Anyone been on a three city tour of Italy? I'm thinking of Rome, Florence and Venice with a family of four (youngest 14). Can anyone suggest travel agents, prices or better alternatives? Plane, self-drive, coach or train when in Italy? Week, 10 days or 2 weeks? I am an Italy 'virgin' so all advice gladly received!

The basics? Fly into Venice and out of Rome. Train in between. At least 2 weeks or as many days as possible or budget allows. Consider apartments...
Season will affect costs.

Most people here on Fodor's plan their own trips. Two weeks in those three cities is relatively straight-forward. Fly into Venice and out of Rome (or the other way around) & take the train between cities. Make 3 hotel reservations... and that's all you really need to get going.

I agree with the above, except I urge you to look at apartments.

You get more room, especially for the time you want to just hang out and rest after a long day, and you can make your own breakfast (I prefer not to have to get dressed to go out early in the morning.) We often have a big lunch while out sightseeing, and then something simple in the apt. for dinner.

Look on slowtrav.com for apartment reviews by the members. Or on TripAdvisor.

I suggest you spend three nights in Venice, train to Florence for 3 nights, then train to Rome for a week. There is so much to see in Rome!!

Try not to go in July or August -- it's beastly hot, and very crowded. Florence especially. June or September is better if school schedules permit.

You don't need a travel agent. Book flights on your favorite airline, get yourself an apartment as recommended, and then buy your train tickets at the station the day before you want to move so that you can get Amica fares(cheaper).

Ask lots of questions here and on slowtrav.

We just did this in late October/early November.

Flew into Venice.
Three nights (next time I would do at least four--LOVED Venice).

Train to Florence.
Three nights in Florence (I'd remove the third day and give it to Venice).

Train to Rome.
Five nights in Rome. We took an apartment as we always do for city visits of more than 3 nights.

Flew Rome to Paris for 10 days).

If you are really Italy virgins, I'd stick to these three (maybe skip Florence and do Bologna?)

I agree that a Big Three trip to Italy is quite easy to do on your own. You have chosen your stops well; you will see a great variety of history, art, architecture and scenery, and if you tire of any of these three, there are easy suggested day trips from all of them.

Take as many days as you can realistically afford. Two weeks is very nice.

People here can lay out all your transportation options for you, including getting to and from apartments or hotels.

For virgins, I still prefer hotels. A friendly and helpful hotel staff is a great way to ease in to a strange city. We do apartments all the time, but tend not to do them on first visits.

Both Venice and Roma have transportation passes that include some sites and/or discounts to such. These are great for a family.

I suggest hitting the library for some travel books on Italy and using the Destinations pages here on Fodors.

Make sure the kids see the websites and books, and have an investment in the planning.

Thanks folks. I feel much more assured and enthused about the trip.þ

I always suggest some small villages & countryside thrown into the midddle of the "big 3", just to relieve any "overload" you might get from too many people, and too much noise & congestion from big cities. I would not do this, however, unless you plan on at least a 2 week visit. I would rent a car in Florence, drive through Chianti and then arrive in Volterra mid-day. Then on to San Gimignano, arriving no earlier than 5pm. Stay overnight in San G, and visit it some the next day too. Then drive to Pienza, stay there 2-3 nights, exploring the neighboring small villages and the beautiful Val d'Orcia. You & your kids might like the bike trails or a walk in ghe countryside around Pienza. Hit Orvieto last, dump the car (store the bags in the trunk or at the rental office) and visit Orvieto. Then take one of the frequent trains to Rome.

I would try real hard to do this in 16 nights.

- 3-4 in Venice
- 3 in Florence
- 3-4 in the Tuscany countryside
- 5 in Rome

Stu Dudley

When in Rome, take the children to the Capuchin Church on Via Veneto which is composed of altars and things made entirely of the bones of the dead monks. Our kids are still talking about it. they also loved the Vatican. They rented little boats in the Borghese Gardens. Also enjoyed the Coliseum. At the time we took them they were 8, 13, 15, and 17. We did hire a guide to cut the line at the Vatican Museum and that was money well spent. the kids also adored Venice.

I disagree with the advice to rent a car and drive in the countryside. From many trip reports here on Fodor's, I gather than many teenagers have more fun in cities than being driven through the wine country of Italy and visiting small medieval or renaissance towns.

The more time you can give to your trip, the better.

Venice is a car-free, very safe place, and your kids are likely to enjoy freedom of movement there, so you might want to budget more time there than in Firenze.

If you are going in summer, you need air conditioning.

In each city you're visiting, there are all sorts of "mini-escapes" if you find your group flagging on sightseeing. As you get closer to the final stages of planning, you might come back to this board as ask for suggestions about where to simply relax , blow off steam or goof off in a fun way for a bit in case sightseeing gets overwhelming.

I find cities infinitely more fascinating than the countryside, not to mention easier to get to. No car rental required. The train would be so much more relaxing for a family imo because then everyone can sit back and enjoy without worrying about driving, navigating, maps, etc.