September 17, 2024
Family Trip to Italy and the Paris Olympics
Megan
We recently wrapped up our family of five’s second two-week international trip just this year. This summertime family trip to Italy and the Paris Olympics was a true trip of a lifetime, made possible with the help of points and miles. For two weeks, we visited Rome, Assisi, the Vatican, Florence, San Miniato (Tuscany), Pisa, Venice, Paris for the Olympics, and Amsterdam.
Family Trip to Italy + Paris Olympics Itinerary
- Travel Day
- Five nights in Rome, Italy
- Three nights in Florence, Italy
- Two nights in Venice, Italy
- Three nights in Paris, France
- Two nights in Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Travel Day Home
Family of 5 Flights to Italy on Points & Miles
When traveling as a family, we only travel during school breaks and summertime. These are typically the most expensive times of year to travel. Thankfully, points and miles help to cut down on the costs drastically. Flying Blue (Air France/KLM) is often the first place I look for our flights as they usually have the lowest points redemption for us. They offer a 25% discount for kids ages 2-11 and typically have 9+ seats left for any award ticket.
Since we were traveling during the summer and for the Olympics, starting around a year out, I checked daily for our dates to open on the Flying Blue calendar. We were flexible on either end, but knew we had to be in Paris July 30-August 1 for our Olympic event tickets.
Toronto to Rome on KLM in Economy
Every month, Flying Blue releases Flying Blue Promos. These offer a discounted award flight price for certain routes, making regular economy tickets 15k points, from 20k, or business class from 50k to 37,500 points. I got lucky that when our dates opened to book, our route from Toronto to Rome qualified for this. We paid 15k points+$90 for each person to fly one way to Italy. In total, our five economy flights cost 78k miles+$450!
Our original flights were scheduled to leave on Sunday night as that was the cheapest day in points. However, our flight was canceled about two months ahead of time. I was notified via email about the cancellation and allowed to rebook or get a refund. When I logged into my Air France account, I could pick any flight within several days before/after. I chose to leave Friday night, giving us two extra days in Italy!
Venice to Paris on Air France in Economy
After our time in Italy, we would have to get from Venice to Paris for the Olympics. There are no longer overnight train options from Venice to Paris, so a flight was our best choice. We flew Air France, and in total, I paid for five economy flights, 44k miles + $100.
Amsterdam to Toronto on KLM in Business Class
To get us back home, I assumed that the Paris airport would be crazy because of the Olympics. For this reason, I booked us tickets on the Eurostar train from Paris to Amsterdam, spent a couple of days in Amsterdam, and then flew home from there. Lucky for us, I found five business class flights 212,500+$1250 on KLM! This came out to 50k/adult and 37,500/kid. Besides a Flying Blue promo, these are the best prices you can get on Air France/KLM in business class.
Family Trip to Rome, Italy
Rome Airbnb
We paid cash for our 5 nights in the Airbnb and put the cost towards a new minimum spend. This is the Airbnb where we stayed. It sleeps up to 6 people, with 2 bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms. This Airbnb also had a washer/dryer combo in the kitchen and air conditioning, which is 100% needed at the end of July. There also were some games and toys that we used when taking our daily afternoon break from the heat and sightseeing.
This was our first time in Rome, and we were very happy with the location. The Colosseum was just around the corner, and we were able to walk to many restaurants and most of the big tourist sites.
Things to do in Rome with Kids
- Airbnb Experience Golf Cart Tour (5 stars from all of us!)
- Colosseum
- Roman Forum
- Trevi Fountain
- Spanish Steps
- Villa Borghese
- Domus Aurea
- Pantheon
- Piazza Navona
- Circo Massimo
We didn’t make it to the beach, but if you’re in Rome during the summer, Gaeta and Sperlonga are recommended beaches nearby.
Day Trip to Assisi from Rome
After two full days of sightseeing in Rome, we took a city break and hopped on the train to Assisi, Italy. I made sure to download the Trenitalia train app before we left for our trip. It was incredibly easy to purchase tickets and then scan them right from my phone for all five of us. For 2 adults and 3 kids under age 10, it was 37 euros each way.
Assisi is located in the Umbria region of Italy. It is best known as the birthplace of St. Francis, one of the country’s patron saints.
Once we arrived in Assisi, we took a taxi to the top of town to Piazza Matteoti. Assisi is a hilltop town, and I had read that it was suggested that you start at the top and then work your way back down. I am so glad this is how we did it, as we all were very hot and tired. Taxis were easy to find; most were 8-passenger vans—perfect for big families.
With nearly six hours in Assisi, we were able to visit the top tourist sites. One of our favorite stops was Rocca Maggiore, the medieval fortress that overlooks the city. It felt like a hike to get up there, but the views were worth it.
We also enjoyed wandering the streets and stopping in some of the many churches, such as Basilica San Francesco, Basilica Santa Chiara, and San Rufino.
Day Trip to the Vatican
While the Vatican is surrounded by Rome, it is its own country. We booked tickets ahead of time directly with the Vatican Museum website for the 9 am entrance to the museum.
St. Peter’s Basilica is free to visit and opens at 7:30 a.m. We took an Uber to the Vatican at 6:45 a.m. to get into the Basilica right at 7:30. That way, we could then head to the museum for the rest of the day.
The Basilica and Vatican Museum have a dress code of covering your knees and shoulders, so keep that in mind. They also had kid audioguides that came with a scavenger hunt. The girls loved these, and they kept them interested as we wandered through the huge museum.
Florence, Italy with Kids
After five days in Rome, we took the train to Florence. Once we arrived, we walked to our next hotel, Hotel Pendini. This is next to the fancy Small Luxury Hotel property, Palazzo Vecchietti, where Pam and Jess stayed at during their time in Florence.
We booked a three-night family room for five people and covered the cost with the Capital One Purchase Eraser. Our family room included a queen-sized bed and three single twin-sized beds. Between both rooms was a full bathroom.
Breakfast was also included at this hotel. It was a full breakfast with pastries, made-to-order eggs, meats, cheese, yogurt, juice, coffee, etc. Having our breakfast included is always a nice bonus to make mornings easy (and cheaper) with the kids.
Florence Hotel for Families
It can be tricky to find a hotel in Europe that accommodates more than 2 to 3 people, so a hotel like Hotel Pendini is a great option if you are visiting Florence with your family. Small hotels like this are also sometimes available to book through bank travel portals with your points.
Things to do in Florence with Kids
- Duomo di Firenze
- Piazza del Duomo
- Uffizi Gallery
- Gelateria dei Neri
- Ponte Vecchio
- Piazza Michelangelo at sunset
Day Trip to Tuscany from Florence
Our favorite thing we did on this trip was our day trip to Tuscany booked on Airbnb experiences. If you will be in Florence as a couple or with your family, I 100% recommend this is on your list. It was a magical day!
Our Arrival
Our day started at the Florence train station. They had a friend named Luigi meet us there to help us buy tickets and ensure we got on the correct train. Once we arrived in San Miniato, Francesco met us with an 8-passenger van to collect us and drive to his family’s hilltop farm.
After being greeted with fresh lemonade, we walked around the estate with Francesco and his dog, Ant, to explore the vineyard and olive grove.
Activities on the Farm
From the farm’s overlook, we could see the Apuan Alps and the village of Vinci. We stopped in the gardens to gather ingredients for our lunch, which we then prepared together. The kids made dessert, and the adults made lunch.
During lunch, we tasted red and rosé wine, along with their extra virgin cold-pressed olive oil. After lunch, we spent 2.5 hours swimming in their saltwater infinity pool. The 2.5 hours went by quickly, and then after swimming, we changed back into our clothes and headed back to Florence for the night.
I booked this day trip through Airbnb Experiences, and we met up with friends. The girls said it was better than Disney World—which is their highest praise!
Day Trip to Pisa from Florence
Venice, Italy
Our last stop in Italy was Venice. Venice is the only city I’ve ever visited in Italy 20 years ago. We booked a family room that sleeps up to 6 people at Hotel Nani Mocenigo Palace for two nights on cash. This hotel has since increased significantly, but again, it is also available to book on the Chase and Capital One travel portals.
We loved the location of this hotel. Once we arrived at the Venice train station, it was about a 15-20-minute walk to the hotel. This hotel was a former palace, and our room was in the attic. Our room was huge. We had a full living room, dining room, full bathroom, bedroom with two twin beds, and a king-bed room. Breakfast was also included in our rate at this hotel. It was our favorite breakfast of the trip!
Things to do in Venice with Kids
- Day trip to Murano to see glass factories
- Day trip to Burano (we visited Murano and Burano on the same trip)
- Piazza San Marco
- Saint Mark’s Basilica
- Rialto Bridge
- Grand Canal
- Gondola Ride
Our hotel offered a free water taxi to Murano to visit a glass factory. We took advantage of this and then went to Burano via Vaporetto (Venice’s public water bus). Everyone LOVED the water taxis so much that we decided we didn’t need to take a gondola ride.
Flytographer in Venice
We also had family photos taken while in Venice with Marta from Flytographer. Travel Mom Squad has a link to get a discount on your first shoot. This ended up being cheaper than our local photographer, whom we use at home for Fall/Christmas card photos each year. Our photos turned out amazing, and we are so happy we took an hour one morning to do this.
Paris Hotel for Big Families
Going into this trip, I knew Paris would be crazy during the Olympics. As usual, I had backup plans for my backup plans. I initially booked an Airbnb with a flexible cancellation policy, but my only issue was that it did not have air conditioning. This wasn’t ideal, but it fit all five of us and had laundry in the apartment. It was a great option to fall back on if needed.
About six weeks before we left for our trip, I searched all the major hotel websites to find a room with air conditioning—Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, and IHG. To my surprise, I found a six-person family room available for our three nights at the Crowne Plaza Paris—Republique!
This was not a cheap stay as we paid a surcharge because of the Olympics, and regular nights are nowhere near what we paid. However, the hotel had air conditioning, the reviews were pretty good, kids eat free at IHG hotels, and I could put the stay on my IHG credit card, knowing that I would earn a ton of points.
Other hotels in Paris did open some last-minute award availability. Unfortunately, we ran into the issue that every room only slept up to two people, and with only two adults, booking three rooms was not an option for us.
Crowne Plaza Paris—Republique
Our family room had two queen beds and two single beds. When we checked in, they told us that the kids would be free for breakfast, but the adults would be charged 18 euros each. On our first morning at breakfast, someone from the front desk stopped over and told us that our breakfast had been comped and we wouldn’t have to pay. Such a nice treat!
This room sleeps up to 6 people. While the location wouldn’t be my top choice for a stay in Paris, the metro was super convenient, with four metro lines right outside the hotel. If I needed a decent hotel with a great breakfast for a big family, I would consider this hotel in the future.
Family Trip to Paris Olympics
Almost two years before the Olympics, we were able to enter into the lottery to buy tickets. My husband was selected in the first round in March 2023. We purchased tickets for table tennis and beach volleyball. I wanted to pick events with a lot of action to keep everyone’s interest and not spend a ton of money. All of our tickets were under 100 euros each. Both events were more exciting than I expected, and the beach volleyball venue was simply amazing.
Family Trip to Amsterdam, Netherlands
From Paris, we took the Eurostar to Amsterdam. Again, like the trains in Italy, this was a lovely way to travel. The train took about four hours and had Wi-Fi. We arrived at the train station and hopped on the metro to our first hotel.
We stayed one night at the Hyatt Regency Amsterdam, paying 23k points per night per room. I had to book two rooms for our family of five. I did request connecting rooms ahead of time when I booked our rooms, unfortunately, when we checked in they didn’t have any available. We loved the location as it was removed from the busy areas and in a more residential part of the city. I would stay here again.
Things to Do in Amsterdam
In our quick two days in Amsterdam, we visited the Anne Frank House and the Rijksmuseum. The amount of famous art we saw on this trip was truly mind-blowing. It was especially fun seeing the girls recognize some of it from their art classes at school.
Amsterdam Airport Hotel
Our second night was spent at the Hyatt Place Amsterdam Airport for 9,500 points per night per room. Again, we had two rooms booked here for our family. We had an early flight the next day, and being close to the airport was so nice.
Flights Home: Amsterdam to Toronto
On our final morning, we had a quick breakfast at the hotel and then took the free shuttle to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. We were all very excited to experience our first-ever business-class flights. We were quickly through security and on our way to the Crown Lounge (access was included with our flight tickets).
This lounge was huge and had so many food and drink options. We hung out for a full three hours before boarding our flights home. Unfortunately for our points stash, my family now only ever wants to fly business class. It’s too bad for them that we’ll be back in the economy for the next trip!
Bottom Line
Any family trip to Europe, especially during the summer season, can be very expensive. Luckily, points and miles can help cut down on costs and make these bucket list trips come to life. Our two-week family trip to Italy and the Paris Olympics created incredibly special memories for our family, and I’m so thankful to have points and miles to help make more trips like this happen in the future.
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