Long weekend in Rome with tweens - what would you do?

I think everyone going to Rome should see the Sistine Chapel and I would expect it to be less crowded in February.

EDITED: When our daughter was 12 she said she really enjoyed the guided tour of Sistine.

There are likely some blogs for offbeat things to do, and certainly there are the usual places to go, however, try not to pack your day so tight you are rushing from sight to sight. But off the top of my head, some ideas....

If they are into creepy/"gross" stuff, the Capuchin Crypt in Rome fits the bill, with the stacks of bones and skulls. Good opportunity though to explain the history and tradition behind why they went to that effort.

If you are nearby, stop by the "The Mouth of Truth", Yes, it is stupidly touristy, but you see it shown so often in movies and media (Roman Holiday put it on the map as a tourist draw), but it is fun, and years from now they will see it on TV or someplace, and they can talk about their visit...it is a "touchstone" literally and physically.

Set about to find the best gelato in Rome, seriously, make it a point, get at least 3 servings a day, keep notes, get the same flavor (plus others) at each (My evaluation flavor is Pistachio, if they can do that well, then everything else is usually good). Best of course is subjective, and all is good, but the arguing is worth the effort.

Plan at least one big Italian meal, get things to share, have the antipasti, get a couple pastas, a couple Secondi, and a Contorno, Wine for you, finish with desert, spend a couple hours eating and talking about the day, maybe what you want to do the next.

Basically, the things they remember will be the fun, small things you do together, rather than the many sights.

Are your tweens boys, girls or one of each?

If they were girls, it might be fun to watch "Roman Holiday" and then seek out some of the locations used in the film, noting the changes time has brought.

Also, a nice introduction to the city (if weather permits) would be to take the Walks of Italy Evening Stroll. It hits the highlights in the heart of the city and includes a gelato at a real gelato stand.

BTW, my wife and I took a school trip to Europe when we were not much older than your tweens. She was 14, I was 15. Falling in love with Rome (and with each other) was easy!

Goal is to make the kiddos fall in love with Rome :)

That being the case, get each of them involved in planning what to do & see. Perhaps each of them could pick out one or two things they are really interested, and build the rest of the trip around them. Doing so will go a long way to having "happy campers". Not that tweens are ever a problem. LOL

We were there in October with our son(12) and daughter(11) and they definitely fell in love with Rome. The #1 highlight was renting bikes along the Appian way. Such a fun afternoon rumbling over the huge ancient cobbles.

We did not visit the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel or the Borghese this trip. All required pre-planning and we preferred to just explore and have flexibility to follow what we were interested in that day. There are plenty of treasures to be seen around town. They will go back someday as adults and they can hit those majors then... We did go to St Peters and climbed the dome which was also really enjoyable.

We stayed in Monti, which was close in but a bit outside of the most crowded tourist center around Trevi/Parthenon. The taxis are super reasonable, and we often grabbed a 10 euro taxi to save a 30-45 min walk. It made a huge difference in how much we were able to do without wearing everyone out.

Consider a food tour
Lots of fun
Eating Europe has several

If you are looking for a good snack or lunch, get some Trapizzini! They're like a cone of pizza dough that are filled with different ingredients/sauces.
https://www.trapizzino.it/en/

I found the eggplant one to be particularly delicious. They're a fun and unique food that you can't get anywhere else

Trapizzini are delicious and really filling and inexpensive -we were introduced to it on a food tour of Trastevere
You can get them in Florence now at Mercato Centrale
There is also a location in Milan

I can only third the idea of Trapizinno, a good, tasty, cheap lunch, they have several locations in Rome. Pizza of course would be an option, most of my favorites are in the Trastevere...Dar Poeta, da Ivo, Ai Marme for great pies, La Renella Forno Antico for thick pan pizza by the kilo to take and eat.

Some of the markets have snacks and things you can get to try. If you know where you want to stay, I might have some other suggestions for restaurants.

If you do not know where to stay, I prefer the Trastevere, but everyone seems to have their own special neighborhood. My only guidance is to pick a hotel based on a nice place to wander in the evening, good restaurants, and a couple good gelato places. Access to the sights during the day is less a concern, since Rome is compact enough to get there by foot or short transit ride.

Our kids loved spending time in the piazzas and eating gelato. They enjoyed just being part of the scene and the outdoor life. Our son was a bit younger than your kids at the time but he did the gladiator school in Rome and loved it.

The RS walking tour of the Jewish quarter was really interesting and moving - especially the bronze memorial stones for holocaust victims. Somehow those little squares in a neighborhood are some of the most heart wrenching and impactful memorials ever.

I’ve been to Rome twice in the last year with three teens.

This was hands down their favorite thing and perfect for those who love atlas obscura type stuff, art, and history, plus you’ll get a lovely stroll past places not mentioned on lists.

https://www.guruwalk.com/walks/42206-who-killed-caravaggio-murder-mystery-tour

As far as wow factor, all of my teens thought Piazza Navona was amazing early morning (nothing crazy… like 7:30 or 8).

My daughter did a mini photo shoot on the. Spanish Steps at 7:45 and not a single soul was in her photos. (March)

They all went crazy over the huge All’Antico Vinnaio sandwiches and you won’t have a line if you go before 7…. Maybe not at all in Feb.

This was a big hit as well and looks like it’s only hanging out til mid February. https://www.chiostrodelbramante.it/

My teens all preferred Gelateria Della Palma with its 100 flavors loaded with Nutella and such compared to the more artisanal options. (It’s not pre-Made! Just not as much fig and basil type stuff.)

They also thought Pistacchio Verde was good and super cute. The gelato par and register are made out of a little VW type camper van and there’s a Vespa out front. The gelato is homemade and good quality.

For Al Taglio, they like Pizza Florida (simple but good. Get there right after they open and you’ll get your pick straight out of the oven) and looking at the cats in the sanctuary at Torre Argentina while they ate it.

Castel Sant’Angelo was a bigger hit than the Colosseum for all three (two were there in March, one went in September.)

They also enjoyed putting one foot inside the gate of the Casa dei Cavalieri di Rodi (Central Seat of the Knights of Malta) behind Piazza Grillo so that they were in two sovereign countries at one time.

I I’m excited for you already!

Your kids sound like my kids when they were younger. They loved museums and history too. Last week we went on this tour by Context Travel with an Archaeologists of underground sites in Rome. Not the Colosseum but other sites you would not know about without a guide. Highly recommend. Context Travel has very other cool tours.
We also did two food tours with Eating Europe also mentioned here. And one private one with Local Aromas were they will do a certain area with you and show you different unusual sites.

I finally made it to Centrale Montemartini Museum that has items from the Capitoline museum in an old electrical factory. Very steam punk and very cool. Only a handful of other people there when we were there on Thursday.

If your kids are like mine & like a little creepiness check out the Protestant Cemetery in Rome in Testaccio. We went after our food tour there. You can also see the only Pyramid in Rome from there. We went last week on Halloween. Seemed to fit for the day even though it was sunny & 80 degrees out.

Enjoy so many unusual places to see. We only made it to about half of the items on my list last week.