Italy with preteens

In Florence, the Museo Storia Naturale - La Specola. It is AMAZING. My 12 year old niece begged not to leave after we’d been there for 3 hours, so my SIL and my husband and I repaired to a local bar for a glass of wine while my brother spent another 2 hours with my niece exploring more. TL; dr it was a MASSIVE hit for this pre-teen. :-)

https://www.sma.unifi.it/vp-387-la-specola.html

The biological exhibits include amazing antique taxidermy, the skeleton of a human giant, thousands of insects, and very early human anatomy dioramas made by hand with thread and wire and wax. Wow!!!

(Also: the Zeffererelli version of Romeo and Juliet? Swooooonnnn. I feel her on that one. :-)

Italy has a relatively high rate of coeliac disease and increased awareness compared to a lot of other countries (they screen for it in primary school) so despite the diet being high in gluten it’s actually a good place to visit. GF pasta and bread are widely available.

Chiming to say that finding GF food in Italy is easier than where I live in the states. My friend that I traveled with cried in joy when we went in an Italian grocery store and saw all the options that she could have.

Taking a Pompeii tour with a working archeologist is the thing my pre-teen at the time loved most. I believe I found them on AirBnB experiences, but I'm sure there are others as well.

You are smart to start with the big three: Rome, Florence and Venice.

You have two weeks, I suggest
Rome 5 days
Florence 3-4 days
Venice 3 days

You still have a few more days, consider 2 days stay in Sorrento and visit it, Pompeii and Capri. If you can squeeze in The Amalfi Coast add another day.

You can do a day trip to Pisa from Florence, and also a day trip to Siena for a day.

There is a high speed train from Rome to Florence and Florence to Venice. The trains are fast and you should reserve seats on the train. You can do that before you go, if you know exactly when you plan to travel or do it once you are in Italy .

I traveled with kids from age 5 up to teens and had my teens read books about the country we planned to visit.
Italy is loaded with history, ancient, medieval and renaissance. The art museums in Florence are special. Also, the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica are amazing. The food is great in Italy as well.

You're doing the classic first Italian trip of Rome, Florence and Venice - and it's a classic for good reasons.

After Rome all Roman ruins will pale in comparison but Verona has a Roman arena and theater and also the Juliet balcony. (Yes, the balcony in Verona is a product of 70s advertising and there are no actual Romeo and Juliet sites in Verona.) But it sounds like it might be of interest to both of your kids and is easy to insert between Florence and Venice.

Pompeii is a long day trip from Rome but do-able. You might look into Ostia Antica which is essentially a "Roman ghost town" and is much closer to Rome. In June the heat and physical work of a large site should be taken into consideration.

Siena a great "taste of Tuscany" day trip from Florence and I always recommend it to people who have never been.

As others have said menus are well marked and waiters take their job and food seriously. I would print up cards in Italian explaining clearly that this is an allergy and not a preference for clarity but "sans glutena" options exist for pasta and pizza in many places.

Have a great trip,
=Tod

For perfume, visit the Santa Marina Novella Pharmacy in Florence.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Officina_Profumo-Farmaceutica_di_Santa_Maria_Novella

For fashion, your daughter may be interested in the Fortuny Museum (textiles) and Palazzo Mocenigo (costumes) in Venice.

A fun activity is a rowing lesson in Venice: https://rowvenice.org/venetian-rowing-lesson/

hey hey allie220
before planning activities and stops, figure out you flights and places to stay/how many days in each city. are there just 3 of you, i would look for an apartment (more room, beds for each - not a sofa bed, kitchenette, washer)
flying into venice and out of rome, look at multi-city not one ways. arrival and departure times are important with check-ins 3-4pm and check-outs 10-11am. venice is a nice place to get over jet-lag and relax plus many flights are early early morning. train to florence then to rome, just my own opinion.
june will be a busy & crowded month, HOT, high season. any accomodations make sure you have A/C. book ahead of time, see something you like & fits book it and no looking back.
another option to look at for your kids "likes to make them both happy" is fly into milan for a few days. train to verona then to venice.
perfumesociety.org scroll down to the many shops listed in milan
milanoexplorer.com/ milano fashion guide for districts. known for a global fashion scene
lots to make your daughter in ahh
museoalfaromero.com thiswaytoitaly.com 13 best car museums in italy
your son will enjoy this, compromising for both kids and hoping mom enjoys it to. take the train
visit some of the food markets (mercato papiniano or mercato settimanale "fauche"). love walking thru markets with so much to offer and view.
guruwalk.com free walking tours in milan
discoverwalks.com/ milan free walking tours
just some info you and your kids can do research what may interest them, bookmark it and all can decide. one thing is to pack light, they are in charge of their suitcases, washer comes in handy at places (i have brought small bottle of detergent to sink wash and hang overnight or while on a day adventure. good luck in your planning, have fun. ask away with more questions, here to help
aloha

Wow, what great recs! thank you so much.

My husband is coming with us... just forgot to mention him! And yes, we normally do Apartments and love "living like locals" in big cities. We've been traveling to Europe since they were 3 and 5, so they are well-traveled and have been to 7 countries so far, not too shabby! :)

We were in Spain in February 2025, and the GF options were wonderful... so happy that Italy will be just as easy.

Your girl may visit the Museo della Moda e del Costume, in the Meridiana bloc of Palazzo Pitti/Boboli in Florence. The museum traces the evolution of designer dresses and costumes to the present day.

There are actual seven museums in the larger Tuscan area dedicated to fashion, including one (somewhat hard to reach) displaying some Zeffirelli Romeo and Juliet original costumes:

https://www.visittuscany.com/en/ideas/toscana-fashion-7-museums-dedicated-to-fashion

And well, there is also a little Zeffirelli museum in Florence.

A quick overview the museums listed in the port by @lachera
https://www.visittuscany.com/en/ideas/toscana-fashion-7-museums-dedicated-to-fashion

Salvatore Ferragamo Museum - interesting museum near the river in Florence one bridge down from Ponte Vecchio attached to the Ferragamo store. The museum is about shoes - obviously - but also about the family and the matriarch and the changing of women's roles in the postwar era of early feminism in Italy. Interesting little museum but not the temple of shoes you might be expecting.

Textile Museum in Prato is an excellent museum in an old wool factory. The Museum is great and really well designed and gives an overview of the history of wool in Italy and workings of the factory. There are also exhibit areas for travelling exhibits that were very interesting. Prato is on the train loop the runs through Lucca but you'll need to take a bus to get nearer the museum/factory. Old town Prato is also worth wandering through if you have time.

Museum of the Art of Wool in Stia is also in an old factory and an interesting visit but is more concentrated on the history of the factory and process of wool production. There is a still a small working factory and store on site. Stia is at the end of a commuter train that runs north out of Arezzo. Unless you're really lucky with the occasional bus you will probably end up walking the length of town from the train station to the old factory. The walk is pleasant enough but not inspiring if you can skip it.

Ironically the Pitti Palace exhibit was closed last time I was in Florence so it's one I can't comment one.

My $.02,
=Tod

We took my celiac son to Italy last year. It was wonderful, he still talks about the GF food he ate and asks to go back all the time. We did Naples, Rome, and Venice.

Venice was the hardest to find GF food and when we did find it it wasn't very good. He loved The Brunch Cafe and Frary's in Venice, neither which are Italian food. We took the ferry boat over to Murano and went to Ferro Toso to make our own jewelry, both my kids loved that but especially my daughter.

It was not easy to get to via public transportation, but we went to the Lamborghini factory tour when we went from Rome to Venice. It required a train stop in Bologna, storing our luggage, and an hour bus ride but wow that was a really cool experience. I would not go if you can't get factory tour tickets as the museum itself wasn't that amazing.

Rome had endless GF options. We had dinner at Cimarra 4 at least 3 times in the Monti neighborhood. We stayed at an apartment there and loved the neighborhood. We also had ice cream (with a GF cone) at Gelato in Trevi and dinner at Pizza in Trevi. New Food Gluten Free had a lot of breakfast and pastry options and Mama Eat was good too.

Less popular options my kids loved: the Museum of Illusions, Baths of Caracalla, Gladiator training at Gladiator School of Rome, and the catacombs along the Appian Way.

We will be staying in Brescia next week. We picked it as a stop over after seeing the Luigi Marzoli Arms and Armor Museum. They also have an archeological area. Our boys are 12 and 13 and when we saw the arms and armor museum plus the other options in town we thought it would be a perfect fit for them.

Late to the party here -

"Your girl may visit the Museo della Moda e del Costume, in the Meridiana bloc of Palazzo Pitti/Boboli in Florence."

I was thinking the same, lachera. The greater Pitti - which is actually a collection of museums - is probably overkill for your teen/pre-teen but she'd likely enjoy the costumer collection, and you could take a run at some of the rest of them.

we just watched Romeo and Juliet (the Zefferelli version) so she's
having a moment with that.

LOL, I'm sure she is!! I saw that movie at exactly your daughter's age - WAY back when it was first released - and I'm very glad that was the version she enjoyed 'cuz the costuming was terrific; won Danilo Donati an Oscar for historically informed designs.

If the costumes (along with some scenes, ahem, guaranteed to make the teenaged heart go pittypat) made an impression, have her pay attention to some of the frescoes and portraits you'll run across in the museums and churches! Some include captures of contemporaries of the era - often donors of the works + their family - along with religious figures. The contemporaries are usually painted arrayed in the fashions of the time, down to hairstyles and footwear, and differences in dress of different socioeconomic classes and roles.

Interesting styles of assorted periods can be observed in sculpture, mosaics and portraits too. :O)

Some good Renaissance examples:
https://www.arttrav.com/florence/renaissance-womens-clothing/
https://blog.fabrics-store.com/2025/04/06/stockings-tunics-and-gowns-renaissance-fashion-in-art/

Just stopping by to reassure you and echo what others have said - being Celiac in Italy is significantly easier than it is in the United States. I was very worried on our first trip due to my wife being very gluten sensitive (never tested for official diagnosis) and we found menus clearly marked and restaurant staff to be well trained regarding allergies. Better yet, the GF food was incredible!

Not applicable for your son of course, but I have some sensitivity and even found the gluten containing foods to not bother me nearly as much as the gluten in the US. My wife was brave enough to try a few small bites with no reaction. It makes me wonder what is different in the US wheat supply.

Headed to Italy in March with 12(F) and 9(F) and wife.

One thing we found our kids were interested in (besides the major sites/gondola) for Venice was a mask decorating workshop. There seem to be several available of different lengths/complexities. We're going with Ca' Macana because it fits our schedule better.

When I looked at it as an experience they wanted to do AND a unique and meaningful souvenir for them, it worked out to good value for us.

IIRC, Tragicomica also offered similar workshops.

While you are at it, have a look to the former Museo degli Argenti, now renamed Tesoro dei Granduchi. It is a collection of precious things, jewels and pieces of artisanship. I always liked it, maybe the girl could be interested. Have a look:

https://www.uffizi.it/en/pitti-palace/treasury-of-the-grand-dukes