Tuscany, Rome or Florence base for kids' first Italy trip?
 

My husband and I used to take long (2-3 week) vacations to Italy, France and Greece before The Kids. We used this site extensively planning our honeymoon and later trips! Good times (sigh). Anyway... Now, 10 years later, we are ready to attempt travel abroad with our 3 small kids (next summer when we travel they will be 4, 6 and 8). I have been devouring past posts on where to stay with kids in Tuscany, but I'm afraid I have confused myself. I am beginning to wonder if the countryside is the best idea, or if an extended visit in a city would be better. What typically works for us on vacation is a "morning activity", lunch, then back home to nap, swim or rest in the afternoon. The evening could be out or in, depending on our moods. I love the idea of taking the kids around the cities, but I also know that a pool and some green space is going to be essential at their ages. We are hoping to visit for 3 weeks in the summer (probably June).

My initial questions are: Is it best to find a countryside base which is close enough to visit Florence and/or Rome for day trips (any suggestions on which town this would be)? Or, if we plan to visit the cities for more than one day, is it preferable just to base ourselves there (even without a pool or garden) rather than making multiple day trips? If so, is Rome or Florence best at this age? Originally, I thought we'd choose a Tuscan town, rent a villa with a pool, make morning excursions, and venture into the village for dinners in the evenings. Now, I'm having trouble figuring out which location provides relatively quick access to the city (either one), and also a village to visit for dinners in the evening. Perhaps Siena would be better, offering both countryside and town?

Since we are planning an extended trip, we really want to settle in and have a relaxing time, but I also want the kids to be entertained and engaged, so the "morning activity" options are of top priority. :-) Sorry for the lengthy post, but I'd appreciate any insight in setting our itinerary in terms of location. Thanks so much!

I think you are going to have trouble finding hotels in either Rome or Florence that have pools suitable for small children. Playing is not a problem - since all cities have pedestrian piazzas that kids can run around in - and you might even find an actual playground.

I would split the trip - doing 3 days in Florence, 2 weeks at a tuscan agriturismo with pool and animals and kid things to do and then 4 days in Rome.

I think multiple day trips into Rome or Florence will be wasteful of time and unsatisfying - and kids can deal with a city for a couple of days at a time - plus you can hit one of the gardens at least one day in each city.

Going in and out of Rome with three small children seems impractical to me, and Florence doesn't seem much better, but I've recently seen posts here about a place close to Florence with, I think, a pool and a shuttle in and out of town.

I would probably choose something on the outskirts of Siena or even another city in Tuscany or Umbria with easier in and out access.

How about Lucca? Arezzo?

Umbria presents another list of possibilities.

I agree about multiple day trips to the city. NYTraveler- thanks for the suggestion about doing a city stay before and after Tuscany. That makes sense to me, so we have some R&R in between. Any suggestions for an agriturismo with access to a pretty town very nearby? When my husband and I visited Tuscany years ago, we loved Pienza, but I don't remember how central this was in the area, or whether it was particularly "kid friendly". I do remember that walking from the villas we saw to the towns seemed too far, but a short drive would be fine (assuming we can rent car seats).

Lucca might be a possibility. It's a small city, with a massive city wall, which has been turned into a wall-top city park; it should be great fun for the kids. It's got easy access to Florence by train, and also to Pisa. We stayed outside the walls, but close enough to walk into the city. We didn't have a pool, but some other places just outside the walls might have.

I don't know how long it's been since you were in Florence, but it's got very crowded at any time in the summer. It also is one of the hottest cities in central Italy. I'm not sure I'd want to spend much time there with small children in June.

In Rome, a possible idea would be to stay in Ostia Lido, Rome's beach neighborhood. A commuter train would bring you into central Rome for the price of a bus ticket (€1.50). It's not the Riviera, but the children would probably enjoy it.

Why don't you stay in Rome for a few days and then rent a house in Tuscany with a pool? From the house you could spend a day in Florence and visit other hill towns too. We liked staying in Panzano, half way between Siena and Florence.

I hadn't thought of the coast idea, but isn't there a nice coast area in Tuscany? I've looked at Il Pellicano's website in the past, but we never went. It looked absolutely gorgeous. Although a 5 star hotel isn't in our plans for this trip, would it make sense to split our two weeks in Tuscany between interior and coastline? Or is the coast more for grown-up time than entertaining the kids?

I agree with bvlenci that Lucca might work for your family, given the way you describe your style. June is actually not reliable beach weather for the Tuscan coast (this year, July is a bust too!), so you will be better off a bit inland, with better train connections and a mainly car-free envrronment where your kids can roam without worry.

If you think 2 or 3 weeks in Lucca alone is too much, then I would look for an easy train connection to a town or small city that offers the same kind of a kid-friendly environment. Parma or Modena might be nice if you can find the right apartment. There are cheese tours and pasta cooking classes to amuse your kids. Perugia has chocolate tours and the fun of escalator rides that burrow through the hilltown.

I think you are correct in your analysis that countryside stays -- absent a LOT of farm animals -- may not work for a family, and that goes triple if any of your kids get car sick on twisting Tuscan roads. But if you pick cities instead, I would try to pick ones that are mainly car-free.