Family holidays in Italy guide

Joining other families on holiday in Italy encourages everyone to make new friends and share experiences. Kids tend to get on with each other straight away, and parents – as well as grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins – will follow suit, especially after a couple of glasses of Chianti. Groups will usually be made up of three to five families. The small group size means you can still travel by public transport and stay in smaller, locally owned accommodations.

An English-speaking group leader will ensure you all know where you’re going and what you’ll be doing. Some small group holidays feature activities such as cycling, snorkelling, kayaking or walking up the slopes of an active volcano. Others may be more culturally orientated, with mask and mosaic making workshops, art safaris, and even training sessions for young gladiators, helping to keep minds as active as imaginations. I'm Spartacus!

Tailor made family holidays in Italy bridge the gap between DIY and joining a group. Locally owned accommodation, entertaining guided tours and transport is all organised for you, freeing up more time to enjoy each day together. You can also choose the time of year you want to travel.

Christmas markets and twinkling lights make December in Verona absolutely beautiful, and blissfully free from the crowds and heat of summer. You may have children who are studying the ancient Romans, or those who prefer the beach. A trip to Sicily offers the best of both, as well as chances to explore Syracuse by bike or a marine reserve by boat. Free days can be built into a tailor made itinerary, with lots of suggestions for things to do or places to go that only the locals know about.

We also offer accommodation-only holidays in Italy. You can stay in a stone villa in rural Abruzzo, for instance, or a self catering apartment (with B&B options) on an organic farm, with a swimming pool, in between the Apennines and the Adriatic. Our aim is to encourage interaction with local people and hosts, as well as allowing families to discover lesser-known rural areas of Italy that they'll want to keep to themselves.

January and February finds Italian families wrapped up warm indoors or taking to the slopes up north. The same goes for Easter school holidays, around March and April, although this can be a great time to take Classics students around the archaeological sites of Sicily or invite future thespians to visit Verona. Beware the ides of March, and April, as school history tours may also be making the most of Italy's archaeological sites at this time of year. May and June are the start of activity holidays around the Bay of Naples and along the east coast of Sicily. The water’s warming up and coastal towns are open for business – if you can fit in a week away during half term, you’ll find far fewer tourists than in July and August. Families looking for fun in the sun should definitely head to Italy in the school summer holidays. Outdoor swimming pools will be open; wild swimming in lakes, rivers and the sea is bliss; and sunlight lasts long into the evening for alfresco eating, and drinking. It’s unfortunate that September is back to school time for most families. If your kids aren’t at school age, consider saying ciao! to Italy in autumn. Foraging, strolling and just enjoying the countryside in comfortable temperatures, before retreating into a cosy stone built cottage for plates of pasta, is an absolute must. For the rest of us – sigh – October half term can also serve up a colourful country treat although evenings are getting darker and Italians will have brought out their big coats, and scarves, and gloves. November is not the best month to visit Italy with kids but in December fairy lights and traditional markets help to pick up the pace in Venice and Verona during the Christmas holidays.