Reasons why Italy is perfect for family trips
Gretta Schifano writes about family travel as a journalist and on her award winning website Mums Do Travel. Gretta’s children are now 16 and 12 years old and here she explains why she’s always loved going to Italy for family trips.
“We’re based in the UK and we’ve visited Italy for our family holidays more than we’ve visited any other country. The reason that we go to Italy so often isn’t just because we have lovely friends and relatives there (my husband is a London-born Italian and I once worked as an English teacher in Piedmont). We choose to go to Italy because it’s the perfect place for holidays with children. Here’s why.
Italians love kids
I realise that this is a generalisation and that there must be some Italians who can’t stand kids but……Italians adore children. In my experience, children and babies are welcome everywhere in Italy from restaurants to hotels to bars to museums. I’ve even been at Italian restaurants where crying babies have been whisked off to be cooed over in the kitchen while their parents eat. At Villa Pia families with children are definitely very welcome.
Italians respect mothers
When I first became a Mum I found that sometimes I felt invisible. But I’ve never felt invisible as a Mum in Italy: mothers are hugely respected there. Once in Sicily I ate a delicious meal at a family-run agriturismo (a kind of farm restaurant). At the end of the meal the chef, a cheerful, sixty-something lady, joined us at our table. She sat down, smiled and pronounced, proudly: ‘Io sono la madre’ which means ‘I am the mother’. She was telling us that she was the centre of this family, this meal and this farm. She expected, and received, approval and compliments just for being ‘the mother’.
Italian food
If you like your children to eat fresh, healthy, seasonal food then take them to Italy because that’s how Italians seem to eat most of the time anyway. If your children are fussy eaters then restaurants tend to cook everything from scratch and are happy to leave out particular ingredients and adapt dishes as required. And in Italy there will always be something delicious on offer which your children will eat – I’ve never met a child who doesn’t like pasta or pizza or home-made gelato or sorbet!
Italian culture
You’re never far from something of cultural or historical importance wherever you go in Italy – your children are bound to absorb something useful to their education just by being there. Entire Italian cities and swathes of countryside seem to be designated UNESCO World Heritage sites. There are ancient remains of things all over Italy and sometimes you come across them without even looking for them: I saw a Roman mosaic in a dusty pavement on a trip to Italy last year.
Geography
Geographically Italy is a varied and beautiful country. There are many different types of beaches along its coastline and there are mountainous areas from the Alps in the North to Mount Etna (Europe’s largest active volcano) in the South. Tuscany and Umbria are famous for their gentle, rolling countryside as are Lombardy and Piedmont for their spectacular lakes.”
To book your holiday at Villa Pia visit our bookings page
For more from Gretta Schifano go to her website http://mumsdotravel.com or her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MumsDoTravel or follow her on Twitter @grettaschifano
All images via Villa Pia, apart from ‘Italian mum’ source: Pinterest
Well there are certainly some good reasons to visit Italy here, I particularly like the ‘Italians respect mothers’ part! It just looks like such a beautiful place to visit, it’s definitely on my wish list.
I found you on the Blow Your Own Blog-Horn post on Mummy’s Little Monkey.
Hi Kate, thanks so much for visiting! Italy is a wonderful place and we love their respect for mothers too 🙂 Do let us know if you’re heading to the region!
Oh how I miss visiting Italy. I took a food tour with my family with this company: foodtoursofnaples.com. So much fun, and the food was incredible. So much authentic pizza, fish, pasta, and really drool-worthy desserts… Yum
Hello Kara, Italy is incredible and the food is certainly worth coming for on its own! Thanks for the link, will take a look.
Excellent article. I absolutely love this site.
Keep writing!
Love the article and I agree with everything. Italy is the perfect place for families and the children are so welcome everywhere. It is so true that Italians love and respect their mums. La mamma is always la mamma.
Thanks so much for visiting My Little Italian Kitchen, we love this piece too and of course we couldn’t agree more. Italy is wonderful for little ones and the whole family indeed. Great site you have, keep up the good work!
This is a great guide on what you need to know to plan your dream trip to Italy! I definitely want to give the Walks of Italy travel app a try!
Italie vacance
Thanks Pamela, appreciate your feedback!