As a family of six, we booked our biggest adventure yet—exploring Italy by train over 16 days, visiting Rome, Florence, Chianti, Pisa, Venice, Milan, Verona, and Lake Garda.
Trying to do this on a budget was a challenge, however the whole trip came in at £680 per person.
This included return flights from the UK, luggage, private airport transfers, all train journeys (including 5 high speed trains in 1st class) and accommodation for 15 nights.
In this guide, we’ll share exactly how we planned our route, booked flights and trains, and chose family-friendly accommodations, so you can plan your own Italian adventure with kids.
Train travel in Italy with children is a fantastic way to see the country. The trains are reliable and comfortable, making it easy to relax and enjoy the journey as a family.
High-speed trains connect cities quickly and affordably, and the views along the way are often just as memorable as the destinations themselves, with rolling hills, vineyards and charming towns passing by the window.
Travelling by train can also help you save money and avoid the stress of driving. Italy’s narrow roads and busy traffic can be challenging, particularly with children, whereas the train allows you to sit back, unwind and enjoy the scenery instead.
• Duration: 16 days
• Travelling with: 4 kids
• Route: Rome → Florence → Chianti → Pisa → Venice → Verona → Milan → Lake Garda
• Total cost: £680 per person
• Travel style: Trains + family-friendly campsites
• Best for: Families wanting multi-city Italy without driving
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Although it’s possible to travel from the UK to Europe entirely by train, for us in the north of England this would have been significantly more expensive than flying. It also would have meant an extra night in London at both the start and end of the trip, which quickly pushed the costs up.
Instead, we found it far cheaper to fly directly to mainland Europe and begin our travels from there, so that’s the approach we took.
To plan our route, the first thing we looked at was flights. As we were trying to keep the trip as affordable as possible, it made sense to base our itinerary around which Italian cities had the cheapest flights in August, then fill in the destinations in between. For a family of six, flights are always the biggest cost variable, far more so than accommodation.
We used Skyscanner to compare outbound and return flights across Italy and find the cheapest options.
One of the most useful features is the ability to search the whole country over an entire month, rather than selecting a fixed date or arrival city, which makes it much easier to plan a flexible, multi-stop trip like this
We made a 'one-way' search from Manchester to Italy and then the same for Italy to Manchester.
If you're planning a trip like this we would recommend booking a different city to return from, than the one you arrive in. This allows you to plan a trip a fair distance away from the arrival airport without having to circle back and waste money on extra train fares just to get home.
Don't forget to check out our guide Italy on a Budget for more fab tips on travelling cheaply.
We eventually chose to fly from Manchester to Rome and return home from Milan Bergamo.
Our outbound flight cost £510.22 in total (£85 per person). The return flight 16 days later from Milan Bergamo came to £500.73 (£84 per person), with both fares including two 20kg checked suitcases.
The overall flight cost could have been much lower if we’d booked earlier in the year during flight sales or travelled in a different month. August is typically the most expensive time to fly to Italy, and we only started planning this trip in June, around six weeks before departure.
At other times of year, we regularly find return flights to Italy for between £28–£50 per person. If you take a look at our other Italy blog posts, we’ve shared a few of these trips as reference.
With flights booked, the next step was deciding where to stay between Rome and Milan.
Our main priority for accommodation was finding places that were child-friendly, offering a balance between a proper summer holiday and sightseeing around Italy.
We didn’t want to drag the kids around in the heat, visiting attractions they might not enjoy, only to spend the rest of the day cooped up in hotel rooms.
Instead, we chose campsites as our bases. Having stayed at similar sites in Rome and Venice before, we knew they were perfect for families. Offering pools, slides, and on-site entertainment for the kids, as well as practical amenities like laundrettes, bars, restaurants, and supermarkets.
Many of these campsites offer space for tents and campervans, but we opted for fully equipped static caravans with verandas. These gave us the freedom to cook our own meals and relax outside in the evenings while the kids were in bed.
At each site booked a 3 bed static caravan with large deck and air-con, the prices were as follows:
Camping Village Fabulous in Rome £437.32 (£73pp)- Nights 1-3 (3 nights)
Hu Norcenni Girasole Club, Tuscany £846 (£141pp)- Nights 4-8 (5 nights)
Butterfly Camping, Lake Garda £872 (£146pp)- Nights 9-15 (7 nights)
You can see an in-depth blog on each of these campsites, including our reviews, things to do in the local area plus more details on getting around - Butterfly Camping Lake Garda Guide, Hu Norcenni Girasole Tuscany Guide and Camping Village Fabulous Rome Guide.
Once we had decided on our three bases—Rome, Chianti Hills (Tuscany), and Peschiera Del Garda (Lake Garda), we could start booking train tickets and planning the destinations we wanted to visit.
From Chianti, we planned day trips by train to Rome and Florence (1–2 hours away). We had originally hoped to visit Cinque Terre, but as it’s not on the high-speed train network, a round trip in a single day from Chianti wasn’t feasible. Other options from Chianti included Lucca and Siena.
Peschiera Del Garda offered the most convenient day trips. Venice, Verona, and Milan were all within 20 minutes to 1.5 hours by train, so we added these to our itinerary. Further options included Bologna, Parma, and even Lake Como.
For Rome, we decided to take it easy, just enjoy the city and get our bearings, before heading on to the next stage of our journey.
When planning our Italy itinerary, we carefully compared the options between booking an Interrail pass and purchasing individual tickets, for each leg.
Ultimately, we decided to go with individual tickets as it became clear that for our specific routes and travel dates, buying tickets separately was going to be cheaper.
In terms of our party, for some trains (regional) we were classed as 4 adults and 2 children. For 1st class high speed trains we fell under the category of 3 adults and 3 children.
Below you'll find a full breakdown of the train journeys we took and which type of train/class we got. I have also included journey times and prices.
For the longer journeys we splurged and purchased 1st class seats on high speed trains. These were great as they gave us lots of room in air conditioned carriages with tables, power points and Wi-Fi. On some journeys we were also provided with free refreshments.
As we booked 6 weeks beforehand, the 1st class tickets were a very similar price to the 2nd class on the day fares. It didn't seem a big extravagance and it made the journeys far more comfortable.
All in we purchased a total of 84 train tickets across 6 days, costing £678 (£113pp).
The interrail pass for travel just within Italy for 6 days with upgrades to first class where available is £965. In our case it was definitely cheaper to book the tickets individually.
In Italy, there are three different types of trains. Some are high speed (Le Frecce and Italo), these are the most expensive, but also the quickest and usually the most comfortable. In some cases we managed to book high speed trains for cheaper than the slow counterparts as some had offers on when booking.
Then there's intercity trains which connect cities with fewer stops. Finally there are the regional trains. These tend to be slower, calling at more stops and they don't have reserved seating, but they also tend to be the cheapest option.
Some areas in Italy aren't as well connected such as Cinque Terre, so here you'll only find regional trains available.
Yes! as mentioned earlier, we paid the same for 1st class high speed trains booked in advance, as what we would have paid on the day for a slower intercity train.
It is definitely worth booking your main journeys in advance, as these dates tend to be set in stone with your accommodation dates.
For more localised journeys such as Lake Garda to Verona, the price difference is small on the day, so if you would like to play days out by ear then leave these ones flexible.
For bigger city stations I'd recommend a good 20 minutes beforehand. Some stations are more like airports and depending on which door you enter it can be quite a walk to the platforms. The last thing you want is to be panicking and rushing to find your platform.
Getting there in good time allows you to get your bearings, check the arrivals board and stand on the right part on the platform.
If you have a pre-booked seat in a specific carriage, there's nothing worse than having to rush aboard, then walk the length of a train to find where you're sat with all your bags.
For regional stations 5-10 mins is more than adequate. Trains run on time in Italy so definitely be there beforehand.
In most cases children under 4yrs old travel free. Children up to 14 years may travel at a highly discounted fare when riding on high speed trains. For other trains the maximum child age is 11 years.
We found that my daughter who was 13yrs at the time was classed as a child fare on high speed trains, but an adult on the regional ones.
It's best to play around and price it up online, as it may therefore be cheaper to take a high speed train depending on your children's ages.
With high speed trains there are luggage racks at the end of each carriage. On regional trains, there are no racks and it's expected you keep your luggage with you.
In all cases please keep your most valuable items, money and passports on your person at all times.
I would always recommend purchasing online before your trip. Not only can you save money but you're also guaranteeing your seat and some high speed trains can sell out.
If you are purchasing regional train tickets at the station, you need to remember to validate your ticket before boarding using one of the machines on the platform otherwise you could face a fine.
To purchase online we used a combination of Trenitalia (the Italian train website), Trainline and Trip.Com (Often a little easier to navigate).
Rome Tiburtina to Firenze S.M. Novella: 1st Class High Speed train, Journey Time: 1hr 30 mins, total cost £94 (£16pp)
Florence to Figline Valdarno, Regional train 2nd Class, Journey Time: 58 mins, total cost £38 (£7pp)
Figline Valdarno (Chianti) to Firenze S.M. Novella (Florence), Regional Train, 2nd Class, Journey time 58 mins, total cost £25 (£4pp)
Firenze S.M. Novella (Florence) to Pisa Centrale, Regional Train, 2nd Class, Journey time 52 mins £50 (£9pp)
Figline Valdarno to Firenze S.M. Novella (Florence), Regional Train, 2nd Class, Journey time 58 mins, total cost £25 (£4pp)
Firenze S.M. Novella (Florence) to Peschiera Del Garda, High Speed, 1st Class, Journey time 1hr 58 mins, total cost £85 (£15pp)
Peschiera Del Garda to Verona Porta Nuova: Regional Train, 2nd class, Journey time:19 minutes £16 (£3pp)
Verona Porta Nuova to Peschiera Del Garda: Regional Train, 2nd class, Journey time:19 minutes £16 (£3pp)
Peschiera Del Garda to Venice (Venezia Santa Lucia), High Speed Train (Frecciargento), journey time: 1hr 22 mins, total cost £48 (£8pp)
Venice to Peschiera Del Garda 2nd class train with a change in Verona, journey time: 1hr 45 mins, total cost £55 (£9pp)
Peschiera Del Garda to Milan (Milano Centrale), 1st Class Seats-High Speed Train (Frecciargento), journey time: 57 mins, total cost £62 (£11pp)
Milan (Milano Centrale) to Peschiera Del Garda, 1st Class Seats-High Speed Train (Frecciargento), journey time: 57 mins, total cost £62 (£11)
From Rome Ciampino Airport to Camping Village Fabulous we paid £64 for a private van for 6 people (£11pp)
Butterfly Camping in Peschiera del Garda to Milan Bergamo, we again booked a private transfer, this time costing £167 (£28pp)
The nearest airport to Peschiera Del Garda is Verona, however the flights were £600 more expensive than from Milan, so it made more sense to fly out of Milan Bergamo and pay a little more on the transfer.
Total cost for Private Airport Transfers £231 (£39pp)
For luggage we tried to keep this as minimal as possible as lugging cases round Italy and on so many trains isn't my idea of fun. We stuck to two cases weighing 20kg and then a back pack for each person.
One case was purely for towels and bedding. In static accommodation in Italy, you're usually required to provide your own duvet cover and pillowcases or rent it from the site. The cost of this is around £20 per bed, which doesn't sound too bad. However, as we were changing accommodation three times over the trip, this would have been £300 extra.
We save up old bedding instead of throwing it away for these kind of trips. Then at the end we can dispose of it guilt free and have lots of spare room to bring any souvenirs back.
The three accommodations we booked all had laundry facilities, so this meant we didn't need to pack clothes to last us the full 16 days.
We took around 7 day outfits, 2 evening ones, 2 swimming costume and 1-2 pairs of shoes per person on top of the ones we travelled in.
Luggage costs were included in the flight price above.
We would absolutely recommend a trip like this with children. Train travel in Italy is straightforward and family-friendly, making it easy to explore large regions of the country in a single trip. For roughly the same cost as a 7-night package holiday in Spain, we enjoyed 15 nights of travel and made countless unforgettable memories.
Since this trip, we’ve gone on to plan several more Italy adventures by train, including a 4-night itinerary from Turin to Verona and a Venice to Verona trip. Plus, I've had several solo adventures in Southern Italy and Sicily, all using public transport.
We’re also looking forward to exploring Naples and the Amalfi Coast by public transport this Easter.
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