Traveling in Italy by train with a toddler...

[grosnl19]

We going to Italy for 10 days (in 2 weeks) and flying in/out of Milan. We would like to go to Florence/Pisa for sure and maybe the coast. DH seems to think we should go by train, I think this will be a PITA as we will have some luggage along with our 18 month old and stroller. So what do the experts think?

[mdgirl]

Take this with a grain of salt because I don't have kids, but I think if you either booked seats near the doors or got to non-reservation trains early enough to be at the end of the car and brought stuff to keep the kiddo occupied it wouldn't be too bad. I also assume the alternative would be to drive, and I'd be scared shitless to drive in Italy.

[dutchgirl678]

I don't think you need to book seats in advance. We did it a few years ago with a 3-month old, a 3-year old and a bunch of luggage and a stroller and we were fine. We went from Rome to Florence, but same thing. If you travel outside peak travel hours (early morning, late afternoon) you'll be fine.

[Mushe]

We did trains all over Spain with our 20 month old, and it was fine. One person would stand on the platform with the kiddo and the luggage while the other loaded the bags into the train. He loved to go walk from the front to the back, over and over. Lol. We did have seats prepicked on most (all?) trains. Since we were 3, it often worked out to just purchase a 4-top configuration.

[Mushe]

Sorry, I think you helped me with a Spain question before - you're an international poster, right? Anyway, I mean to post not for Italy-specific advice, but to say the trains were fun and fine for our toddler.

[grosnl19]

Jun 6, 2014 16:36:05 GMT -5 Mushe said:

Sorry, I think you helped me with a Spain question before - you're an international poster, right? Anyway, I mean to post not for Italy-specific advice, but to say the trains were fun and fine for our toddler.

Yep we live Spain right now.