Summer Northern Italy Itinerary + Recap

I don’t usually write “trip reports” these days, but what started out as an email for my subscribers quickly became so long that it deserved a place on my website! In July 2025 we spent two weeks exploring Italy, including Rome and points north.

The trip was a great mix of new-to-us destinations and repeat visits. But the wonderful thing about visiting Italy is that there are always new things to experience, even in places you’ve been before. This was our third time in Italy with kids, but now that they’re a tween and teen we can do more and faster.

It was one of the more complicated trips we’ve done in terms of travel logistics, which was largely possible because the kids are older now. Since my son wanted to visit Rome first, he and I flew a few days ahead to visit The Eternal City. My husband and daughter flew into Milan and rented a car three days later, and we met up in Bologna – us by a beautiful Italo high-speed train (much nicer than TrenItalia) and them by car.

Northern Italy summer itinerary

Mother-son time in Rome

When we told the kids we wanted to go to northern Italy in the summer, our 13yo son – in the midst of studying antiquity in school – said “we’re going to Rome, right?” It wasn’t in the original plans, but thankfully working full-time on this blog gives me the flexibility to say yes in those situations. We were able to spend three days in Rome enjoying some special one-on-one time and I’m so glad we did it! Our Rome highlights – beyond wandering the city at night and sampling all of the fine gelato offerings – included:

We kicked things off with this food tour our first night. It was a great way to get our footing in a new place and guaranteed good food without the stress of scrolling through TripAdvisor or Yelp.
It was hard to snag due to limited availability, but touring the Colosseum Underground was such a unique experience. It was basically the backstage of the arena and the two thousand year old infrastructure is amazing. This was a combo tour with the Roman Forum next door, and our guide at the Forum did incredible job of bringing history to life.
It was our third visit to Rome and we finally made it to Pompeii! I won’t lie – it was a very long day trip. But it was so worthwhile to see this place that I’ve read about for years. That’s the magic of travel, right? We also visited nearby Ercolano (Herculaneum), which is even better preserved and should be on everyone’s itinerary. Our tour guide was excellent.

The only hiccup was that I couldn’t find this critical gizmo when I was packing, and wound up relying on my sense of directions rather than my GPS app a few times.

If you’re planning to add this to your itinerary, check out my tips for visiting Rome with kids!

🎧 Listen up!

Want to hear more about planning a trip to Italy with kids? Check out my recent podcast episode:

Bologna + Emilia-Romagna

The rest of the family flew into Milan and we met up in Bologna, known as the foodie capital of Italy. It sits in the middle of the Emilia-Romagna region which is home to parmigiano reggiano, balsamic vinegar and more. It’s also the Motor Valley thanks to the presence of Ferrari, Lamborghini, Ducate and other manufacturers.

Our daughter’s favorite activity of the whole trip was this gelato making class. It’s run by a man who owned his own gelateria for two decades, and over the course of several hours in his kitchen he taught us the ins and outs of how to make the perfect gelato from scratch, its history and why gelato is superior to ice cream. We rolled up our sleeves and made four different flavors, and even got to take a kilo back to our apartment!
Don’t miss sunset at the Clock Tower in Bologna, pictured at the top of this article. Buy your ticket in advance or they may not let you in!
We had a wonderful tour of Caseificio Bio Reggiani, which is an organic farm that handles every aspect of their parmigiano reggiano production in-house… from raising the hay that the cows eat to aging the cheese. Our private tour included tasting three different ages of parmigiano and that morning’s ricotta, along with local balsamic vinegar, lambrusco wine and more.
Our young sports car enthusiast loved the Ferrari Museum outside of Modena.
Speaking of Modena, it really charmed me! In retrospect, I wish we had stayed there rather than nearby Bologna. It’s smaller and quieter (since it doesn’t have a major university in the center of the city).
Don’t miss dinner at Sfoglia Rina – this incredible pasta shop has delicious creations that you can either take away or enjoy in their restaurant, and in the front you can even watch the chefs at work or check out racks of drying pasta. But go on the early side to avoid a lengthy wait.

We also snuck in quick stops in Verona and Lake Garda on our way out of Bologna. The Arena di Verona is definitely worth a visit, especially if you can go for an evening opera performance – it’s like a scaled down version of the Colosseum, but still in such good condition that it’s in use all the time. Unlike the Colosseum, we were able to just buy tickets when we arrived using the QR code and then walk right in with no advance planning.

Lake Garda was much busier than we expected and we were glad that we decided not to stay a few nights there as we had originally planned.

Dolomites

WOW. If you want an absolutely stunning place to visit next summer, don’t sleep on the Dolomites in northern Italy. This beautiful mountainous area is an incredible place, whether you’re truly outdoorsy or just “outsidey”. I’ve written up lots of Dolomites travel tips to help you plan because we definitely made a few mistakes and I want you to avoid them.

If you’re visiting Italy with the family in tow, this is the perfect place for your kids to fall in love with hiking! Find out why the Dolomites is the best place in the world to hike with kids here.

We ended up splitting our time and staying two nights in Val Gardena and two nights near Cortina d’Ampezzo. That was the right call in terms of driving and logistics, but we really loved our hotel and the scenery in Val Gardena and wish we’d had longer there!
Many of the best hikes in the Dolomites have cable cars that take you up the steepest ascents, and then you can use your energy wisely just walking around enjoying incredible views!

You can hear more about visiting the Dolomites with kids here too:

Venice

I feel like Venice is such a classic Italian destination, but it’s also a city that everyone loves to hate. I won’t lie: it was just as hot and crowded as we expected (and worse than the last time we visited a decade ago in the fall). But I think we did a really good job of avoid the worst of Venice and having a great time! Check out these strategies we used to avoid the crowds in Venice.

This wasn’t a hotel-focused trip, but we really loved the Hyatt Centric Murano. The staff was incredibly warm and the hotel, housed in an old glass factory, is full of stunning display pieces as well as functional installations that are all locally made by contemporary glass artists.
Speaking of art, we did two really neat hands-on workshops while in Venice to connect to the area’s rich craft history: a mask making workshop on Giudetta island and a murrina workshop on Murano.

Money-saving tips and tricks

A summer trip to Italy isn’t cheap, but we employed some of my favorite strategies to make it more attainable. By using points, miles and credits we were able to save so much on our basic travel expenses that it made room in the budget for the incredible tours and experiences we booked. You can read more tips for visiting Italy on a budget written by my friend (and Italy expert) Vanessa.

Flights

We were really lucky just to pay some taxes out of pocket for our flights. Not only did miles cover the tickets, but I was able to get all of us into Premium Economy in both directions! In part I did that by keeping my eyes peeled and being willing to make changes when better options became available. We haven’t made it all the way up to Business or First yet, in part because our travel dates aren’t flexible and we’re coming from an airport that doesn’t have international flights so the best deals are trickier for us to take advantage of.

My husband and daughter flew to Italy on American Airlines booked through Alaska Airlines, and we all did that on the way home. Unfortunately the loophole that we used to build a big stash of Alaska miles is now closed, but if AA is your airline of choice be sure to check Alaska for award tickets and consider opening an Alaska (or Hawaiian) credit card.

My son and I flew to Italy on United with points I earned by opening a United credit card. While our tickets might have been slightly cheaper if I had booked them through a partner airline, booking them directly with United miles gave me the flexibility to cancel them the day before (which I took advantage for my husband’s return flight when a better option popped up).

Hotels

We stayed completely free (other than some small, unavoidable occupancy taxes) at two hotels in Italy: The Tribune in Rome and Hyatt Centric Murano in Venice. Both are Hyatt properties so I booked them by transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points. We actually earn those points through quite a few credit cards and then combine them into one big pool:

Yes, I hold and use all of these cards! They works as a team to maximize our earnings for personal and business spending and allow us to travel for free as often as we do. Even better, the combined annual fee for all of those cards is under $200.

The apartment in Bologna and independent hotels in the Dolomites unfortunately couldn’t be booked on points. But it’s important to remember that in many cases you can’t make your out-of-pocket expenses zero. If I had wanted to, I could have wiped out those expenses by putting them on our Capital One Venture X card.

Rental car + ground transportation

We rented a car for part of our time in Italy, with my husband picking it up when he arrived in Milan and returning it at the Venice airport before we headed to the islands. We used the $300 annual travel credit on his Capital One Venture X card to cover half of the rental, and since that card provides primary rental car insurance coverage we were able to decline any additional coverage at pickup for more savings.

My son and I took a few trains around Italy and there are a few ways we managed to save. First, you’ll generally get the best rates by booking a week or two (or more) in advance. If you know what train you’ll need, lock it in!

Second, both Italo Treno and Tren Italia have a very generous family plan that gives free rides to kids under 15 when they’re accompanied by an adult. That rate must be booked at least 15 days in advance but it’s changeable and refundable.

Third, I checked the offers on my Amex cards and discovered that there was a $35 rebate available for Italo of all things! Both Chase and Amex routinely offer credits for travel related purchases. I’ve seen all types of Marriott and Hyatt properties, Hertz, Europecar, Delta and more.

My son and I mostly took buses in Rome to save money – you can just tap your credit card or Apple Pay without the need for a special app. We also took a few taxis when necessary and I saved by flagging them the old-fashioned way rather than hailing them with the Uber app; though sometimes that’s the most convenient option, it’s almost always more expensive.

Plan your next trip to Italy

Want to make your next trip to Italy amazing? Check out these helpful resources!

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