Family Travel in Italy Questions and Answers
I am a self-proclaimed expert in family travel in
Italy through dint of many family trips there,
authorship of the Italy
Discovery Journal, a guidebook for kids traveling in
Italy with their families, and participation at AllExperts.com
as a top-ranked volunteer expert on the same topic.
Having set myself up as such, I have received a
number of queries that have allowed me to expound on
family travel in Italy. Some of the questions have
rather broad applicability, so I've selected some
here in case they have also occurred to you.
If you'd like to ask my a question, too, by all
means go to AllExperts
and do so!
Is
there a hotel within very close proximity to the
Milan Malpensa Airport for us to stay a day or two
to recoup? Our flight with three children under 5
over will be tough (4 plane exchanges and over 24
hours).
There are many hotels
close to Malpensa to absorb, if nothing else, the
hoards of passengers that get stranded every time
there is a strike. I can’t suggest any hotel in
particular, but you might try to find one with a
heated pool so your kids can get their yayas out.
I think the toughest
part of your trip is going to be the four flights (argh).
At a certain point of exhaustion (I remember this
well), some kids just can’t do anything but whine.
I’ve found a couple of good sites with suggestions
for plane flights with little kids and have listed
them under Websites at http://www.kidseurope.com/Resources.htm.
I have also found that
airline personnel are less helpful with little
children than they used to be. They have more things
to do than ever before; their primary duty is safety
and dealing with traveling families is too much
work. So be prepared to insist on the help you must
have and otherwise be self-sufficient. If you have
tight connections, be sure do ask the airline to
have transport arranged for you from one gate to
another or ask your travel agent to arrange for
traveler’s aid.
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What kind of vacation place should
we consider for a vacation in Italy with our three
children under five?
You don't need to go to a major tourist
destination. Your kids will have little appreciation
and limited patience for the grand tour. Basically
this is just a vacation away for them and you get
the pleasure of vacationing within another culture.
My location advice is that if you are in a villa
in the country, make sure there is a pool. If you
are in a little town, or go to a little town, you
can go for walks with the kids to buy groceries,
observe life, play in the piazza or playgrounds with
other kids and families, splash in the fountain,
chase the pigeons.
We have an apartment
in Florence that is perfect, I think, for your
group because it is near a park and has a patio, yet
is in the city.
There are attractions all over Italy that will
appeal to small children for a short while: parks
where they may notice some statues, mineral springs,
caves, nature preserves. The Italy
Discovery Journal lists some pretty neat parks.
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My husband, myself & our
6 yr old son will be flying from the east coast of
the US. Can you give me some recommendations on
activities to have ready on the plane?
On long plane rides, I kept bringing out little
surprises that we then play with. The flight there
isn't that long and is overnight, so if you can get
him to go to bed earlier and earlier for a few weeks
before you travel, maybe you can get him to go right
to sleep on the Lufthansa flight. Don't keep him up
for dinner.
It'll be the flight back that will be
challenging. You can entertain six year olds only so
long, then they fall asleep or get cranky or need to
move around. Look on www.travelwithyourkids.com.
There are some great suggestions.
What places would a 6 yr old boy
enjoy in Naples and Rome. How will Pompeii
be?
A child that age won't understand much about
history, so you'll need to find aspects of
historical places that won't bore him. For example,
mosaics. Pompeii may spark his imagination,
especially if you read some children's books about
it ahead of time. See: this newsletter on Geology
for Kids in Italy. If he's into the weird, there
are the body casts of the people buried in
lava.
In Naples, you can visit the aquarium. Walking
along the sea wall to Castel dell'Ovo should allow
him to act out ideas of wars and storming of the
castle. I actually don't know if you can get inside.
Sometimes there are exhibits there.
Ideas from the Italy
Discovery Journal: Throughout Italy, you'll find
fountains for him to "collect," splash in,
take a picture of him in front of. In my little
book, I put together a Fountain Tour of Rome with
the ones we think are the neatest. I think engaging
kids senses helps. Have him close his eyes and
describe what he smells and hears. Collect traffic
signs. Collect (and taste) different shapes of pasta
and gelato. Go into a grocery store and find
familiar things but in Italian. If you visit
churches, collect saint cards.
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I have 3 girls from 5 to 9 years
old. Are there places like Disneyland near
Rome?
You won't find any Disney-type amusements in
Italy. There are amusement parks and water parks.
Here is a list.
There are several very unusual parks that don't have
rides but strange statues and are good for picnics
at Bomarzo and the Tarot Gardens, the Italy
Discovery Journal has a page about such.
Within Rome, you will need to find things and
ways to amuse the girls while you see some of the
sights. I made a collection of ideas in the Italy
Discovery Journal. They include
"collecting" fountains and obelisks,
watching (and imitating) the natural drama of
Italians, shopping for everyday things in grocery
stores. Find different shapes of pasta and different
flavors of gelato.
In the summer there are Punch
& Judy puppet shows on the Janiculum hill in
Rome. Be sure to check the times. The stories are
hundreds of years old and rather violent, though
amusing. Even if you don't speak Italian, you will
understand that Pulcinella has done something very
stupid or bad and his nagging wife has caught him.
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I will be in Italy with my
two year old and family. We will be in Venice,
Chianti, Cinqe Terre and lake Como how do I do
laundry?
It sounds like you'll be moving from one place to
another every few days, here are some ideas that
work for me and a link to a Newsletter
on Packing and also in the Manual
for Vacation Rentals in Italy.
- Take easy-wash, drip dry clothes that dry in a
night or two.
- It's harder to find travel clothes for 2 year
olds. Since the child's clothes are small, you
could pack a long week's worth and they still
won't take up too much space. Then find a
laundry or a laundromat midway through your
trip.
- Take a little
Laundry Kit
that has a line that you can put anywhere.
- To speed drying after you have washed in the
sink, roll clothes up in a towel to extract
extra moisture.
- If your child is in diapers, don't bring a
huge supply, but go to the local grocery store
and get them along with a small container of
liquid detergent for your hand washing.
- Zip lock bags and these
super travel vacuum bags for dirty and wet
clothes.
- Paper towels for bibs for your child.
- f you are in hotels, you can use the hotel
laundry service. Of course, you'll pay!
- Find a laundry (lavanderia), start by asking
your hotel. Be sure to communicate when you need
the things back so you don't leave town without
your clothes.
- Avoid things you want to iron, so you don't
need to bring a travel iron. Electricity
adaptors are a pain.
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We will be traveling to Rome in
April with our 6-year-old daughter, who is VERY
energetic and active. This is her second trip to
Italy, but last time we were in Rome for only two
days. This time we will be spending 4 days in Rome,
and I am wondering if there are any
playgrounds?
There are play areas in the Borghese Gardens at
the top of the Via Veneto. I think I recall seeing
play structures there. Certainly there is room to
run and play. You can rent bikes for all of you.
Have your hotel check to see if they are having
puppet shows at the top of the Jianiculum Hill
during April. She'll enjoy those for a while.
There is a playground in the park at the top of
the Celian Hill at Villa Celimontana, sort of behind
the Coliseum.
Campo dei Fiori is where all the neighborhood
children play. Also Piazza Navona is wide open,
fountains to splash in, balloons and entertainers to
watch.
Pat Byrne
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