go south and do Pompeii and Amalfi - or go North and do Cinque Terra and Parma. Those would be my two picks.

Steft, March!

Great ideas, thank you!

If we were to go to Sicily, you don't think that seeing Palermo and Tarmina would be enough? Would we be able to get from one to another by hiring a driver or by local transportation?

Napoles, Sorrento and Pompei sounds like a great idea as well.

Do you think Cinque Terra is not good at the end of March? People usually complain that Cinque Terra is too crowded but it should not be crowded at the end of March, right? Too many things are closed? Is it too cold?

We probably could fly into Rome and fly out of some other city. We most likely will have to travel through London or Frankfurt and there are flights to those cities from numerous locations in Italy.

Palermo and Taormina are both great. Not close by though. But on the same island.
Is that enough ? It is like asking if Los Angeles and Miami are 'enough'.
I can't imagine cinque terra not being nice. Never been myself. And yes less crowded.

Well, I am trying to understand why people are advising against going to Sicily for 5-7 days. Perhaps "enough" is not the right word

If we were to go to Sicily, you don't think that seeing Palermo and Tarmina would be enough? Would we be able to get from one to another by hiring a driver or by local transportation?>>

Alisa - you have just answered your own question! [and it's Taormina, BTW]

To get from Rome to Palermo you would need to fly so that's most of a day gone, and then to drive from Palermo to Taormina would take roughly another day [unless you fly from Palermo to Catania and then get the bus the Taormina which is at least half a day] and then to get back to Rome you'd have to drive to Catania...

And there is so much to see there it seems to be a shame to spend so much of you time travelling rather than actually seeing and doing, especially when your trip itself is so short.

if you really wanted to add it to your itinerary, I would fly from Rome to Catania and back, and just stay in Syracuse which you can reach by bus from Catania airport I believe. Ortigia is the island attached to Syracuse and it's a lovely place to stay, with plenty to do and see there and roundabout, especially if you were prepared to hire a car and driver for a couple of days.

Annhig, thank you. Although I am not sure how I answered my own question

Google maps say that it takes 3 hours to drive from Palermo to Taormina. Do you think it would take much longer?

I'd do Venice and Rome. The kids would love Venice, wouldn't they?

Google maps say that it takes 3 hours to drive from Palermo to Taormina. Do you think it would take much longer?>>

well, I haven't done that exact drive, and in theory, if there are no road works or heavy traffic it might be possible but I'd reckon on it taking most of a day. In any event with the lads in tow, you're going to want to stop, aren't you? and the route through the middle of Sicily takes you reasonably close to the Villa Casale where they have uncovered the most wonderful mosaics which you would not want to miss:

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/832/gallery/

I see. Villa Romana del Casale sounds interesting.

Well, maybe we should do Rome and Venice after all. Fly into Rome and fly out of Venice. And also maybe visit some place in Tuscany in between. It does not sound like there is a good itinerary that includes both Sicily and Rome. Sorrento, Naples + Rome is still an option of course.

alisa - I think that you are beginning to get what we meant when we said that you don't really have time for Rome and Sicily. In fact DH and I were there for 10 days in September and we only saw the east of the island, and only part of that.

Venice and Rome would be great, or Rome, Sorrento and Naples. I think that I mentioned that we took our kids to Rome for the first time when they were a bit older than yours; we also took them to Venice about 6 months later. We spent a week in each and we loved every minute.

Whichever you choose you shouldn't run out of things to do.