Italy, does this sound ok or too much coming and going?

[chesschessandmorechess]

2 adults and 2 children age 15 and 10. Travelling in July or August.

Fly to Marco Polo
4 nights in Venice

Train to Verona
2 nights in Verona

Train to Pisa
2 nights in Pisa

Train to Naples
Tansfer to Positano or Amalfi 6 nights

Naples Fly home

We're off to Rome soon so that's why it's not on the itinerary.

It would be lovely to hear from someone who has done something similar and how they found the experience.

If we don't do this we will go to Singapore for 10 nights on a nice easy package holiday with Emirates.

One night is enough in Pisa and Verona, .Florence would be preferable. It will be hot and busy at that time of year

Venice is always expensive, and can be very smelly in July/August. Stay in Padova, which is lovely in its own right, and get the train into Venice.

Half a day is fine for Pisa unless you are an art history obsessive, in which case a whole day is enough.

Verona is £££ as it will be opera season. If you aren't going to the opera, I'd skip it.

The first thought I had reading your travel plan was not about the moving around but about crowds. Immense crowds.
Venice is gorgeous. Venice is packed in July August. Which is fine if you plan for it and also plan less packed days in between packed destinations.
Verona is so lovely and I would absolutely plan to include a night at the arena. Your husband will need to pack long pants if you want good seats.
Verona will be quite busy as well.
But what busy means, you will find out on the Amalfi coast. Without a boat in July/August, you are in with queues everywhere.To get on a boat or ferry, to get on a bus, and stuck in traffic jam, since there is only 1 road.
Beaches are tiny tiny tiny. Maiori is the only decent size. Most beaches are privately run, so you need to rent a bed for the day. And most of the time, you have a zillion boats in front of them.

What about changing the itinerary a bit, and moving away from the typical American/UK tourist spots. Italy's East coast is amazing. Start in Venice, but less nights. 3 is plenty. Then yes, one night in Verona, morning train from Venice, spend the day, then opera, then lovely breakfast and move to Ravenna. Real Italian feeling and great shops! Marina di Ravenna is 45 min by bike and you have lovely dunes and pine forest.
And then, the good stuff start as you make you way down South and away from foreign tourists and crowds. San Benedetto del Tronto, San Vito Chietino, and a must see, Vieste. Then in Polignano a Mare you get a bit of the old town and cliff vibe from the Amalfi coast, minus suffocating crowds. Then finish up in Bari.
If you skip Ravenna you have more train from Bologna, but that would be a pity.
Trains and buses run down the coast.

Look up the cities I mentioned. Go for authenticity. Away from clichés.

I’d question your timings. There’s very little to see in Pisa other than the tower and that’s ten minutes. You don’t need four nights in Venice - even if you do the islands, two full days is fine. I’ve done Verona and Venice as long weekend breaks in Sept/Easter/ May half term and they’re much more enjoyable.

Honestly Italian beaches in the summer are rammed. The Italians love socialising on the beach and it’s really not enjoyable.

What about Venice and Verona (accessible by train), then train to the lakes?

Wrong time of year for a trip like this. Loads of businesses will be shut in August. Easter or Whit be better. I lived in Italy for a long time. Most people go to the mountains or coast as it’s too hot to be wandering around cities.

Agree one night is enough in Verona and Pisa,. Pisa, apart from the tower doesn't have a lot going on. I'd maybe skip both, go to Lake Garda for 4 nights then get a train from Milan to Naples. I wouldn't do the heaving throngs in Amalfi or Positano in August either to be fair. What do your kids like doing? My dd at that age would have properly kicked off about being dragged round places in the heat. From Naples I would do Pompeii, Vesuvius, Herculaneum, the underground tours etc. Ischia for some beach.

It sounds like a bit of an adult trip that I would do in May or September, not something I would do with kids, and definitely not in August.

I love Venice and could easily spend two weeks there, but I wouldn’t go that time of year. It’s much more atmospheric later in the year, November time.

I wouldn’t save Venice for later in the year and spend that time in Naples and surrounding islands. You could do your 6 nights on the Amalfi coast (I wouldn’t stay in Positano though, I’d split it up, Ravello is beautiful for example), then use the four nights you’ve gained from losing Venice on Capri, Ischia, and Prochida. Naples is amazing too. I’d be tempted to sack off Verona and Pisa and use it all to do the Amalfi coast properly and the islands. Also spend a few nights in Naples, do Herculaneum on the way down.

Don’t spend so long in Pisa, drop into Lucca instead. It is a lovely quiet walled city. Very unique and will be a relaxing break in your otherwise very touristy holiday.

We went to Sorrento in Feb half term and visited Naples Pompeii Erclano Vesuvius and Positano. It was great but we did hear a lot about how heaving it was in the summer. For example we got a bus from Sorrento to Positano at 10am and the bus was 75% full with tourists in February God knows what it's like in summer. Stories on Tripadvisor on how the buses are always full on the return journey in summer. The beaches are very small. I wouldn't have wanted to go to Pompeii and Vesusvias in summer far too hot.

Thank you for the responses, there's some really good advice. I will look up some of the other suggestions too.
We usually have our main long haul holiday at Easter then a European city break in the summer but with GCSE's next year we can't go away at Easter.
We're going to Rome in August so maybe the manic crowds then will put us off Italian cities for next year.

Skip Pisa unless you have an excellent reason to go there!
Would you consider basing yourself in Umbria? We went to lake trasimeno in august (a while back now) and had lovely trips to Florence, Lucca etc

Sounds like a lot , also august in Italy in my experience with children would be a no way
especially with the ever more roasting summers ,

We recently did something similar, with a couple of nights in each city and train journeys in between. It was exhausting after a week with all the moving about. I think if I was doing it again, we would be more tempted to stay in one place longer and just do day trips, as faffing around with the luggage was tiring.

My other question would be how are you with heat?

Rome will be sweltering in August.

I've been to Ravenna in August and it was awful, those churches do not give you any respite.

I was going to suggest places like Bologna or Padova, but then remembered that when we researched 'Bologna in August' for our trip, Google gave us a lot of articles telling us that going in August was insane.

We learned the hard way that they were correct.

Rome in August will be totally miserable. I was there in early July least year (not my choice) and it wasn’t good. I felt ill most of the time I was there.

I would just spend a week at Lake Garda. It will be very hot and the kids will be bored witless with sightseeing, and you will all be very frazzled. Do the cities in spring or autumn, particularly if it's your first time there. We did do a sightseeing whistlestop tour of Italy in the summer just after the pandemic but were hopping back onto a air conditioned coach and we didn't have to do any thinking or planning, it was very easy. And DH and I had been to some if the cities before so knew what to expect. DDs were both in their teens and loved it - but all the same we had a very chilled out break for our next holiday.

I agree that doing all that in peak season and hot weather would not be enjoyable imo.

Onviously everyone tolerates heat differently. I've learned that I can only cope with Mediterranean countries in Autumn or Spring.

If you want to do a long, multi city holiday in the summer, how about Scandinavia?

We've done a few Italy trips with kids, but not in August, and the itinerary seems well paced to me. Amalfi is lovely, but 6 nights seems quite long, we did some lovely walks and visited some nice towns, you can do boat trips to Capri, but for relaxation time there is just a smallish pebbly beach which was empty in April but seems like every inch of it will be covered in sun loungers, you have to hire, in high season. Positano the same. I think there is a sandy beach near Paestum, a bit further down the coast, which might offer you better options for downtime, but I've not been myself.

This has reminded me of our honeymoon trip to Venice. We were nearby, in Padova, in August.

DH told me it would be horrible, too hot, too crowded and we should go another time. I went on and on about it so we did a day trip.

It was absolutely vile, you had to elbow yourself a tiny bit of space in San Marco. The trip is now remembered for the picture DH took of me fainting on the vaporetto.

We went back at a more sensible time of year, stayed a fortnight and still felt we had more to see. But it depends what you like on holiday, everyone else I know has gone to Venice for a weekend break and felt they had done what they wanted.

I second spending a week in the Lakes and if you must a week in the south. I honestly think you need to completely rethink this trio. There are lots of lovely things to do in Italy but the places you mention will be hell on earth in July and August.

I don't know how you feel about Lake Garda or how much you've done of it already but you could

Fly to Milan Bergamot good for the lakes (the city looks lovely for a day trip). Or malpensa depending on what suits train transfers. Milan itself is fab but more adult trip I think. Though as a stopover before going to the lakes I reckon the kids would enjoy going up the Duomo terraces. Maybe. If you must sightsee Italian cities in August.

Stay Peschiera del Garda it has a train station
Day trips to Venice, Verona (go to the opera!!!), Padua, Parma
Go to Gardaland
Days chilling in a lido or if you love to sightsee then boat trips to Sirmione etc. I think you could do longer than a week. It will be cooler in the lakes.

I'd them move to the North of the lake if you must move around so much and stay in Riva del Garda and sightsee by boat around the lake, Cable car to Malcesine Etc.

If you are hell bent on a beach break as well and love to move around I don't think you need to travel so far south as the Amalfi coast, save that for a different trip (not August). The ligurian coast is gorgeous (go via genoa and head to stay in San Remo,could fly back from Nice and take in Monte carlo and Eze on the way back to the airport.

The Lucca suggestion is really good or the coast around there, then you can day trip Pisa or some tuscany faves. Fly back from Pisa.

Stay in the North and ideally the lakes. Or transfer to a vineyard stay with a pool around the veneto. Drink franciacorte. So many nice things to do instead of a tick list of tourist trail destinations.

Yes the dates of the opera in Verona make a difference to the cost of accommodation etc.