Looking for recommendations for northern Italy with kids 11 and 15. Will be traveling to Venice, Florence, San Giminano, and Lucca. Hoping for an restarnt recommendations, cooking class, biking, Vespa options, or other walks/hiking activities. Thanks!

Ron
Ride the very cheap water bus up and down the Grand Canal at sunset. Best bargain ever. Reserve to climb the Duomo in Florence.

If you have any space, pop over to Burano from Venice. It is unreal there, WAY less tourists and has it's own unique charm! We loved it. Easy to spend just the day there if you had the time.

Kathy We also enjoyed Murano and its glass factories - and the boat rides over give wonderful views of the lagoon, the islands and Venice from the water.

We’ve done all of them with our kids. Definitely rent bikes and do the wall in Lucca! Florence is a favourite of ours, so much to see and so many important works of art housed there and seeing David is so worth it. Make sure to get up to piazzale Michelangelo for the view. And Gelateria Dondoli in San Gimignano is a must!!

Amy I was going to say: gelato in San Gimignano!

I highly recommend Rada in the Chianti region. It's incredible and has a great shoe store. Sienna is great too.

In Florence we did a amazing vineyard tour with a private chef through airbnb. Also make sure you go to the market there. I don't remember the name but it is super popular. In Venice we did a murano/burano afternoon trip. It was 20 each and so much fun. We went to a glass blowing factory and the pictures we got were magazine quality. It looks almost fake. My only other advice is don't fully book your trip. We had open days where we just explored and went away from the tourist areas. Those were some of the best days and hands down the best food! Have an amazing trip. Italy will forever be my favorite

I was just in Venice, Florence and Lucca. I loved Lucca! It is beautiful, and easy to get to Cinque Terre from! Pm me if you need any info.

Tiffany Thank you! I will PM you!

We loved our cooking class at the B&B we stayed in just out of San Giminiano. The place is Il Vicario. We have stayed there twice. Montepulciano was one of our favourite towns in that area. How long are you staying in Italy?

Trudy we will be in Venice for 2 nights, Florence 2 nights, San Giminano 2 nights, Lucca 2 nights. Short, but sweet

absolutely must rent bikes to bike the walls of Lucca (Cicli Bizzarri is good location to do so). Walking up to San Miniato (Piazzale Michelangelo) to hear the Gregorian chanting during Vespers and see the view is a must in Florence as are the Boboli Gardens for a picnic and several of Florence's museums if kids are interested. Gelateria dei Neri is my favourite and is very close to Santa Croce (where Michelangelo, Machiavelli and Galileo are buried). The more the kids know about the history and key figures the more they will get out of it.

Florence was by far my favourite place there. If you have a chance, pop over to Sorrento. Its gorgeous there!!

If you like Egyptian artifacts, movies or cars try to go to Torino great city