When in Rome you may want to take a little side trip to Venice via train. UltimateMama’s family of 4 did just that and loved every second of it. Contrary to what you may expect, Venice is actually very intriguing to kids perhaps due to its numerous canals and winding city streets. We booked our train from Rome to Venice online at trenitalia.com months before our trip’s departure date to ensure our family of 4 was seated together in an air conditioned car. UltimateMama made sure to board the train with plenty of water and food in case of delays. In terms of lodging, once again we chose to avoid the high priced hotel rooms in favor of a spacious flat and never regretted our decision. Based on a friend’s positive experience we used The Red House company in Venice for our booking.
Equipped with the knowledge gained from the kids book “This is Venice” by M. Sasek, we explored the city in full taking numerous vaporettos in the process. We also enjoyed watching the colorful, romantic gondolas go underneath bridges.
Besides getting a daily intake of gelato, we visited the Guggenheim, Ca Pesaro Art Museum, Rialto, and Doges Palace. Did the girls feed the pigeons in Piazza San Marco? Of course they did!
Once special evening we ventured to dinner at Cipriani via their private boat shuttle from San Marco.
The weather cooperated with us to we even got to show the girls the Venetian Lagoon islands of Murano (glass making) and Burano (lace making).
Unfortunately, it rained the days we wanted to hit Lido Beach but I guess that means a repeat trip is in our future.