Italy with 2 kids....I don't even know where to start!

sunnydays99 · December 2012

DH and I are in the very beginning stages of planning a trip to Italy. We are thinking spring of '13 (May or June probably) and we'd be taking our kids who will be 3.5 and 1 at that point. The trip would likely be 2 weeks but possibly 3 depending on prices.

We like to do sight seeing and museums. We would the trip to be fairly laid back and flexible since we'd have the LO's with us. We're considering doing Rome, Florence and Venice.

So...a few questions to get me started in the planning process!

1) Of May and June is there a better time to go or is the weather and tourist population about the same either month?

2) If we only end up doing 2 weeks is 3 cities doable or should we cut it back to 2? Of the 3 cities I listed which one would you cut out if needed?

3) We prefer staying in suites (with separate bedrooms and a kitchen or at least kitchenette) when traveling with the kids. What are our best options in Italy - a private rental through vrbo or a hotel suite?

4) Would we want to rent a car in any of those cities or would we be fine walking and doing public transportation?

Any other info would be great! We've traveled a lot with DS but this would be our first big trip with DD as well.

Obsession · December 2012

lolonyo:
1) Of May and June is there a better time to go or is the weather and tourist population about the same either month? We went in June and it was slightly hot but bearable.
2) If we only end up doing 2 weeks is 3 cities doable or should we cut it back to 2? Of the 3 cities I listed which one would you cut out if needed? We did Barcelona, Rome, and Venice in 2 weeks. It was very doable.
3) We prefer staying in suites (with separate bedrooms and a kitchen or at least kitchenette) when traveling with the kids. What are our best options in Italy - a private rental through vrbo or a hotel suite? We rented an apt. through VRBO
4) Would we want to rent a car in any of those cities or would we be fine walking and doing public transportation? We did public transport everywhere
Any other info would be great! We've traveled a lot with DS but this would be our first big trip with DD as well.
A lot of places in Rome did not allow strollers so we ended up using the ergo and leaving the stroller outside. Eating was rough because Italians eat really late and my son passes out by 7:30 so we usually ate a HUGE lunch then had a small pizza or something for dinner in the apt. Italians LOVE children. LOVE THEM. At the vatican, if you are going into the museum and it is hot outside, find an attendant - they will let you skip to the front of the line. In restaurants, owners wives would disappear with our son to play with him while we ate. It is stupid dirty so bring lots of shout. Another plus for an apartment - you can do a wash in the machine if they have one and then not pack as much or have as much to haul around.

sunnydays99 · December 2012

Thank you Obsession!

alithebride · December 2012

There is no reason to rent a car in any of the cities. The train system is excellent.

Littlejen22 · January 2013

I would do one city per week with little kids. For me personally switching hotels and cities with kids and their gear is a lot of work and wears on the kids even I they are enjoying it. Oh, and I would not rent a car or you will need to rent car seats or bring them which is a PITA, we are psyched to do Hon lg Kong this year because no car=no car seats.