Anonymous wrote:Venice over Rome - I’m sure I’m in the minority but honest. My kids are huge history buffs and 11 and 13. Loved Amalfi for water activities, the islands like Ponza. Loved day trips from Rome over Rome. It’s a big city and cool but if you’ve seen a big city you’ve seen them all. I’m a city girl and still say this. With the exception of few cities like Paris. I’ve been to a lot of major cities. It’s def cool but just saying the coolest stuff is often outside the major cities. US is different but even here to an extent. You have a lot of shopping, food, museums. The ambiance is in the smaller cities.

This is hard to follow but absolutely do not skip Rome. Hard to believe your kids are huge history buffs and wouldn't be interested in ROME

Do not go to Milan, and the Dolmites is way out of your way. You may want to rent a car from Florence for one day and explore Tuscany (that's my favorite)- and you can do a day trip from Florence. Towns like Siena or Luca could be nice with a tiny town added in. If your kids like active, you could probably find a bike tour. Skip Pisa, it's just a building. Pompeii is cool, but not sure it's worth it for the length of trip you are doing.

With your age kids, maybe get a guide book and see what interests them most.

Venice over Rome - I’m sure I’m in the minority but honest. My kids are huge history buffs and 11 and 13. Loved Amalfi for water activities, the islands like Ponza. Loved day trips from Rome over Rome. It’s a big city and cool but if you’ve seen a big city you’ve seen them all. I’m a city girl and still say this. With the exception of few cities like Paris. I’ve been to a lot of major cities. It’s def cool but just saying the coolest stuff is often outside the major cities. US is different but even here to an extent. You have a lot of shopping, food, museums. The ambiance is in the smaller cities.

Go look at the LagLiv blog—her family did something similar to what you want to do—I think she even posted her travel agent name. I think you’d be happy just doing what she did.

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Anonymous wrote:You have literally just suggested the locations that everyone else is going to. Even if you go a slightly off the beaten path for some of the time you will have to deal with less crowds. I would do something like Venice, Ravenna, Verona, and the Dolomites for ten days.

You don’t need to do all the highlights in one trip.

Some people may only go to Italy once.

Yes, if they only go and do super crowded touristy stuff. If they go and fall in love with the place they will go more often.

That comes from a very privileged position - many people may love a place but can never afford to go back. You can do lots in one trip, both touristy stuff (it's touristy for a reason!) and some off the path things.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have literally just suggested the locations that everyone else is going to. Even if you go a slightly off the beaten path for some of the time you will have to deal with less crowds. I would do something like Venice, Ravenna, Verona, and the Dolomites for ten days.

You don’t need to do all the highlights in one trip.

Some people may only go to Italy once.

Yes, if they only go and do super crowded touristy stuff. If they go and fall in love with the place they will go more often.

Anonymous wrote:You have literally just suggested the locations that everyone else is going to. Even if you go a slightly off the beaten path for some of the time you will have to deal with less crowds. I would do something like Venice, Ravenna, Verona, and the Dolomites for ten days.

You don’t need to do all the highlights in one trip.

Some people may only go to Italy once.

I think some of these towns being named would be boring for your kids. I’d stick with Rome and Venice for a 10 day trip (4 days in Rome, 3 in Venice), which amounts to 7 substantive days of sightseeing once you factor in travel (to/from and within Italy) and jet lag. You can do excursions from Rome and Venice, too. Your daughter might like a glass blowing class in Murano (near Venice).

My other suggestion would be Rome/Amalfi Coast, since it is beautiful and you could easily visit Pompeii that way and you are all history buffs - there is hiking and swimming for your active son and I’m sure you could find a cooking class or such for your daughter.

The other plus of these two routes is they are all on train, not much need to rent a car.

You have literally just suggested the locations that everyone else is going to. Even if you go a slightly off the beaten path for some of the time you will have to deal with less crowds. I would do something like Venice, Ravenna, Verona, and the Dolomites for ten days.

You don’t need to do all the highlights in one trip.

definitely insert Cinque Terre instead. Check out the catacombs under Rome.

Venice is crowded but do not skip it! It’s crowded for a reason…

We went to Cortina d'Ampezzo/Venice/Florence over Christmas last year for two weeks, skiing in and around Cortina. I would love, love, love to return in the fall sometime to hike in the Dolomites and maybe try an easier Via Ferrata or two. I think this could be a good plan for the outdoorsy part of your trip. We rented a car at the Venice airport and drove to Cortina, but you could also take the train to another part of the Dolomites (train no longer goes to Cortina). There is definitely an Austrian influence but it still feels like Northern Italy.

OK, not sure what's with the previous posters advice about Milan and Dolomites. If this is your one big Italy trip, skip those places.

Venice-Florence-Rome with a side trip to Pompeii will very much fill your 10 days. If you can stretch a few more days, I'd do 2 nights in Venice, 2 nights in Florence, 4 nights in Tuscan countryside (rent a car in Florence), and 4 nights in Rome (with a day trip to Pompeii). The food in Florence is amazing and well worth a visit, even if art isn't your main focus.

If you'd rather see the coast, skip Tuscan countryside and do Amalfi coast instead - that time of year will be before it gets too crazy.

I would eliminate Florence and add Pompeii.

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Anonymous wrote:I thought about the Dolomites, but from my reading the vibe there seems more Austrian than Italian (and nothing wrong with that, in fact I’m sure is great, but this is our first Italy trip), which is why I was thinking CT for an outdoorsy stop. Would love thoughts on that from the posters familiar with the Dolomites- also do you need to rent a car for the Venice-Dolomites leg of a trip?

Will look at those Ligurian beach towns.

Thanks,
OP

Here is an example.

https://www.atlasrideco.com/destinations/italy/finale-ligure

More accessible than Cinque Terre and will be a million times less crowded.

DP- how is that area more accessible than Cinque Terre from Rome, Florence, etc, it looks much farther northwest.

Just generally from the main train lines because it's only 45 minutes from Genoa along a major secondary line along the coast. Cinque Terre takes a few transfers to get to because you have to go to Pisa, then regional line to LA Spezia, then local line to the Cinque Terre.

But yes if starting much further south it's more out of the way. If going to/from Milan or Genoa it's very easy

So you suggest Rome and then either Milan or Genoa, with a couple of days in the Ligurian seaside towns, for our first time trip? I tend to hear people mention Rome, Florence, Venice as the “must’s” for first timers (although that doesn’t make it the right move!).

Thanks again,
OP

Possibly? More like just offering a different way to tilt the trip. We went to a nearby Ligurian area and really enjoyed it. Just seemed like a better match for what you described than Cinque Terre.

Personally I love love Rome, less so Florence (but still enjoyed it), and less so Venice (because of the crowds). I could see kids this age getting "museumed out" by the time they got to Florence. I could also see starting in Florence for 3-4 days, then maybe a day in Genoa to walk around and eat great food, then 3 days in a beach town, then train to Milan to fly back.

Definitely wouldn't spend significant time in Genoa or Milan.

Might instead go to Lake Como for the outdoors time? That's even closer to Milan than the Ligurian beach towns. I could see starting in Florence for culture/museums, then a few days in a town like Parma or Modena to eat like crazy. Then train to Milan and pick up a car to drive to Lake Como and enjoy the lake and mountains for 4 days, flying back out of Milan.