So you want to visit the Eternal City, where history, culture and wonder await every traveler. But what about when you’re traveling with your little adventurers in tow? Fear not, because there are plenty of things to do in Rome with kids, not just for the history buffs and art enthusiasts. It’s a city that welcomes families with open arms and has a treasure trove of kid-friendly activities and attractions waiting to be explored.
In this blog post, we’ll take you on a journey through the heart of Rome, showing you the best activities and experiences that will make your family trip unforgettable. From exploring ancient ruins that transport you back in time to savoring mouthwatering gelato that delights taste buds of all ages, we’ve got you covered.
Rome isn’t just a city; it’s an open-air classroom where your children can learn about history, art, and culture through hands-on experiences. So, whether you’re planning your first family trip to Rome or you’re a seasoned traveler looking for new ideas, our guide will help you craft a memorable Roman adventure that both you and your kids will cherish forever. Let’s embark on this Roman journey together!
What to do in Rome with kids – Our picks!
When traveling to Rome with children, you need to consider that it won’t be all about ancient ruins and grand monuments. This is why while planning your Rome trip, looking for children-friendly activities is a must.
Check out our suggestions for the best hotels in Rome for families.
Explore Rome’s city center
I always love wandering the streets of Rome’s Centro Storico and I believe I’m passing this love on to my son who has been appreciating his city’s beauty since he started to walk.
The city center is not just an open-air museum packed with artwork and architectural masterpieces. It’s also a district that has been inhabited for centuries, and so it hides fascinating stories and anecdotes behind every corner.
If you are wondering what to do in Rome with kids, exploring the city center with this family-friendly tour that will keep you all entertained with quizzes, trivia, and scavenger hunts for 2 hours seems like a good option!
In my opinion, the city center is also one of the best areas to stay for families!
Enjoy Rome’s parks
Among the favorite things to do in Rome with kids, the local parks are easily one of the first choices.
Some of the coolest parks in Rome that both children and adults will love are the always-gorgeous Villa Borghese Gardens and Villa Doria Pamphilj.
Villa Borghese is heaven for anyone who enters as there is something for everyone. You can relax on a picnic, rent a rowboat in the lake and row around the small temple, join other families in the kids’ playground, visit the local zoo, and hire a pedal-power golf cart to wander around the whole park.
Context Travel runs this Borghese Gallery Tour for Kids with Skip-the-Line Tickets to explore the most important museum in the park and one of the most famous in Rome.
Similarly, Villa Pamphilj, too, is a former noble villa that was adapted into an urban park where kids can play in the playground, see the aquatic wildlife such as fish, turtles, ducks, and swans, and run wildly and freely.
Experience Ancient Rome in Roma World
This is an awesome experience to have in Rome with kids. Roma World is quite far from the immediate city center, it’s south of Rome next to Cinecittà World and part of the same organization. From March through September, this year they are organizing a fantastic show “Roma on Fire” evoking the grandeur of the Roman Empire at full scale.
We booked a whole night in Roma World and slept in the tent of a Roman camp loyally recreated. It was probably not as basic as they were 2000 years ago but definitely rustic and close enough to make you re-live the ancient times!
All around the village, you will be strolling around the set of several movies such as the 2016 remake of Ben Hur. And it’s precisely in the Ben Hur arena that you will enjoy the night live performance of Roma on Fire. Some 30 artists will perform a typical Roman show including a gladiators’ fight, a race of the biga chariots, a vestals’ dance, and the final fire on Rome.
I went with my 4-year-old and he was in awe. He loved the whole experience, he forgot he was even hungry or that he needed to go to the toilet. He played, fed the animals kept there, ran from one area to another, and all this while wearing the senator’s tunic we had rented for the day.
If you are planning to go, you can book your ticket directly from the official website of Roma World where you will see the different packages and you will also be able to book the shuttle bus in case you are not driving in Rome.
We booked the Gladiator’s Night package that includes the entrance to the park, staying overnight, the Roma on Fire show, and dinner with a fixed menu of ancient Roman dishes. If you want to rent a costume for yourself or your son/daughter, there is an extra fee and you can do it upon booking. For kids, there is the option to book either the tunic or the gladiator armor.
On the kids’ menu for 10€ you will book the tunic, while if you want to rent the armor, you will find it either on the “Historical Costume Hire” or in the “Military Uniform Hire” for 30 or 50€. I found this a bit confusing as it does say that also for the kids, we could choose the costume there, but that wasn’t the case and we could only hire the tunic. So make sure you don’t make the same mistake!
Apart from the show, with your family, you can go around the park, see the different animals they have, attend the predatory bird show, and shop at the local “Mercato”.
- Where: Via di Castel Romano 200. You can book a shuttle bus that will take you from and to Termini station or EUR Palasport metro station of line B.
- When: Friday to Sunday until the beginning of November, sleepover only until the end of September. From the 9th to the 25th of August, it’s open every day.
- How to book: from the official website.
Watch our experience at Roma World!
Go to Rome’s zoo
Inside Villa Borghese is also Rome’s Bioparco Zoo. What to do in Rome with kids and children of all ages, the Bioparco is home to a huge variety of animals from all over the world and also local wildlife such as the region’s wolves.
Among the species your children will have the chance to see closely there are giraffes, lions, tigers, monkeys, penguins, and bears.
Click here to buy your skip-the-line ticket
Visit Explora Children’s Museum
This fantastic children’s museum is located in the Flaminio neighborhood a stone’s throw from the stunning Piazza del Popolo. It caters to babies from as early as 0 to kids aged 12 with different activities organized in separated and well-adapted areas.
We went to Explora with our son when he was one and was just starting to walk. The area devoted to 0 to 3-year-old toddlers is well-padded and requires socks to enter.
The halls of the museum for older kids had several initiatives such as a firefighter’s truck to explore and other educational activities often in science and innovation fields.
Go to the Colosseum
I’m sure most kids aged 10+ in Rome will love to visit the Colosseum and feel gladiators for a day.
Depending on the ticket or tour you book, you can enter different areas including the Arena where the shows took place and the dungeon where the gladiators waited for their fate to happen.
To keep your kids engaged during the whole tour, you can book an experience with a specialized guide that includes games and activities for the young ones like Private Family Experiences: Colosseum Tour for Kids by LivTours or Ancient Rome family tour for kids from GetYourGuide.
To be even more prepared and better fall into the gladiator’s role, kids love the initiative organized by Gruppo Storico Romano where they train to be a true Roman fighter in a 2-hour gladiator class.
Learn about Rome in the Welcome to Rome exhibition
Set in the former Cinema Augustus, the Welcome to Rome exhibition is a fun way to learn about Rome’s history and architecture from its very inception. Multimedia installations paired with audioguides provided at the entrance show tales of the most important landmarks and areas of Ancient Rome throwing you directly to the old times.
As adults, we loved the experience and learned plenty of facts and details. We went with our 4-year-old and while he didn’t quite manage to follow the smaller 3D videos, he absolutely adored the maxi-screen theater-like documentary. This lasts around 30 minutes and shows a fascinating recap of Rome’s stormy past from the very creation of the lands and hills where the city was founded.
My son was very small but I have no doubt that older kids and teenagers will love the multimedia experience. You can book your entrance from the official website or from Get Your Guide.
Explore the Vatican
This might seem boring for children, but there are actually fun tours organized specifically keeping in mind kids’ needs and preferences yet entertaining also the rest of the group by showing the main highlights of the Vatican City and Museums.
How about a scavenger hunt to spot the masterpieces kept in the Vatican? Do you prefer a more traditional tour? You can book a fun and informative experience to learn everything about the Vatican’s classics and most famous artwork including the Sistine Chapel.
For a very exclusive experience in the Vatican Museums, you can book Context Travel’s Vatican Tour for Kids with the Sistine Chapel and Skip-the-Line Tickets.
Join a pizza-making (and eating) class
Who doesn’t love pizza? While the eternal competition between Neapolitan and Roman-style pizza is always on, in Rome, you can find all styles and toppings.
Check out our favorite pizza places in Rome for some scrumptious meals, while, if your kids like to get their hands messy, book them up for an exciting pizza-making masterclass.
Tuck into artisan gelato
Along with pizza, we couldn’t miss gelato. Rome is packed with fantastic gelaterias. From fruits to creams to all types of nuts and chocolate flavors, you can enjoy your scoops on a cup, on a nuts and chocolate-coated cone, in a stuffed brioche pastry, or even on a brownie.
Discover leisure time in Ancient Rome
The Circus Maximus and the Baths of Caracalla might even evoke academic research and history classes, but if you visit them with the right tour, they become exciting spots to visit in Rome with kids.
In this private Caracalla Baths & Circus Maximus tour, for example, your family will learn plenty about Roman engineering skills, aqueducts, and how mosaics were made, as well as how they organized the shows, animal hunts, and chariot races.
But the expert guide will make it a fun-packed experience where the young ones, too, will enjoy their time and remember the facts and cool anecdotes.
Have fun at the Museum of Light
A cool space of 1,000 square meters set up in the 17th-century mansion of the Jesuits, the newly-opened Museo della Luce (Museum of Light) is quickly becoming one of the best things to do in Rome with kids.
Interplays of lights and shades, colorful reflections, modernized century-old photography techniques, and playful mirrors and shadows are only some of the things your children will love in this exhibition.
An enticing mix of old and new, games and history, this Rome museum is located next to Piazza Venezia and guarantees a couple of hours of fun and learning.
Have fun in Casina di Raffaello – Ludoteca
Built in the 16th century in the heart of Villa Borghese Park to house the attendant of the noble family of Cardinal Scipione Borghese, since 2006, Casina di Raffaello has been a place devoted to kids’ activities and themed initiatives.
They organize educational games, interactive events, temporary exhibitions, animated readings, and even summer camps for the local kids. Check out their website for an updated calendar of their activities and how to join them.
Discover the activities of Technotown
Technotown is Rome’s first science game room where kids can join many interactive events. Located in the beautiful settings of Villa Torlonia, kids from 12 years of age can take part in educational workshops and creative factories.
Some of the initiatives include many photography-related workshops such as the darkroom, photo printing technologies, portrait photography, and pinhole photography, as well as other science fields such as sound design, and sneak peek 3D maker activities. Check out their website for updated information and calendar.
Traveling with kids? This handy guide will help you plan family vacations with teens.
Go for Christmas
December is one of the most magical times of the year and if you are planning to spend Christmas in Rome, rest assured that your kids will love it.
From local piazzas to the city’s parks, around Christmas, there are plenty of activities for children and kids of all ages including themed entertainment parks and exhibitions, cool shopping opportunities, and beautiful decorations.
Explore the Catacombs
For slightly older children and teens, exploring the ancient catacombs beneath Rome will certainly be an exciting adventure.
The Catacombs of Domitilla, for example, offer guided tours that take you underground to discover fascinating history and early Christian art. It’s a unique experience that adds a mysterious twist to your Roman adventure.
For some extra adventure, you can join a golf cart tour of the Appian Way that includes also entry to the catacombs. Make sure to always notify the tour provider about the age of your children in case they need a car seat.
Another great tour for kids in the Catacombs is this private experience provided by LivTours, one of the best tour companies for private and semi-private tours.
Visit the ruins of Ostia Antica
One of the easiest and coolest day trips from Rome, Ostia Antica is an important ancient city that has been beautifully preserved across the centuries.
One of the things to do in Rome with children is to visit the ruins of this ancient Roman town with a family-friendly tour such as this one where your kids can engage in games and activities while visiting the place.
Take a day trip
If you feel like taking a break from the hustle and bustle of the city and want to enjoy some nature time, there are many day trips you can take from Rome. Some of these include the scenic Civita di Bagnoregio, Tivoli showcasing two UNESCO sites, and the Etruscan cities of Tarquinia and Cerveteri.
In Tarquinia, they also have a nice campsite, so if you are traveling by camper van, this can be a fantastic option. Check out here the RV pros and cons to make an informed decision on what travel style best fits you!
WANT TO READ IT LATER? PIN IT TO YOUR BOARD!
