Italy with 13 and 11 year old - where best?

[okydokethen]

I'd like to take my DC to Italy.
It's been years since I've been but I've seen a bit of the country, Venice, Rome, lake Como, Florence, pisa, Milan. I've loved it all and wondered if there a route to see as many sights as possible.

They like sight seeing/history and shopping. I like beautiful views and architecture.. Not sure where would be best.

Bologna and head towards Siena

It really depends on how long you have got and how much you want to spend!

Dd did a rail trip last summer. Flew in to Turin, went via Genoa to the Cinque Terre. La Spezia to Florence, then onto Rome and ended up in Naples. Bit whistlestop by they saw so much. I would also suggest Sicily - Taormina, Ortigia, Noto , Ragusa etc and if you have longer could also add Palermo and Cefalu.

I did a rail trip through Italy with my teens. We went to Turin, Venice, Sorrento and Pompeii. I would have taken them to Rome as well but we’d been before. It would’ve also worked to stop off in Florence but we only had about 8 days. Trains were great and we did Airbnb’s.

Ooh I did naples and pompeii at that age and loved it.

I don't have children, but have been to Italy many times. What time of year are you thinking of going? I'd avoid August and summer due to long queues and the heat in many areas, esp the south! Some trips you might enjoy and would be memorable:

-Pompeii/Naples/Rome? DH and I flew into Naples, got the local Circumvesuviana train to Pompeii and Heracleum. The main artifacts from Pompeii are in the museum in Pompeii. We did 3 days there, then got a fast train to Rome for the rest of the week and loved that too. In hindsight, I wished we'd had more time in Rome, but the main sites were still doable- Vatican museums and the other mains sites we wanted to see.

-Sicily? We flew in Palermo and saw the Catacombs, street markets and many other things, train to Agrigento to see the sites. Very similar to the Parthenon in Athens. Again, the main artifacts were in the local museum. Then got a coast across the island to Catania.

-Another trip I planned, but didn't book due to covid, was in the north of the country. Flying into Pisa, travelling to Florence for a few days, then onto Bologna.

Not more than a week, budget £5000

It'll be just me and DC and I'd be terrified to drive but train seems like an idea, I suppose if I had everything booked in advance it would be less nerve wracking.

Sicily sounds lovely... lots of ideas here thank you. I will research as a lot of these I don't know anything about.

We’ve done a trip with DC that combined Rome and southern Tuscany, and another that combined Venice and Lake Garda. Both worked very well. Next plan is Sicily, or possibly Naples/Amalfi/Pompeii.

Venice and lake Garda sounds wonderful!

Lake Garda was fab. Bardolino area lots to do.

I did a trip this summer with kids using trains. Flew to Milan Bergamo with Ryanair. Train to Pechiera del Garda (Bottom of Lake Garda) was very cheap and easy, taxi to accommodation in Lazise in Lake Garda - loads to do there on the lake, riding electric bikes along lakeshore path, sightseeing then train to Venice, had 2 nights there then flew home. Kids loved it. Rather than booking trains in advance just go to the ticket office when you get there and buy tickets for the next train is much easier

@Toomuchleopard wow that sounds great!

If you stay in the SE of Lake Garda - Pechiera/Lasize/ Bardolino/Garda you can get around very easily by bus which are very regular and cheap, taxis are expensive and hard to come by. We did a day out to Simione by ferry which was great for sightseeing and took our swimmers as there are lots of little beaches where you can swim.

We based ourselves in Pechiera del Garda did a few days in different lake towns by boat but also days out to Verona ( we flew into there ) as well as a day in Brescia.