Leaving for Rome in 8 days

I think these are great ages for traveling to Rome - Have a great time!

We just spent a week in Rome at the end of February, in the Trastevere.

If you get a great sunny day, especially a weekend day, but any day, later in the day, head to Piazza Santa Maria In Trastevere for some people watching and gelato, then head westerly on Via di San Cosimato, across Via Luciano Manara, and you will wind up in another Piazza, Piazza San Cosimato. There is a childrens playground at the far end, and it will likely be loaded with neighborhood kids playing. Your 11 year old may not be impressed, but a good opportunity for your younger kids to interact with the locals. There is also a smallish market nearly every morning in the square with lots of produce, a fish stall, butcher, and cheese counter. Also a neat old "gourmet" food shop on the corner nearby with reasonable prices on Pasta, candy, and other items, plus exotic items like Heinz Ketchup and Peanut Butter if your kids are having withdrawals. There is also a small grocery tucked into a side street.

Just two general ideas. Take rain ponchos, they really keep you dry (just in case) and are easier to carry around than umbrellas. If the kids dress in bright colors, they are easy to keep an eye on in a crowd.

and lastly, gelato, gelato, gelato

Lunch Suggestion: Restaurant on corner of "Via dei Fori Imperial" and "Via Cavour" just 3 minute walk from the Colosseum (sit outside, you can see the Roman Forum from your table – if the restaurant is still there). They've got pizza and outdoor tables.

Haven't done Europe yet with my trio of children (9, 6, 5), but did Germany-Austria-Switzerland-Belgium-Netherlands with my then-toddler 9-year-old -- and do lots of domestic stuff with all (btw... back to Europe with the lot of us in 2011, Spain-Portugal)...

Thoughts --

Slow -- good -- Naps -- great.

Second the gelato recommendation. Even without kids I stop for a gelato at least twice a day... okay... three times.

Piazza Celimontana has a playground with swings. It's on the opposite side of the Colosseum from the Forum, maybe 2-3 minute walk. Restrooms behind the Colosseum are normally pretty clean (from there to the playground walk southEAST down Via Claudia 2-3 blocks, the Piazza Celimontana will be on your left).

I believe Rick writes up the #3 Tram ride in his guide book -- that would be a good way to give the kids an overview of the city. What kid doesn't love a good tram ride? (...myself included...)

Villa Borghese park -- has the usual Rome stuff with statues and fountians, but also space to run and play, a merry-go-round, and mini-train (my Dad rode it when we were there... ), bicycle rentals, and a zoo (not a very good zoo, though... we always do at least 1 zoo on every trip). This, in fact, is a good place to catch the #3 tram if you want to do that -- stop is in front of the musuem.

Two web resources I use when planning a trip with my kids are:

DeliciousBaby.com

TravelForKids.com

I'm jealous... we don't take a trip until this summer (California)...

[Edit... fixed a direction...]

I am so excited about all the good restaurant info along with the parks. We are mostly packed. We are taking all carry-ons and not checking any luggage. Too much to haul around any way.

If they have lots of energy and you are up to the climb, the staircase that winds up to the top of the dome of St. Peter's is a great experience. The view from this, the highest point in Rome, is a great reward for the climb. The staircase is narrow and encased between the inner and outer walls of the dome, so it's not for the claustrophobic! There is one staircase going up and a different one coming down. Our kids thought it was a cool experience.

Also, we would give our children a few opportunities to plan what we would do on our trip. We would give them the map and the amount of time we had available and they would choose the activity and the route to get there. This provided some fun adventures and really honed their map reading skills. We also did this in Paris with the Metro map. Within a couple of days, they could figure out the quickest route from point A to B wherever we wanted to go.

Have a wonderful time!

No advice from here, but would love to hear how it went! I'm going with my two kids next month for a week. They are 8 and 13.

I understand some people don't have more than a week, but it's such a long way to go for one week's vacation. Call in sick, bribe someone, take out a loan, have a garage sale. Do anything to extend your trip to at least two weeks!

Some of the best and cheapest Gelato is at a little shop near the arch leading in/out of Trastevere, and we will be there the 20th and 21st of March.

I have a fifteen year old and a thirteen year old, and we are going to Italy in May. One of the ways I am trying to build their excitement is by making sure they understand some of the history of what they are going to see. I wan them to realize the significance of The Sistine Chapel when they see it, so they can examine it with wonder and awe! I would recommend just trying to tap into their interests--if they learned about the ancient Greek and Roman Gods, for example, talking about that would be perfect in connection with the Pantheon. Good luck and happy travels!

I used to think that it wouldn't be worth it to go to Italy for just one week, but the last time we went (for a three week trip) we started out just like you, renting an apartment in Trastevere for one week. At the end of that week, we decided that if we had to go home right then it would totally have been worth it.

Have a GREAT time! Rome is absolutely amazing.