October half term break - Italy

[SimoneSpeaksSoftly]

Considering going to Italy for the half-term October break and am curious what has worked well for other families at that time of year? Excluding Rome- not interested in going during the Jubilee year plus I'd rather wait till my youngest (who's 6) is a bit older and has more stamina. Not really looking for a beach holiday given the time of year but I get a bit hung up reading blogs about Italy with kids because a lot of the suggestions center around having a pool or beach access, lol.🙃 Also would probably prefer to split the time between a city and smaller town rather than spending the entire week in big cities. But otherwise have flexibility for flights to most of the major airports (and could go into one and out or another).

Anyway, mainly crowd-sourcing at this point but curious what places you and your kids have enjoyed in the fall!

Sicily - we did a 2 centre trip to Ortigia and then Taormina in October. Weather was gorgeous. Both beautiful towns with some archeological stuff and also Mt Etna.

Lake Garda would be ideal then. A lot of the crowds have gone and there’s lots to do with young children. When we stayed, we did lots of boat trips, bike rides along the lakeside path, a castle, the cable car, Gardaland, Parco Natura Viva, mini golf, inflatable park, a little train ride….

Oh interesting, I assumed it would be too late for Lake Garda. We also thought about Venice and that would be easy to combine in one trip. I'll have to look into this more.

@MissAmbrosia what you descibed is my dream but the flights to Catania are a bit rough in terms of arrival/departure times. Sounds so wonderful though.....

Personally, I would go south. If you do go to the lakes check ferry times carefully as well as other places for seasonal hours. e.g. not sure Gardaland would still be open in October.

Yes, Gardaland is open in October. They go all out for Halloween! www.gardaland.it/en/explore-gardaland/events-special-openings/magic-halloween/

Be aware that Lake Garda area is likely to get quite chilly evenings / early mornings at that time of year. Still quite pleasant in the day time. It's fine as long as you are aware and pack accordingly.

Fly to Naples or Salerno and visit Pompeii, Herculaneum, Amalfi etc?

We did a week in Sorrento one Oct half term. Weather was nice and we used Sorrento as our base to visit Pompeii, Vesuvius and Herculaneum by train ( really easy) and Amalfi by bus. Great holiday.

Stayed in a large family room at the Antiche Mura hotel. The kids loved it.

We've been to Sorrento in October 3 years ago and it perfect - nice weather a and not so busy

I second Sorrento!

Another who did Sorrento and Pompeii in October half-term. Warm enough that we used the outdoor pool...but no-one else did!

We did this in 2023, based ourselves in Verona with three children, did Venice by train for a day and Lake Garda another day and just enjoyed the culture and the food and atmosphere in Verna. Would highly recommend.