I’ll always remember my first glimpse of the Colosseum. My husband and I had simply landed in Rome. I used to be bleary-eyed and nervous with anticipation about my first journey to Europe. My first view of Rome out the taxi window regarded like some other cosmopolitan metropolis. And then it occurred. I glanced down a facet avenue and there it was — the last word icon of Rome, the Colosseum. When visiting Rome with children I wished my daughter to have that very same degree of pleasure and awe.
Italy is a perfect nation for a primary household journey to Europe for a lot of causes. First, most children love pizza and pasta, so the meals isn’t an impediment. Second, by the point they’ve reached elementary faculty, most children have seen some photos of Ancient Rome or trendy Italy in books, exhibits, or motion pictures (and if not, see my studying record beneath!)
Visiting Rome with children might be loads of enjoyable as a result of you will notice their eyes gentle up as they make connections between issues they’ve heard about or seen on screens or books to what they’re experiencing and seeing in actual life. Who wouldn’t love consuming gelato whereas taking part in close to the fountains in Piazza Navona? Or get pleasure from watching the sundown from the highest of the Spanish Steps in Piazza di Spagna?
Italy is a really family-friendly nation and you probably have an opportunity to get off the overwhelmed path in Rome, your children can take part with friends taking part in futball/soccer within the piazza or taking part in within the playground.
Of course, visiting Rome with youngsters will also be overwhelming. There is a lot historical past to soak up. The crowds might be difficult and there may be simply a lot to see. Parents usually marvel the place to start out. What will the children actually get pleasure from? How do you select from the plethora of strolling excursions which can be on the market? Are children sufficiently old to understand what they’re seeing?
If you’re having those self same considerations, learn on. In this information, I’ll try to indicate you one of the best age to go to Rome with children, one of the best time of yr to go to Rome with children, the place to remain in Rome with children, and, most significantly, offer you a family-friendly 5-day Rome itinerary that you would be able to observe.
Best Ages to Visit Rome with Kids
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I discover the candy spot for worldwide journey with children is from 8-12 or so. Younger children can actually have enjoyable and revel in making enjoyable household reminiscences, however you’re a little extra restricted on how a lot historical past and touring they’ll deal with.
Teens also can get very enthusiastic about visiting Italy, you simply have to construct in additional distinctive experiences into your itinerary (comparable to a personal e-bike tour of the Appian Way or a evening tour of the catacombs.) We have additionally discovered that teenagers require a very good quantity of downtime (good luck getting them up for the early entrance to the Vatican) or time on-line.
Best TIme to VIsit Rome with Kids
When you’re visiting Rome with children, you’ll possible have to work round a normal faculty schedule. Keep in thoughts that summers in Rome are very popular and solely getting hotter. There are solely a handful of resorts with swimming pools, and touring the Ancient Forum in the summertime might be like baking within the solar.
If your solely possibility is to go to in the summertime, attempt to go to as early in the summertime as doable, hopefully earlier than July when European colleges get out for summer season break. Keep in thoughts that many Italian households go on trip for the month of August so some eating places and outlets can be closed in cities and the seaside locations can be much more crowded. August fifteenth can also be a nationwide vacation the place most issues can be closed.
If your youngster has an October break or half-term, that might be a super time to go to. Spring break is one other ideally suited time. Just needless to say in case your spring break falls together with Easter, Rome goes to be additional crowded for spiritual observations and plenty of outlets and eating places can be closed from Good Friday via the times after Easter.
Christmas time might be pretty, though chilly. There are a number of Christmas markets round Rome that you would be able to get pleasure from, together with a good looking one in Piazza Navona. Just needless to say many issues can be closed on Christmas and St. Stephen’s Day. If visiting throughout spiritual holidays, it could be higher to remain in a rental the place you’ll be able to inventory as much as put together meals earlier than outlets shut, or in full-service resorts that supply on-site eating.
Where to Stay in Rome With Kids
In Rome, you will discover numerous boutique resorts that supply household suites or connecting rooms for charges that aren’t fairly as outrageous as cities like Paris. I nonetheless discover trip rental residences via vrbo a very good possibility for households to offer everybody additional house to unfold out and a kitchen to remove the necessity to eat out for each meal. This helps with the Italy journey price range and for everybody’s endurance for consuming at eating places.
Some different resorts that supply a household room or suite at an reasonably priced worth embody:
If you take an in a single day flight, you’ll possible arrive within the late morning or early afternoon. Our flight arrived in Rome through Al Italia from Boston at 12:40 pm.
For our journey, we stayed on the Traiano condominium at Via Ruggero Bonghi, 38 close to the Colosseum.
Itinerary for five Days in Rome with Kids
We visited Rome in June, earlier than heading to the Amalfi Coast for a number of days in Positano and Capri. Our daughter was 10 on the time, so this itinerary is finest if you’re visiting Rome with tweens or school-age children. I do know household journey is completely different for every household, so use this as a information to assist form your choices and planning. I hope you discover it useful!
Day 1 (Saturday): Welcome to Rome
Arriving in Rome from an in a single day flight from the States, you’ll need time to get well from jetlag and have a simple day. The finest method to get via an absence of sleep and the time change is to get recent air. The exhilaration of attending to discover a brand new place is energizing. Walking round a metropolis is an effective method to see some informal websites and get your bearings.
However, when visiting Rome with children, you don’t need to overdo it or go away issues to loosey-goosey and unstructured so that everybody get a bit cranky. We determined to take a “Evening Stroll with Gelato” tour with Walks of Italy to see Rome’s most scenic highlights. However, one other good possibility, particularly for little legs that may’t deal with a lot strolling, is to take a personal Rome tour by golf cart. Kids might also love the Vespa with sidecar tour of Rome.
Whether you e-book a tour (I like doing excursions as a result of we be taught a lot extra and I favor personal excursions that may be extra simply tailor-made to my household and our pursuits and power) or not, in your first afternoon or night in Rome with children I might suggest strolling across the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and Piazza Navona.
Finishing off with gelato or an excellent dinner of pasta or pizza is an ideal finish to your first day in Rome with children. If you finish close to Piazza Navona, try Tre Scalini’s well-known tartufo or have an espresso at Caffé Sant’Eustachio, in Piazza di Sant’Eustachio.
Day 2 (Sunday): Ancient Rome
If you’re planning a Rome household trip and likewise arriving on the weekend, needless to say many points of interest and eating places are closed on Sunday so plan accordingly.
We determined that Sunday can be a very good day to go to the Colosseum. We realized from a earlier mistake that you actually need to e-book a tour or tickets prematurely, in any other case you can be caught ready for hours within the sizzling solar to get in. The Colosseum is the most-visited website in Rome with over 30,000 folks visiting the Colosseum on daily basis, so you must plan forward.
I might actually suggest taking a tour of the Colosseum and Roman Forum. There are loads of choices that you would be able to select relying on the ages of your children and their pursuits:
TIP: Make certain you put on comfy footwear and hats and convey alongside snacks and water. Strollers usually are not appropriate for visiting the Colosseum and Roman Forum.
Our tour began on the Colosseum, the place we have been capable of skip the road and undergo a shorter line for teams with guides. Construction on the Colosseum, which bought its identify from the statue of Colossus out entrance, started in 72 AD, taking the work of fifty,000 enslaved folks on daily basis to finish it so it might open to the general public in 80 AD.
The cause the Colosseum seems like it’s crumbling in components is that after it was closed within the 500s with the autumn of the Roman Empire, it was looted throughout the darkish ages for the marble and iron, which made its manner into different buildings together with the Vatican. To assist us perceive what the Colosseum used to appear like in its full glory when it held 75,000 folks, our information pulled out her iPad to indicate us a mock-up of the unique facade.
On our tour, we bought a very good look into the corridors underneath what was the ground of the Colosseum, each from the primary degree and a greater vantage level up above. We realized all in regards to the video games, the lifetime of the gladiators, and the interior workings of the Colosseum. We additionally bought to see lots of the artifacts preserved from these days and will begin to think about, each via our information’s iPad renderings and the remaining gildings, what the Colosseum regarded like 2000 years in the past.
Our heads spinning with historical past, we moved on to exploring Ancient Rome, within the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. As we walked in, the place we realized in regards to the legend of Romulus and Remus and the forming of Ancient Rome.
We spent a very good 1.5 hours within the discussion board and Palatine Hill, studying in regards to the Temple of Julius Caesar, the Vestal Virgins, the Temple of Romulus and its large bronze doorways, the Basilica of Constantine, and the Arch of Titus. Our information additionally took us to a good looking overlook and picture level with an ideal view of the Colosseum.
After the tour, you’ll be able to stroll over to Capitoline Hill to take a shortcut to the Victor Emanuelle II monument with out climbing all of the steps (discover the she-wolf statue then take steps throughout from the statue into the constructing behind S. Maria d’Aracoeli Church. Enter, flip proper. Follow lengthy hall on left to Victor Emanuelle II terrace & café.)
See our suggestions on the place to eat in Rome with children.
After lunch, examine Trajan’s Column, then stroll over to the Bocca Della Verita (Mouth of Truth) in Piazza Bocca Della Verita. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get close to Circus Maximus and the Bocca Della Verita as a result of the Rolling Stones have been taking part in there that evening and the roads have been closed off.
After taking time to calm down, I booked an 8 pm dinner at Taverna dei Fori Imperiale, Via Della Madonna de Monti 9. We actually liked this place, particularly the artichoke with white wine and lemon and the normal Roman carbonara.
Day 3 (Monday): Exploring Trastevere
Monday is a busy day to go to the Vatican and St. Peter’s and a few eating places and points of interest are closed. This is why we determined to get off the overwhelmed path and discover one in every of Rome’s most charming neighborhoods, Trastevere.
If you’re an early riser, you’ll be able to cease by the market at Campo dei Fiori and choose up pastries at Forno Campo dei Fiori, 22 within the Piazza or 5 Via dei Baullari earlier than heading to Trastevere.
The finest method to discover Trastevere is thru a meals tour! We took the Trastevere Daylight Food Tour (now solely supplied as a night tour) with Eating Europe. This gave us the chance to get a “real” style of Rome and discover the energetic neighborhood of Trastevere.
This was one in every of our favourite excursions of Rome, particularly for older youngsters. It can also be the meals tour that fully bought us on meals excursions and has led to us attempting them in so many cities together with Vienna, Fes, and extra. Devour Tours additionally provides an night Trastevere meals tour.
Since these meals excursions are actually within the night, chances are you’ll need to take a gelato making or pizza making class, or Devour Tours’ Street Food Tour with pizza making, trattoria tasting, and gelato. I’ve just lately taken a personal cooking class in a neighborhood’s house via Cesarine, which was a incredible expertise.
Another possibility is a Trastevere and Jewish Ghetto mixed tour with LivTours.
That day, we headed again to the condominium to calm down, bathe and alter earlier than assembly up with household mates that reside in Rome for dinner. However, if you wish to spend a while stress-free, you’ll be able to head over to the Villa Borghese gardens, the place you’ll be able to hire bikes and rowboats, take a stroll, and even go to a zoo.
Day 4 (Tuesday): Hidden Gems
On our fourth day, we wished to take a day journey or get exterior of town middle and discover a few of the lesser-known Rome highlights.
To do that, we picked determined to do the “Rome as a Local” tour with Walks of Italy. When we took this tour it included the Appian Way, Aqueduct Park, Baths of Caracalla, Janiculum Hill, Aurelian Walls, and the Pyramid of Cassius Cestius. It now additionally consists of the Jewish Ghetto, which we did on our personal.
I liked attending to see this very historic a part of Rome and stroll within the grooves made by chariots so many centuries in the past. Likewise for the Aqueduct Park, which is an enchanting instance of Roman ingenuity and engineering experience.
After the tour, we went over to the Jewish Ghetto for lunch at Trattoria Gigetto (Via del Portico d’Ottavia, 21/A) for fried artichokes after which paid a go to to the Jewish Synagogue. Keep in thoughts that no shorts are allowed and shoulders should be lined — no shorts on the eating places both. Instead of Trattoria Gigetto, you may also strive Piperno or Ba Ghetto.
Another possibility for the afternoon or night, particularly you probably have teenagers, can be to go to the crypts and catacombs on an Underground Tour of Rome with Walks of Italy or take a Night Catacombs tour with LivTours
You also can use at the present time to take a well-liked day journey from Rome together with:
Day 5 (Wednesday): Catholic Rome
We saved our final full day in Rome for exploring the Vatican Museum and St. Peter’s Basilica. The museum is closed on Sundays and subsequently Mondays are usually the busiest. We picked to go on Wednesday morning, whereas the Pope was giving his Papal Address subsequent door in St. Peter’s Square. While hundreds flock to listen to this well-liked Pope every Wednesday, they’re occupied from the time they line as much as get tickets within the early morning till someday after 11 when the Papal Address concludes.
While this implies the museum and St. Peter’s can be crowded later, when you get in throughout the morning you would possibly discover the museum at one in every of its least busy occasions. We took benefit of the slight lull within the crowd to e-book a Vatican Museum / Sistine Chapel Tour.
Another method to keep away from the crowds is with an Early Entry Tour that will get you into the Vatican Museum early to see the Sistine Chapel with out the crowds. If you’re visiting with children, I’d extremely suggest reserving a personal, family-friendly tour that comes with a Vatican Treasure Hunt.
Every day over 25,000 folks go to the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, making it the quantity two most-visited attraction in Rome. During my earlier go to to the Vatican, we have been quick on time and beelined via all the museum, not taking in a factor, to get to the primary attraction…the Sistine Chapel. This time, we wished to do it proper and see extra of the highlights of the Vatican Museum.
Vatican Museum Highlights
One of the primary highlights you will notice as you enter is an superior view of St. Peter’s dome. What I by no means thought of is that you would be able to’t see the surface of St. Peter’s dome from the sq.. The facade of St. Peter’s is so tall it blocks the view of the dome so that you solely see it from the within except you go to the Vatican Museum or different components of Rome with a view.
In the courtyard, we took within the sculptures and realized so much in regards to the Sistine Chapel. There is not any speaking contained in the Sistine Chapel so we wanted to be taught the historical past earlier than getting in.
The additional into the museum we went, the extra crowded, noisier, and stickier it turned and the climate, closeness, and lack of air-con started to take their toll. We realized about Greek and Roman statues of goddesses, heroes, and muses and visited the Egyptian room with its sarcophagi manufactured from porphyry.
From there we made our manner via the map gallery, tapestry gallery, and different grand hallways on our manner towards the Sistine Chapel. Our final cease earlier than the Sistine Chapel was the Raphael Rooms. These rooms have been practically as crowded because the Sistine Chapel however not as strict on speaking and film taking.
Eventually, we made it to the Sistine Chapel. Apparently, Michelangelo was disgruntled at having to color this ceiling and he insisted on doing it his manner, regardless of the Pope’s needs. To get again at those that criticized him, Michelangelo painted them in hell, with a snake biting his personal components and sporting donkey ears. Pretty harsh — there was a man with an ego.
Once we exited the Sistine Chapel, we bought fortunate in that the facet door connecting the Vatican Museum and St. Peter’s Basilica was open because the Papal Address was completed early. This was nice information as tour teams can exit this fashion and get straight into St. Peter’s with out having to queue up exterior. Eleonora secured our entrance after which advised us in regards to the door at St. Peter’s that’s sealed with concrete and solely opened each 25 years when the Pope breaks the concrete on the within.
St. Peter’s Basilica
We completed our tour with a fast overview of the Basilica together with Michelangelo’s Pieta, the chapel of John Paul II, and the altar. After that we have been capable of keep inside and discover on our personal so long as we favored.
Our unique plan was to climb the Dome, however after the tour we have been sizzling, drained and in determined want for one thing to eat. Our choices have been to depart St. Peter’s to eat and are available again to climb the Dome…however that might imply having to affix the very lengthy queue exterior to get again in. Despite actually eager to see that magnificent view, I knew our drained legs weren’t as much as the climb and our endurance was exhausted and standing in line later wasn’t going to work both so we headed out to Piazza Navona for lunch and tartufo.
Tips for Visiting the Vatican Museum with Kids
If you resolve to take the children to the Vatican Museum, listed below are some ideas:
- Wear comfy footwear. Not solely it’s loads of strolling, however it is usually loads of standing and shuffling, which you are feeling greater than hours of strolling via the Colosseum and Forum.
- Book tickets prematurely. If you aren’t happening a tour, you’ll be able to e-book your timed entrance on-line to keep away from the lengthy queue.
- Go throughout the low season. Most of the museum isn’t air-conditioned and on the day we have been there it was extraordinarily humid, making it fairly insufferable at occasions.
- Take breaks. You don’t have to see every little thing and also you actually don’t have to see every little thing unexpectedly. Take benefit of the cafe, sit within the courtyard for some time, and attempt to discover some pockets of house to decompress.
- Get one thing to eat earlier than going into the Sistine Chapel. There is a “secret” passage that connects the Vatican Museum and St. Peter’s. It is positioned simply exterior the exit of the Sistine Chapel. Generally, that is solely open to tour teams and it’s generally locked (undoubtedly throughout the Papal Address.) However, whether it is open and you’re both in a gaggle or can sneak via with one, it’ll prevent an extended stroll again via the museum and round to St. Peter’s however it’ll additionally prevent from queueing up within the lengthy line exterior ready to get into St. Peter’s. But if you’re additionally visiting St. Peter’s, you’ll want a snack first.
- Cover your self. Just like St. Peter’s, the Sistine Chapel is a chapel, and to enter you’ll need to cowl your knees and shoulders.
- Be certain to construct in time to discover St. Peter’s Basilica and climb the dome.
- To climb the dome, veer proper earlier than coming into the basilica.
If you may have the power, you may also embody a go to to Castel Sant’Angelo close by, which is open every day 9 am-7 pm, apart from Mondays.
And that wraps up and superb 5 days in Rome with children. If you’re persevering with on to different locations in Italy, learn on!
Books to Read Before Visiting Rome with Kids
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An effective way to organize children for a visit to a unique nation (or anyplace actually) is by studying about that vacation spot earlier than the journey. This helps them perceive what to anticipate, be taught a bit in regards to the historical past, and have every little thing soak in a bit deeper on the journey. Here are a few of our advisable books to learn earlier than a household journey to Rome:
- This is Rome by Miroslav Sasek – this outdated favourite image e-book depicts all the main points of interest in Rome and even describes a few of the historical past and symbology of Rome (like what SPQR means). Even although my daughter is well past image books, she nonetheless bought one thing out of it as a result of as I used to be speaking about our itinerary and talked about the Bocca della Vertita, she knew precisely what it was.
- Not For Parents: Rome: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know from Lonely Planet – this “Not for Parents” not-a-guide e-book tells the story of Rome that not even mother and father know. My daughter took it fairly critically and hid the library e-book from me every time she was studying it.
- G is for Gladiator: An Ancient Rome Alphabet by Debbie Shoulders – This A-Z image e-book introduces youngsters to the historical past of Ancient Rome, an excellent precursor to a go to to the Colosseum and Forum.
- The Coliseum Con by Geronimo Stilton – if graphic novels are extra your child’s factor, they could benefit from the well-liked Geronimo Stilton and his adventures in Rome.
- Vacation Under the Volcano by Mary Pope Osborne – an ideal intro to a facet journey to Pompeii, that is a part of the favored Magic Tree House collection the place Jack and Annie discover themselves in Pompeii as Vesuvius begins to erupt.
- Magic Tree House Fact Tracker #14: Ancient Rome and Pompeii by Mary Pope Osborne – the non-fiction companion to Vacation Under the Volcano, this goes deeper into the historical past of Rome and Pompeii.
- Ancient Rome (DK Eyewitness Books) by Simon James – this well-liked nonfiction collection provides info in a really graphical format that’s straightforward to digest.
- The Assassins of Rome (The Roman Mysteries) by Caroline Lawrence – if mysteries enthrall the children in your own home, try the collection of The Roman Mysteries.
- The Orchard Book of Roman Myths by Geraldine McCaughrean – 15 of the preferred Roman myths retold in a manner that’s interesting to younger readers.
- Rome with Kids by J.M. Pasquesi – this guidebook is for folks however fulfilling for teenagers too as every part suggests issues for teenagers to search for and enjoyable info about Rome. It provides an inside view of all of the highlights of Rome with strategies on the place to remain and the place to eat. Better than a median guidebook, that is actually geared towards household journey and what issues are fascinating to children. It is a must-read!
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