Travelind27

Hi,
.We are 4 families with kids ranging from 5-15 years looking to spend 1 week in Italy
.We'll be going in first week June, 2012.
.We were planning 3 days in Rome since all of us want to visit one Italian city.
Need advice for the remaining 4 days:
. We need a base that is kid friendly
.We don't like very isolated places and prefer to be in a lively place where there are lots of restaurants, cafes and interesting shops.
.We are looking at high end accommodation
.Kids activities would be an added bonus
Here's my reasoning:
.Tuscany will give kids ample room to be free but may be too slow paced.
.Amalfi Coast is beautiful but may not be kid friendly
.Salento - the main attraction are the beaches but not sure if the water will be warm enough in early June.
Would really appreciate some advice on this.

Thank you...

ekscrunchy

Hotel or villa? Price range?

Why is Tuscany "slow paced" and not Puglia? What do you mean by slow-paced?

People swim at that time of year in the Salento; I would look at a villa with a pool, though. Might be some nice ones for you in Puglia here:


http://www.thinkpuglia.com/Villa-for...in-Puglia.aspx

Zerlina

I'd eliminate the Salento. For one thing, it takes too long to get there for only four days (flight to Brindisi, car or driver to anywhere on the Salento); for another, the high-end accommodations are mostly inland, so the beaches aren't all that accessible.

I don't see why the Amalfi Coast would be kid-unfriendly. For a toddler, yes, but a 5-year old should be able to climb the steps.

I agree that Tuscany is no more slow-paced than the Salento, but I think the problem might be a conceptual one. Villas or high-end accommodations that have apartments for a total of 20 people are in the countryside; they are not in lively places with lots of restaurants, cafes and interesting shops.

A large villa or a number of apartments, not necessarily all in the same building, in one of the Amalfi Coast villages might come closest to what you're looking for. Summer in Italy is a reputable agency, but there's another problem: they only rent by the week, Saturday to Saturday.

You seem to be looking for a resort experience. There are high-end resorts in Italy, but they're relatively few and far between. At the moment, I can't think of one that would suit your requirements.

bobthenavigator

Are you sure you want to haul all of those people that far just for a week? I would try to make it 10 days at least to include a week on the AC in a Villa.

ekc

I agree with BTN - 10 days, including travel days, and a week in a villa on the A/C. Lots for the kids to do, including wearing themselves running up and down the numerous stairs, and many beach options. Look at www.villalesirene.com - 3 apartments in a villa in Positano. But you better hurry if you are looking for a place in early June, as many are already booked.

nytraveler

The problem is that the beaches on the AC are mostly very disappointing to americans - since they are mostly pebbles or rocks and the water is boring - no waves. )If you are used to US or Carib beaches the AC is definitely subpar - although other aspects are wonderful.) I would only stay someplace with a pool.

nytraveler

Sorry - also agree you need to provide budgets - since the accommodation you are interested in sounds extremely expensive.

Jean

If you want a beach destination, consider Rimini. Sandy beaches, water slide and amusement parks, aquarium, etc. Depending on the flight options of the various families, it may make sense to fly open jaw. Whatever airport you depart from, you'll want to spend the last night fairly close by, so it may make sense to put the other-than-Rome destination first and spend your last days in Rome.



Whatever you decide, a few suggestions based on our first (and last!) experience with a large multi-family group:

Don't assume everyone will want to see/do the same things. Or even eat together. Whatever few things you do end up doing together, double the amount of time you think you need to get from place to place.

If you're going to stay outside of a city/town, make sure you rent at least one car per family.

Don't assume everyone has the same idea of how much everything will cost.

Countryside villas have a wide variety of sleeping accommodations. How will you assign rooms (you haven't seen) as equitably as possible? If you don't want to cook on your vacation, you can hire someone for a day/night or two.

zeppole

Rimini is AWFUL. Don't go there.

I think the Amalfi coast is very kid unfriendly if any of the kids are subject to motion sickness and you intend to go to more than one town.

But I've heard more than one kid under 30 say Tuscany is retiree heaven but not very interesting if you want to do things.

Rome for 3 days with kids and a group is almost going to be an exercise in frustration, especially if you all arrived jet lagged.

If you can find sufficiently high-end accommodations in Sorrento, that might work for you,

But I'm tempted to say that if you've got scratch to spend, fly to Venice and spend the whole week there. Visit Verona for its Roman arena and castle. And -- again -- if you've got money, hire a boat to take you to a nice beach for one of the days.

zeppole

(PS: I should add that Rimini has a lovely church and thrilling Roman arch, but scenically and culturally it is awful as a beach destination. There are cheap amusement parks nearby, but that's it. If you want amusements, you'd be better off in basing in Verona and taking a day trip to Gardaland on Lago di Garda, and dipping into Venice).

HG001London

if u want a nice beach check out Tropea,southern Italy-spectacular

ekscrunchy

HG: Off topic, I know, but can you tell me where you stayed in Tropea and if you made any side trips from that town? Would you return there for a relaxing vacation? Thanks!

HG001London

Hi there eks, i have not actually been there but i did at one point plan a trip there and only didnt go as we decided the flight situation wasn't great. But i read lots about the beach being really lovely and its bang smack in a beautiful town.

i cant find the rental we planned on booking as was a few years back but this place looks good

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Vacatio..._Calabria.html

HG001London

eks....link to own website and another apartment.....

http://www.ilconvento.com/

(sorry Travelind, dont mean to invade your post-fodors need direct messaging!)

Zerlina

If Venice is a possibility and you have 650 Euro per night for a family of two adults and two children under 14, book into the San Clemente Palace: five-star luxury hotel and resort, kids' activities, pool. Use the hotel's shuttle to get to restaurants, cafes and interesting shops

zeppole

Much cheaper and nicer to rent your own palazzo right in Venice and be in the heart of things. This one has 10 bedrooms, sleeps 21 and is 6,000e for the week -- which is cheaper than the San Clemente Palace:

http://www.trulyveniceapartments.com...o-degli-angeli

This 5-bedroom apartment sleeps 13 and is a steal at 4500e for the week

http://www.trulyveniceapartments.com...?id=25&bellini

And there are other large apartments, or configurations of smaller apartments in one building that you could rent in Venice.

Travelind27

Hey,

Thanks everyone for all the advice.

Firstly, we are not looking to stay in one big villa - we'd be happy in separate ones but in the same complex and could also look at hotels.
Cant do more than one week.
We are not particularly looking for a beach...just a beautiful and lively place.

zeppole

Really beautiful places in Italy are really beautiful because they are so hard to get to that developers couldn't get there easily and spoil them. Families left there because it was too hard to be there with kids and the jobs were elsewhere, so Italy's unattractive modern housing is someplace else. These place would be dead except for artificial tourism.

When people go to Italy and oooh and aaaah about the beauty, they have spent several stressful hours or paid a lot of money to get transferred to the Amalfi Coast or Capri or Lago di Como or the middle of the Tuscan Countryside.

And once they are there, they are essentially in the middle of nowhere except a lot of visual beauty. Of course there is now a lot of touristy stuff around to keep tourists entertained a bit in the remote beauty spots -- mainly shopping in various forms and some full service resorts where space permits for tennis, golf, etc. But not a lot of play infrastructure for kids, and often a lot of kid-unfriendly obstacles (no sidewalks on rural roads, nauseating boat rides or twisting car drives, too much sun, bugs, boredom, etc.) Moving around in a group to sightsee requires a willingness to rent a van or hire a private driver or boat, or else queue with the other tourists for limited public transport connections.

So if you want to go someplace beautiful and relax, Italy is great. If you want to see beautiful nature and have a lively buzz plus kid-play at your fingertips, not so easy. If you think buildings can be beautiful, there are beautiful areas of Rome where you could stay, or you could stay in Siena or Verona or Venice.

If want you really want is a certified natural beauty spot and don't mind that the towns are commercialized and theme-parked to various degrees to give you just what you are looking for (lots of restaurants, caffes, shopping), then Capri or the town of Amalfi might be what you are looking for, but I would head there first and do Rome last, and it will cost you a lot of money to get there or else a lot of exhausting hassle.

There are perhaps some very high-end hotels that will help you organize kids activities. Do be sensitive to motion sickness issues for your kids. Rural italy is not a joy if you are stuck in the back seat or on boats in choppy waters.

bobthenavigator

Well, there you have it.
Might as well stay home!

zeppole

bob,

Wasn't that your advice to begin with? If you can't do 10 days, stay home?

Let's see what I advised: Go to Venice, Siena, Capri, Amalfi or Verona, or spend a whole week in Rome.

And your contribution was.......?