Help tweak this Italy itinierary - Is this too much with tweens?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't do Tuscany or cinque I just a day. Pick one and slow down!

This. The Tuscany tour seems ambitious for one day. I’d choose one of those stops-probably Siena. Visiting all those towns in one day seems impossible and won’t be enjoyable at all.

I’d also skip Milan. It’s a business city, not a tourist town, and won’t be interesting for tweens (or, really, anybody).

I’d add a day in Rome to visit Pompeii.

Osticq is a possible alternative — closer and I think not as hot as Pompeii.

[Anonymous]

I did your day 3 in Tuscany for 7 days!!!! That said, I would totally join you on your crazily overloaded mission to see it all for a chance to see it all! So yes, you are beyond overloaded but if you and your family travel like this, go for it! You can always go back but if you don’t go back (which happens a lot), you have seen a lot. Your kids get a taste and can do longer trip later. Just call this your tasting trip!

[Anonymous]

This day in particular sounds awful to me. Day 3 - Tuscany day trip - Siena, Pisa, San Gimignano, Chinati day trip with Lunch at Chianti winery - Book Guided Tour - 12 hour round trip

It's like you want to check the box to say you were in each of those places but including all the travel time you're in each city for maybe an hour. I don't know your family but this all sounds go-go-go. Pick one, or at most two, and spend the time wandering. Find the time to sit in a piazza with gelato or an apertivo. Get beyond the city centers which will be mobbed with tourists like you and me.

Window shopping expensive stores in Milan seems like something you could do in NYC or Beverly Hills. Instead take an extra day and hike in Cinque Terre or add a day trip to Pompeii. Our family is planning a trip as well and decided in advance to skip the Uffizzi.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How are you getting a day flight to Rome? I thought those had all been cancelled. I can’t even find one to Paris.

I’ve only been to Rome but that itinerary looks fine. Be warned the coliseum plus palatine hill day will be a lot of walking, potentially in hot sun. so steel yourself for that.

If you go via the latest flights of the night from Dulles (after 10 PM) and connect in London or Munich, by the time you land in Rome, it will be 4 or 5 PM, and by the time you get to your hotel and checked in, etc, it will be 6 or 7 PM.

[Anonymous]

Day 3 in Florence sounds like way too much with tweens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rome 4 nights/3 Days:

Day 1 - Travel Day - Reach Rome in evening. Book a hotel near city center. Sleep early or walk around if jet lagged.
Day 2 - Trevi fountain, Spanish steps, Piazza Novona, Pantheon
Day 3 - Vatican Museum
Day 4 - Colosseum (get arena tickets), Roman Foru, Palatine Hill

Florence: 5 nights/4.5 Days (.5 day travel):
Day 1 - Travel Day - Checkout and leave in morning from Rome to Florence. Reach mid afternoon. Check in at Florence hotel. Walk around and explore.
Day 2 - Get Brunelleschi pass - See the Duomo, Cathedral, Piazza/Square, Baptistery, Santa Reparata, Academia, Mercato, Medici Tombs, and Bargello. If possible climb the Duomo.
Day 3 - Tuscany day trip - Siena, Pisa, San Gimignano, Chinati day trip with Lunch at Chianti winery - Book Guided Tour - 12 hour round trip
Day 4 - Uffizi (if not tired from previous day), Santa Croce, Ponte Vecchio.
Day 5 - Cinque Terre Day trip - Book a guided tour?? RT 12 hours

Venice: 2 nights/2.5 days (.5 day travel)
Day 1 - Travel Day - Reach Venice in evening and check in hotel and walk around - Ponte delle Guglie near station, Ponte della Paglia, Ponte di Rialto (connecting San Marco and San Palo), Piazza San Marco
Day 2 - Murano/Burano lagoons, Gondola ride. If time permits Doge Palace.

Milan: 2 nights/1.5 day (.5 days travel)
Day 1 - Travel Day - Venice to Milan. Arrive night
Day 2 - Duomo di Milano, Sfrozesco castle, Luxury shopping in Galleria Vittoria Emanuele
Day 3 - Morning flight back home from Milan.

13 nights in Europe and then the flight days 3 days (will be booking with 1 stop and a few hours layover since it is much cheaper)

Does this sound okay with tweens? Or should we cut out something? I feel like I am cramming too much into the trip. It will be our first trip to Europe so there will definitely be a learning curve with everything. Any tips and suggestions for a first timer from someone who has been there done that?

Definitely skip that. It’s basically just a couple high end brand storefronts (Louis Vuitton, Chanel) that you could do literally anywhere. It's a cool space, no really worth it to go shopping. If you want to do Milan shopping you would want to do more research.

[Anonymous]

You need more free time. Agree to skip Milano, skip Pisa, skip Cinque Terre. The day trip should be to San Gimignano or an agriturismo near Florence. Take advantage of the teens and go walk around at night in Florence and Rome. Buy a great bottle of Chianti and drink it by the steps of the Duomo at dusk.

That way you can focus on the things you need a tour for (Colosseum, Uffizi or Academia, Pantheon!). Walk around, eat! Plan your gelato and panini stops. See things like Santa Croce on the way. Sit in piazzas, window shop. One activity per day.

[Anonymous]

Too much! Drop Milan. I would add a stop like others suggested in Tuscany or Venice. If your tweens are into cars there are cool car factories/museums they may want to do. I prefer to do less and enjoy more of what I see when I travel than try to "do it all," even if it means skipping things.

[Anonymous]

I'm going to be the contrarian and endorse the day in Milan. You are flying out of Milan so need to be there anyway. We spent a couple of days in Milan over Christmas a couple of years ago -- our favorite activities were the Duomo (especially the roof) and DaVinci's Last Supper, plus the amazing risotto we had at a small restaurant along the Navigli canal. Armani/Silos was closed while we were there, but my teen would have been interested in going had it been open. Two breathtaking cultural sites, eating and wandering the shops around Navigli, and a fashion museum sounds like a good day to me.

OTOH, if you are flying out of Milan only because you want to spend a day there, I would depart from somewhere else (Venice, presumably?) and spend those two days elsewhere in your itinerary.

Finally, my then-15-year-old really enjoyed Florence -- particularly used record shops/vintage shops in Oltrarno Arno, the Mercato Centrale and the flea market around it, and sunset at Pizzale Michaelangelo. We spent a morning with a local photographer doing a photography walk with Polaroid cameras -- it was part walking tour, part shooting tips and the photographs were my favorite memento of the trip. I wish I had dragged her with me to Dante's house, since she ended up reading Inferno in school the following year. None of these things might appeal to your tweens but sharing in case they do.

[Anonymous]

I would cut Milan and about half of Florence, or downgrade them to things to see in passing but not devote a lot of time to. That would buy you more time to take your time in Tuscany.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This day in particular sounds awful to me. Day 3 - Tuscany day trip - Siena, Pisa, San Gimignano, Chinati day trip with Lunch at Chianti winery - Book Guided Tour - 12 hour round trip

It's like you want to check the box to say you were in each of those places but including all the travel time you're in each city for maybe an hour. I don't know your family but this all sounds go-go-go. Pick one, or at most two, and spend the time wandering. Find the time to sit in a piazza with gelato or an apertivo. Get beyond the city centers which will be mobbed with tourists like you and me.

Window shopping expensive stores in Milan seems like something you could do in NYC or Beverly Hills. Instead take an extra day and hike in Cinque Terre or add a day trip to Pompeii. Our family is planning a trip as well and decided in advance to skip the Uffizzi.

I read it that they will do almost a photo safari of Italy so not the plan to get up close and personal and just to get eyes on all that is there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would cut Milan and about half of Florence, or downgrade them to things to see in passing but not devote a lot of time to. That would buy you more time to take your time in Tuscany.

Yes- the key issue with this itinerary, besides being way too packed generally, is only staying in the cities. OP also doesn't say what time of year this is, so suggestions on other options are tough to nail down. There is also no reason to fly out of Milan, as you have to stop anyways to get back to DC, so you could fly out of any airport in that case (and Rome has a nonstop to Dulles)- just end your trip where you want to. I'd add some beach time or mountain time and cut Florence and Milan. Florence is great but so much of it is about museums, which the kids will be done with at that point. Rome is a better mix of museums and other interesting city things. Venice to be honest I wouldn't go back to, but I get why its special once, although I might skip it if the trip is in the summer because of crowds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd personally drop the two day trips from Florence, and one night in Milan, and instead spend three days in Tuscany before Venice. Find a villa or agriturismo place with a pool and spend two days laying around and enjoying the countryside.

Alternatively, find a small coastal town in or north of cinque Terre and stay there for three nights. You can't go wrong with any of them.

+1. You’re getting a lot of good advice but I think this would help pace our your trip better.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like a lot of just looking at stuff from the outside. Do you and your kids like that? If so, great! For us, we would want more time in most of these places (not Milan) so would need to choose some to focus on. We like to do some guided tours in museums or art galleries, as well as workshops, classes or other experiences. We have done some amazing ones in Italy and elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This day in particular sounds awful to me. Day 3 - Tuscany day trip - Siena, Pisa, San Gimignano, Chinati day trip with Lunch at Chianti winery - Book Guided Tour - 12 hour round trip

It's like you want to check the box to say you were in each of those places but including all the travel time you're in each city for maybe an hour. I don't know your family but this all sounds go-go-go. Pick one, or at most two, and spend the time wandering. Find the time to sit in a piazza with gelato or an apertivo. Get beyond the city centers which will be mobbed with tourists like you and me.

Window shopping expensive stores in Milan seems like something you could do in NYC or Beverly Hills. Instead take an extra day and hike in Cinque Terre or add a day trip to Pompeii. Our family is planning a trip as well and decided in advance to skip the Uffizzi.

+1. This sounds like a check list trip with little substance. If you want to check things off at lightening speed, then go for it. But if your kids and you tend to connect to a more in depth experience, this trip needs to be reduced in scope substantially. It matters what kind of traveler you are.