Italy with children

We visited all of these stops on our last trip with our then 11 year old son. In Venice he really enjoyed glass blowing demonstration in Murano. There's a pretty cool fish market in early morning not far from Rialto bridge. We stayed at Pension Guerrato and it was just around the corner. I wouldn't say there was anything that he got really excited about in Florence except climbing the camponile (right across from Duomo). It had no line, and you get a great view of Florence and the Duomo. In Rome he really enjoyed the tour of the Colloseum and hanging out around the Trevi Fountain. I think he would actually say the thing he liked best about Italy was the gelato!

We went with three kids, 16 and 12 year old boys and an 8 year old girl. The kids enjoyed all things related to water, beach, vaporetto, etc. They happily existed on pizza and gelato from the time we entered Italy until we went home. They liked climbing towers and duomos and walking trails. They loved feeding and/or petting cats, pigeons, fish, goats, etc. They also liked exploring ruins like Ostea Antica near Rome. While only the 8 year old really enjoyed museums and art galleries, none of them complained too much as long as we limited the number of stops and the hours at each one. They all enjoyed a torture museum in Florence, mom and I didn't go in.

In advance, their only input was that they wanted to see castle ruins. Once there, they dropped hints about what they liked and didn't like.

We have a 9 y/o who reads the Magic Treehouse books. She read about Pompeii and under no condition can we go to Rome this July without squeezing that in. And it will be squeezed in! She is so looking forward to going there that it will make a great bribe for good behavior! The books are by Mary Pope Osborne and many are historical fiction. There is also one on the Renaissance that should be good for Florence. I highly recommend getting a few to get them excited about what they will see. In France we saw Mona Lisa, Eiffel Tower, Monets water lillies, etc. but her favorite thing was the ice cream and Metro so you never know what they will be impressed by at that age! She did love the Eiffel because there was a MT book on that too.

The most important thing to remember is kids burn out faster in museums and sites where they can's explore or touch. Ostia Antica was a great place, because they can climb and run and it is visually very interesting if they understand what they are looking at. Take time to make them part of the planning and they will enjoy the places they pick much more!

I have a 7yr ols boy...is VERY FAVORITE place in Italy is Pompeii...he'd done a lot of reading up ono it and it really made a big impression on him...also...the first time he saw the Coloseum in Rome...Venice (we like the "Venice Walks" book and he reads it out and navigates...all a nice, big maze game)...Amalfi (we were there when there was a boy about his age catching sea urchins and he was fascinated to see things actually being caught for dinner as he wasa out there swimming!) still...Pompeii is what he talks about...we were in Herculaneum a week or so ago and his big complaint wa that he didn't enjoy it as much as Pompeii (it's just the famous one...the one talked about in school, etc.!) Paestum was good too...very impressive, but a very relaxing day - not so much to see and do as other sites....he loves castles...so we've done all the big, southern, Norman ones - all were hits - LAgopesole was his favorite (Melfi, Venosa, Lagopesole, Castle del Monte)Have fun!!

Took my son when he was 10 and daughter was 12. They liked:

Rome - climbing to the top of St. Peters, seeing the Colesseum, walking around, gelato

Venice - riding the vaporetto including the day we rode to a random stop, got off, ate lunch at a nearby spot and "got lost" - i.e. just roamed and wandered without a plan. Also enjoyed the Doge's palace tour and wanted to take the Secret Passages Tour but didn't have time.

Florence - not our favorite city but the David was truly magnificient for ALL of us.

Food was great - they had no trouble at all finding something to eat. We rested during mid afternoon (we were there in July) to avoid heat and to be able to stay out late for dinner.

I think Italy is one of the most American Kid Friendly places to visit.

Thank you all for your helpful posts. If I were to choose a different city other than Florence what would your vote be? ( a place to visit with Children) FYI..(Before Italy our sons wanted to go to Paris, after that we will be in Italy for 3 weeks, then we will travel to Greece for 2 1/2 weeks)

thank you all!
Viv

It's not a city, but Cinque Terre is supposed to be absolutely amazing. Lots of water, hiking, boats, trains, food, relaxation ... all great kid stuff.

Let your kids help you plan your trip. We watch lots of travel vidoes, then build an itinerary that has something for everyone. My kids like looking through the DK travel books because they can see what things look like (they are 12 and 14). Major attractions have websites that show you what you're going to see. Somehow being familiar made it more fun. Lots of art seem to turn my kids off, but climbing around castles and gardens are more interesting. They are less interested in art in Florence then seeing Galileo's finger in the science museum. Try to get them to compromise. Not everyone will love everything. We went to Europe 2 years ago, with great success, and probably missed some things, but the kids got to pick, so everyone was happier!

Our family visited Venice last week, boys are 10 & 13. They loved the vaperetto rides, the glass-blowing demonstration in Murano, and generally wandering around exploring. The fish market was interesting, and they liked San Marco Basilica, especially the museum upstairs and the balcony. The 13 yr old was very disappointed not see the Naval museum (hours had changed and we arrived too late, currently open in the mornings until 1:30pm only). We also regreted missing our chance at a traghetto ride across the canal. Rainy weather may have shut some down, but the crossing we went to only operated in the morning hours.

We stayed in Rovereto (north of Verona) for most of our visit and their favorite things were castles or fortresses, playing in any trees they could find, bike riding, daily trips to the local market, and eating gelato.

In Rome my son and daughter's favorite place was Villa Borghese gardens. We rented bikes and boats and enjoyed every available sprinkler. A shady and cool place during the hot afternoon.

I know my favorite sight as an 11 year old in Rome was the Capuchin Crypt under the Church of Santa Maria Della Concezione dei Cappuccini (on Via Veneto near Piazza Barberini). You can see photographs of what I'm talking about if you go to Wikipedia or Google it. It was creepy, it was fun and totally different after days of being taken from one art museum/church to another.

Thank you everyone this is all quite helpful. The boys like the challenge and responsibility of helping to decide where we will go and what we will see. They are really getting into it, thank you for all your ideas.
Viv

Thank you all so much for the suggestions! We leave in about 4 weeks for these same cities with our 12, 10, 8 and 2 year olds.

One question though... We've gotten reservations for the biggies like the Uffizi, Accademia and Vatican but what about the Colesseum? Is it worth a tour or better to just go and walk though it on our own?

Viv, we spent 10 days last year with our 2 granddaughters, aged 11 and 8, visiting family near Rome, sightseeing in Rome and 5 days in Tuscany. All the suggestions you have already been given are good, especially allowing them to have some input. One thing you must do is to give them each a digital camera of their own. They are now so very inexpensive and will allow them to feel like they are seeing and capturing what they want to. And I have to tell you, you will be delighted with what they will come up with for photos...!

We just returned from a two week trip to Rome, Florence and Cinque Terra with our kids, 10 and 12. We went to Venice two years ago with them. Climbing to the top of anything was definitely a hit - St. Peter's - the Giotto's tower in Florence (since we decided we didn't want to wait in the long line for the Duomo - but very similar view)... The Colosseum was probably their absolutely favorite in Rome - very fascinating. We had a private tour guide - very pricey but absolutely worth the cost. It was the only tour we did other than the Vatican - through the Vatican. We also did a Hop on Hop off bus tour and they enjoyed seeing the sites that way.
The Vatican Museum and the Uffizi definitely got old quicker for my 10 year old - so don't overdo those. Venice - the absolute favorite was feeding the pigeons every day in St. Marks - but I've heard they don't allow that any more... other favorites were the Gondola ride and just wandering through the streets getting lost.