London and Northern Italy in September

I’m planning a trip with my family mid September to London, Piedmont, Cinque Terre, Milan, and Lake Como with a few days in each city.

Hoping to get some recommendations for family friendly restaurants in these locations as well as hopefully some wineries in Piedmont.


Thanks! :slight_smile:

Hi Zhi
Where in Piedmont are you planning? Torino, Langhe or elsewhere?

Cinque Terre: It’s been a while and I didn’t pre-prep any restaurant info, so followed our instincts. It is touristy here but not so bad that there are obvious rip-off joints. I posted this on another forum earlier this week, so please excuse the cut & paste:
Loved the fish / seafood in Cinque Terre, but also the local flatbread (piadina) which was great for taking back to the apartment with some tasty salad / cheese / cured meat etc. It does take a while to get used to the sound of the trains coming through, with their noise really carrying up the steep slopes. However after a couple of days it’s even possible to have a lunchtime nap and not be disturbed by it. Also mightily impressed by the effort they are making in recycling / conservation, with ~ 8-10 different recycling bins from memory, and that was maybe a decade ago. My amusing memory of the paths, is the amount of US/English people walking along, trying with varying degrees of success, to say buongiorno and grazie to each other, with barely an Italian in sight. I loved the irony/absurdity, but at least salute them in making the effort.

I’d definitely recommend taking one of the walks up into the hills if you find the coastal paths over-touristed. Yes the uphill makes for solid exercise, but you’ll see maybe 1/100th of the amount of people you see on the lower paths.

Milano
I think there have been recent threads on this, which should still be very much up to date. Just seen another good review of Ai Binari, so that is worth a look.

London
Might be useful to know what appeals to you, as there is some much there, that you can really focus on your interests. In terms of general advice, I’d still say grab a pocket A2Z map, even in this internet age. Too many people mindlessly take the tube, unaware that in many situations they’ll walk further in doing so, than if they simply walked there in the fresh air. Some journeys demand the tube, but cute planning can ensure you only take the tube when necessary.

Do try to take in one of the parks when there, as these are a great antidote to the bustle of Central London. Especially pleasing for a Sunday morning stroll.
Logistics
Do you have flights booked. Heathrow to Milano Malpensa (BA) is probably the easiest, and if booked soon, might still have some good prices. Gatwick is also an option, plus some of the no frills airlines flying out of London City, Stansted or Southend (I’m told a pleasant airport to fly out of).

Car. Useless on Milano & Cinque Terre. Can be of use, but can be avoided depending on location on Lake Como. Almost essential if going to Langhe wine region. This may affect the flow of the holiday, e.g. you might want to break the normal rule of avoiding backtracking, to start without the car, then hire it halfway through.

Regards
Ian

We vacationed in Northern Italy earlier this year. Cinque Terre, Parma and Piemonte. We stayed in Monteresso al Mare in Cinque Terre so if you are staying there, I have a few restaurant recommendations.

If you have a car, which I assume you will for Milan and Piemonte, it definitely should stay parked once you are in CT.

It was a fun trip. Highly recommended.

There are lots of threads on Piemonte restaurants, though I don’t know that anyone has focused on family-friendly places. The Italians are generally wonderful with kids, so with the exception of the relatively few very formal places, the issue is just whether the food will work for the kids.

I just got back last night from Lake Como (Bellagio) and London (and Paris), where I spent a week with my family (wife and kids, ages 2 and 4). We had a truly excellent time, especially in Lake Como, where the highlights were renting a boat and exploring the lake and visiting the various towns.

As for food in the Lake Como area, we had an excellent meal at Ristorante Darsene di Lopia, which is pretty upscale but was very accommodating for the kids. We also ate fabulously at the terrace restaurant (I think it’s called La Terrazza) at the Grand Hotel Tremezzo, where we had the terrace basically to ourselves, with memorably good service. Other than that, we enjoyed the waterside cafes in Varenna and obviously the gelato everywhere. The people everywhere in the area couldn’t have been better with the kids.

London there are near-limitless options, and I’m not a good guide. We had an enjoyable meal at the Savoy Grill with the kids. Food not particularly memorable, and it was fancier/stuffier than expected, but they were wonderful with the kids, and even had a kids menu for being a nice spot. Honestly, though, I’m sure there are better options around. We had a very memorable adults-only meal at the The Ledbury, which I’d highly recommend (great wine list too).

Let me know if you want more thoughts on any of this.

It really depends on your children, but with mine 11,9,4 we don’t try and do any kind of version of ‘fine dining’.

I’d look at Chinatown (We like Golden Dragon), Pizza (Franco Manca is decent as a chain), Canteen (3/4 branches), with younger children Giraffe, Wagamama etc are safe bets.

Thank you for all the advice and recommendations so far. No need for fine dining since I’ll have my 8 month old and 4.5 year old. Will be staying in Langhe and then moving to Levanto near Cinque Terre before returning the car back in Milan and exploring Lake Como. Definitely excited and can’t wait for next month.