Traveling with Kids in Italy
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| Above: Kids in an Italian cafe. [a] |
General Suggestions
Before you go:
- Plan your trip six months to a year in advance and involve your kids in the planning as much as possible. [5]
- Make age-appropriate books, internet sites, travel guides, etc. available in advance so the kids can explore
your destination. [5]
- Consider learning at least some basic Italian phrases with your kids. In rural locations, it can be hard to find someone who speaks English. [7]
When you get there:
- Check the local information guide (in Rome Roma c'e), for children's activities. [1]
- Tourist Information stations often have a kid's pack and list of activities for families with children. [1]
- Incorporate a mix of active/passive, outdoor/indoor activities each day. [5]
- Keep it simple. Visit only one or two major sites per day. [1]
- Avoid long lines by making reservations for crowded attractions. [1]
- Give the kids some say in the daily schedule. [4, 5]
- Incorporate something fun for the child(ren) in each day's plan. [2]
- Consider letting the child(ren) choose one activity or restaurant each day (young kids can pick from a list). [5]
- With older kids, consider having all family members take turns as "daily leader" so no one person's interests dominate. [5]
- Remember that art doesn't have to be found in museums. Outdoor sculpture, fountains, and architecture certainly count.
Make a contest out of who can find the ugliest gargoyle or the most angels. [5]
- Eat dinner early (around 7pm) to miss the crowds. [1]
- Keep an eye out for public restrooms (try museums and take-out restaurants). [1]
- Don't rule out the occasional McDonald's dinner or trip to the arcade. Ask the kids to spot the cultural differences in these familiar
settings. [5]
Museums and Sightseeing
- Expose them to the art and artists you'll encounter through age appropriate books before you go. [5]
- Go early, keep it short, and do something fun for the kids afterward. [5]
- No aimless wandering! Have a plan. [5]
- Ask for a special kids' guide, many museums have them. [5]
- Start at the gift shop. Purchase a variety of postcards featuring art from the collection, then go on
a treasure hunt. [5]
- Make up your own games, like "why this painting should be more famous than the Mona Lisa." [5]
- Use timelines and comparisons to break history into contextual pieces, i.e., "this was built around the time of ..." or
"this person lived 500 years before America became a country." [5]
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Specific Things to do with Kids in Italy
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| Above: One of the 13 obelisks in Rome [b]; Trajan's Column - like a round comic book [c];
Neptune stabbing a sea monster [d]. |
In Rome
- Play in the many traffic-free piazzas (squares). [1] Chase the pigeons in Piazza Navona in the shadow of Bernini's Four Rivers fountain and obelisk. [6]
- Check out Villa Borghese park, especially near Porta Pinciana with its rental bikes and pony rides. [1] This park is also home to BioParco zoo. [6]
- Visit a Catacomb, the Cappucin Crypt [1], or Cerveteri (Etruscan necropolis) with kids who like the macabre. [6]
- Stick your hand in the Mouth of Truth (Bocca di Verita). Legend says if you are a liar, it will eat
your hand. [1] A temple to Hercules is nearby. [6]
- Watch a parade of street cleaning machines and then play soccer with local kids in the Campo Del Fiori. [6]
- Ride bikes on the Appian Way, an ancient Roman road. [6]
- Take a picture of Rome through the l'Aventino keyhole. [6]
- Puzzle over Rome's pyramid. [1]
- Stage gladiator battles in the Colosseum. [4]
- See ancient Rome in all its plastic scale-model glory at the Museo Della Civilta Romana. [4]
- Climb through four layers of history in the foundations of San Clemente church. [6, 1]
- Use binoculars to get up close and personal with Trajan's column. Sell it to the kids as a round comic book. [1]
- Shop for souvenirs at Porta Portese flea market (Sundays, 7am-2pm). Teach the kids to haggle. [6]
- Take a picnic lunch to Piazzale Garibaldi. Take in the view and cover your ears when the cannon goes off at noon. [6]
- Have a gelato and toss coins in the Trevi Fountain. [1] Watch the changing of the guard at the nearby President's palace at 4pm. [6]
- Go on a treasure hunt to find all 13 obelisks in Rome. [http://www.initaly.com/regions/classic/obelisks.htm]
- Let the kids drive at the Parco Scuola Del Traffica (Traffic School Park), with its mini-cars and mini-roads. The focus is on road safety, but it has to be fun! [6]
- Go interactive with history at Time Elevator Roma, with its Jeopardy-style trivia and a moving-theatre ride through history. [6]
- Look for kid-friendly art
- Stanze di Sant'Ignazio - perspective tricks in the frescoes make it "a cross between Escher and the Sistine Chapel" [6]
- Palazzo Colonna - detailed naval battles on the ceiling [6]
- Villa Farnesina - frescoes of Roman gods and goddesses and more perspective tricks; a good size for a quick stop. [6]
- Musei Capitolini - recently added a section directed at children. [4]
- If all else fails, try the Hydromania waterpark [1] or the Extra Ball Arcade in Piazza Rio (near St. Peter's). [6]
Near Rome
- See "Alice-in-Wonderland-gone-sinister" statues at Parco dei Mostri (Monster Park). Feed the goats and sheep. Visit nearby Terme dei Papi hot springs. [6]
- Spend the day at the beach in Sperlonga. Swimming, paddleboats, a pirate lookout tower, and no cars in the town center. [6]
- Play hide and seek in the hedge maze at Tivoli Gardens. [4]
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| Above: Duomo (Dome) of Florence [e]; Michelangelo's David [f];
Houses built on a bridge [g]. |
In Florence
- Let the kids sketch or photograph Michelangelo's David for their scrapbooks. Listen to them snicker at his nakedness. [4]
- Climb the dome of the Duomo, or better yet, climb the campanile (bell tower) next door so you can look out at the Duomo. [2, 4]
- What was "in" during the Renaissance? See the fashions in the Galleria del Costume in the Pitti Palace. [4]
- Visit the Stibbert Museum for its collection of medieval armor. [3]
- Tired of art? Try the Science Museum with Galileo's equipment and even his middle finger, covered in gold, preserved as a
"sacred relic in this shrine to science." [2, 3, 4]
- Get grossed out by the graphic depiction of diseases at the Museum of Waxes. [4]
- Visit the tombs of famous dead dudes like Michelangelo and Galileo in the Basilica Santa Croce. [4]
- See it sparkle at the Museum of Precious Stones. [2]
- Stretch out on the grass or pose with the giant statues at the Boboli Gardens. [2, 3, 4]
- Rent a bike, take a swim, or play on the playground at Parco dello Cascine. [2]
- Eat more gelato!
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| Above: The Leaning Tower of Pisa [h]; Monteriggioni, Tuscany [i];
The beach at Marina di Pisa [j]. |
In Tuscany, Outside Florence
- Bike or rollerblade on top of the wide walls that circle the town of Lucca. [4]
- Want to get out of the heat? Go underground at the Cave of the Wind (Grotto del Vento) outside Lucca. [4]
- Spend a day at the beach at Marina di Pisa, Marina de Pietrasanta, or Viareggio. [4]
- A bicycle, a parachute, a tank, scuba equipment...all designed around 1500? That's Leonardo di Vinci for you. See exact models of
Leonardo's inventions in a museum that is also a medieval castle, Museo Leonardiano di Vinci, in Vinci. [4]
- Explore Pinocchio Park in Collodi, with its sculptures of all the characters from Carlo Lorenzini's book.
Don't expect animatronics, but that's part of the charm. [4]
- If you're looking for a more Disneyland experience, try Citta della Domenica near Perugia. [4]
- In the mood for a sugar buzz? Perugia is also the chocolate capital of Italy. [4]
- Rent a boat at Lago di Vagli and try to find the houses under this man-made lake near Poggio. If the water is low,
some roofs will break the surface. [
http://www.travelforkids.com/Funtodo/Italy/garfagnana.htm]
- Climb the leaning tower of Pisa (it's open for tours again, but only for children 8 and older) [4, 7]
- Watch a tug-of-war tournament (Gioco del Ponte) in Pisa. [annually on June 7th] [4]
- Take a boat ride on the Arno River in Pisa. [http://www.travelforkids.com/Funtodo/Italy/pisa.htm]
- Climb some big hills and explore the ruins of Etruscan villages and Medieval towns all over Tuscany. [4, 7]
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| Above: Town of Manarola [k]; Cinque Terre trail [l];
Town of Riomaggiore [m]. |
In Cinque Terre and Liguria
- Hike the trails that connect these five little towns perched atop steep hills. [7]
- Try all the many beaches [7] and vote for a "best beach award."
- No traffic. You get into this National Park by train and can make quick train hops between the towns. [7]
- This is a museum-free zone! [7]
- Relax, slow down, remember that you're on vacation. [7]
- If you like crowds, the Italian Riviera resort towns of Portofino and Levanto are nearby. [7]
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Bibliography and Resources
- Steves, Rick and Openshaw, Gene. Rick Steves' Rome 2002. Emeryville, Calif. : Avalon Travel, 2002.
- Steves, Rick and Openshaw, Gene. Rick Steves' Florence 2002. Emeryville, Calif. : Avalon Travel, 2002.
- Holler, Anne. FlorenceWalks. New York : Henry Holt, 1982.
- Pape, Barbara and Calabrese, Michael. Italy with Kids. Cold Spring Harbor, New York : Open Road, 2003.
- Harriman, Cynthia. Take Your Kids to Europe: How to Travel Safely (and Sanely) in Europe with Your Children. 6th ed. S.l. : Globe Pequot, 2003.
- Around Rome with Kids. S.l. : Fodor, 2002.
- Steves, Rick and Openshaw, Gene. Rick Steves' Italy 2002. Emeryville, Calif. : Avalon Travel, 2002.
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Italy and Europe
Rome
Florence
Tuscany, outside Florence
Cinque Terre
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Created by Jennifer Perry for Information Inquiry for Teachers (L551)
Indiana University School of Library and Information Science
Contact jeperry at indiana dot edu.
First published October 1, 2005.
Last updated October 2, 2005.