Kids 6 and 8 in Rome for a week

With kids I wouldn't take as many tours. They get bored and tired and with tour after tour they may get cranky. I would book only one tour and go from there. I would also reconsider taking them to the Vatican museums. The museums are horribly crowded and the only things the kids are going to see is the backside of the people in front of them. Here are some pics:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/52165327@N00/157192518/in/photostream/

http://romeandabout.com/2010/04/04/vatican-crowds/

I think the kids will love Pompeii. Start early and prepare to be out the whole day. Take hats and sunscreen as there is not a lot of shade at the site. You might also want to visit Herculaneum. It's right on the way to Pompeii and can be seen in about 2 hours.

Donna

I am a big believer in guided tours. The tour guide relieves you of the burden of studying the guide and doing your own interpretation, especially in places like the Colosseum and Roman Forum. A good guide -- private -- will also help engage the children on their level. I can highly recommend some guides if you PM me. It will cost about Euro 50-55 per hour, so Eur 150 or so for 3 hours, but for a family of 4 you could easily pay that for four tickets with a larger group and get less out of it. Each of them also does the Vatican as a private tour.

The Zoo at Villa Borghese might be a nice outing, but I think a day trip to Pompeii for the kids would be exhausting. It's a lot of travel time. On the other hand, it won't be hot. :-)

In Villa Borghese (not really gardens but a park) you can rent 4 person peddle cars that would be fun for everyone and allow you to really get around this big park.

A day trip (actually only 1/2 day) to Ostia Antica can sub for Pompeii and Rick Steves' self-guided tour of Ostia is quite good. We are also big fans of the gardens at Villa d'Este, Tivoli, which is an hour's train ride from Rome and worth about 2 hours to tour, plus lunch in a very delightful small town.

You can daytrip to Orvieto, easily, a fun train ride followed by a funicular to the city.

Went to Italy with my two sons when they were 8 and 12. Have been many times since. The kids will like the Collisseum and fake Gladiators. They actually may like the Vatican Museum, especially if they see some pictures beforehand. It shouldn't be all that crowded in March unless Easter is early this year (haven't checked) The Borghese park will be good, but the museum will be wasted on them. Agree re Pompeii. March can be quite cold, so you'll be more in need of a jacket than sun screen unless the weather is unusually warm. They may also enjoy Piazza Navona with the street artists, toys, etc.

I read on here once that there's a "gladiator school" for kids in Rome, but can't find it now. Maybe you could put that in the subject line, and the original poster may chime in.

Again, I find if you tell kids in advance what to expect, they do much better. If you're an active Catholic family, they may find the Vatican pretty fascinating.

DO take advantage of the roninrome.com website. It's the best website for any tourist in any city in the world.

What about the catacombs? I don't have kids so it is hard for me to assess if that would be too scary for them. The average high for March is low 60s- since I am a Midwesterner, that seems warm. If you have unseasonably warm weather and/or want to get out of the city so the kids can run around a little bit, there are several beaches close to Rome. They are listed on the Ron in Rome website. My favorite is San Marinella. It is a short train ride from Termini and when you arrive, you are footsteps from the beach.

For private tours, Rick recommends Francesca Caruso in his book. I have seen many excellent reviews about her on this website and I plan on doing one her tours when I go in June. She would be able to tailor your tour to make it a little more child friendly. This may not happen if you book with someone else.

We spent a week in Rome with our adult kids last August and had a blast. We often saw young parents with very unhappy little kids training behind. Our observation was that young kids don't have the stamina required to tour that city in the same manner as adults. You may need to abbreviate your tours to accommodate the kids. Shorten every gallery and museum visit. Perhaps even skip the Vatican museum visit and replace it with just a visit to St. Peter's. They might enjoy the dome climb. The day trip to Pompeii would be gruelling for them. Replacing it with a trip to Ostia would be perfect! Do as much reading ahead of time to educate yourself so that when you are in Rome, you will be able to explain things to the kids as you wonder around. You don't want to be listening to guides when you could be interacting with the kids. They will have much more fun if you could give them tid-bits of information here and there as you are wondering around. I completely agree with Laruel, keep it simple.

Christine, with seven days in Rome, and young children, let me throw in the suggestion of a day trip to Orvieto, just about a one hour train ride from Termini station. It is one of the favorite towns of people on this Helpline, including me, and always represents a change of pace from busy Rome. It is a beautiful and ancient stone hill town. I think the kids would love the funicular from the train station up to the old town. You can then hop the short bus ride to the Piazza del Duomo, so the rest of your visit would involve mostly walking down hill. You also have a surprising choice of things to do for such a small town, including a tower and/or walls to climb with great views, underground tours, a deep ancient well to go down, some neat eating and shopping, and the marvelously beautiful Duomo which I bet will impress even young boys, at least for a few minutes. A real adventure of a day.

Your children would probably enjoy a day at Tivoli and all of its fountains. Our children loved going there when they were young, as did my husband and I. Enjoy your trip.

I went to Pompeii w/my family when I was 7 yrs old... I loved it and was absolutely fascinated by it and the history of it. It made a huge impression on me even at that age. I've been back several times since with my own son and he was/is fascinated by it too. I recommend going and I do not think it's too tiring for 6 and 8 yr olds.