Pompeii's ruins, Sorrento's romance, or the Amalfi Coast's glitz may not immediately come to mind when thinking of a family trip. However, one T+L editor found that having the kids present increased the enjoyment of the vacation.

It all started with a narrative, as things frequently do when you're a kid. Last spring, my daughter Stella and her younger brother Leo developed a deep interest in a book titled "Pompeii...Buried Alive!". The two of them could only chat about the fate of this southern Italian town — the cataclysmic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D., the 10-mile mushroom cloud, and the population of 16,000 mummified under 16 feet of ash — the next when the Amazon delivery man was at the door.

This post-apocalyptic past would not, in fact, in no way, shape, or form have persuaded my husband David and me to plan a vacation to Italy on its own. But then it finally hit us. The more life-affirming attractions of Sorrento and Amalfi, both just a short drive away by vehicle, could be enjoyed for the remainder of our holiday after taking the kids to Pompeii to satisfy their morbid curiosity.

And so, on a beautiful June afternoon, we found ourselves traveling from Rome to Naples on the amazingly clean and effective Trenitalia service. A sleeping behemoth rising 4,200 feet behind the city's suburbs, Vesuvius, or "Azuvius," as Leo still refers to it, was visible about 30 minutes before we arrived at Napoli Centrale. As we flew through rows of orange houses with green shutters, umbrella trees, and grapevines, the kids pressed their faces against the window. But the volcano appeared to be in another world since it did not move at all.

We took a taxi from Naples an hour or so south along the gorgeous Sorrentine coast, passing vendors selling lemon granita and doorways covered with hot-pink bougainvillea along the way. The Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria (doubles from $795) was the location of our base for the following four nights. When we mentioned that we were thinking about taking the family to this posh, romantic region of the world, friends made faces at us. One added with an apology-laden shrug, "I mean, I went there on my honeymoon. The majority of hotels in Amalfi, Ravello, and Positano don't allow kids at all; the ones that do tend to be small, stylish, and full of vertiginous cliff drops to minimize parent stress.
I could tell we were in good hands the moment we pulled up to the wrought-iron gates of the Excelsior Vittoria, which open off the main piazza in Sorrento like those of a fairy-tale castle. With an art deco-era elevator that takes visitors from the lobby right down to the water, this 1834 building towers over the cliffs and the marina. It is surrounded by a large garden shaded by lemon trees and exudes the confident, center-of-gravity vibe of a hotel that knows it's doing something right.

Over a limoncello-infused Spritz, fifth-generation owner and CEO Guido Fiorentino stated, "We have a lot of room so there is soccer, a playground, and a large swimming pool. The Excelsior Vittoria, a member of Leading Hotels of the World, is full of tasteful details, from the parlor palms in the piano bar to the monogrammed linen hand towels in the marble bathrooms. However, it somehow never felt like a huge deal when the kids decided to create lemonade from the fruit they found in the garden or spread Nutella on the tablecloth with a butter knife at breakfast.

Our trip to Pompeii was a big attraction the following day. Even though it was still early summer, the heat was already blazing down on the 40-acre property when we met our guide, Patrizia Coco, at the UNESCO World Heritage site entry around midday. Coco whipped out a clipboard and fanning herself, exclaimed, "Today is hot!"

A seasoned tour guide for an Italian-run company Learn About Italy The first of a series of water fountains, each of which has a different animal carved onto its stone pedestal, is where Coco promptly led us through the streets of the historic city. These were meeting areas in the first century A.D., she said; now they were welcome places for the youngsters to splash around and cool off. Coco, a mother of two herself, gave Stella a quiz in the style of a scavenger hunt and watched tolerantly as Leo carefully examined each piece of volcanic rock we passed—and there were many—learning the distinction between basalt and tufa.

We arrived at the location where plaster replicas of Pompeians who died in the ashes were on view. There were adult figures as well as a child's shape that was virtually invisible in the shadows of the cage. Each person was frozen in a state of utter dread. I recalled the first line of the novel that started it all: "With their hands and clothing, people in the streets hid their faces. However, the ashes kept accumulating. The crowd was immobile. People were unable to breathe."

The collapse of Pompeii stopped being simply a story and started affecting real people with real lives at that point when the sadness of what had happened here actually hit us. Stella uttered the phrase "buried alive" as we turned to go.

With Pompeii behind us, it was time to start seriously unwinding. We caught a ferry the next morning to travel about an hour inland to Amalfi. Amalfi enhanced the fashionable and famous qualities that Sorrento had to offer. Even with two children in tow, we felt fashionable as we sped past peach-hued houses perched high on the cliffs above the blue Tyrrhenian Sea.

We were making our way to the Hotel Santa Caterina, which is another crucial location for families traveling to this area. Double rooms start at $1,256. This establishment, which is a member of Leading Hotels of the World, has been maintained by the same family for four generations and has a look I can't get enough of Amalfi tile throughout, Jacuzzis in the bathrooms, and a polite staff dressed in white dinner jackets and bow ties. Additionally, it has one of those in-cliff swimming pools where David and I could relax on sun loungers and watch the ocean sparkle away at our toes with Stella and Leo splashing about safely behind us.

My husband's birthday was the next day, so it was time to put the Santa Caterina concierge to the test. They first scheduled a tennis match for David on a court close to Positano, and pictures from that match broke engagement records on his Instagram page. We all gathered in Positano at noon and boarded a tiny boat with a red fish-shaped sign to travel to Da Adolfo, a restaurant on a shingle beach a few miles from town (entrées $11–$25). There, we ate spaghetti alle vongole fit for kings and sea bream prepared simply but exquisitely with parsley, garlic, and olive oil. We enjoyed ice cream and coffee before taking a dip in the brilliant sea and bobbing up and down in a line as the shimmering bodies on the beach sent smoke and suntan lotion wafting over the water.

Barbara La Rosa from Discover Your Italy called to check in that evening as David and I was about to leave the kids with a babysitter and go out for a birthday dinner at Positano's exquisite — and child-free — Le Sirenuse (doubles from $2,968). She smiled as we said our goodbyes, "Amalfi, to me, is a type of paradise." She was correct, too.

When you travel with children, there is almost always some pain along with the pleasure, some hell with heaven. Had Stella and Leo acted perfectly? If so, when? Were there instances in glitzy, slightly claustrophobic public areas where I feared someone was going to get hurt or a costly hotel decoration was about to be damaged? Absolutely. Would I have done anything differently? Not.

Discover Your Italy can help you plan a vacation to Sorrento, Pompeii, and the Amalfi Coast (six-night excursions start at $3,150 per person).