Resources for trips w/kids to Italy & France
 

Hi all,

We are planning a trip to Tuscany and the French Riviera with our twins who will be 9 at the time. Can you suggest some good books and websites to help us with our planning?

In particular, ones that list accommodations that can house 4 people to a room, and that are child friendly. (We aren't going to do a villa because I want concierge-type services. We are thinking an agriturismo and hotel in Tuscany and a hotel or B&B in France).

Also, books that mention sights of interest to kids. I am used to using Fodors, Rick Steves, Frommers, this sight. But, I've noticed they don't usually focus on kid friendly stuff (except for Frommers sometimes).

Any books or website you can suggest would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Daria

Be sure B&B will take kids, many don't.

Hotel rooms for 4 may be difficult.

Google is your friend:

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourcei...%20in%20europe

http://mylittlenomads.com/europe-with-kids

https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-ti...kids-in-europe

If you plan to stay more than a night or 2 in any given location, this may be the time to research apartment rentals. Many 1 bedroom apartments have sofa beds in the living rooms which would be suitable for a family of 4, and likely less per night or week than a hotel or B&B for 4 people.

I often use AirBnb.com when I'm looking for accommodations, rooms or apartments, and other agencies may have likely places, depending on where you'll be and for how long. AirBnB has possibilities just about everywhere. There's a group of us here on Fodor's who like the site and the experiences we've had, so I think it's worth a look. You may also find fewer rules regarding minimum stays.

I missed your mention of concierge services so AirBnB would likely not suit.

Hi Daria,

I'm traveling to Rome with my family in the spring and have been on the lookout for books for families. There's a DK (Dorling and Kindle?) book called Rome for Families that I've been eyeing. I'm looking for the English version since I live in Sweden and online it says a new one will be published in February. It seems to be loaded with helpful info including what to do on a rainy day. I'm not sure if you are going to Rome but perhaps they have similar books for France or other Italian cities.

Good luck!

If you use a booking site such as www.booking.com , which lists hotels as well as B&Bs and other types of lodging, you can specify that you are four people and want one room. It will then show you only places with quad rooms. You can sort the list by guest rating or by price.

In Italy, many B&Bs have minimal services, often not even a proprietor or manager on the premises. In small towns and rural areas, the hotels tend to be too small to be able to support an actual concierge, but someone at the desk will help you with recommendations, reservations, and the like. I haven't stayed in many agriturismi, but when I have, there were good guest services.

We enjoyed our stay at Villa Campestri with our two kids (9 and 12) last year. http://www.villacampestri.com/resort/the-resort_en It's in the Mugello area of Tuscany, pretty scenery and good food. After traveling around Rome and the Amalfi Coast (which we also loved), it was nice to just hang out and relax. Their 2 bedroom family apartment is very reasonable.

Thank you all very much. I will look into those suggestions. One thing I've found is that, when researching places to stay, often the listings do not indicate whether there are suites or 2 bedroom units available for parties of 4, and then it can take up a lot of time visiting websites and trying to figure this out. Booking.com sounds very helpful for sorting the options this way, so I will definitely try that. I thought about an apartment at first, but mostly decided against it because I would like to have somone around to at least ask questions of, even if it is not a literal concierge.

And, thank you for the suggstion about the DK book! I will look to see if they have others. Maybe its a series!

We stayed in Tuscany from a week with our three children at Sant'Antonio Country Resort in Montepulciano. Our two bedroom apartment was perfect, with a full kitchen and all of the conveniences you need when traveling with kids. It is on a large estate with a beautiful pool, outdoor grills, and even a running trail through the fields. Nico, the owner and perfect host, is a wealth of information and fabulous guy. Everytime we mention another European holiday, all three kids just ask to go back to Sant'Antonio!!! Check it out www.santantonio.it

I should have mentioned that the apartment was listed for four people but Nico kindly set up an extra bed to accommodate our youngest daughter.
Trip Advisor was my best friend when finding accommodation. On our six week vacation, every single place was better than we had hoped.

The DK books are fun for kids, since they are filled with colorful but accurate illustrations and pictures.

Michelin Green is recommended for sights for adults. They are accurate, complete, and informative.

In Paris may I suggest the Citidine Aparthotels.. the one on Quai Grand Augustine( listed as Citidines St Germain I believe) looks very nice.. and the location is excellent.

Also.. boys often do not love museums.. but my slightly older boys both loved their visits to the Invalids Army Museum.. the medival sections in particular with swords, battle axes and armour.. and best of all .. not crowded and decent air conditioning ( as opposed to museums like Louvre and Orsay.. both wonderful.. but crowded and hot in summer) And children under 18 are free in most museums.

I've used this website to find hotels with quad rooms:

http://www.4ineurope.com/Rome.html
You can select other cities besides Rome when you get to the website.
I also read LOTS of trip reports when I was planning our trips.
While kids don't all like the same things, it will give you a feel for what works well for kids.
A poster who has younger kids-I believe he posts as "indydad" has some excellent trip reports with his family. Just put his name up in the search box for the forums and they should come up.
We found that not over planning and trying to base in 1 or 2 places works better with kids.
I also found several "fodors for kids" books-try Amazon.
Also, I found many places in Tuscany(inns or some agriturismos ) had family rooms or apartments.

For guidebooks, I do like FOdors, actually, and Cadogan (which is a little more indepth in history and sightseeing, but not as good sometimes with hotel/resto recommendations). I also like Frommers and think Fodors does some places better than Frommers and vice versa. If possible, I just take out what I can from my library. Michelin is good for road trips and history but I don't find its organization that helpful (alphabetical by place). I don't think it's as good for a general overall guidebook to a place.

I don't think B&Bs are a very likely bet for being able to house 4 people to a room. IN fact, the opposite, less likely than a hotel. But you said you wanted a concierge, so I'm not clear on why you'd even consider a B&B. But some hotels can have connecting rooms, that isn't that unusual for larger hotels.

I do like the Logis de France website which tends to list smaller, locally-run places.
http://www.logishotels.com/en.html
YOu can specify number of children and ages. For example, it came up with this 2* hotel in Nice for you (4 people) http://www.hotellepanoramic.com/en/

And it does actually have rooms that can house 4, although it is a more budget hotel than you want, being 2* (2* hotels don't have concierges).

Booking.com is a good search engine, though. I also like www.venere.com, and you can search pretty well on there, also, by number of persons.

One of the things I like about booking.com is that you can enter your destination as " xxx city centre" which will show you only the most central lodgings in that city. Venere and booking will both let you specify specific neighborhoods, but I often don't know a city well enough to specify a neighborhood; I just don't want a hotel in the boondocks.

Budget hotels are more likely to have quad rooms than more upscale hotels.

Apartments associated with "country houses", or "resorts" other such lodging are more likely than urban apartments, or places listed on Airb&b or listings of that sort, to have someone on the premises who can help you with touring or practical matters.

You might want to check out italiakids.com... they are geared toward Expats living in Italy with kids, but there are some great resources that can help travelers keep their kids entertained and happy as well. I also agree about using Booking.com... I booked nearly all of the hotels and apartments for our recent three week tour of Italy with our 11 year old son. Really get into the reviews... they can tell a lot. Also, once you find places you like, double check to see if tripadvisor lists them. Then read their reviews and look at the reviewers' photos.

One last tool... Google Earth. I used it to plan our trip. Looking at the photos people post on their maps help find interesting sites you never knew existed. It also helps to zoom into ground level view and look around 360 degrees... helpful to get a feel for a road, a village, or to see if that hotel you like is next to late night bar or factory. I even used it to scope out parking in different villages or towns.

You can also check out http://www.travelwithkids.tv/ They have a TV show and a great website with inspiration and resources.


--Jerry