fun things to do with kids in rome  italy - family travel    
  Travel for Kids
Italy
   
     
    Rome
Little kid in Rome
The Eternal City has been going strong for millennia, so there's no end of things to do with kids in Rome! Stroll through timeless favorites piazzas, gardens, museums, crumbly ruins every where you look. The must do's the Borghese Gardens, Sistine Chapel, Colosseum, but while in Rome, do as the Romans do: have a picnic, and the kids should try every flavor of gelato.
Tip: Don't miss our top picks for children's books on Rome, recommended by the staff of Travel for Kids, see below.
 

Colosseum and Roman Forum

    Centro Storico – Pantheon
    St. Peter's and Vatican Museums – Sistine Chapel
    Borghese Gardens
    Old Appian Way Park Catacombs
    Ostia Antica
    Around Rome
Palazzo Massimo alle Terme
  National Roman Museums (Museo Nazionale Romano) – The National Roman Museums have four locations, each with a different focus – the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Palazzo Altemps, Terme di Diocleziano, Crypta Balbi.
    Of the four museums, the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme has all the truly great stuff from Classical Rome – marble sculptures of the gods, figures of mythology, statues of famous Roman emperors and their wives (check out their hairstyles and fashion), so realistic you feel like you might meet these people on the street.
   

Churches – Churches abound in Rome, huge cathedrals, medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, eighteenth and nineteenth century churches, churches tucked into the edges of small piazzas. When you pass by one of the many churches, stop in for a brief look, there's always some interesting sculpture, frescoes, decorated floors and ceilings.

      One church with unique appeal for kids is the church of Santa Maria della Concezione (Via Veneto). First check out the saying in Latin on the church, "Here lies dust, ashes, nothing." But the real attraction is the Capuchin cemetery, a chapel decorated with the bones of 4,000 monks, lamps made out of bones and wreaths of skulls. (Yet another place to earn bragging rights.)
    Carriage rides – In earlier eras, Rome was filled with carrozze, horse drawn carriages. You can take a carriage ride around town – pick them up in the piazza by St. Peter's, the Spanish Steps, or the Pantheon.
Trevi Fountain
 

Fountains – Everywhere you turn, there's another fountain in the center of a piazza. Sparkling water gushes and rushes over bigger-than-life sculptures, the fountains in Rome aren't wimpy trickles. Look for fountains in the Piazza Barberini, Piazza della Republica, Piazza Navona, Piazza di Spagna, the Trevi Fountain, Piazza della Rotonda next to the Pantheon, Piazza del Popolo, fountains in the Borghese Gardens. Tip: If your kids like to draw, bring pads of paper to sketch the fountains.

    SPQR manhole covers – Most of the manhole covers in Rome are stamped with the letters SPQR, Senatus Populusque Romanus, "the Senate and the people of Rome." While you're walking down the street, keep your eyes peeled for this ancient motto of the Roman empire.
    Take the tram around Rome – Pick up the #3 tram for a ride through Rome, on Viale delle Belle Arti (in front of the Museum of Modern Art) in the Borghese Gardens. A 40 min. ride takes you along the park, through Roman neighborhoods, past ancient walls and aqueducts, right to the Colosseum. You could get off there, or keep on going, past the Circus Maximus, up the Aventine, to Piazza Porta S. Paolo and the Tiber River. (At the Tiber, just get off and take the #3 tram going back to the Borghese Gardens). The tram goes slow, it's pleasant and relaxing, the perfect things for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Roman Aqueducts – The Romans built aqueducts to bring water into town for all those baths and public fountains. The Goths wrecked most of the aqueducts in the 6th century, but parts of the aqueducts remain, scattered throughout Rome.

Aqua Claudia
    The most impressive remnants are next to Via Lemonia (Parco degli Acquedotti, in the Parco Dell'Appia Antica), in the southeast suburbs of Rome. To get there, just take the metro to the Subaugusta stop, and walk four blocks west. Here you can run around the amazing high arches of the Aqua Claudia, as well as the smaller Aqua Felice.
      There's a shorter section of aqueducts at Porta Maggiore in the city center. Take the metro to San Giovanni, walk down Viale Carlo Felice. You'll see one of the ancient gates, and sections of the Aurelian wall, plus a long grassy areas, and a small playground. Keep walking to Porta Maggiore, which has another ancient gate, and sections of the Aqua Claudia and Aqua Marcia.
   

Fun food

     

The most fun food is ice cream, gelato, and Rome is chock full of "gelaterias," ice cream stands. Delicious flavors to choose from – ten kinds of chocolate, honey, raspberry, lemon, melon, strawberry, crème caramel, marron glace. One friend said, "My son had four cones a day, chocolate, vanilla, lemon and coconut." Whenever you need a break, order up a gelato.

   

Shopping

     

Have fun shopping for figures of Roman legionaires and gladiators, miniature colosseums, wooden Pinocchio figures, brightly colored alabaster eggs, colorful jewelry and purses.

   

Tips

     

Archaeologia Card – The Archaeologia Card is good for 7 days, and provides entrance to nine sites – the Colosseum, Palatine, Baths of Caracella, four National Roman museums, and two sites on the Appian Way. It's money saving, and most importantly, with the card, no waiting in lines with the kids to buy tickets for the Colosseum. Purchase the card at any of the nine sites (buy the card before you tackle the Colosseum).

     

Mondays in Rome. Most museums in Rome are closed on Monday, so don't get caught unaware. On Mondays, plan to go to the Borghese Gardens, the aqueducts in the suburbs, the Appian Way, or take a day trip outside Rome.

     

To get around, the bus system is good, plus the metro. Buy a day ticket for unlimited rides on buses and the metro. Pick up a copy of the Roma Metro-Bus map at any newsstand for information on which bus to take to specific sights.

family hotels rome italy

Travel for Kids has so many fun things to do with kids in Rome, but you'll need a fun place to stay.

Here's our own Travel for Kids hand-picked list of family hotels and apartment rentals in Rome, different styles and price ranges, in neighborhoods near to places you'll want to explore:

Rome family hotels
Rome apartment rentals
family travel tools rome italy

Standing in lines waiting to buy tickets in the summer heat is enough to make everyone frazzled, especially the kids. Skip the lines and buy your tickets in advance to the Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museums and St. Peter's.

Vatican Museum Tickets

Kids can dress up as a gladiator (tunic, belt, gloves) for a private lesson at the Gladiator School of Rome. Train and fight with swords like a gladiator, "the kids loved this experience, I would definitely recommend to others with older children."

Rome is pretty spread out, so a good way to get to know the city is a hop on – hop off bus. 9 stops around the city, including the Colosseum, St. Peter's, Piazza Venezia, and more. Tickets are valid for one or two days and you can board the double-decker bus anywhere on the route.
Rome Hop On Hop Off Bus
kids books
     
Ancient Rome - kids books Rome  
Ancient Rome
Peter Connolly

Daily life in ancient Rome – houses (complete with running water), Roman dinner parties, clothing and hairstyles, shopping, sports and games (Romans loved to watch sports). Excellent reconstruction drawings and historical illustrations – the ancient city comes alive. (Chapter book, illustrations)

 

     

Set up ancient Rome in your living room with this super 4 foot pop-up fold-out book – scenes of the Forum and temples, the Colosseum and gladiator games, a busy street and home life, plus fun facts and a history timeline. (Pop-up book)

 

 
Rome: A Fold-Out History of the Ancient Civilization - kids books Rome
     
The Assassins of Rome - kids books Rome  

Four exciting mystery adventures, all set in ancient Rome. In the first three, Jonathan comes to Rome to find his long-lost mother. Jonathan's search with his three friends takes him into the secret tunnels of Nero's Golden House, he narrowly escapes plague and fire in the Temple of Jupiter, only to wind up in the Colosseum, fighting in the games.

In the latest adventure, The Charioteer of Delphi, a prize racehorse has been stolen, just before the chariot games in the Circus Maximus. (Chapter books)

 

     
Tiger, Tiger
Lynne Reid Banks

Twin tiger cubs, captured in their jungle home, are brought to Rome for the Colosseum games. One cub becomes a pet of the Emperor's daughter, the other cub is trained for the arena. Will it be thumbs up or thumbs down, when the tigers meet again? A captivating, exciting story of ancient Rome.
(Chapter book)

 

 
Tiger, Tiger - kids books Italy
     
See You Later, Gladiator - kids books Rome  
See You Later, Gladiator
Jon Scieszka, Adam McCauley

Hilarious adventures of the Time Warp Trio, Fred, Sam and Joe, as they are whisked to ancient Rome. Pig Latin, big guys with pitchforks, and thumbs down at the Colosseum – the trio is in big trouble, again. (Easy reader)

 

     

Take a step back in time and find out how kids lived in ancient Rome – eating at quick food restaurants, indoor plumbing and public baths, shopping at the mall, popular pets (birds), board games, baked clay dolls, and more, and more. (Picture book)

 

 
If I Were a Kid in Ancient Rome - kids books Rome
     
Julius Caesar  
Julius Caesar
Richard Platt, John James, Jim Robins

Hail Caesar! Get the scoop on Rome's favorite dictator, Julius Caesar – his military successes, rise to power, triumphal celebration with Cleopatra, and dramatic death on the Ides of March. Richly illustrated with drawings and photographs, two page fold out. (Picture book)

 

     
Mystery of the Roman Ransom
Henry Winterfeld

Fresh from solving the mystery of the bogus soothsayer in Detectives in Togas, seven rambunctious Roman schoolmates have a new problem: why is an ex-gladiator trying to steal their slave and who is behind the plot to murder a famous senator. (Chapter book)

 

 
Mystery of the Roman Ransom - kids books Rome
     
The Roman Colosseum  
The Roman Colosseum
Elizabeth Mann, Michael Racz

Full color illustrations of the amphitheater construction in the first century A.D., and "games" in the Colosseum – wild animal shows and gladiators in hand-to-hand combat. (Picture book)

 

     

Lively fictional diary of twelve-year old Galen, a Greek slave in Rome, as he explores the city, loses his lunch at the gladiatorial games, and discovers a conspiracy to poison Emperor Augustus. (Illustrated chapter book)

 

 
Galen: My Life in Imperial Rome - kids books Rome
     
Michelangelo - kids books Rome  
Michelangelo
Diane Stanley

Life and times of a Renaissance genius – the mega-talented Michelangelo, painter of the Sistine Chapel, sculptor of the Pieta, and architect of St. Peter's in Rome. (Picture Book)

 

     
Rome Antics
David Macaulay

Charming sketchbook of Rome, with a bird's eye view. A homing pigeon soars over the Appian Way, through an ancient city gate, circles over the Colosseum, swoops through bridges, passes over terra-cotta roof tops, private gardens and cobblestone streets, then drops from the sky through the hole in the Pantheon, neatly avoids cats, dogs and rococo churches, to reach home.
(Picture book)

 

 
Rome Antics - kids books Rome
     
Madeline and the Cats of Rome  
Madeline and the Cats of Rome
John Bemelmans Marciano

Springtime in Rome. New adventures of Madeline, her schoolmates and Miss Clavel, with colorful sketches of fountains, piazzas, the Forum, St.Peter's, Sistine Chapel, and more favorite landmarks. Delightful! (Picture book)

 

     
Rome for Kids and Families
Olga Romano Cervone

llustrated map of Rome for kids, with all the fun places to go, plus all sorts of interesting information, such as where to find ghosts, angels and devils in Rome. (Map)

 

 
Rome for kids and families
     
This is Rome - kids books Rome  
This is Rome
M. Sasek

Take a trip through Rome, old and new – ruins of the Roman forum, Emperor Constantine's foot, Piazza Venezia and the "wedding cake" monument, biggest church in the world, St. Peter's, secret passageways of Castel Sant'Angelo, legend of Santa Maria Maggiore, and more. Whimsical illustrations capture the panoramic history and fun in Rome today, this is a classic. (Picture book)

 

(More children's books on other Rome and Italy pages)