From Teresa Plowright,
Your Guide to Family Vacations.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!

Tuscany has become the icon of a heavenly idyll in Italy, due largely to the bestseller "Under the Tuscan Sun" by Francis Mayesbestseller; Ms. Mayes is an American leading la dolce vita near the picturesque hill town of Cortona in Tuscany.

Hill towns are wonderful places to visit with kids. Though the splendors of Italy's cities, such as Venice, Rome, and Florence, are unparalleled, in some ways visiting hill towns makes an even better vacation for families.

The hill towns my family visited in Tuscany and Umbria are picture-perfect: no mini-malls or fast-food joints; your imagination can time-travel freely to the medieval times kids love so much. Many lanes are pedestrian-only, which is always nice for parents with darting kids. Also, the scale of a town is manageable: big cities can overwhelm, and getting from place to another can be grueling especially in hot weather.

More good news is that you needn't go bankrupt touring Italy with your kids. Continue to the pages below and you'll find tips on three types of low-cost lodgings suitable for families, and also tips about car rental. You'll want your own vehicle to explore hill towns!

Go to hill towns in Tuscany & Umbria: 

• Cortona, Tuscany
• Todi, Umbria
• Assissi, Umbria
• Orvieto, Umbria