6 days between Lake Garda and Rome - where to visit?

[Itchyandscratchy]

There are 4 of us, dds are 16 & 12. We’re starting in Venice then going to Lake Garda for some lakeside loveliness. Then nothing booked until last 3 days in Rome before flying home.

We’re travelling everywhere by train and should also say dh & I are going to Florence next week for my birthday present.

We have 6 days with nothing planned yet so do we travel down through Tuscany and stop off a couple of times (if so where?); revisit Florence because it’ll be worth visiting twice and the kids will enjoy; or go further south for something different (Sorrento? Naples?) then travel back up to Rome for the last bit?

We love eating(!), cultural sites, museums, art & nice views. Any tips gratefully received.
Thank you.

Verona is gorgeous, and if you’re going in the summer you can catch an opera in the stunning Roman amphitheatre. I took my kids to Aida there, and they loved it.

Genoa, Pisa, Sienna would be my suggestion.

Ooo fabulous thank you. I thought we might go to Verona while we’re staying in Lake Garda but I guess that could be our first stop after, and we could stay a night.
Genoa, Pisa & Sienna all sound good. Any of those worth staying a bit longer than others?
Thank you.

There really is nothing in Pisa once you've seen the tower! Genova is nice - interesting maritime museum, great town centre. You could go walking in the Cinque Terre if that is your sort of thing?

People seem to rate Bologna for food.

Pisa is a let down. I wouldn’t bother with it.

Florence. There’s always a good reason to return to Florence.

If you’re in Lake Garda. How about a day or two in Milan.

Genoa is a bit out of the way and we were unimpressed. Not much in Pisa other than the tower and duomo. Siena is pleasant, may be Perugia or Lake Trasimeno on the way over, then San Gimignano and Volterra. Elba is supposed to be a nice coastal point.

Fab. Will do some investigating. So much better to work from recommendations - thanks x

Elba - you'd have to get a ferry though!

Skip Milan! Expensive & relatively architecturally uninteresting! Verona/Siena/Bologna are all worth seeing

Skip Milan! Expensive & relatively architecturally uninteresting! Verona/Siena/Bologna are all worth seeing

I agree about the architecture but there are plenty of other things to see and do.

I’m there for 6 days in May and I’ve only one day and evening where I’ve nothing planned I’ve done that deliberately.

There is plenty to do - just in my opinion having spent a lot of time in Italy was that it wasn’t desperately attractive & food cost twice as much as where we’d come from. If I’d gone to Milan on a trip with girlfriends after receiving my yearly bonus I’m sure I would have had a great time - 3 days with a 6 year old at the end of a train trip it was a bit of a damp squib. I think it’s a bit of a marmite place!

We went to Florence in February - I’m not a fan (knew this before we went but DS(15) wanted to go). We did a day trip to Bologna and I really liked it! It has a better tower than Pisa as well. Not picturesque but it’s taller and leans more and has a cool wooden staircase.

We have travelled allot around Italy (by train with teen). Parts of Piedmont are stunning but plagued with mosquito's in the summer (so best to avoid). I would head down to Rapallo (which is really lovely) on the Italian Riveria where you can explore Portofino and the rest of that coast line. The Cinque Terre is lovely and so is Portovenere ...there are lots of boat trips around the area too.....six days will just disappear (The ideal base would be Rapallo ,Santa Margherita or Camogli). I love the area because you don't get allot of brits there ...although its not cheap but very easy to explore by train.

If you go down to Sorrento...again its lovely and fairly easy to explore by train/boat or bus. Positano is stunning and you can do boat trips to Capri...the beaches tend to be privately owned and quite expensive for sunbeds etc. I would not look to visit Pompeii at this time of year its far too exposed and really hot an unbearable in the summer.

I would say book your train tickets when they first come out ...quite a lot of them have large discounts on the first few days (I think you can book 4 months ahead)...I would also travel business class because its fairly cheap if you book early and the extra comfort is worth it on long distance trains ...from memory we did Naples to Milan for around £40...children who are 12 are still classed as children on some of the trains (not all).

Its a shame you have booked flights because there is a sleeper train from Paris to Venice which is really affordable (£44pp) if booked when tickets are first released and its a great experience for kids.

@Jane There is plenty to do

Ive found that what Id normally do as 'fillers' outside of the historical stuff are making up the main body of this trip and whilst I wasn't initially looking forward to going I now am. Im going to be there for 4 days on my own and two days with my friend who's coming from Switzerland to meet me for a couple of days. After that its back to Switzerland with her and thats the bit of the holiday Im really looking forward to*

OP, If you did venture down South (and you could because train travel is very fast and very easy in Italy) you could visit Herculaneum which is just outside of Naples. Its a much smaller ruin than Pompeii but in many ways its a far better one because you get a much better idea of what day to day life was like. It also means you then have time for a trip to the Museum in Naples to see things like the medical instruments used in the day. It can be great fun trying to work out what they were used for but there are also things on display that are as much the same today as they were then. Its amazing.

Then there's the Erotica room. Thats perhaps not for your 12 year old though and I imagine a 16 year old would want to go round it without their mum and dad.

If it was me, I’d go to the coast; somewhere like Forte dei Marmi or
Viareggio
But if culture and museums are your main criteria, I would go back to Florence.

We loved Elba. There's a shipwreck you can go see with a snorkel. The kids loved jumping off the rocks/ cliffs into the sea. The beaches are amazing too.

If you can do Elba then I would do it. Absolutely wonderful place for a few days. If not, Firenze for a couple of days if you think DCs would enjoy it, then south of Rome to Sorrento and surrounding area, but not Napoli.

Bologna is fab, very student-y, great food (try the Mercato del Erbe). Lots of tiny churches, good museums, but not as mad busy as Florence. And Siena is unbelievable, so beautiful. It has a cathedral that looks like it’s made of giant humbugs.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I must admit the one things I’m nervous about is the mosquitos. I absolutely hate them and react really badly to bites. Will slather myself in Skin So Sort and hope for the best!

Skin So SOFT

I assume you are doing gardaland during your stay at the lake? A lot of people don't seem to realise it exists. With teenagers I'd definitely pencil in 2 days.

Agree with Gardaland and there is also a good water park there too ...we loved Sirmione too...Gardaland is also open in the evening and less crowded.
You will find the mossies pretty bad in Venice - important to have A/C in your accommodation ...because if windows are open you will get bites...also pack a light rain cape/jacket...there are quite a lot of violent thunderstorms in the summer both in the Lakes and Venice.