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 - Colosseum, Roman Forum, Borghese Gardens, Appian Way but while in Rome, do as the Romans do: have a picnic, and the kids should try every flavor of gelato.
Greater Rome
Tips for Rome
before you go and while you're there – best all-in-one card for museums and sites, getting around, convenience stores, and more.
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,
Palazzo Massimo alle Terme
has truly great stuff from ancient 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.
Cats of Rome
- Fluffy black, white, striped, and marmalade cats like to play in the ruins of Rome. The most well-known locale is Largo Torre Argentina, put we spotted cats around the ancient fountain in Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II and Baths of Diocletian gardens.
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.
Basilica San Clemente
- Basilica San Clemente is one of the oldest in Rome, but it's also a time capsule, where kids can step from the 12th century, down to the 4th century, to the 2nd and 1st century, under the streets of Rome. For all the details, read our blog post:
Subterranean Rome
.
Another church with unique appeal for kids is the church of
Santa Maria della Concezione
on 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.
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.
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.
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.
Here's our own Travel for Kids hand-picked list of family hotels and apartment rentals, all styles and price ranges, convenient to fun things to do with kids in Rome:
