Italy or SE Asia - help me decide

NewEngland47

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jun 22, 2017
My DH, DS (8), and I are looking for a good trip to take during the summer break of 2019. We have narrowed it down to the Rome, Venice, Tuscany Trip, or the Italy/Swiss Alps Trip or (going in an entirely different direction) and the Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos Trip. We will probably go in July or early August 2019.

All three trips are surprisingly close in price. My husband is a chef and a foodie, and doesn’t like high heat and humidity - which is why the Alpine adventure may fit. But we have never been to Italy and know people just love the trip to Rome and Venice and Tuscany - and that one seems to have more to do for our 8 year old.

SE Asia is tempting because it’s so much bang for the buck and it is truly a place we are very intrigued by but would only visit with ABD. But our son is a semi shy 8 year old so I’m not sure if many kids that age go on or enjoy that trip. Plus I’m worried it will be unbearably hot or muggy in July or August.

Those who have gone on any of these please help me decide! TIA!
 
SE Asia is one of the best trips ABD offers (in fairness, I have not done Italy). I HIGHLY recommend it. My son was 8 when we went and there were only 2 other kids (we did the December trip) but he did really enjoy it. There is so much to do, see, and experience, I don't think the lack of kids detracted much. Of the 2 other kids, one was another boy exactly his age and they hung out the entire time so that was lucky but it is a HUGE bang for your buck and you will never forget the trip. It is a wonderful experience for a kid!
 
If weather is important, then the Swiss Alps. SE Asia will be oppressive and even Rome/Tuscany can be very hot in the summer. I'm from Texas so am no stranger to the heat, and after this summer in the Med, have decided I'm only going north from now on.
 
We have done SE Asia and Italy/Switzerland, both in late June/early July.
SE Asia is very hot and humid at that time of year - and in every location we went to. We (DH, me and DD who was 8) enjoyed Laos and Cambodia much more than the Vietnam portion. If you don't like heat/humidity, I would not suggest it at that time of year (or China either.....)
We loved the Italy/Switzerland trip - nice mix of two countries and cultures. It was not quite as 'active' as we thought it would me - DD was 12 on that one, and I think she focused overly on the Zermatt ropes course! Each year we look at the other Italy trips, and there is always something that grabs our attention more......
Another consideration might be length and cost of the flights - that will be more for SE Asia.

No bad choices really!
 


How were your flights to SE Asia? We are booked for next July. I’m a bit worried about the heat in July, but I think I can get over that. But we just had a really bad flight experience getting to our our recent Italy trip, so I’m more nervous than usual. The flight back home would be changing at least 2 flights on the way back and it’s 24+ hours, quickly getting to 30+. If you did the trip in the heat of July, would you still recommend it? It will be 4 of us, me, hubby, and kids 10 and 11.
 
I was actually planning for 2019 but we decided against the SE Asia trip for now so I’m no help - so sorry!!
How were your flights to SE Asia? We are booked for next July. I’m a bit worried about the heat in July, but I think I can get over that. But we just had a really bad flight experience getting to our our recent Italy trip, so I’m more nervous than usual. The flight back home would be changing at least 2 flights on the way back and it’s 24+ hours, quickly getting to 30+. If you did the trip in the heat of July, would you still recommend it? It will be 4 of us, me, hubby, and kids 10 and 11.
 
We did the Rome, Florence, Venice trip a few Christmases ago. It was outstanding. Everything was magical and the ABD exclusives really added to the magic.

We have SE Asia booked for next Christmas and the airfare is looking to be much more than our Italy airfare was. (Some of that is just that prices go up). If you think you’re comparing apples to apples on price, make sure you’re including airfare.
 


For us right now (dd is 10) some of ours are swayed by food. DD is not a very adventurous eater so we chose Italy (rome, tuscany, venice) for June 2018. There were lots of kids and it was a fantastic trip.

We are going to leave Asia until she is a bit older.
 
How were your flights to SE Asia? We are booked for next July. I’m a bit worried about the heat in July, but I think I can get over that. But we just had a really bad flight experience getting to our our recent Italy trip, so I’m more nervous than usual. The flight back home would be changing at least 2 flights on the way back and it’s 24+ hours, quickly getting to 30+. If you did the trip in the heat of July, would you still recommend it? It will be 4 of us, me, hubby, and kids 10 and 11.

I am not the best one to ask about flights to Asia - I am originally from Australia, so spending 24 hours getting from where I live now to my hometown is normal!
If you give some detail about the ways your Italy experience was bad, I might have some suggestions or be able to ease your fears.

If the SE Asia trip is top of your list and July is when it works, I say go for it! We also travel in July because it works best with our schedules - I'm not staying home because the weather isn't perfect! I know there is another thread about the SE Asia trip - many people love it, but it was not our favorite (China and Norway were - and we are going to Japan!)
 
I'd love to do SE Asia, but I'm pretty sure that DH would melt there. He is not a fan of the heat and not humid heat.

We are doing the main Italy trip instead (Rome, Tuscany and Venice). I haven't really told him that it will be hot there too and that he will have to wear pants at least half of the days to get into the churches. I'm saving that fun tidbit until we are closer to the trip.
 
If I had to choose between the 3 trips you mention, I'd say go for the Rome, Tuscany & Venice trip. All fantastic cities with amazing food. The Alpine Magic trip is great, but if you haven't been to Rome, Tuscany or Venice before I'd definitely go there first! Florence is one of my favorite cities :love: so I may be biased!
 
I'd love to do SE Asia, but I'm pretty sure that DH would melt there. He is not a fan of the heat and not humid heat.

We are doing the main Italy trip instead (Rome, Tuscany and Venice). I haven't really told him that it will be hot there too and that he will have to wear pants at least half of the days to get into the churches. I'm saving that fun tidbit until we are closer to the trip.
We just did that Italy trip this summer. It was hot, but the wine and food were great. Actually my boys and husband (along with other men) were able to wear shorts as long as they were a bit longer (you just couldn’t see knees). I didn’t think they would be able to, so they had packed a pair of pants, but guides gave the ok and no one had issues.
 
We got DH some zip off pants but as long as the shorts go to the knee (DH is short his all fit like this) they are okay.
I'd love to do SE Asia, but I'm pretty sure that DH would melt there. He is not a fan of the heat and not humid heat.

We are doing the main Italy trip instead (Rome, Tuscany and Venice). I haven't really told him that it will be hot there too and that he will have to wear pants at least half of the days to get into the churches. I'm saving that fun tidbit until we are closer to the trip.
 
DH is 6'4", so none of his shorts would work. We will have to look into some zip off pant options. My DDs will not be too happy about capris either. Oh well. They will survive.
 

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