tarunbhasin

Hi,
We are traveling to Italy in July for 10 days. This is our first trip to Italy (me, wife and 2 kids 9 yr & 6 yr old). We fly into Rome and fly out from Venice and plan to spend 3 or 4 days in Rome and 3 days in Venice.
We are not sure what to do for the other 3/4 days. Do we stay in Florence for a few nights?
Or shld we rent a car and drive around for a few days. Any family friendly suggestions?

Thanks
Tarun

bilboburgler

Hi Tarun

July will be hot, the cities get hot and Florence is in a bowl. For me the choice would be stay in hotel with a pool in the middle of Tuscany, rent a car and go out some days to visit some the little ancient cities of the area. Trouble is so will other Europeans,

There are also agriturismi say using this site http://www.agriturismo.it/?gclid=CMb...FdIV0wodgM8Gbg which will be a more country friendly stop.

nytraveler

How are you counting the days/nights. Many people include the day they arrive (really a 1/2 day jet lagged) and the day they depart (zero sightseeing). So often 10 days is really 8.5 days - which would be enough for only 2 places.

So how many nights do you really have on the ground. IMHO you need a minimum of 4 nights in Rome (3.5 days) and 4 nights in Venice (3.5 days). After this - how many days/nights do you have left?

If it were me I might rent a car for a day or two and head to Lake Garda for some relaxation and water sports.

RubyTwins

We just were driving around Umbria and my husband is an experienced stick shift driver.... and it was a little stressful. Lots of hairpin curves, hills, tailgating and carsick kids. We had a great time, but it was a little tense!

nytraveler

Well in Tuscany and Umbria the hill towns are sort of the point - and it's countryside so the roads will be twisty and winding - and locals will typically want to drive faster since they know the rods better.

Sorry the kids got car sick - that is always difficult. But maybe there were too many towns in each day.

bilboburgler

You may be confusing "visiting an area" with "touring by car".

Get to agrit. eat, sleep, swim, go for walks, one or two days drive to a local beauty spot and picnic. (scene from MadMen where they leave the litter, springs to mind but hey..)

Using a car is not what holidays are about, having a car so you can access a lovely area makes sense, but then park up.

With the kids you need to limit the movement anyway, just do one small town a day, it in the park etc. Somewhere like St Quirico or Buonconvento might be perfect, stay near by and visit in the early morning (go home for lunch and a sleep) then pop out in the evening.

indyhiker

Ruby, I think your choice to base in Orvieto had something to do with that. We based in Spello last year. Our drives to Orvieto and Norcia were a bit as you describe. But the area around Spello, Assisi, Montefalco, Bevagna was a lot less stressful in terms of driving.

RubyTwins

I was glad to have the day to drive. I just think people need to be aware that the driving can be more stressful than in the US (and we live in NYC--land of aggressive drivers). I agree, find a place to park up. Although we had a car in Tuscany last time we visited before the kids and the driving just was not as intense.