A Jewish Family Trip to Italy for Three Generations

On most trips, everyone wants more or less the same thing. On this one, each generation has its own part.

The oldest generation carries the story. They remember the names, the town, the food, the language at home. Sometimes they remember less than they think, and sometimes much more.

The middle generation holds the trip together. They plan, they pay, and they worry about everyone else.

The youngest generation asks the questions. A twelve-year-old will ask "Why did they leave?" in front of the house. Adults often don't.

A good plan gives each of them something to do, and enough rest to do it.

The most important work happens at home, months before the flight.
Sit down with the oldest people in your family and record them. A phone is enough. Ask simple questions:

• What were your grandparents' names? What did people call them at home?
• Which town did the family come from? Which street, which synagogue?
• What did they eat on Friday night?
• Which language did they speak at home?
• Who left, when, and why?
• Is there a photo, a letter or a document in a drawer?

Names at home and names on paper are often different. Alina, who founded Radici, found this in her own family. Her great-great-grandmother was Miriam in the documents and Feiga at home. A record gives you one name. Only the family remembers the other.

Alina also learned how little a DNA test can say. She took one at thirty, in Milan during the pandemic, and it told her nothing about herself. Her grandmothers' stories told her much more. Our guide to what a DNA test can tell you explains why.

Give the interview to the grandchildren. Let them ask the questions and hold the phone. Researchers at Emory University, Marshall Duke and Robyn Fivush, found that children who knew more about their family's history tended to have higher self-esteem and to cope better with hard times. It is a link, not proof. It is still a good reason to start.
Bring what you collect to your first conversation with a researcher. Our checklist of what to bring to a genealogist helps you sort it.

One main visit a day. Plan it for the morning, when everyone has energy and the rooms are cooler. Keep the afternoon free. In many Italian towns, shops close after lunch anyway.

Fewer places, longer stays. Two or three bases are enough for a week. Every hotel change costs half a day, and the oldest and youngest feel it most.

Know where the stairs are. Rome and Florence have old stone streets. Venice has bridges with steps everywhere. In the Venice Ghetto, the old synagogues are on the upper floors of the buildings, up narrow stairs, and access is limited for anyone who cannot climb. If someone in your group uses a wheelchair or a walker, ask about access before you book.

Use a driver for the hard parts. Trains between cities are fast and easy. For airports, small towns and cemeteries outside the center, a car with a driver saves energy for the visit itself. In Venice, a water taxi to the hotel helps with luggage.

Give the teenagers some free time. An afternoon on their own, or with one parent, makes them better company the next morning.

Watch the heat. Rome and Florence are hot in July and August. Carry water. Rome's old street fountains give free drinking water, and children love them.

This route uses two cities and one family day. Start on a Thursday, so that Shabbat falls in Rome.

Day 1 (Thursday): Rome. Arrive and rest. In the evening, take an easy walk through the old Ghetto and have dinner there. Fried artichokes for the adults. For everyone, the old bakery near the Portico d'Ottavia, known for its ricotta and sour cherry tart.
Day 2 (Friday): Rome. In the morning, visit the Jewish Museum of Rome. One ticket covers the museum, the Great Synagogue and the Spanish Synagogue. It closes early on Fridays. Rest in the afternoon. Shabbat dinner together in the evening.
Day 3 (Saturday): Rome. A slow day. Walk through the Ghetto and across to Tiber Island. Look down at the pavement for the small brass stones with the names of Roman Jews who were deported. Older children understand them. Younger ones notice them, and ask.
Day 4 (Sunday): Rome. The parents and teenagers visit the Arch of Titus and the Roman Forum. The grandparents rest, or come for an hour.
Day 5 (Monday): your family's day. Travel with a driver to the town your family came from. Plan nothing else. Sleep nearby, or in Florence.
Day 6 (Tuesday): Venice. Take the train to Venice and a water taxi to the hotel. A free afternoon.
Day 7 (Wednesday): Venice. A guided tour of the Ghetto and its synagogues in the morning. The synagogue part takes about 45 minutes. In the afternoon, a boat trip on the lagoon.
Day 8 (Thursday): home. Fly home from Venice.

If your family came from another part of Italy, the route starts there, and the famous cities come second. For longer routes, see our three sample itineraries.

Friday night is the heart of the trip. It is the one evening when all three generations sit at the same table for a reason they all know. Plan it in the city where your family will feel most at home. For many families, that is Rome.

One family, more than one way to keep Shabbat. Plan Saturday as a slow walking day for everyone: no trains, no tickets, no museums. Jewish sites in Italy are closed on Saturdays anyway. This way nobody has to choose.

Kosher food. Rome has many kosher restaurants, most of them in and around the old Ghetto. Venice has a few in the Ghetto. In Florence and in small towns, arrange kosher meals in advance.

• Reading room hours. One state archive reading room in Emilia-Romagna, for example, is open three days a week, mostly in the morning. You can order up to seven items a day.
• Appointments. Parish archives and Jewish community archives often have one person, or none, to open the door.
• August. Many offices in Italy slow down or close for part of the month.
• Lost records. Some registers were destroyed in the war years of 1943 to 1945. In Florence, the 1966 flood damaged the Jewish community's archive.
• Unindexed registers. Most old registers have no name index. Someone has to read them page by page.

An honest genealogist gives you a range and tells you what decides it. Be careful with anyone who promises a date and a result together.

This is the day the whole trip is for.

You stand in the street where your family lived. You see the house, or the place where it stood. You see the page where a clerk wrote your great-grandmother's name. You visit the synagogue, if it is still there, and the cemetery.

For the oldest generation, it can be a lot. Plan nothing else that day. Make sure there is a car close by and somewhere to sit.

At the cemetery. Many families place a small stone on the grave. Some want to say Kaddish. Kaddish is said with a minyan of ten, so ask ahead if this matters to you. If a minyan is not possible, many families read Psalms at the grave instead.

For the teenagers, a job. Give them the camera, or the notebook. Years later, their photos are often the ones the family keeps.

If nothing remains. In many towns, the Jewish community no longer exists. The streets, the buildings, the cemetery and the records are often still there. Standing in a place where a community has ended is its own experience, and it helps to know before you go what you will and will not find.

This day cannot be planned from a guidebook. Someone has to find the records first: which town, which street, which years. The first step is a preliminary archival assessment.

Rooms. Hotel rooms in Italy are often small. Ask for connecting rooms or a family suite, or rent an apartment.

Lifts. In old buildings, lifts are small, and some buildings have none. Check this if anyone in the group uses a walker.

Passports. Most synagogues in Italy have a security check at the door. Carry passports for everyone, including the children.

Clothes. Cover shoulders and knees for synagogue visits.

Late June, after school ends, is often the best time. The days are long. Plan the mornings, because the afternoons are hot.

Spring break often falls close to Passover. Jewish sites in Italy close for the holiday, so check the dates.

Winter break brings Hanukkah, short days and crowds. Venice can be cold and wet.
Read more about when to plan a Jewish heritage trip to Italy.

Il Viaggio is our private family journey. It is built for one family of up to four people: for example, a grandparent, a parent and two grandchildren. For larger families, we plan the trip individually.

Families often time it to a milestone: a seventieth birthday, a bar or bat mitzvah year, or the summer before a child leaves home.

The research comes first. Then we build the route around what the archives show. A private guide who knows your family's history travels with you for the whole trip. We arrange hotels, drivers, Shabbat and kosher meals in every city, and the visit to the cemetery, planned properly and not on the day. The journey is photographed throughout, and afterwards you receive a bound volume with the documents and the photos. Alina joins the family for the key days.

Six months before the trip is comfortable, because archives answer slowly.

If you prefer to travel on your own, La Mappa gives you the research and a personal itinerary with maps, family addresses and introductions to local communities.

Is this trip right for young children? For teenagers, it can mean a great deal. For younger children, keep the visits short and the afternoons free. A synagogue tour asks for quiet attention, which is hard at five.

Can a grandparent with limited mobility come? Yes, with planning. Use drivers, change hotels less often, and ask about stairs before every visit. Venice is the hardest city for this.

Can we hold a bar or bat mitzvah in Italy? Some families do, but it has to be arranged with a Jewish community or congregation in Italy, and each has its own rules. The official Jewish communities of Italy are Orthodox, and there are also a few progressive congregations. Ask many months ahead.

How long should the trip be? Seven to ten days. Less than that, and the family day gets squeezed.

Do we need research before the trip? For a general visit to Jewish Italy, no. For a day in your own family's town, yes. Start with the preliminary assessment.