Elena

I live in Florence, and in our house, every time we zip up the backpacks and head out the door together, a new family adventure begins. Traveling across Italy with two kids quickly teaches you to read places differently: a hilltop town that looks gorgeous in a postcard can easily turn into a midday obstacle course of steep stone steps with zero shade and no water fountain in sight. Here I only write about places where I’ve actually taken—or would happily take tomorrow morning—my own family: beaches where the water genuinely stays shallow, museums where staff don’t glare if a child asks a question out loud, and itineraries paced so nobody ends the day in tears.