A family vacation in Italy

Trevi Fountain, Rome

My family trip to Italy was nothing short of magical. My youngest brother fell in love with a native Roman and moved to Italy. Within a few years, they had their first child. So, a few months after she was born, our stateside family decided it was time for a visit. Being a travel consultant, I handled the arrangements for our family. The itinerary started with 9 days in Rome to spend time with my brother’s family. My brother had learned quite a lot about Rome and its history by then, so he took us on a walking tour of Rome, and it was as if we’d hired a professional guide. From Borghese Park to the Spanish Steps, to Trastevere and the Trevi Fountain, we got our steps in, ate delicious local cuisine in the piazza restaurants and drank water with bottles filled from the public fountains like true Romans. We filled the rest of our 9 days between family visits with day trips. In between gelato tastings and dinners at the local Osteria’s in Rome, we peppered in some history and culture with skip-the-line guided day tours. We spent our days at the Roman Colosseum, and the Vatican and took a high-speed train to the Amalfi Coast.

Our underground Colosseum tour was riveting. We were seeing the actual ancient walls of the gladiator holding area below the Colosseum. We walked within the same stone prison walls the gladiators brushed up against (or prayed against) before meeting certain death once lifted to the arena floor. Our next day trip was a skip-the-line tour of the Vatican and Sistine Chapel. Not only did we get the benefit of touring most of the Vatican before the public, but also our tour guide was brilliant at her job. We had a 14- and an 11-year-old with us and the talented tour guide performed the magical feat of engaging them and keeping them curious throughout the tour, while also providing the adults all the context, intrigue and significance of this historic world heritage site.  

The next day was our trip to the Amalfi coast. It was a long day, but well worth it. The journey included a high-speed train to and from Rome, an air-conditioned mini-bus transfer to our seaside port and a cruise along the poetic Amalfi coast. Upon arrival, we lunched in the quintessential Mediterranean seaside town of Salerno and then imbibed in the fresh ocean air on our coastal cruise to Positano. We enjoyed sightseeing and a touch of shopping in this charming seaside town before jumping back onboard our cruise to Amalfi. While in Amalfi, we enjoyed a visit to a hillside lemon orchard to sample limoncello and chatted with the owners who taught us about the history of the orchard and the importance of lemons to the culture of this region. The middle-aged son of the family business led the tour. As we listened to his fascinating story of the generations old orchard, we saw an older gentleman walking down the hill to greet us with a large crate of lemons on his shoulder. The man turned out to be the tour guide’s father. By appearances we guessed the patriarch of the orchard to be around 50-60 years old. We were astonished to find out he was actually 89. The same man we just saw walk up the steep stairs of the orchard and navigate down the hill with a crate of lemons on his shoulder was almost 90? Lesson learned…a healthy Mediterranean lifestyle, limoncello and physical labor working the orchard equals health, wellness and longevity.

On day 9, we said goodbye to our family. My daughter and I then started our week-long mini adventure to Lake Como, Venice and Tuscany. We spent 2 nights in stunningly picturesque Lake Como jumping on the lake’s ferry from port to port during the day and dining lakeside by night. Next, we transited by rail to Venice for two nights. We stayed at a charming historic hotel situated on a small capillary canal just off the grand canal. The next day we enjoyed a scheduled walking tour, where apart from all the fascinating history of Venice, we learned about a “secret” top of the city viewing point where we enjoyed a tourist-free birds eye view of the historic city and intricate waterways feeding the grand canal. The day ended with a gondola ride through the canals that docked near Piazza San Marco where we dined alfresco while live piano music ushered in the sunset.

Our final three nights in Italy were spent in Tuscany. We visited an agriturismo winery and BnB. The family-owned accommodation treated us like their own from start to finish. Upon entry to our private villa, a basket with a bottle of wine, cheese, crackers and chocolates sat on the kitchen table awaiting our arrival. We had all the privacy and amenities one desires, but with a warmth and hospitality that made us never want to leave. After a complimentary lunch and wine tasting on our final day, we departed Tuscany for Rome where we overnighted before our flight home. What a trip of a lifetime. My daughter even learned how to navigate the Italian train system, but the immersive experience travelling through Italy was an invaluable education.