Top 15 Ways to Experience Family Friendly Italy

Traveling with kids can be a challenge or it can be a delight. 

Expect to: move more slowly, not accomplish as much in a day, maybe go back to the hotel after lunch for nap time, and not stay out late. But you can still see a lot, eat well, and have a fabulous family vacation in Italy, starting with the suggestions below.

#1: Meals are Easy. Italians love kids, and welcome them everywhere, including restaurants. Think pizza, pasta, gelato, and look at the restaurant's offerings in the contorni, or side dishes part of the menu. Restaurants rarely have childrens' menus, but are happy to oblige if you ask for a half-portion. 

#2: Beeline to Piazza Duomo, or the main square in any city: an open space with no cars, where the kids can run around or hang out and play around the fountain while you sit and people-watch with an espresso, while you discuss the day's plan. Photo below is Parma's Piazza Duomo.

#3: Set up a treasure hunt based on a theme. For example ask the kids to try to spot angels, fountains, words, or different animals. Rome is a great place to do a "fountain" walk: visit several and ask which one they liked best (give them each a handful of Euro cents for tossing in). Venice is ideal for identifying favorite bridges or boats. Have them take photos if they are old enough. In Florence, ask them to keep an eye out for David sculptures. The "angel" or "halo" theme works well if you're visiting lots of churches with frescoes. 

Or ask them to keep their eye out for written words. The list could include: via, cappuccino, espresso, bar, senso unico, duomo, piazza, pizzeria, trattoria, osteria, ristorante, saldi, gelato, aperto, chiuso, orari, albergo.  If you've found pizzeria, gelato, and saldi, this activity alone may take the whole day.

#4: Beaches: incorporate a day or two of sandy beaches, such as: Elba, Rimini, Lake Como, Lake Maggiore, or Lake Garda, or on the island of Ischia off Naples.

#5: Plan short museum visits. Do a bit of research ahead of time and pick a few paintings from the museum you're planning to visit. Then beeline to those paintings and ask the kids questions that force them to really look at the art work. 

When I worked as a docent at an art gallery, I'd ask my group of 5-year olds: what are the people in the painting/sculpture doing? Do you think that person is happy? How do those people know each other? Where do you think they live? How old are they? Do you think they are having fun? Would you like to be their friend? 

Allocate an hour or two, maximum, for museums, and afterwards go find a gelato.

If the kids are misbehaving, visit one of Italy's numerous torture museums to scare the kids into being good for the rest of the trip. ;o)

#6: Head for the pedestrian-only streets which are, in most cities, a low-stress area for kids to amble, and great for window shopping or paying attention to detail. My favorite pedestrian streets are in: Venice (of course), but also Bologna (photo below), Turin, and Siena.

#7: Visit a grocery store or market and discuss the different types of food you don't have at home. Don't miss the dairy and pasta sections! Have the kids help pick out food, then head to a green space - see #8 - for a picnic.

#8: Let them run around in a large green space, such as Rome's Villa Borghese, the Boboli gardens of Florence, the Parco Sempione in Milan, the park of the Palazzo Reale in Monza (a 10-minute train ride - see #15 - from Milan), the Parchi di Nervi outside of Genoa, any of the Villas in Lake Como or Lake Maggiore, or the Botanic Gardens in the city of Parma. To name a few of my favorites.

#9: Visit Childrens' Museums. There's a children's museum in Rome, and it's worth checking the MUBA website for childrens' exhibits around Italy (current exhibits in Milan, Treviso, Florence). There's also a children's museum in Siena,

#10: Climb up churches or towers to enjoy the views. Rome, Florence, Venice, Bologna, Lucca (photo below), and Milan are great ones. Best of course, if kids have the stamina and are not afraid of heights, and of course if you're not carrying them in a baby carrier!

#11: Rent bikes and ride around the walls of the Tuscan town of Lucca or go up to the Dolomites and ride the one-way, downhill bike path into Austria. Then take the train back.

#12: Ask the kids to look at the "pictures" and tell you the story when looking at mosaics in Palermo, Ravenna, or Piazza Armerina (Sicily), or at frescoes or stained glass windows. For example, looking at the stained glass window below: What do you see in the picture? What is happening? 

#13: Amusement parks and attractions: consider spending half a day at Gardaland or another amusement park on Lake Garda; Il Cavallino Matto in Tuscany; Italia in Miniatura near Rimini; the Pinocchio park in Tuscany; Zoosafari in Puglia; Citta' della Domenica in Perugia. Visit the Genoa acquarium, Citta' dei Bambini (Children's museum), or Museum of the sea.

#14: Castles & Bridges: Kids love castles and bridges, and making up stories about them. And there are many in Italy. Some of my favorite castles are in Tuscany and Umbria, as well as the castles around Parma, one in the town of Sirmione (photo below), the castle Sforzesco in Milan, the 3 castles in San Marino. There are so many amazing bridges in Italy, and you can talk about which ones are longest, getting them to count their steps or count the arches across. I've written about my favorites in the north and south.

#15: Use public transportation: kids love (short) train rides, trams, buses, subways, and boats. Great boat rides include the Cinque Terre, Lake Como, Lake Maggiore, the Amalfi Coast, the trip from Naples to Capri or Ischia. And, of course, Venice. I usually recommend people avoid the gondolas in Venice, because they are overpriced and because the gondoliers exude a tourist-friendly  - but not authentic - persona. Instead, ride a vaporetto or water taxi. But: with kids, a ride in a real gondola may be worth it.

p.s: For finding family-friendly accommodation around Italy, Ciaobambino is a great website, though not as extensive as the more time-consuming website Venere. Or, contact me, and I'll put together a trip that meets everyone's needs.

Ladybugs photo by Pier Luigi; All other photos by Sanjay

Let Italy: Beyond the Obvious plan your trip to Italy: have a look at the sample itinerary or learn more.

Comments

[der]

super foto

[holyland tours]

Italy is a grate place to travel with kids, the little ones just will eat everything, no kid will say no to Italian food. thanks for that lovely post, the first picture is so cute.

[Madeline]

Glad you liked the post and the photos! And you're right, I've never met a kid who wouldn't eat Italian food :)

[horse]

You have become like a guiding light to me. When I started a project
on similar topic I could not get enough information to carry further.

Bringing kids along the trip will make them enjoy it. There's so much to see and do in the country.