Family Travel Unpacked: Make the Most of Travel With Kids

Your Italy with Kids Game Plan

• Melissa Conn • Season 1 • Episode 24

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 46:41

Planning a family trip to Italy? Learn how to create the perfect Italy with kids itinerary from a mom who's done it three times at different ages. Discover how to choose your bases, navigate transportation (trains vs rental cars), avoid tourist crowds, and find family-friendly accommodations. Plus, essential tips for managing Celiac disease in Italy, staying safe from pickpockets, and making the most of your time with practical packing advice and money-saving strategies.

Episode highlights:

  • How to choose 2-3 base locations and use day trips for variety
  • Trains vs rental cars: when to use each (and the ZTL zones to avoid!)
  • 5 must-show-your-kids experiences: Colosseum, Venice canals, working farms, Pompeii, and the Dolomites
  • Why Italy is one of the BEST countries for traveling with Celiac disease
  • Pickpocket prevention strategies that actually work
  • Money tips: which credit cards work best and when you actually need cash
  • How the Italy experience changes from toddlers to teens

Italy travel essentials:

Italy travel info:

Don't miss this inspiring, practical travel with kids podcast hosted by family travel expert Melissa Conn, founder of The Family Voyage, certified Child Passenger Safety Technician, and mom of two who proves family travel is achievable for everyone.

Blog The Family Voyage

Get your free ebook The Busy Mom's Guide to Free Travel

Check out my favorite travel gear and my Etsy shop!

Chase Sapphire credit cards

Melissa

Hey there and welcome back to Family Travel Unpacked. I'm your host, Melissa, and in case you're new here, you can always find tons of detailed destination guides, travel tips, hacks, and more on my website, thefamilyvoyage.com And if you've been enjoying the show, be sure to hit follow wherever you're listening so you never miss an episode. And also please drop a five star review. It really helps other families find the show. Today we're talking all about visiting Italy with kids, and I'm so excited about this episode because Italy's one of those destinations that really has something for everyone in the family. Whether you've got a kid who loves history, one who's all about the food, or just a kid who wants to run around in beautiful places, Italy delivers. Now, I'll be honest, Italy can feel overwhelming when you first start planning. There's just so much to see and do. Rome, Florence, Venice, Amalfi, Tuscany, the Dolomites, and that's before we even get into all the smaller towns and regions. So today I'm gonna walk you through exactly how to plan a trip to Italy that works for your family, from figuring out where to go, what to pack, and how to prep. I am coming at this with a lot of real experience. We've done Italy three times with kids at very different ages and stages, so I'll be sharing what we've learned each time and how our approach has evolved as our family's grown up. We'll start with some big picture planning topics. Then I'll tell you about some of my absolute favorite things to do in Italy with kids. And finally we'll wrap up with my brain dump of real life tips that you'll wanna know once you get on the ground. Let me start with probably the biggest mistake I see families make when they're planning Italy, trying to see everything. I get it. You're spending all this time and money to get there. You wanna maximize it. But here's the thing. Italy's not a place that you do in one trip. It's a place you'll return to again and again, and each time you'll find something new. For a first family trip to Italy. If you only have a week or 10 days, I recommend that you just pick two or three places to use as your bases any more than that, and you're spending all of your time packing, unpacking, and getting oriented in new places instead of actually experiencing Italy. Now, that doesn't mean you're limited to just seeing those places because you can absolutely add day trips to have really diverse experiences without the hassle of changing hotels. For example, you might base yourself in Rome for three or four nights, then head to the Tuscan countryside for a couple of nights and finish off in Venice for a few nights. From Rome, you can day trip to Pompeii and Herculaneum around Tuscany. You could check out a city like Sienna and Hilltop Towns like Cortona and Montepuciano. Maybe even hop over to Assisi in neighboring Umbria from Venice. You could visit Verona. You're seeing a ton of Italy, but you're only changing hotels twice. On our very first trip to Italy, this was back when our son was almost two. We were lucky and we had two full weeks, so we were okay moving around a little bit more. He was young enough that we could just kind of bring him along wherever we wanted to go, as long as there was a little time for him to run around, and we built in a nap in the stroller or carrier after lunch. We started in Venice, then took the train to Florence, rented a car to spend time in the Tuscan countryside, and finally dropped the car and finished off in Rome. It was a lot, but we had a great time and we managed to have so many different experiences. Though I'll say, by the time we got to Rome, it was September, I was absolutely exhausted and I was dying in the heat, so I was convinced that I was getting sick or something. But then on our last morning there, I found out I was pregnant with our daughter. So maybe some of my exhaustion was less about the itinerary and more about that. But the beauty of choosing just a few bases is that ideally you're not exhausted from constant movement, but you're also not getting bored, staying in just one place the whole time. And honestly, with little kids having a home base where they know where the bathroom is, they know where the neighborhood gelato shop is and where their bed is, that familiarity really helps with those inevitable moments where they get overwhelmed. Our second trip to Italy was during our year long family travel adventure, and we took a completely different approach. We'd been blasting from country to country for about nine months at that point, so we chose to spend an entire week in Rome, just Rome, as a reset between all of the more intense travels that we'd been doing. The kids were six and a half and about to turn four, and it was really nice for them to just be kids, even if we were in a really special place. We mostly sat around eating pizza and pasta, wandered through Piazzas and let the kids run around parks and watched street performers. We did tour the Colosseum and we spent a lovely afternoon rowing boats in the Borghese Gardens, but there was no pressure to see everything or maximize every moment. We just lived in Rome for a week, like locals, and it was great. Okay, so let's say you've chosen your bases. Let's talk about how you're actually gonna get around Italy, because this is where things get kind of interesting. The short answer is it depends on where you're going. But you can absolutely mix and match your transportation within a single trip. Here's what you need to know about renting a car in Italy. First, you're required to have an international driving permit, an IDP. You can get this from AAA before you travel, and it's not expensive or complicated, but you do need it. Actually, just last year, AAA made it possible to get your IDP online, so it's super easy, but give yourself enough time. Second, and this is huge. Most Italian cities have what are called Z tls, which are restricted traffic zones in the historic centers. These areas don't allow tourist vehicles. And if you drive into one, you'll get a ticket. You might also get a ticket on the way out, and you might not find out until it's been weeks or months and the rental car company charges your credit card and adds they're processing fee on top. Don't ask me how I know. So renting a car makes the most sense for countryside areas- tuscany, Umbria, the Dolomites, exploring smaller towns. It gives you flexibility and the ability to stop at a random farm stand or pull over for photos in a vineyard. It's great for that. But for cities like Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan, you definitely don't want a car. You can't drive in the centers anyway. Parking's expensive and stressful, and honestly, you don't need it. On that first trip, when Jacob was a toddler, we picked up a rental car on the way out of Florence specifically to avoid dealing with ZTL issues. We had taken the train into Florence. We explored the city on foot for a few days, and then we grabbed the car as we were leaving. We spent a few lovely days in rural Tuscany, near Cortona, where having a car was perfect and necessary. We could explore little hill towns, stop at vineyards, drive the winding country roads. And then we just dropped the car off on our way into Rome and took public transportation the rest of the way. If you're primarily focused on the big cities, that's where trains come in. And Italian trains are actually fantastic for families. Kids often travel for free or huge discounts depending on their age and the type of train, especially if you book early; you might not get those discounts if you buy your tickets last minute. The trains are comfortable, they're frequent, and they connect all the major cities. You can book your tickets in advance for high speed trains, or if it's just a regional train, you can usually buy that at the station. And here's the thing, on a train, your kid can move around. They can go to the bathroom, look out the window, play games. It's way less stressful than keeping them contained in the car for hours, and often the trains are faster than the roads. This past summer we did northern Italy with the kids. They were 11 and almost 14, and we actually mixed our transportation methods, like I'm describing. We flew into different cities this time and we met up in Bologna. My son and I took the nonstop fast train from Rome to Bologna in just two hours, which is half as long as driving would've taken. We rented a car for exploring the Emilio Romagna region and getting around the Dolomites. Then we dropped it off when we were heading into Venice. The flexibility to choose the right transportation for each leg of the trip made everything smoother. So our approach, take the train between major cities, then rent a car when you get to an area where you wanna explore those smaller towns. You drop the car off when you're done with that portion of the trip and take the train to your next destination. Don't feel like you have to be committed to one transportation method for the whole trip. There are only a few situations when I'd recommend flying domestically within Italy, and that's mostly if you're going between the far north and the far south. For shorter distances, the trains are a lot more convenient because the stations are right in the middle of the cities. A lot of Italy's airports are pretty far from the city centers, so you might have to drive a half an hour on either end in addition to dealing with all those inconveniences of flying. So as you're planning your itinerary and figuring out your bases, keep that transportation peace in mind to see what makes sense and how you can put it all together. Now, let's talk about where you're actually gonna sleep, because this can be one of the trickier parts of planning Italy with kids. The challenge is that a lot of Italian hotels, especially in historic buildings, have really small rooms. The standard hotel room setup that works perfectly fine in the us, let's say two queen beds, that's not always available in Italy. And good luck adding a rollaway bed to accommodate a fifth kid. It's just not happening. So you'll often find yourself looking at apartment rentals, connecting rooms, or maybe family suites. And here's the thing, the properties that work well for families often book up early, especially if you're traveling during peak season, like spring break or summer vacation. This is not a wait and see kind of situation. Once you know your dates and you know where you wanna go, start looking at accommodations. I always search for places that explicitly say they accommodate families and I check for reviews from other parents. Look for places with kitchenettes if you want the option of keeping breakfast items on hand, or properties with washers if you wanna pack lighter and do laundry mid trip. When our kids were babies and toddlers, we almost always stayed in vacation rentals. On our recent Northern Italy trip, we did a mix of hotels and apartments. In Bologna we got a nice two bedroom vacation rental in the center of town, and it was really nice having the extra space, but like a lot of historic buildings, there was no elevator and wonky ac so keep those things in mind. It was fine for us because the kids are older and they can help carry the luggage up, but I don't think I'd wanna choose a four story walkup if I had babies and toddlers in tow. In the Dolomites we stayed a great property that I'll link to down in the show notes. Half of it is a hotel and the other half is apartments. That was great because we got a lot of hotel amenities, like a pool restaurant and super helpful front desk staff, but we were staying in the apartment section, so we had plenty of space. We didn't have our own washer and dryer there, but there was a laundry room in the building, so we were able to do a mid trip wash to cut down on what we had to pack. In Venice, we opted to transfer our chase points to Hyatt and book a suite at the Hyatt centric Murano. It's super reasonable on points, even for peak dates, and we were actually able to lock in a suite using just 18,000 points per night, plus a suite upgrade award I had earned from past Hyatt stays. The kids loved that room because the sleep sofa there actually separates into two twin beds, so there was no sharing needed for me, it was so nice to take that out of our cash budget because a family room in a convenient area of the Venice Islands would've run us about a thousand dollars for our dates. Location matters too. You wanna be close enough to the main sites that you're not spending forever on transportation with tired kids, but not so close that you're paying a premium just to be right in the crush of all your fellow tourists. A lot of times, neighborhoods that are a 10 or 15 minute walk from the main attractions can give you a better value, plus a more authentic feel. The hotel in Venice was more like 20 minutes by boat from the main island, but to us it was worth the trade off in terms of our budget and avoiding crowds. Plus Murano is actually a popular day trip destination for people who are staying on the main island of Venice. If you're visiting Italy on a budget, you might wanna poke around and check out some accommodation options that'll fit your family before you commit to a specific itinerary. You can generally find something that'll work for you, but there are areas that are super pricey and I don't want you to get caught off guard. One thing I wanna call out about using points in Italy is that in general it's gonna work better in the cities than in the more remote areas if you're talking about hotels. But even then, the options can be really limited because of those occupancy issues- a typical hotel room in Italy can only accommodate two or maybe three people. It's really hard to find rooms that are rated for four. Programs like Hyatt are a good bet because you can book into a suite for about 60% more points than a regular room. At a Hilton property on the other hand, suites could run you about four times as many points as a regular room, and a lot of times Marriott and IHG don't even give you the option to book a suite with points. A really good option here could be the Capital One Venture X credit card. I'll link to that down in the show notes. But I really like this card. It's super simple and an amazing value. If you decide that a vacation rental's the best choice for your family, you can book it through their portal to get five points per dollar, and the first$300 every year is covered as a benefit of the card. Then once the charge posts to your account, you can turn around and use your points to cover the balance. So let's say you picked out an apartment that's$600 for three nights through the portal. Half of that will get totally wiped out, and the other half you can choose to cover with 30,000 points once it shows up in your transactions. Plus that$300 balance earned you another 1500 points that you can use to defray the cost. It's so easy and it gives you a lot of flexibility. You could also book through Airbnb, Expedia, or any other platform, and you'll learn two points per dollar, and then you can wipe out the full amount of that travel charge. There are other really awesome perks to the card, like excellent travel insurance, so it always has a place in our wallets. Let's talk strategy for avoiding crowds because Italy, especially places like Rome and Florence and Venice, can feel absolutely mobbed during peak times like summer break. Your first strategy is timing. If you can swing it, shoulder season is your friend, late April to early June or September through October. The weather's still beautiful, most kids are in school, so it's less crowded and you're not dealing with peak summer heat. In case you weren't paying attention in 2025, there was an awful heat wave in late June and early July that was really unbearable, especially in a place that mostly doesn't have ac. I'm so glad my son and I got to Rome the following week, but it was still really intense when we arrived. Now I know that shoulder season travel doesn't work for everyone with school schedules- it sure doesn't for us- but if you have flexibility, that's gonna be your sweet spot. Before our kids were enrolled in public school, we did two shoulder season trips and they were really great. My second tip is to book those timed entry tickets well in advance for the major sites, places like the Colosseum, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, the Vatican Museums. You can book specific time slots well ahead. This does two things. First, it guarantees that you get in, and second, it lets you choose the less popular times. Early morning or late afternoon entries tend to be less crowded than midday, and there are some specialty tours like the Colosseum Underground or the Vatican Early Tour that have really limited spots. The third strategy, which is more of a do as I say, not as I do, is to get out early and I mean really early. If you can get your family up and out by 8:00 AM you'll have a totally different experience than suckers like us who roll out at 10 or 11. The early morning light is gorgeous, it's cooler if you're on a summer trip and you'll beat the tour bus crowds. You might have an entire piazza to yourself at eight that's packed by 10. Alternatively, and this is what we usually do, you can flip things around. Look for evening hours at big attractions, and build your day around those. This is more our speed. In Venice, which is crazy busy in the summer, we did a really early casual dinner at a pizzeria one evening, and then we toured the Doge's Palace afterward while everyone else was just sitting down to eat. It was a weekend, so the palace was actually open until 10:00 PM and we had the whole place to ourselves. There was no line to get in even though we hadn't pre-booked tickets and there were truly entire rooms where we were the only people. It was amazing. Even better, we'd spent the hours before that at a really cool mask making workshop on one of Venice's smaller islands, and there were no crowds there at all. So there's no one right way to do things, but I just wanted to give you some thoughts as to how you can avoid those huge crowds in Italy's most touristy areas. I promise that putting in the time to plan and strategize will make your trip a thousand times better. Now a quick practical note on baby gear, because I do get asked about this a lot. Should you bring a stroller to Italy? The answer is maybe. For some big cities with smooth sidewalks, a lightweight stroller can be helpful. But here's what we learned the hard way on our first trip to Italy: some Italian cities just weren't designed for wheels. We were in Venice with our baby jogger city mini- awesome stroller- and our wheeled suitcases trying to navigate all those gorgeous bridges that go up and over the canals. You know, the ones with steps going up and steps going down. Let me tell you, it was miserable. We were constantly lifting and carrying the stroller that was supposed to make things easier. Every single bridge was an obstacle. Meanwhile, the cobblestones and hills in Rome and the narrow uneven sidewalks in the hill towns, none of it was stroller friendly. The stroller was most valuable in Florence because our toddler could have his post-lunch nap while we enjoyed the exhibits. Overall, I'd say a good carrier is extremely helpful in so many parts of Italy. I generally recommend a soft structured carrier rather than a hiking carrier. It'll keep your back feeling great, but it's easier to pack. It'll keep your hands free, and it doesn't require navigating around obstacles, and that'll serve you a lot better than a stroller. Plus, it won't cause problems when you try to go eat at an amazing hole in the wall restaurant that doesn't have space for storage. I'll drop a link down in the show notes to a really comfortable carrier that works great for parents and their kids. If we were doing it over again, I might still bring a stroller for that trip, but I'd definitely go for one of those new super light models that folds up into a backpack. Then you can alternate between the stroller and the carrier depending on what you need in a specific situation. Since we're talking about gear and transportation, this is a good time to mention that Italy's car seat laws are actually kind of stricter than America's in some ways. Kids are required to be in a car seat or booster seat until they're four foot 11 or 79 pounds, so you're talking about an 11 or 12-year-old depending on their size. American car seats aren't legal in Europe, but they're still safe. So I typically recommend bringing your own. You'll be familiar with it. You won't have to worry about reading a manual in a foreign language. You can always check out my other website, travelcarseatexpert.com to learn more about traveling with your car seats. I've been a certified child passenger safety technician for the last six years, and I really love helping families figure out how to keep traveling without sacrificing safety. Back to our regularly scheduled programming. I wanna take a minute here to talk about why Italy is such an amazing family destination beyond just the obvious pizza and pasta. The diversity of experiences available is just incredible and a lot of it is really kid friendly. You've got ancient history everywhere you turn, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, Pompeii. These aren't just dusty old ruins. They're places where kids can literally walk where the gladiators fought or where people were going about their daily lives when Vesuvius erupted. History comes alive in a way that no textbook can match, then you've got world class art. And I know, I know dragging kids through museums sounds like a recipe for disaster, and sometimes it is. But if you choose strategically, maybe just Michelangelo's David in Florence, or a couple rooms of the Vatican museums and you build and breaks for gelato and running around in the piazzas, it can be totally doable in small bites. And sometimes your kids might surprise you with what captures their attention. Speaking of the Vatican, we attempted that with our toddler on our first trip. And let me say, the Vatican Museum with a not quite 2-year-old is not an experience I'd necessarily recommend. It's crowded, it's overwhelming. There's a lot of don't touch happening. And honestly, Jacob had no idea what he was looking at. We saw the Sistine Chapel, which was incredible, but mostly I remember being exhausted, trying to keep a toddler corralled in what was essentially miles of hallways filled with priceless art. If you're gonna do major museums with young kids, have realistic expectations and maybe skip some rooms. If you really wanna visit the Vatican I'd spring for the early morning tour with a guide. You'll get in before the crowds and definitely have a more manageable experience. On the flip side, you can check out beaches along the Amalfi Coast or the charming towns in Cinque Terre. We did a lovely low-key boat ride with our son, which was a total contrast to the cities we'd been exploring. You've got outdoor adventures in the Dolomites with hiking and stunning mountain scenery. There are food experiences, visiting farms where cheese and olive oil are produced, or taking a pizza making class and going to local markets. Every region of Italy feels different. Rome feels different from Florence, which feels different from Venice, which feels totally different from the countryside. Your kids could love one part and be less excited about another, and that's okay. There's enough variety that everyone will find their thing. This past summer in northern Italy, we got to experience that diversity in just one trip. We had the foodie culture of bologna and the Emilio Romano region, the stunning alpine scenery and hiking in the Dolomites and the crafts and romantic canals of Venice. Three completely different vibes all within a relatively compact area. Our son, who's all about outdoor adventures, loved the Dolomites; and our daughter who prefers cities and good food, she was more into Bologna and Venice. But everyone found something that spoke to them. So without further ado, let's get into five specific things that I think are absolutely worth showing your kids in Italy. These are experiences that work across different ages and that really showcase what I think makes Italy special. Remember, you don't have to do all of these in one trip. Italy's so great for all different ages and it's really easy to get to from the US these days. So I think it's safe to plan on multiple visits over the span of, let's say a decade. Number one, the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. This is where I'm gonna be very specific. Book a guided tour for yourself. Don't just buy entry tickets and wander around on your own. Here's why. Without context, the Colosseum is just a big old building with lots of tourists. Yes, you can listen to an audio guide while you're there, but that's just one way. With a good guide who knows how to engage kids and draw out their questions, it becomes an incredible story of gladiators and emperors and wild animals and how Roman society worked. We've toured the Colosseum twice, once with young kids during our year of travel, and it was fascinating to watch them process what they were learning. Our guide on that trip took us down to the arena floor level, the same level where the gladiators would've made their public appearance. Even at six and four, the kids were fascinated imagining what it would've been like on a day when the games were happening. On our trip to Rome last summer, my son and I did the new Colosseum Underground tour. It's not cheap and the tickets can be hard to score if you don't book early, but it was a really awesome behind the scenes experience. We got to see what you could call the backstage of the Colosseum, the tunnel where gladiators walked over from their nearby training academies, an early elevator system that slaves would use to hoist lions up to the arena floor and things like that. The Roman forum is the same way: on your own it's just confusing rubble. With a guide who can point out all of the unique history and help your kids understand that these ruins used to be the center of an empire. That's when it clicks. The best guides are great storytellers and thanks to our guide at the forum last summer, I actually now think it might be a more interesting site to visit than the Colosseum. Look out for family specific tours or guides who are known for being good with kids. I think it makes all the difference, especially if you've got young ones. And honestly even if your kids seem like they're too little, they'll absorb more than you think. Now as a tween and a teen, they have more context for ancient history than a lot of their peers because they've actually been there. Oh, one quick recommendation while we're talking about it. Definitely grab a copy of"where is The Colosseum?" If you have elementary or middle schoolers. Read it together before you go to build up the hype, and also so your kids understand what they're gonna see. Number two: The canals of Venice. Yes, Venice is super touristy, but it's also incredibly unique and kids get that immediately, literally as soon as they get off the boat that brings them to the island. A city with no cars, where everyone travels by boat, even the garbage collectors. It's kind of like a theme park except that it's real. Take the Vaporetto, the water bus down the grand canal, and let yourself get lost in narrow alleyways. Watch the gondoliers, or maybe even take one if you've got a hundred Euros to spare. I mentioned earlier about our struggles with the stroller on those little bridges, but here's what made Venice magical despite that challenge: watching our son's face, when we took the Vaporetto the first time. He wasn't even two, but like a lot of kids that age, he was obsessed with transportation and seeing boats as the main way people got around. Really delighted him. We'd point out the water taxis and delivery boats and gondolas, and he'd get so excited. This past summer, the kids were 11 and almost 14, and Venice definitely hit differently at this age. They appreciated the architecture, we learned about the history of the Republic of Venice as a maritime power, and they could handle longer walks through the less touristy neighborhoods. We found tiny workshops where artisans were making things by hand, not just the generic souvenir shops hawking imported goods in the most touristy areas. We discovered quiet compos where locals were hanging out and the kids loved exploring the smaller canals and trying to navigate without getting lost, although we pretty much always got lost, which is kind of the point in Venice. Now, Venice can be a lot for kids, especially in the summer. It is crowded, it's maze like, it can get muggy. I recommend maybe treating Venice as a shorter stop than places like Rome or Florence. I think two or three nights is plenty to get the essence of it without getting overwhelmed, unless you wanna do a day trip nearby. We stayed on Murano for our recent visit and it definitely helped us avoid some of the biggest crowds. And actually, I have a whole article over on the Family Voyage about how to manage the masses of people in Venice- Staying on Murano was one of our strategies. And speaking of crowds, Venice is one of those places where you need to be aware of Pickpockets. Places like St. Mark Square and the bigger bridges that are packed with people, and that's prime territory for thieves. Keep your bag zipped and in front of you and don't let the kids distract you in those crowded areas. Just stay aware, but I'll talk more about that later. Number three, head to a working farm. This is one of my favorite ways to break up the museum and monument routine. Agriculture is a huge part of Italy's economy and culture, and there are plenty of opportunities for you to experience it as a visitor. If you want a really unique stay, italy has these amazing agritourism properties. They're working farms that also host guests and offer tours and meals, but you could also just pop into a farm for the day. We've done incredible winery lunches that also take you on a tour through the vineyards and on our recent trip, we visited a really special Parmesan producer. They're totally organic and actually do everything within their own company to ensure top quality- from growing the hay to raising the cows to cheese production. We had an amazing private tour and tasting that included different ages of Parmesan, that morning's ricotta, and a few different types of balsamic vinegar, local jams and more. I'll link to it down in the show notes mostly because I'm afraid of how badly I'll mispronounce the farm's name if I try to say it. Experiences like those give your kids a connection to where Italian food actually comes from. They see that mozzarella doesn't just appear in a grocery store, that olive oil comes from trees that someone has to care for and that there are generations of families keeping these traditions alive. It's education without feeling like school, and it's delicious. Number four, Pompeii or Herculaneum or both. If your kids are old enough to handle the concept, I'd say seven or eight and up, the preserved Roman cities near Naples are absolutely mind blowing. Pompeii is more famous and larger while Herculaneum is smaller, but it's actually better preserved due to the difference in how they were impacted by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. You'll be walking through actual Roman homes, seeing bakeries and shops and theaters and baths, looking at the ruts in the streets from ancient chariot wheels. Apart from the destruction aspect of the story, I thought it was really fascinating to see what these ancient towns looked like and imagine the daily goings on. The story of Vesuvius erupting and burying these cities is obviously dramatic and most kids understand the tragedy of it. I have friends who've taken their young kids and they tell me their children were absolutely captivated, especially seeing the plaster casts of people who died in the eruption. It's heavy, but it makes the story feel real in a way that nothing else could. These weren't just stories from a textbook. These were actual people going about their lives When disaster struck. I finally got to see both sites last year with my teen when we were having some special mother son time in Rome. I'm not gonna lie, it's a pretty long day trip, especially since our train back from Naples was delayed by three hours. But we felt like it was totally worth it. We booked an excellent guide that showed us around both sites, and I don't think we would've understood nearly as much without him. Fair warning about visiting these sites. It's a lot of walking on uneven ancient stones, so come prepared with good shoes, water and sun protection if it's summer. It was so hot when we were there that we even used one of those water misting bottles, which was really clutch. One other practical note, we needed to take a taxi from Pompeii to Herculaneum, and that was actually the only time on any of our Italy trips that we needed cash and didn't have it. So even though payment is mostly cashless in Italy, it's smart to keep some euros on hand for situations like unexpected taxi rides. Also if you're going with a kid who's in elementary school or younger and plan to visit both sites, be sure you bring a car seat, booster seat or maybe the ride safer travel vest for them- it's required until 59 inches. Number five, but not in order of priority is the Dolomites. Okay, so this is further north and it might not make sense for you on your first trip to Italy, but if you can work it in, especially if you have kids who love the outdoors, the Dolomites are spectacular. These are dramatic limestone mountains in northeastern Italy, and the hiking there is incredible. This past summer, we spent four nights in the Dolomites. At the last minute we split our stay, and we did the first two nights in the western half and the next two nights in the eastern half. It was definitely one of the highlights of the entire trip, and we'd love to go back to see even more. The landscape is just stunning. These jagged peaks rising straight up green valleys below alpine meadows with flowers. We did a bunch of hikes, including a few where we took a gondola or ski lift up, and hiked from hut to hut. These rifugios are great places where you can stop for lunch, a glass of wine or even a piece of cake. It definitely makes the hiking feel more civilized. You've got everything from easy walks around Alpine lakes to more challenging mountain hikes and via ferratas- those are designated climbing routes with cables and ladders, which are a little too intense for us. It's a totally different side of Italy than the art and history you'll find in the cities and the relaxed vibe of the coastal towns. The Dolomites are especially great if you're going on a longer trip and you wanna balance out your itinerary. Or if you're heading to Italy in the summer and you wanna escape the heat, The mountains are so much cooler. We went in July and while Rome and Bologna were both really hot, the Dolomites gave us perfect hiking weather. You could easily base yourself in the Dolomites for at least four days or even a week and just hike different trails each day. Alright, enough of the fun stuff. Time to get into the nitty gritty. First, I wanna take a minute here to talk about something that's really important for our family: traveling to Italy with celiac disease. If you listen to episode 23 where we talked about navigating dietary restrictions while traveling, you'll remember that this is something we've dealt with since our daughter was diagnosed with Celiac about a year and a half ago. Here's the great news. Italy's actually one of the best countries in the world for celiac disease. Italians take it really seriously and it's much more widely understood than in many places, even the US. You'll find gluten-free pasta pizza with gluten-free crust, and even gluten-free versions of traditional Italian dishes. Most restaurants will have senza gluten items marked on their menus. And the staff generally understand cross-contamination concerns- they'll do things like use a separate prep area and clean pans whenever possible. In one pizzeria we even saw a fully enclosed part of the kitchen with a huge senza glutine sign on the window. All of the hotel breakfast buffets had dedicated gluten-free areas. Some of them had freshly baked pastries, and others had displays of prepackaged items mostly from the Shar brand. Shoshana was really excited to see all those choices, especially since in the States you don't get a lot of gluten-free choices unless you're going to a pretty high-end hotel. We did run into some limitations in a few areas. The little Alpine huts in the Dolomites usually have just a few items on the menu each day, and most of what we saw either had gluten or pork, which our family doesn't eat. By the same token on Murano in Venice, there aren't a ton of restaurants that stay open for dinner, and we ran into quite a few that only offered shellfish for their gluten-free dishes, which doesn't work for us either. So if you do need gluten-free food or you have other dietary restrictions, you should be in good shape in the big cities and even a lot of towns, but you might have to search around a little more in remote areas. Overall, I'd say that Italy was a win for gluten-free eaters. It makes dining with celiac disease feel almost normal. Now let's talk about the practical side of money in Italy, this has gotten so much easier over the years. Apple pay and other tap to pay options are pretty much universal now. You can tap your phone or card at restaurants, shops, train stations, museums. It's super convenient. My favorite hack is that in some places like Rome and Venice, you don't need to choose a multi-day transit pass in advance anymore. Just tap the same physical or digital credit card each time you board public transportation, and it'll automatically calculate your best fare over the course of your visit. And if you have kids with you who don't have their own credit cards or phones, you can just designate a different credit card from your Apple Pay for each of them. That said there's a little asterisk. I found that American Express was only accepted about half the time in Italy, so I was really glad I had a few backup cards with me. Make sure you bring a Visa or MasterCard. And this is important: Choose cards with no foreign transaction fees. Those fees can add up quickly when you're using your card for everything. If you're gonna be dining out a lot, which let's be honest, you probably will be in Italy, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is a great card to use for your trip. It has no foreign transaction fees and earns three points per dollar on restaurants worldwide. It also earns two points on tours, trains, taxis, Ubers, and buses. So you're earning a lot on almost all of your Italy spending. I have a ton of different credit cards and I definitely recommend that one to bring on international trips. I'll drop a link down in the show notes so you can find out more. As for cash, you generally don't need much. But keep some Euros on hand for unexpected situations. Like I mentioned, we needed cash for that taxi from Pompeii to Herculaneum and didn't have it- It was back in the hotel- and that was kind of awkward. We usually just use our Schwab ATM card to take money out at the airport when we land because the account is free to have and they reimburse ATM fees. You might need coins for public restrooms. It's one of those things that nobody tells you until you're standing in front of a turnstile with a desperate kid and no coins. Public restrooms in Italy often require payment, usually one euro per person. The good news is that more and more of these pay toilets now accept tap to pay with a credit card or smartphone wallet so you don't necessarily need coins every single time, but some older ones still only take coins. So it's good to have a few euros and change on you. The good news is that when you're paying for those bathrooms, they're usually clean. The free bathroom options are typically museums and restaurants. If you're eating somewhere, obviously you can use their bathroom, but if you have a desperate looking kid, most restaurants and cafe staff will let you use the bathroom even if you're not a customer. Italians are generally pretty sympathetic to families with kids. That said, it's polite to at least buy something small if you do that, maybe a soda or a snack. Museums and major tourist sites have bathrooms that are included with your entry, so be sure to take advantage of those. Before you leave a museum or an archeological site have everyone use the bathroom even if they think they don't need to, because you might not find another free option for a while. This is one of those things that seems like a small detail, but it can cause a lot of stress if you're not prepared for it. Once you know the system, it is totally manageable. Just keep some coins and make sure your phone's wallet app is set up for tap to pay. You'll want that for plenty of other times in Italy too. Now let's talk about something that's really important, but it doesn't need to make you paranoid: staying safe from pickpockets In Italian cities. Rome, Milan, Florence, and Venice are all known for having pickpockets, especially in crowded tourist areas. You don't need to be scared, but you do need to take some precautions. The highest risk areas are places that are absolutely packed with people. The Trevi fountain in Rome is probably the worst for this. It's shoulder to shoulder tourists, and they're all distracted by the beautiful fountain. So it's exactly the environment where pickpockets thrive. Venice's most crowded areas like St. Mark Square and the main bridges, they're also prime territory. Here's what works for us. I got a really good anti-theft backpack to use as our daypack. I'll link it down in the show notes. It has locking zippers and slash proof material. In crowded or questionable areas, I'll wear it on my front instead of my back. My son was so well-trained that he even locked the zipper on the water bottle compartment every single time. I also bought these cool mini zipper locks. They look kind of like tiny, two-sided carabiners, and they'll work on any bag that has a double zipper. We'd put them on our travel backpacks when we were going through airports and train stations for a little extra security. They're enough of a deterrent to make a Would-be thief look for an easier target. Thieves want quick and easy. If your bag looks like it requires effort to get into, they'll hopefully move on to someone else. Another strategy: I carried just one physical credit card with me in the back of my phone, plus others loaded into my Apple wallet on my phone and watch, and another spare credit card in an interior zipper compartment of that anti-theft backpack I mentioned, meaning it was tucked behind two zippers. I left the other backup credit cards securely tucked away in our hotel or apartment. That way if something did happen, I wouldn't lose access to all of my cards at once and find myself up a creek. When my husband and I were together in Italy, I'd have him wear the backpack and I used a small cross body purse with a zipper closure to hold my phone. If there were more than a few people around, it was always across my body and in the front with my hand on the bag. If your kids are old enough to understand, explain to them that they need to not distract you when you're in crowded places. Pickpockets often work in teams. One person bumps into you or asks you a question to distract you while the other goes for your bag. Or if your kids are pulling on you asking for gelato or fighting with each other in a packed tourist area, you're not paying attention to your surroundings, and that makes you more vulnerable. But try not to make your kids too paranoid. Sometimes I worry that we're overdoing it. Again, I don't wanna scare you. We've been to Italy three times and to Europe, many, many more, and knock on wood, we've never had anything stolen. But these precautions are easy to implement and they work. Just be aware, especially in the big tourist cities, and you'll be fine. It's time to shift gears and talk about packing because Italy has some specific considerations. First, cobblestones and walking. You'll walk so much more than you think you will, and you'll be doing it on surfaces that are much harder and more uneven than typical sidewalks. Back home. Comfortable broken and walking shoes are a non-negotiable for everyone in the family. This isn't the trip for cute but uncomfortable sandals or brand new sneakers. I learned this lesson the hard way on our first trip. I brought shoes that I thought were comfortable, and by day three in Florence, my feet were killing me. Between the cobble stones and the amount of walking, you need shoes with real support. Now, I always bring comfortable walking shoes, even if they're not the cutest, with trusted inserts inside and my feet thank me. Layer your clothing, especially in spring or fall. Mornings might be cool. Afternoons can be warm, and evenings in the mountains or near the coast can get chilly again. Having a light jacket or sweater that you can tie around your waist is much better than being too hot or too cold. In the Dolomites this summer we'd start hikes in the morning wearing layers, peel them off by midday when it warmed up, and then knd them again by late afternoon at higher elevations. We even experienced one torrential rainstorm at the end of a long hike, so I was really glad we brought rain jackets and a rain cover for our backpacks. If you're visiting churches, and you probably will be at some point, you'll need modest clothing. That means shoulders and knees covered. For kids this usually isn't a big deal, although one church in Bologna wouldn't let our daughter in wearing a tank top. I usually bring a scarf to throw over my shoulders or a lightweight linen button down in case I need it. Sun protection in summer is serious: hat, sunglasses and sunscreen every day. The Italian sun is strong, and when you're walking around archeological sites with no shade, or spending all day outside by the water you can get burned quickly. Even in the Dolomites, we were at an elevation where the sun is more intense so we were really diligent about reapplying our sunscreen. Bring a refillable water bottle with you. Italy has fountains with drinkable water all over, especially in Rome, which has thousands of these nasoni- it means big nose because of the specific style of the fountains, you can refill your bottles for free instead of constantly buying plastic ones. It saves money and reduces waste. Plus, if it's an insulated bottle, your water will stay cool, even on a hot summer day. Fill it up at a fountain, drink it down, fill it up again. It's a really convenient system and I wish we had more of that in the us. One more essential for you. Bring a portable charger. I used my phone and watch so often for directions, photos, restaurants, and translations that they were usually both dead every evening because I couldn't find my brand new charger when we were packing. You're gonna be using your devices way more than you think, and a good portable charger is a lifesaver. I'll link to my favorite one, which I finally found last week, in the show notes. A quick note on language. English is widely spoken in Italy, especially in tourist areas and major cities. Most restaurant staff, hotel employees, and people working at tourist sites will speak at least some English. Of course, I suggest that you learn a few basic Italian phrases, things like Bonjourno for Good Morning, grazie for Thank You, per favore for Please, scusi For excuse me. Just like everyone else, Italians really appreciate when you make the effort to speak their language, even if your pronunciation is terrible. And get your kids involved too. They'll think it's fun to learn a few new words in another language. Translation apps on your phone can be really helpful for reading menus or signs, but honestly, most of the time you can get by with basic phrases and pointing. If you're heading to the eastern side of the Dolomites, don't be surprised to encounter a lot of German. The town where we stayed was just 10 kilometers from the Austrian border. And I would say that culturally it definitely felt more Austrian than Italian. That's no surprise given how many times south Tyrol changed hands in the 20th century, and today, almost 60% of the region's residents speak German as their first language. Now, we can't talk about Italy without talking about food, right? And the good news is that Italian food is generally very kid friendly. Pizza, pasta, gelato, repeat. But here's my advice, don't eat every meal at tourist restaurants near major attractions. The quality won't be as good and you'll pay more. Instead, venture a few blocks away from the main squares and look for places where you see Italian families eating. Ask your accommodation host for local recommendations too. During our week in Rome, when the kids were young, we were staying pretty far from the city center in a more residential area. We found this neighborhood trattoria near our apartment that became a regular spot. The staff recognized us by the third night, the kids could order their own pasta, and the quality was so much better than the places right by the tourist sites, plus it was way more affordable. Those neighborhood spots are where you'll find the real Italian food experience. And try to embrace the pacing of Italian meals. Italians don't rush through dinner, it's a leisurely experience with multiple courses. For families, it can work well as long as you come prepared with coloring or maybe a card game. You'll have time to settle in, people watch and enjoy the atmosphere. Now, with a toddler it can definitely be challenging. That first trip, keeping Jacob entertained through long dinners required a lot of snacks, a lot of toys, and a lot of patience. But now with older kids, it's actually really nice to slow down and savor the experience, especially after a busy day. Markets are also fantastic for families. You can pick up fresh fruit, bread and cheese and have a picnic lunch in the park or a piazza. The kids can see all the colorful produce and local specialties, and it's usually cheaper and faster than sitting down for a full meal when you just need something to fuel you up. One specific tip about restaurant dining. Coperto is a cover charge that you'll see on Italian restaurant bills. It's per person and it covers bread and the table setup. It's usually just a couple of euros. It's normal, not a scam, but it's good to know about it, so you're not surprised when you see it on the bill. The first time we saw it, we were a little confused, but once you understand, it's just how Italian restaurants work it's no big deal. On the flip side, American style tipping isn't necessary, especially if there's a coperto. If your server was awesome, you could just leave a small amount of cash as an extra. One thing I wanna touch on before we wrap up is how our Italy experiences have evolved as our kids have grown. We've now done Italy with a toddler, with young elementary aged kids, and with a pre-teen and a teen. Each stage has been different. With a toddler, it's all about managing logistics: the stroller situation, nap times, finding kid friendly restaurants, keeping him entertained during downtime. The actual sites and experiences are honestly more for the adults. Your toddler isn't gonna remember the Colosseum or appreciate Renaissance art no matter how brilliant he is. But you're planting seeds and you're proving to yourself that you can travel internationally with a little one. With elementary age kids, they're old enough to engage with the history and culture in real ways, but young enough that they're still excited about playgrounds and gelato and just running around in beautiful spaces. Our week in Rome during that stage was so relaxed because the kids could walk some distances, they enjoyed the food and they thought boat rowing in the Borghese Gardens was so great that it was worth fighting over naturally. They weren't jaded or too cool for anything yet. Now with a preteen and a teen this past summer, we got a whole other level of appreciation. They can handle longer days, they can do challenging hikes and think about more complex historical concepts. Because the kids also have distinct personalities and interests, I worked really hard to build in activities that I knew would appeal to them as individuals, like cooking classes and craft workshops. And it worked! They had the most amazing trip and their begging to go back. The beauty of Italy is that it works for all these ages. You can just adjust your approach based on where your kids are developmentally. Here's what I want you to take away from this episode. Italy can be magical at any age, and it's a fabulous destination for families. But just like any trip, it requires letting go of the idea that you're gonna see everything or that it'll all go perfectly. Some days will be amazing. Some days there's gonna be a meltdown or everyone will be tired or it's gonna be too hot or too crowded. On that first trip, there was definitely a moment in Rome where I was overheated and exhausted and our toddler was losing his you know what and I questioned all of our life choices. But those moments pass, and they don't define the trip unless you let them. The key is building in enough flexibility so that when those things happen, they don't derail your whole experience. That's why our second Rome trip when we didn't have a packed agenda, felt so restorative. We had the space to adjust based on how everyone was feeling. So choose your two or three base locations, book your accommodations early, decide whether you need a car or you can stick with trains, or if you're gonna mix'em up. Book timed entry tickets for those major sites, and leave room for the unexpected- the perfect gelato place you might stumble on the local festival happening in a town square, the extra hour spent sitting by a canal just because everyone's happy. The goal isn't to execute a perfect itinerary. The goal is to experience Italy together as a family, to make memories, to expose your kids to history and art and different ways of living. And yes, to eat a lot of pizza in beautiful piazzas. Italy's been welcoming tourist families for decades. Your family's gonna be just fine. And I promise, years from now, your kids won't remember every museum you visited or every monument you saw. They'll remember how the gelato they made with their own hands tasted, how cool it was to ride of app baretto in Venice, trying to speak Italian and getting it hilariously wrong, or how incredible the view was from the Dolomites. So start planning. Use the strategies we talked about today and get ready for an incredible family adventure. If you want more information about specific destinations in Italy, head over to thefamilyvoyage.com and check out the Italy section. I've got tons of guides there to help you plan, and they're all written from a family travel perspective. Thanks so much for listening to Family Travel unpacked. If this episode was helpful, I'd love it if you'd share with another family who's planning their trip to Italy. Be sure to hit follow and drop a five star review wherever you're listening. And until next time, safe travels.