Just a thought but when I was researching a family reunion to Tuscany I found www.ciaobambino.com that specialized in family-friendly accommodations and particularly Al Gelso Bianco for Tuscany. If you want an agri-turismo type experience (with a pool!) but only want a couple of days away from Florence it might be an option - they allow for less than week stays and are only 40 minutes from florence. I checked on www.tripadvisor.com and they got great reviews and are reasonable. That being said you would need to rent a car so not sure if that is in your plans.

If they are interested in food, then I would highly recommend a trip to Bologna! But I am not sure if a 6-year-old, especially, would not be better off sticking closer to "home" in the heat of summer..

Here, for what it's worth, is a report including Florence and a few nights in Bologna, with lots of food info (but this was not a trip with children and it was in January!!)


http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34743272

ekscrunchy, it was just that baloney i was thinking of.

I posted this under your other thread, but will repeat it here. I should mention that we drove, and found driving around the Florence area easy:

We were recently in Florence with our 15 year old daughter. We had extra time, and took a day trip to La Spezia on the west coast where we boarded a ferry boat for a tour up the coast of the Cinque Terra. This was easily do-able in a day. I'd advise getting an early start, and picking one or two of the five towns to stop at and explore. Bring suits to swim from the beaches--the water is clear, deep blue and lovely! It was quite hot while were there, and one of the joys of this day trip was the cool air over the water. Your kids will love debarking on metal gangplank between the rocking boat and the cement dock--its a roller coaster ride!. My daughter loved this day, and it was a great change from the cities.

What time of year was this? Did you drive?

<i>I think 2 1/2 hours on an Italian train to a place with very limited swimming at pebble beaches with two kids may not work. </i>

Swimming is not the point of visiting the Cinque Terre! One goes there to see beautiful towns, witness small town life, and hike the trail between the towns.

I agree, though, that there is much to do near Florence without taking a 2 1/2 hour train trip.

I find the focus on what the kids will enjoy/tolerate rather interesting. I would hope the trip is not just for them. I understand wanting to avoid whining/moaning/meltdowns, but presumably the kids understand the concept of a family vacation. Otherwise, just go to Disneyworld.

Don't skip seeing some of the greatest art of the western world because you have kids. They won't be damaged or expire from the exposure. Promise them gelato.

Here's a posting on SlowTravel from 2005 regarding public swimming pools in Florence (scroll down to near bottom of the page). The first one mentioned was also mentioned on a recent TripAdvisor posting, so it's still available.

http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/florence/san_frediano.htm

I posted earlier, but did not mention there is one thing I had wished we had done and that is spent a night (or two) in a small city.

We had our driver stop in Orvieto for a couple of hours to allow us to walk around (took the underground tour). It was great.

All the major cities are hyper busy. A small, quaint village hits the spot in my mind. A quiet night. A nice dinner with the kids playing in a less than crowded square makes mom and dad feel good.

You will need some down time. Not just for the kids, but yourselves.

When we left Florence I stated that if I had to do another full day of tours/museums I would break (and I like that &quot;stuff&quot.

Lastly, cut your trip to Florence short and go to Venice. There is nothing like it and your kids will talk about it forever. Water taxi's, Gondola's, feeding the pigeon's, shopping, food, water, water, water..... A great hotel (with kitchen and firm beds in a great location) is Residence Corte Grimani (google it). (Sorry, I just really like Venice. While there take the water bus to Lido and in 15 minutes you are at the beach.)

No matter what you will do you will love it. Fodor's is a great site and we used it to make our trip great. Have fun.

happytrails, you're argument is really with nmiller, but not me. I don't think Cinque Terre's tiny pebble beaches are worth that long a trip from Firenze, which was my point to nmiller.

But I also think there isn't much small town life left in Le Cinque Terre, certainly not in August.

Jean,

I have to say I think bribing children with sweets or any kind of food to tolerate Firenze's art museums is worst than not taking them. Why can't parents who will be in Firenze for an entire week take turns as parents to see the less child-friendly museums.

And also, don't you think it's kind of unfair to other museum patrons to take kids who &quot;do not have the patience for long museum visits&quot; into museums as enormous and crowded as the Uffizi and the Bargello? I will never forget spending a small fortune to get to Firenze from the US and having to wait out a women who forced a crying child to tour the museum of the Duomo with her. Everybody wanted them to leave. It was so rude.

There's a Palio horserace in Sienna on August 16.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palio_di_Siena

Anyone been?

Well, if the OP's kids will be crying or being rude through a short museum visit, then she has bigger problems with this trip than we can solve here.

And, please, gelato is a daily requirement when in Italy, especially in August.

Pisa would be lots of fun for your children-the photo of them holding up the tower will give them giggles for quite a few years!
Pitti Palace in Florence has huge gardens. My 60 year old hub and me took some interesting pictures with us and some of the statues.
Is La Spezia the town with the English-named Beaches? If so, there's a long promenade along the beach.
Aren't there some spas in the area? Cinque Terre is a fine day trip-get off at the first stop hike to the last town, take a boat trip and sleep on the train back.

Jean, it wasn't the crying kid who was being rude! The kid was just being a kid. It was the parent who determined to get to the museum no matter who else was left crying.

It isn't eating gelato that I objected to in your advice. What I objected to was perfectly clear in my post.

<i>I find the focus on what the kids will enjoy/tolerate rather interesting. I would hope the trip is not just for them. I understand wanting to avoid whining/moaning/meltdowns, but presumably the kids understand the concept of a family vacation. Otherwise, just go to Disneyworld.

Don't skip seeing some of the greatest art of the western world because you have kids. They won't be damaged or expire from the exposure. Promise them gelato. </i>

How disagreeable. I read it to my dog, and he won't stop howling.

There is much small town life in Cinque Terre, where many families have lived for centuries. It takes place in the mornings and evenings and is especially conspicuous on market day.

There are also way too many tourists, even in May.

Sorry to bug zeppole, happytrails and the dog, but I stick to my opinion that kids can survive an hour or two in museums if the parents want to see some of Florence' treasures. I first saw David, Mona Lisa, Pieta, Last Supper, etc., as a 12-year-old, and I still remember these events. My sister, who was 6, doesn't.

Whether a gelato bribe is acceptable to all, I think parents have employed the promise of ice cream for generations.

But the OP hasn't returned, so it's just verbal pingpong at this point. She can go to museums, not go to museums, or do it in shifts with her husband. Who cares? There's no test at the end. It's her vacation, her family, her family vacation. We're all just tossing out opinions here.

I'm not sure this thread needs more input, but I confess I've used the ice cream promise! I never needed to do it with museum trips, though. My chidren have always liked museums and still talk about things they saw when &quot;we were just little kids.&quot;

Hello ibaz:

From Florence, we took a day trip by train to Bologna (already discussed in detail above), but also took the train to Santa Margherita Ligure on the coast. From there, we took a cab to Portofino and had a great lunch outdoors at the Hotel Spendido Mare.
See http://www.hotelsplendido.com/web/os...4f_chuflay.jsp

Gradyghost

If Ibaz95 ever comes back to this thread, there are several things that make a train trip to Orvieto a good excursion. It sits on top of what we call a mesa and the view down the sides is fantastic for kids because it was built there to keep armies from invading.

When you get there on the train you go up escalators to a funicular that takes you straight up the side of the hill into town. You buy tickets at the tabac in the station.

Near the top of the funicular is the well that they built for water during sieges. It's VERY deep and is reached by a double circular staircase that has windows so you can look out and see other people coming and going on the other staircase.

Then there is the underground tour showing how the hill is full of caves. there are also restaurants like Le Grotte de Funaro that are IN the caves. that's fun, too. In the restaurant there are a few windows that are actually holes in the rock, looking out on the landscape below.

Then maybe they will be willing to look at the duomo there. It's gorgeous -- even the facade.

Plus, I think it will be a little cooler there because of its height and the underground areas will of course be cool. Florence sits in a river valley and can be beastly hot and stuffy in August. And the trains are air-conditioned, of course.