Traveling With Children in Italy
 

We are planning to travel to Italy in March with 2 children (pre-teen). A few days in Rome, Venice, Floreance and maybe Milan. What is the best way to travel between and within the cites (to be safe)? What are some good kid-friendly things to see in these cities? Are museums, etc. closed around Easter?

GIV,<BR><BR>I'll be glad to send you my trip notes that cover those cities plus more, when we travelled with our 12 yr old son. Let me know if you're interested. Also, travelling by car is fun because you can take many more side trips and really customize your trip...It also is a good thing to be able to make pit-stops when you need to..etc. Both have their dangers but are safe if you use common sense.

Italy is very kid-friendly in general. In Venice, go to the Doges Palace and rent the audio tour, also check out the glass blowing in Murano. In Florence, the History of Science Museum. In Rome all the usual sites. The Borghese Gardens is a great place to unwind, while there go to the Borghese Gallery. It's stunning and not too big to overwhelm. Go to dinner in Trastevere and wander around. Lots of young people are out and around. While there got to Mario's on Via Del Moro for dinner, great inexpensive food, a real neighborhood restaurant. And the most important thing, have gelato at least once a day.

Also, if you can take a day trip from Rome to Pompeii, I think your kids would really enjoy that. We did a similar trip last year with our kids in late March. We started in Venice. Rented a car when we left Venice and drove to Florence. From Florence we went to Orvieto and spent 1 night there (took the underground cave tour). Then drove to Rome. In between we stopped in San Giminagno. We kept the car 1 day in Rome to use it for a day trip to Pompeii. The highway driving is a pleasure. The city driving (especially Rome)is a nightmare.

I'd vote for train travel. We did it last summer with two pre-teens. It went very smoothly and our kids loved watching other people on the trains. It was very stress-free. They loved climbing any available towers in Rome, Venice, Florence, and Milan (St. Peter's in Rome, and the "rooftop" of the Duomo in Milan, etc.) Also, a gondola ride in Venice was a highlight, but again, we went in the summer.

I advocate very strongly in favor of car travel in Italy (and in all of Europe) - - but one of the principal reasons is so that you can see places other than those big cities. If you're really set on the "big three" (with or without Milan), train travel will be the clear-cut choice.<BR><BR>And kid-friendly? It's all kid-friendly.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

We've gone through Italy both ways; by train and car; with kids I think it might be easier to do it by train. Our kids loved the train; which we took from Milan to Florence: Florence to Rome; then Rome to Venice. They were able to get up and move around, and thought getting served a full meal on the Pendolini was great! As for kid friendly places, everyplace seemed to be kid friendly. In Florence, even though it wasn't "High Season" the line to get into the Ufizi was upwards of 2 hours, so we didn' get to see that. Probably their favorite and most memorable place of the trip was the island of Murano and the glass blowers. Don't miss it.

Not to "diss" jeanne - - but there is almost never a reason to miss something as great as the Uffizi because of long lines. There is a reservation system that will allow you to bypass the line and zip right in. Lots of information about it here on this forum, or many hotels can book for you.<BR>