Italy with a 13yo

[lindyanne]

Anyone have any recommendations for Italy with a 13 year old? We are just beginning to talk about Italy next June. Our son will be just a month shy of 13 when we go. This will honestly be our first international trip (for any of us) that isn’t on a cruise or to a resort so I’m feeling a little overwhelmed and intimidated. Planning 7-10 days.

[mrsukyankee]

Any particular cities or interests you have? That would help a lot in make recommendations.

[lindyanne]

Sept 27, 2021 7:13:05 GMT -5 mrsukyankee said:

Any particular cities or interests you have? That would help a lot in make recommendations.

probably more outdoor activities than history though DS is excited about seeing the Coliseum in Rome so who knows. We are open to checking out a few cities for a few nights each. We just started researching so we don't have any preference yet. I would like to have fun and hit most of the highlights since I have no idea when we will be back. 

[dutchgirl678]

Rome is great! We went with our kids when they were much younger, but if we had the chance to go back we would. The Coliseum is awe-inspiring. You can also get tickets to the Catacombs (which we didn't do back then). We first went to the Roman forum (across the street from the Coliseum) and bought a combination ticket there so we didn't have to wait in line at the Coliseum.

We rented an apartment on the Campo de Fiori. It was wonderful and fun to walk around at night there and on the nearby Piazza Navona. The Pantheon is also a beautiful sight even if he is not that into museums and churches. The food is amazing everywhere and you could maybe find a cooking class to learn to make fresh pasta or pizza.

I would spend 3-4 days in Rome and the rest on the Amalfi coast for instance in Sorrento. There is a train ride from Sorrento to Pompeii where you could spend a whole day seeing the ruins. From Sorrento you can also take a ferry to the beautiful island of Capri. We did a short (but very touristy) boat ride there into the Grotto Azzurra. There are some beaches although June may still be a bit too cold.

Or you could go to Florence from Rome but that city is also more focused on museums and churches.

[majesty318]

if you do Rome:

Domus Aurea (underground remains of a palace)
Le Domus Romane di Palazzo Valentini (underground ruins that you walk above with multimedia presentation)
Necropolis of Via Triumphalis (cemetery discovered under the Vatican when building a parking lot - skeletons & graves)
Food tour with Devour Tours

[mrsukyankee]

Definitely Rome. It's a great city to walk around and has cool sites.

For outdoors, I'd go with the coast and I agree with Amalfi. It's very different than the coast anywhere else in the world.

[mags]

If you do Rome and Sorrento make sure you stop in Pompeii along the way. He would think that is very cool.

[gardengal]

We went with much younger kids but we did Rome & Pozzuoli, near Naples. I think most people have Rome covered but if he's into history, I highly recommend booking some sort of tour for historic sites. We did ones thru Viatour.

We chose Pozzuoli because it was convenient to Herculaneum/Pompeii, was a smaller place (we like smaller cities), and good access to islands like Procida/Ischia/Capri. It also had it's own archeological sites, including the 3rd largest Flavian amphitheater in Italy. Because it was the *3rd* largest, it was also deserted so we could really appreciate the space, cheap (like 3Euros entrance?), and we could access the basements w/out special ticket. It's also in the middle of Campi Flegrei & you can basically explore the volcanic activity (bubbling mud pits, steam smelling of sulphur coming from cracks, etc). It was really a great little base & we never did actually venture into Naples (but Naples-style food was still available to us...yummmmmmm)

For Herculaneum/Pompeii our strategy was to really explore Herculaneum because it was smaller & more manageable *&* had shade. We also prescheduled a Family Tour via Viatour there & it was *fantastic*. She had artifacts from the time period she brought along and because H is actually better preserved than P, you got a better sense of how the city looked back then (there's 2 story buildings, the wood was flash carbonized so it's still there as doors & shutter, etc). We then traveled to P and just wandered around, noticing the details our guide pointed out at H and just appreciating the size of the city for as long as we could. It was a long day, but I don't really regret it, even given that this was a lifetime bucket list place for me, we had young kids, and we really only had 1 day to devote to that portion. ETA: I think we all enjoyed H better than P but part of that was probably the guide. Pompeii was very amazing in it's immenseness but H felt like a place people actually lived in part because it looked more like a city than a dead labyrinth.

[goldengirlz]

Putting in a plug for Cinque Terre. Hiking between the beaches was a family favorite for all of us.