Traveling to Italy with toddler and baby

[rparkhurst2]

Has anyone traveled to Florence, Italy with children? We are going in September with our 2 1/2 year old and 9 month old and was wondering if anyone knew of a great place to stay or an apt. to rent. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[Anonymous]

i actually do know a great place in florence. dealt with a woman named gianna who has an entire building of flats that she rents out. it was incredible, great location (100 meters from duomo) and marvelous rates. let me see if i can dig the info out ... it's been about 6 years! hang tight.

by the way, standing ovation from here for taking your toddler and baby to italy! bravissima!!!

[Anonymous]

yay! i found it. here it is, the owner's name is gianna:

http://www.sleepinginflorence.com/florence-apartment-to-rent.htm

now when we went we did not have kids, FYI. also know that the building is a WALKUP so you'd want to ensure you're on the 1st or 2nd floor. we stayed in the falleri apartment on the 4th floor, and it was a haul.

[Anonymous]

I'm jealous!!!

[Anonymous]

slowtrav.com is a pretty good source for apt. rentals in florence, and other tips

[Anonymous]

We made a trip to Venice when my daughter was 17 months and another trip to Milan, Genoa, Pisa, Lucca, Bergamo when she was nearly 4.

Venice was a tough trip but I think you'll do better in Florence. I hope you don't plan to drag them through art museums though or if you do that you go at their pace not yours.

It can be fun traveling with toddlers but it's also a challenge. You'll be wise to rent a flat so you can make your own meals - we had a hard time finding anyplace that served a real dinner before my daughter's bedtime.

Otherwise just relax, enjoy, make lots of gelato stops, go at THEIR pace, be prepared to skip the tours and just toodle around on your own, and do a lot of outdoor things in parks, find playgrounds, etc. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We made a trip to Venice when my daughter was 17 months and another trip to Milan, Genoa, Pisa, Lucca, Bergamo when she was nearly 4.

Venice was a tough trip but I think you'll do better in Florence. I hope you don't plan to drag them through art museums though or if you do that you go at their pace not yours.
It can be fun traveling with toddlers but it's also a challenge. You'll be wise to rent a flat so you can make your own meals - we had a hard time finding anyplace that served a real dinner before my daughter's bedtime.

Otherwise just relax, enjoy, make lots of gelato stops, go at THEIR pace, be prepared to skip the tours and just toodle around on your own, and do a lot of outdoor things in parks, find playgrounds, etc. Good luck!

FYI - my son who is 18 months actually likes (not all day, but for an hour or so) to sit in his stroller and get pushed around looking at art. He is generally pretty active, but we have taken him to a couple of exhibits and pointed out things in the pictures and he seems happy enough.

Each child is different, so yours may like this too!

V. Smart to look into getting an apartment so you can do breakfast there.

[rparkhurst2]

thanks for all the responses! I will get in touch with gianna asap!

[Anonymous]

Also, if you're looking for a break, Angels nannyservice, which is based in Rome, really came through with some great American babysitters. They might have people in Florence.