Suggestions for an arrival day itinerary in Venice- with jetlagged kids
 

Our Italy adventure with the kids (ages 5, 7 and 9) will begin in Venice, when we land at 9:15 am from our transatlantic flight. We have never taken them abroad and I don't really know what to expect, but I'm sure they will be tired! Can anyone offer suggestions on ways to spend that first day? I am assuming we will drop off luggage but will not be able to get into our rooms until the afternoon. I know in Rome and Florence there are outdoor spaces with carousels and/or carriage rides, and hop-on/hop-off buses which would make for an easy day. In Venice, I have no idea. We will be there for 3 nights and can see the major sights on our next two days. For the first day I'd like to get them acclimated and keep them up and entertained until we can have an early dinner and bed. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

My suggestion would be to plan nothing in particular on arrival day. The greatest pleasures, for me, in Venice, are walking and riding the vapporetti, the water buses. It will be almost lunchtime by the time you're settled. Do as your children's energy allows, have lunch, walk or rest, rest or walk. I love a vapporetto ride in the evening, sitting in front, looking at the lighted palazzo windows on the Grand Canal. A great thing to do for a tired adult or child.

Agree that just walking - or riding a vaporetto - are good for jet lagged.

If you get a very good map of Venice - showing the piazzas and a number of small parks - you can find places where they can do some running around as their energy allows. Just make sure they understand - esp the youngest - of the need to avoid falling into a canal.

There are at least two playgrounds with swings, slides, etc., in Venice proper. I think there are places for snacks, etc. near both. Google for exact locations.

Thanks for your replies. I think a vaporetto ride and perhaps playground would be a good idea. Are there any sort of amusement rides or something like that on the lido? I thought that may be an idea, but I haven't been to the lido before.

What time of year are you going? What are the actual dates? Weather might be a factor. Where is your hotel? If your flight is schedule to land at 9:15 you might arrive at your hotel very close to check it time. So having a nearby destination for hot chocolate if it is winter or gelato if it is summer might be something to have handy.

There used to be at various times of year a carousel at the Riva dei Schiavoni. For me, jet lagged, the last thing on earth I like to do is anything involving more motion (and that includes boat rides) but I'm not a and your kids might be amused. However, if your hotel isn't close, it doesn't make sense. (Also consider whether boat rides would be something more like to make them fall asleep.)

Bear in mind is that if you miss the 12.30-2.30 lunch hour, you won't be able to get more than sandwiches and snacks for the kids until about 7.30pm or later. So if they are not falling asleep on their feet, I would have some addresses for a place to eat -- again, near your hotel in case you want to head back for naps. Most Venetian restaurants serve fish dishes, including fish-sauced pasta, although most are also happy to make a simple pasta with butter or plain tomato sauce for a small child, and many have vegetable soups. But if you'd rather not subject the kids to too many new things all at once when they are jet lagged, head for a pizzeria (and remember that peperoni in Italy are bell peppers, not salami)!. Also, some pizzeria in Venice will serve earlier than 7.30pm.

I think if it were me with kids that age, I'd be in no great rush to get out of the airport since I can't check into the hotel. (I'd definitely do a bathroom stop at the airport). Then after checking in at the hotel, I would just walk around a bit until lunch time, maybe take the kids mask shopping (track down a cheap store!) and take some hilarious selfies. I'd buy them a soccer ball and let them kick it around a campo while I had a glass of wine! Always good to pack playing cards and small notebooks and colored pencils. They can draw pictures of Venice. I wouldn't invest in tickets for anything major.

<hop-on/hop-off buses which would make for an easy day> = riding around on a vaporetto

One more tip: Last time I was with a child of nine in Italy, she was very keen on maps. She liked to see on a map where she was. Venice is a particularly shapely city when you look at it on a map, and one does get turned around in the city so often and lost even if you do have a map, it can be fun to figure out, when you sit down at a cafe, where you now are on the map -- and where you came from - and where the hotel is -- where you were yesterday. Some kids like to mark on the map the routes they took every day.

Small flashlights for alll the kids can also make touring the churches and old palazzi more interesting, and they are helpful too making your way around after dinner. Venice is not particularly well lit down many alleys, or inside buildings if you are staying in an apartment.

regarding the vaporetti: How are you getting into the city? You might need to take a vaporetto anyway, or perhaps you are arriving by water taxi. The vaporetto multi-stop passes, last ime I looked, are not cheap, even for kids under 10. You might need to make a judgment call about whether some of the kids might end up falling asleep on the boats, and whether they are so crowded that your kids won't see much unless you are all able to elbow your way to a seat with a view.

Anyway, you should have some ideas about what to do in case it is raining when yuo arrive. The interiors of the vaporetti are sheltered from rain, but you don't see much from the seats inside the boats.

After dropping off your luggage, I would suggest purchasing 48 hour vaporetto passes and using them on this first day to show the kids the Grand canal and then to go up to the Giardino stop where there is a park with swings etc where they can play, and run about.

then make your way back towards the hotel, have some lunch, check in, and put the kids to bed. They and you will be miserable otherwise. After a nap, get up and go out to explore - there will be plenty to see and once the cruise boats have gone, the crowds shouldn't be too bad.

following Sandralist's map suggestion, you will see that many of the buildings have names written on them in large white letters. They are directions to the main places in Venice - San Marco, the Rialto, [both obvious] Ferrovia [the station] etc. you/they could have fun pointing them out, pronouncing them, following them, etc.

Looks like you ended up with an even earlier flight than you were previously looking at.

I presume this is the flight that leaves ATL around 3:30pm with about 9 hour flight to CDG? Unless your children can sleep earlier than usual on plane, they would be super tired in addition to arriving in Venice even earlier than previously thought.

Any place that one sits down especially with gentle rocking motion, such as a boat, would be like a cradle after this kind of flight. I have taken my daughters on a similar flight, around 4pm departure, 10 hour flight. We could not sit down because as soon as we sat down, they leaned over and went to sleep on benches. We could not let them do it because if they had slept, they would have woken up at 2am for days.

Thanks so much for the great suggestions! We are traveling in late June from Atlanta. It's a direct flight leaving ATL at 5:40 and arriving VCE at 9:15. When I had the chance to switch to a direct flight I took it (mileage tickets), figuring the shorter the travel time the better. We are staying at the Ad Place Lofts (a 3 bedroom apt), in San Marco area. I am thinking maybe an early afternoon nap might be in order, as long as we wake them up after 1.5 hours or so.

I looked up the location of your apartment, and if you are planning to take the bus into town, and then a vaporetto to the nearest stop to the apartment, you will have had a very grand tour of the grand canal. Even if you take a water taxi, you will have seen a lot from the boat.

If you cannot get into your room right away and kids are immediately hungr or very cranky, you might consider going a few steps to the Cafe Venezia in the Campo Santo Stefano and having fresh fruit and gelato. They also have small sandwiches and toasts if the need something more substantive. I should warn you it won't be the cheapest option, but not the most expensive either. But the cafe will be serving continuously, so if you need something before 12.30pm, it might work -- and then you can quickly get back when the room is avialable for that nap.

If the kids and you have more energy than that, there is no end to tourist shops in the vicinity, including a zillion mask shops. You can also stand on the Accademia bridge and watch all the traffic on the Grand Canal. If you cross over the bridge and into the Dorsoduro you will be entering into a less crowded area of Venice, and that might be nice if you are jet lagged.

You might find at the time of year you are going to Venice and the time of day you are arriving, that the San Marco area where you are staying is EXTREMELY crowded. It will only get more crowded if you try to move in the direction of the piazza San Marco and the Fenice opera house. So that is partly why I am suggesting you head for the Camp Santo Stefano for your first walking around. It will send you away from the most crowded areas, and that might be easier to deal with, but it won't send you so far away that you'll have trouble finding your way back to the apartments.

here's a website for Le Cafe Venezia in the Campo Santo Stefano

http://www.lecafevenezia.com

San Marco & chase pigeons around?

How about starting the lion quest, wherein the kids keep a list (maybe a cell photo record) of all the Venetian lions they see?

Maybe cross the Grand Canal to Campo Santa Margherita, the place where I see the most kids having fun in the afternoon. I can sit there for an hour or more watching them play.

You might think about splurging for a water taxi from the airport across the lagoon to your hotel. The kids would love the speed and the feeling of being out on the water (as long as you can keep them safely on their seats) and there is no better way to see Venice for the first time.

here's another vote for the Campo San Stefano, if not when you arrive, then another time. Just getting there takes you through some nice little venetian streets [Calle] and as Sandralist says, away from the worst of the crowds.

Also the Campo San Margherita, most easily accessed from the Ca' Rezzonico vaporetto stop on the grand canal [line 1]

Mostly echoing what others have said, plus some other ideas:

San Stefano would be a good spot. Not so crowded, outdoor cafes, and room for the kids to move about.

The water taxi might be a good investment for five of you vs. the Alilaguna, plus fun for the kids.

I don't recommend a lot of walking on the first day. JMHO, but I wouldn't want to drag three jet-lagged kids around the crowded streets and bridges of Venice. Plus, you won't have your bearings yet, and despite all the purported charm of "wandering" around the city, it can get frustrating when you keep running into dead ends with three kids. A walk along one of the promenades, such as the Zattere, might be OK.

A nice long ride down the Grand Canal on a vaporetto is worth considering. Again JMHO, but that attraction is a bit overrated. A vaporetto is a crowded floating bus, but if you can get window seats for the kids, they may be somewhat entertained. People will advise you to get a seat on the outside front. You and a few hundred others will be vying for those few seats.

You have a nonstop, not a direct flight.

I have found that a problem with children is that they sit up all night on the flight watching their personal video screen.

The vaporetto in the summer may be too crowded to work for you, we took one ride and said never again, absolutely bursting. It's likely that you will not be able to stay together on the boat, also.

I don't think that there is a hop-on bus for Florence.