I scoured long and hard to find the perfect hotel in Florence for our family trip. There are tons of choices, but triple or quad rooms can be difficult. We had a little gem of a place on our last trip 15 years ago, but it has since closed.
Hotel Kraft turned out to be another absolute gem! The icing on the cake was a rooftop pool, there are only a handful of hotels in Florence with a pool, let alone a rooftop one with a view of the Duomo!
Hotel Kraft was a short easy walk from Santa Maria Novella train station and we walked it with our luggage no problem. I had booked 2 triple rooms here, my parents with 1 kid and us with the other. They were right across the hall from one another so that was convenient. The rooms were nice and large with high ceilings and a good size modern bathroom.
The best part of this hotel though apart from great service, was the rooftop terrace/restaurant/lounge/pool. Just incredible! You can see for miles around and all the key points of Florence, the famous hills beyond the city, the Duomo and the bell tower of the Palazzo Medici. We spent evenings sipping Bellini’s and Perroni’s and enjoyed breakfast each morning al fresco. The last night we had a front row seat for the view of the sun setting on Florence. We only used the pool one day, but it was very enjoyable to have some downtime on a busy sightseeing trip like Italy is. It’s well worth it to take an afternoon to re-charge. And for our competitive swimmer son to get some laps in. We snuck out for a walk into town and shopping (had to go back and get Christmas presents for the boys they had seen earlier), but my parents and kids enjoyed the pool all afternoon. It was never too crowded
The hotel was just off the main center of Florence, but only a 10-15 minute walk to the Ponte Vecchio or Duomo. and just 2 blocks up from the Arno River. We strolled it many times. Walking being a bit difficult for my father, they easily jumped in a cab for a short few minutes ride back and forth when they needed to. We always walked. We visited the Accademia Museum and saw the real David. Then the replicas up at Piazzale Michelangelo and out in front of Palazzo Medici. We shopped on the Ponte Vecchio.
Around the corner from the hotel was our favorite gelateria, B.Ice. This became an afternoon treat and after dinner dessert daily. Within a block there were numerous restaurants, trattorias, etc… you simply cannot go wrong. Starving our first night we tucked into the first one we saw and it turned out to be phenomenal. The hotel recommended another place we went to the next night, also wonderful. The hotel’s restaurant itself was very good as well.
Florence is an incredible city, my favorite city in Italy! Not to be missed on a first time trip to Italy and a great base for day trips to the surrounding splendors of Tuscany.
This was our second time staying at Hotel Modigliani in Rome, we stayed 16 years ago and I didn’t even look at anything else when planning this trip. Modigliani is in a great location, a quiet street just off Piazza Barberini and just a few minutes walk to the top of the Spanish Steps and the Borghese Gardens with incredible views of the eternal city.
City buses and the Metro are nearby, but the whole city is walkable. We walked back from the Vatican after our tour stopping for lunch, walking through Piazza Navona and a few other spots along the way.
The Modigliani is a small boutique hotel with just over 20 rooms. Each a little different. The hotel is owned by artists and you will see the artwork displayed throughout the hotel.
We had booked a small room in the hotel and a garden apartment, literally called the apartment, for my parents and the kids. The apartment was basically 2 rooms next to each other across a small courtyard. One room with a double sized bed and the other had a double and a single.
Courtyard with the Garden Apartment
They offer a lovely breakfast buffet each morning which can be included in your stay if you choose. The breakfast room is pictured below, set up for breakfast and how it looks for the rest of the day.
The staff was phenomenal. Always with a smile at all hours. They were able to arrange cabs for us to get to our tour meeting points each day and recommend restaurants in the area. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this lovely little hotel and will certainly stay here again if I find myself in Rome again.
Hotel Ca Pisani is a little gem of a hotel in a great location in the Dorsoduro region of Venice. Between the Accademia and Zattere water bus stops on the 2 main water bus lines and right next to the Accademia Museum and not far from the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. The hotel is only a 10-minute stroll to St. Mark’s Square, but off the beaten path in a quiet location. You simply cross the Accademia bridge and follow the signs. The way to Piazza San Marco is clearly marked and easy to follow.
The hotel is housed in a typical 14th-century Venetian palazzo, but has been completely remodeled on the inside to a beautiful Art Deco style. The attention to detail is incredible, from the fish shaped ebony keys, the doors, and handles, the marble bathrooms to the logo on the wardrobe.
There is always someone at the front desk where you leave your key and if rain is threatening, they will offer you an umbrella. Service was also great in the restaurant and housekeeping with turndown service in the evenings.
All the rooms are equipped with direct-dial telephone, Tv, minibar, hair dryer, safe, air conditioning with climate control, and all the amenities of a modern four-star hotel including WiFi. There is an internet point in the mezzanine for guest use and guests may use a nearby fitness center although not located in the hotel. La Rivista is their restaurant which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Terrace in front of the hotel, part of La Rivista
The rooms are beautifully decorated in the Art Deco style and are all unique, nothing cookie cutter here. We stayed in a duplex room which was 2 floors with a seating area and bathroom on the main level and a loft bedroom and closet up a glass staircase. All the rooms are unique which is a fun feature of the hotel.
We returned from Venice on Thursday and only had that afternoon and Friday left.
We visited some relatives and had a fun and delicious dinner at my aunt’s country house. Her 4 kids, my cousins, were all there with their families. My boys got to meet my cousins kids, a few who spoke a bit of English. They went from ignoring each other to not wanting to leave a few hours later.
Before that, we visited my uncle who is a master cheese maker. He travels the world helping cheese makers perfect their cheese recipes. A Belgian company just put his face on their latest cheese calling it, Nonno’s Cheese. We sampled some delicious mozzarella at his house.
While we were in Venice, the kids had a good time with their Nonni. They visited some family, got to swim in a cousin’s pool and jump on their trampoline. They also hiked up Nonno’s beloved mountain. Nonno couldn’t handle the 30 minute hike so waited at the church where you can drive the car to, and my uncle Carlo took the boys up to the top where there is a pretty interesting looking Jesus on a cross.
Friday we did a little local sightseeing. We went to the birthplace of grappa, Bassano del Grappa and stopped in Marostica as well.
Marostica is known for having a human chess game they play a few times a year. The chess board is in the middle of the main piazza. It has a cool castle up on the hill which makes up part of the wall around the small city. They were setting up for the event.
Bassano is famous not only for grappa, but for the covered bridge that leads into the historical center of the town. The covered bridge, which needs some tender loving care at the moment, was designed by Palladio.
Friday night we went out to dinner with as many of my cousins as were available, and not away on their summer holidays.
And that’s all she wrote. Saturday morning we packed up and waited for our taxi transfer to the airport. The Venice airport was a little crazy. By the time we made it to our gate it was just about time to board the plane. This airport traffic is growing too quickly and the building is having trouble keeping up.
Tuesday morning my father drove us to the train station in Vicenza and we took the high speed train to Venice with my mother. Walking all day in Venice was too much for my father.
Venice is unique and beautiful. It’s also very confusing. Figuring out the water bus system is a task. We bought 3 day tickets for us and 1 day for the kids and Nonna. We took a boat to our hotel after some confusion on what stop and what water bus to take. Venetians are very quick to wave you in a direction without much information. Turns out 2 days later we discovered a “moved due to construction” water bus stop near our hotel which was the reason for much confusion. Found the hotel and dropped off our bag, my husband and I were staying for 2 nights, the kids were going back “home” with Nonna. From there we walked leisurely to Piazza San Marco where I had a tour of St. Mark’s and the Palazzo Ducale scheduled. Again, easy meeting point and it was a well organized nice tour. We were able to skip the line into both places like on our tours in Rome and Florence.
After our tour, we wandered a bit and stopped for lunch and then took a gondola ride, another things the kids really wanted to do.
We continued to wander and make our way back to our hotel slowly with a gelato stop of course along the way. Our room was ready when we arrived back so we checked that out.
I had searched long and hard for a perfect hotel in Venice and found a great little gem in Dosoduro by the Accademia Bridge. Hotel Ca Pisani was a on a quiet little street between the Accademia water bus stop on the Grand Canal and Zattere on the other side. The hotel was small and decorated in an Art Deco style, very beautiful. We had a duplex room, 2 floors, with the bedroom up a glass staircase and a spa like bathroom downstairs. Breakfast was included in the restaurant and they had some tables set up outside as well to people watch.
Front of Ca Pisani Art Deco Hotel
We then made our way back to the train station because Nonna wasn’t sure she could find it on her own. 🙂 We left Nonna and the boys at the train station and found our way back, this time managing to take the water bus we wanted that traveled along the Grand Canal.
We wandered to a piazza across the bridge and had a lovely dinner. It rained for the first time on our trip this evening, but we had gotten un umbrella from the hotel before we left.
The next morning, I had scheduled a tour to the islands of Murano and Burano which I had never been to. We made our way and easily found the meeting point near Piazza San Marco and boarded a private boat to Murano where we visited a glass factory and toured the island a little. Then back on the boat and on to the gorgeous island of Burano where the art of lace making is dying away. Had a lovely lunch here and did some shopping. It’s tiny, but beautiful.
We ended our time in Venice with dinner on a terrace by the water and gondolas, absolute bucket list item!
The next morning we had breakfast and wandered around our hotel area which was so lovely. We had discovered it yesterday afternoon. Then made our way back to the train station for our noon train to Vicenza where my father would be picking us up.
Onwards from Florence to Northern Italy and “home” for my family. My parents are from small towns in the Veneto region, between the cities of Verona and Vicenza, not too far from Venice.
We took the Italo high speed train again from Florence to Verona on Sunday August 12 and had a taxi pick us up and bring us to my parent’s apartment in the town of Schio. They bought this place when my father retired years ago and spend a few months each year there. Their apartment is located at the base of Monte Summano which is the mountain my father hiked as a child, he loves that mountain and now has a spectacular view of it outside his apartment.
View from the balcony
We settled in and found the rental van (let’s call it a truck much to large for the tiny streets of Italy!) and went to one of my Aunt’s for lunch. My mother’s sister.
The boys with Nonno and his mountain
Another Aunt, the baby sister of my mother’s, arrived with a HUGE surprise for the boys. She had gotten wind that Matthew was a little bit obsessed with fancy cars, his favorites being Ferrari and Lamborghini. Visiting these museums/factories was on the required list for the trip, but Lamborghini is closed the entire month of August. Well, Zia Laura’s boyfriend owns a Ferrari and while they live in Verona, picking 6 of us up at the train station in a 2 seater Ferrari wasn’t practical, they made the 1 hour trek to surprise the boys.
As they drove into the parking lot, my father proclaimed “what is that sound, sounds like a Ferrari!” He didn’t actually know what was happening, he genuinely just thought that and said it. Matthew ran to the balcony, we were on the 2nd floor, and was in total shock at the sight before him.
Okay, so it wasn’t shiny, it was actually matte black, but still…
The boys both got short rides and were in heaven.
We also received our instructions for the next day, which was our adventure to Maranello, the birthplace of Enzo Ferrari and location of the factory and museum. Lamborghini was closed, but Ferrari only closes a few days a year, major holidays, so we made the trek to visit the museum. The boys really enjoyed this. Plenty of shiny metal objects at this place.
We made some mistakes on the way and it took longer than it should have and of course, road closures on the way back caused some confusion. The giant truck didn’t help. Toll booths that only take credit card even though they say they take cash, etc…driving in Italy is an adventure of it’s own.
That night, we had dinner at the old beer garden in my father’s home town of Piovene, we walked from my Aunt’s.
Our Italian journey continues onto Florence. See how the trip started in Rome here.
This trip was a long time in the planning. My parents were born and raised in Italy and have been wanted to take their grandkids there for years. We wanted to wait until they were old enough to appreciate what they would be seeing. We were all set to travel last summer and 2 weeks before the trip we had to cancel everything because my father was ill and needed surgery. He came through nicely and the trip was rescheduled to this summer.
On Thursday August 9th we taxied to the train station and took the high speed train to Florence. Unlike Rome, the hotel we had previously stayed in here was no longer open, so I spent a great deal of time searching for the perfect place for our family. I consider it a success. Hotel Kraft was wonderful. We were able to walk everywhere and it was close to the train station. One block from the Arno River and about 10 minutes leisurely walk to the historical center of Florence.
Nonni walked off the elevator just as I was taking the photo!
Hotel Kraft is located on a quiet street a few minutes walk from the main train station, Santa Maria Novella and a smaller train station. With 78 rooms it is larger than our Rome hotel, but still not too large. We had booked 2 triple rooms here and they were spacious, had high ceilings and with good sized bathrooms. This hotel had a restaurant with breakfast included on the top floor. They also served lunch and dinner and drinks in the restaurant and on the large rooftop terrace. Another gem, a rooftop pool with views of all of Florence past the River Arno and the Duomo. There are very few hotels with pools, let alone rooftop pools in Florence so this was perfect for my competitive swimmer son. It was tiny, but he made due with some practice laps. It was perfect for cooling off as well, still brutally hot during a heat wave continuing through all of Europe.
In Florence I had scheduled a tour of the Accademia Museum to see Michelangelo’s David. We wandered the city, saw the Duomo and Baptistry doors (partially covered for restoration), shopped on the Ponte Vecchio which is the street of gold, Palazzo Vecchio, traveled up to Piazzale Michelangelo, saw all the fake Davids after seeing the real thing and countless statues that decorate the city.
Quick Tip: Limit museums and churches with children. Use Skip the Line entry or short tours to see highlights more easily. Lines in the hot sun are not where you want to be spending your time.
We knew our kids would have little interest in hours or museum strolling looking at masterpiece paintings so I scheduled a short, 1 hour Accademia tour which really just focused on the statue of David and the other statues he left unfinished. It also got us in without a wait in line. We could have stayed and toured the museum on our own after our short tour if we wished of course. Katy was our tour guide and it was a nice short tour.
The hotel recommended a restaurant which turned out to be another little gem of a place. We had a lovely meal at Il Parione on the street with the same name and upon leaving people were lined up outside waiting to get in. Another gem we found by accident, we were hungry and it was close by, Trattoria Armando was also excellent.
Hubby and I wandered on our own several times to shop and explore and we had the best cheese (I think it was cheese) with prosecco when we stopped in to this little place on our way back to the hotel one day. It was so good, they brought it with the wine since they cannot serve drinks without food of course. Another spot we stopped in for lunch Trattoria Nella turned out to be very good too and tiny, only like 8 tables maybe. There was a moment of confusion when the owner started eating Eric’s side order of potatoes because he had ordered some too and didn’t realize they weren’t his. We laughed afterwards once Eric had his potatoes because he is no fun when he is hungry.
Around the corner from our hotel was our favorite Gelateria! We hit B.Ice twice a day during our stay, afternoon treat and nightly dessert. The counter girl welcomed us in and laughed every time we walked in. She knew our order by the last day.
A fun thing we loved about Italy, many of the Gelaterias are also bars. And sandwich shops. And snack bar. And pasta restaurant. And have souvenirs too.
Dinner at the hotel rooftop restaurant on our final night in Firenze
A note about service in Italy: A cover charge and service charge is normally included so if you leave a tip, it can be just a few euros extra since the majority of the tip is included. They often will tell you it’s not included. It is. Also, service in general is slow and not like America where they keep checking on you. Once they bring your food, you never see them again unless you flag them down for something. Nobody is ever in a rush in any restaurant in Italy. Regardless of how many people are waiting outside. Just enjoy and go with the flow.
While in Florence, we took a half day trip to Pisa since the Leaning Tower was one of the things the kids really wanted to see. This was the one sore spot of the tours I arranged through Viator. The ground operator in this case did not do a good job. We would have been much better off taking a train ourselves rather than doing a tour. The operator was My Tour and while the meeting location was close to our hotel and easy to find the tour itself was not run very well. The escort, Sarenna was a lovely young girl, but really said very little in explaining timelines and what was happening. She also walked very quickly since the bus stops about 1 mile from Miracle Square. She never looked back to see if the group was still with her and never slowed down for the slower members of the group. There was a local guide which took us on a tour, but we only walked around outside of the monuments. He was good, but clearly worried about what would happen next. The biggest issue we had was they lied about the time we had for our tour of the Cathedral. The cathedral has free entry, but requires a timed ticket like everything in Pisa. We later learned that they send someone that morning to get the tickets and the time they were able to get for our group was 1pm. We had to be back on the bus at 12:45pm. They told us the tour was for 12:30 and we would try and get in a few minute early so as not to rush it too much, and then pretty much sprint back to the bus. They usually will let them in a bit early. But as we tried to get in at 12:15pm they refused and said they would let us in at 12:45pm. Several tried to make them wait and be late for the bus, but the escort and guide refused. For some, including my mother, the cathedral was the only thing they really wanted to see since it is often closed and they had never been inside before. Had they told us up front, we would have gotten ourselves a ticket when we first arrived hours ago and gotten in, but we didn’t because we thought we were getting in with the tour guide. We also would have had time to get a ticket to climb the tower had we known the tour was going to be a bust. So instead we did nothing but wander around and have lunch. Because they didn’t admit the actual time and give us the option.
This is the first of a series of posts about our recent family trip to Italy.
This trip was a long time in the planning. My parents were born and raised in Italy and have been wanting to take their grandkids there for years. We wanted to wait until they were old enough to appreciate what they would be seeing. We were all set to travel last summer and 2 weeks before the trip we had to cancel everything because my father was ill and needed surgery. He came through nicely and the trip was rescheduled to this summer.
We flew out Sunday August 5th from Montreal on a direct flight with Air Canada. Landing in Rome we were met by a driver for our transfer to our hotel.
We stayed in the same boutique hotel we stayed in 16 years ago and it was still as lovely as ever. Hotel Modigliani is just off Piazza Barberini next to Via Veneto and not far from Trinita Dei Monti, the top of the Spanish Steps. It’s a great, quiet location, walkable to everywhere really, but beware there is a bit of a hill since it’s halfway up the hill to the Spanish Steps climb up to the Borghese Gardens.
Hotel Modigliani is small, just 23 rooms. We had a small room with a small balcony and even smaller bathroom. My parents and the boys had a great setup off the garden in what the hotel calls The Apartment. A double bedded room and a separate room with a double bed and a twin bed for the boys. There is a breakfast room downstairs, which is included if you choose that option. The lobby lounge offers English newspapers and the staff all spoke English very well. The hotel arranged the airport pickup and would call taxis for us if needed. Since we were six, getting 2 taxis was easier when we all traveled together.
We spent three nights in Rome. I had scheduled us to take a tour of the Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica on Tuesday morning and then the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill on Wednesday morning. These tours were great. The guides were fabulous, Agnese at the Colosseum and Angela at the Vatican. Both were art historians so had a lot of details about everything we were seeing. With both tours, finding the meeting point was simple and everything was organized. The ground operator for the tours was City Wonders. It was brutally hot both days, but especially walking around the ruins of the Roman Forum and climbing Palatine Hill.
Set up for Wednesday morning’s Papal Audience
In between those scheduled tours, we wandered the city and saw the Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, Trajan’s Column, the Spanish Steps, Trinita Dei Monti, the Borghese Gardens, the Pantheon, enjoyed our new favorite restaurant/bar La Bottte on Via Sistina, first gelato and real Italian pizzas for the boys, and countless walks along the streets of Rome.
Around the corner from our hotel on Via Sistina which leads straight up to the top of the Spanish Steps was a little gem of a place my husband and I stumbled into looking for a drink and a break from walking in the heat. We returned for dinner with everyone and really enjoyed the atmosphere and friendly and amusing staff at this small establishment.
Fun Fact: In Italy it is the law that food must be served when alcoholic drinks are ordered. So tasty snacks always accompany any drinks in a bar.
Calamri fried to perfection
gnocchi
Tris of classic Roman pastas
Making a classic Roman dish, A l’amtriciana
View from the Palatine Hill down to the Colosseum and Arch of Constantine
Magical Travels with Barb 