Anonymous wrote:Italians love children and restaurants welcome them. You'll be fine.

Anonymous wrote:We’ve been to a dozen different places in Italy. While Venice was lovely, the food wasn’t our favorite.

I think someone on DCUM once posted that Venice is the McDonalds of Italy. While I wouldn’t go that far, they aren’t completely off base.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is hilarious and everything wrong with both this forum and travel grumps in general.

Where do we start?

- seasickness in Venice? Um, no.
- smelly canals in Venice? Sure it happens, but not often. So what? It’s Venice!
- Nobody goes to Venice anymore, it’s too crowded. Sure, Jan.
- too many nights in Rome? OP said they like to take things slow
- the kids won’t remember the trip? So what? You still take kids to the Outer Banks or whatever dodgy beach you go to in the summer and thankfully they won’t remember that either.
- it’s hot? Yes, it is Italy in the summer. I’m sure OP knew that before booking. So what, you dress for it.
- too much walking? Sorry you can’t bring your minivan everywhere you go. Somehow they’ll be fine.

OP, go. Have fun! Sure the kids may not remember it - but you will. Italy is an amazing country and great for kids. I’d do what a PP poster suggested and take the train from Rome to Venice and stay at the JW if you can swing it. And see about flying out of Venice. Good luck!

I know three families whose kids got sick on a boat or immediately afterwards in Venice. And one family discovered their kid is deathly afraid of small boats (think: hysterical screaming and crying).

FTR, my kids have been on boats since they were babies, so I’m not a nervous Nelly.

Have you been to Venice when it rains? When it’s cold? The water can be rough—and the weather can be pretty awful.

I say all this as someone who adores Venice.

You’re right. It gets very cold in Venice in the summer which is not the rainy season when it can flood.

The op is going over spring break—presumably around the first week in April…when it is likely a bit chilly and rainy (at least that’s what I’ve heard from countless families who traveled to Italy (including Venice) over spring break in recent years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is hilarious and everything wrong with both this forum and travel grumps in general.

Where do we start?

- seasickness in Venice? Um, no.
- smelly canals in Venice? Sure it happens, but not often. So what? It’s Venice!
- Nobody goes to Venice anymore, it’s too crowded. Sure, Jan.
- too many nights in Rome? OP said they like to take things slow
- the kids won’t remember the trip? So what? You still take kids to the Outer Banks or whatever dodgy beach you go to in the summer and thankfully they won’t remember that either.
- it’s hot? Yes, it is Italy in the summer. I’m sure OP knew that before booking. So what, you dress for it.
- too much walking? Sorry you can’t bring your minivan everywhere you go. Somehow they’ll be fine.

OP, go. Have fun! Sure the kids may not remember it - but you will. Italy is an amazing country and great for kids. I’d do what a PP poster suggested and take the train from Rome to Venice and stay at the JW if you can swing it. And see about flying out of Venice. Good luck!

I know three families whose kids got sick on a boat or immediately afterwards in Venice. And one family discovered their kid is deathly afraid of small boats (think: hysterical screaming and crying).

FTR, my kids have been on boats since they were babies, so I’m not a nervous Nelly.

Have you been to Venice when it rains? When it’s cold? The water can be rough—and the weather can be pretty awful.

I say all this as someone who adores Venice.

You’re right. It gets very cold in Venice in the summer which is not the rainy season when it can flood.

Anonymous wrote:Went to Italy with kids that age. We went to Rome (4 nights), an agriturismo in Umbria (2 nights) and Siena (3 nights). It was a great trip. We had babysitters for all evenings in Rome and Siena (found through friends in Italy) so it was nice to get out every evening sans kids.
During the day we planned kid friendly excursions and let the younger one do naps in the stroller. Plenty of stops to run around in parks or a grassy patch. Lots of pizza and gelato! It was a great trip.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is hilarious and everything wrong with both this forum and travel grumps in general.

Where do we start?

- seasickness in Venice? Um, no.
- smelly canals in Venice? Sure it happens, but not often. So what? It’s Venice!
- Nobody goes to Venice anymore, it’s too crowded. Sure, Jan.
- too many nights in Rome? OP said they like to take things slow
- the kids won’t remember the trip? So what? You still take kids to the Outer Banks or whatever dodgy beach you go to in the summer and thankfully they won’t remember that either.
- it’s hot? Yes, it is Italy in the summer. I’m sure OP knew that before booking. So what, you dress for it.
- too much walking? Sorry you can’t bring your minivan everywhere you go. Somehow they’ll be fine.

OP, go. Have fun! Sure the kids may not remember it - but you will. Italy is an amazing country and great for kids. I’d do what a PP poster suggested and take the train from Rome to Venice and stay at the JW if you can swing it. And see about flying out of Venice. Good luck!

I know three families whose kids got sick on a boat or immediately afterwards in Venice. And one family discovered their kid is deathly afraid of small boats (think: hysterical screaming and crying).

FTR, my kids have been on boats since they were babies, so I’m not a nervous Nelly.

Have you been to Venice when it rains? When it’s cold? The water can be rough—and the weather can be pretty awful.

I say all this as someone who adores Venice.

Anonymous wrote:This thread is hilarious and everything wrong with both this forum and travel grumps in general.

Where do we start?

- seasickness in Venice? Um, no.
- smelly canals in Venice? Sure it happens, but not often. So what? It’s Venice!
- Nobody goes to Venice anymore, it’s too crowded. Sure, Jan.
- too many nights in Rome? OP said they like to take things slow
- the kids won’t remember the trip? So what? You still take kids to the Outer Banks or whatever dodgy beach you go to in the summer and thankfully they won’t remember that either.
- it’s hot? Yes, it is Italy in the summer. I’m sure OP knew that before booking. So what, you dress for it.
- too much walking? Sorry you can’t bring your minivan everywhere you go. Somehow they’ll be fine.

OP, go. Have fun! Sure the kids may not remember it - but you will. Italy is an amazing country and great for kids. I’d do what a PP poster suggested and take the train from Rome to Venice and stay at the JW if you can swing it. And see about flying out of Venice. Good luck!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP again - I understand the hesitancy about bringing young kids to Europe, but sorry they're going lol. We had a great trip in Portugal. Everyone got to do what they wanted to do. Was it a much slower pace than if I had gone by myself? Yes, but my husband is also a slow traveler so he actually liked the slower pace better. We went all over in Portugal - Lisbon, Porto, Douro Valley, Sintra, Cascais, etc. etc. My 5 YO walked the entire day in Sintra and was fine. She loved the castles. I am not worried. My parents will also be going with us and that helped with the kids. I plan a mix of kid/adult activities, and we take breaks to rest/go to the playground etc.

That's why I allocated so much time to Rome, because we'll be slow, and that's fine by me. The 5 yo loved Portugal, still talks about it. Will she remember it in 20 years? Who knows, but we'll always have the pictures, and we (the parents) will remember.

So back to the original question - I had originally considered flying into Venice and out of Rome, but didn't see any direct flights to Venice and wasn't sure how kid-friendly it would be.

I'd take the train to Venice and stay at the JW Marriott. It has its own island so if you need to get away from the hustle it's very easy to do, amazing breakfast, pool, etc. You can get a townhouse-style suite with a little yard to let them out to play as well. Take the boat shuttle in for a few hours until the kids are exhausted and then back to the island. It would be amazing!