As a family of 6 we decided to book our biggest adventure yet, exploring Italy by train over 16 days- 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.
Train travel in Italy with children is a great way to see the country. The trains are reliable and very comfortable, making it easy to relax while you travel.
You can go from one city to another by high speed train quickly and cheaply. The views from the train windows are beautiful, with rolling hills, vineyards, and charming towns.
Plus, taking the train can help you save money and avoid traffic! Some parts of Italy are notoriously stressful in terms of narrow roads and crazy drivers whereas a train allows you to sit back and enjoy the scenery.
For anyone looking to plan a similar trip we've broken down each element of our own trip so you can see how we planned it all out. In this blog, we will share with you the logistical side of booking a trip like this.
From the UK you can travel to Europe purely by train. However, living in the north of England, this would have been far more expensive than flying. It would have also required an extra nights stay in London at either end of the trip, adding to the cost.
It is typically far cheaper for us to fly to mainland Europe and then start our travels there, so this is what we did.
In order to plan the route we would take, we first looked at flights. As we were trying to keep the trip as low cost as possible, it made sense to factor in which cities in Italy has the cheapest flights during August and then build in the stops in between. Flights are always the biggest cost variable for us a family of 6, as opposed to accommodation.
We used Skyscanner to see which cities in Italy had the cheapest outbound and return flights.
Skyscanner has the ability to search the whole of Italy for an entire month rather than having to pick a date and specific arrival city, making it a valuable tool when planning a trip of this nature.
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.
The flights we finally settled on were flying in to Rome from Manchester and then flying home from Milan Bergamo.
For the outbound flight we paid a total of £510.22 (£85pp). For the return flight 16 days later from Milan Bergamo, the total was £500.73 (£84pp). Both flight prices included 2 x 20kg suitcases.
The flight total could have been much cheaper if we'd booked earlier in the year during the flight sales or had chosen a different month to travel. August is usually the most expensive month for flights to Italy. We only chose to start looking at a trip like this in June (around 6 weeks before departure).
We regularly pick up return flights to Italy between £28-£50pp, if you take a look at our other Italy blogs we have a few of these trips written up for reference.
The next step was then to determine where we would stay between Rome and Milan.
For accommodation our main aim was to find something child friendly, that would provide us with a balance between a 'proper' Summer holiday and seeing the tourist sites of Italy.
The last thing we wanted was to drag the kids around Italy in very hot temperatures, seeing things they would probably have little interest in and be cooked up in hotel rooms for the remainder.
We decided to use campsites as a base. We had visited sites like these previously in Rome and Venice and they were fantastic for kids with great pools, slides and entertainment on site. Plus they have amenities like laundrettes, bars, restaurants and supermarkets.
The accommodations available at these kind of campsites include space for campervans and tents, but they also have fully equipped static caravans with verandas which are great for allowing you to cook your own meals and sit out at night whilst the kids are in bed.
At each site booked a 3 bed static caravan with large deck, 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)
Go to the end of this post to see links for separate blog posts detailing our stay at each of these sites- it was too long to include all the information here.
Now we had decided three places we were going to stay during our trip, we could then start to purchase train tickets and expand on the destinations we would include.
At this point we had Rome, Chianti Hills (Tuscany) and Peschiera Del Garda (Lake Garda) as our bases.
From Chianti we decided to include a day out by train to Rome and Florence (1-2hrs away). We had originally wanted to include Cinque Terre but as this area is not on the high speed train network it would have taken too long to travel there and back, in a day from Chianti. Other choices from Chianti include Lucca and Siena.
Pescheria Del Garda we found the most places to visit that were in easy reach. Venice, Verona and Milan are all within 20mins-1hr 30 of Peschiera Del Garda so we added these to our itinerary too. Other choices include Bologna and Parma, and a bit further afield, Lake Como.
Rome we decided to purely just 'do' Rome so we could have a relax and find our feet.
When planning our Italy itinerary, we carefully compared the options between booking an Interrail pass and purchasing individual tickets for each journey.
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.
I have done a breakdown of the train journeys we took and what type of train/class we got, along with the journey times and prices.
For the longer journeys we splurged and purchased 1st class seats on the 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 Freece and Italio), 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.
When planning a trip like this, it is likely you will take a mix of all three of these trains to get around.
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 your 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 its 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) and Trip.Com (Often a little easier to navigate).
So let's look at the trains we booked, how much they cost and the journey times.
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)
Pisa Central to Firenze S.M. Novella (Florence), Regional Train, 2nd Class, Journey time 52 mins £50 (£9pp)
Firenze S.M. Novella (Florence) to Figline Valdarno (Chianti), Regional Train, 2nd Class, Journey time 58 mins, total cost £25 (£4pp)
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 Pescheria 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)
Pescheria Del Garda to Venice (Venezia Santa Lucia), High Speed Train (Frecciargento), journey time: 1hr 22 mins, total cost £48 (£8pp)
Venice to Pescheria Del Garda 2nd class train with a change in Verona, journey time: 1hr 45 mins, total cost £55 (£9pp)
Pescheria 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 Pescheria 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 Pescheria del Garda to Milan Bergamo, we again booked a private transfer, this time costing £167 (£28pp)
The nearest airport to Pescheria 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.
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.
Find the guides for each of our accommodations below:
We would definitely recommend taking a trip like this with children. Trains in Italy are so easy to use and allow you to explore huge regions of the country in one visit For what cost us the same as 7 night package holiday in Spain, we got 15 nights and lots of fabulous memories.
Since this holiday we have grown in confidence and travelled between Switzerland and Italy by train and also between Turin to Garda. You can find the links to these trips below:
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