Rome with a toddler. Good idea or not?

[Kittycat023]

Hi all, looking for a bit of advice. DH has a job on in Rome in the next few weeks which is 7 days long and is also the week of our DC’s 3rd birthday. I don’t want him to miss dc’s birthday so I was thinking of coming along for the week. However, it will pretty much just be me solo parenting during the day (including DC’s birthday) as DH is working.
DC is great at walking but still needs the stroller after a while.
Is Rome a good idea with a toddler on my own or am i best to sit this one out? Never been to Rome before so I’m not sure what to expect!

Why do they think you're mad! It will be an incredible experience for them. I took my son with me everywhere I went since he was a babe in arms. The younger you start expanding their minds the better and they absorb everything. Enjoy your trip!

Definitely do it. Lots to see and do.

Sounds amazing! My advice for all city breaks with kids is feed them basically twice as often as you think you need to. Don't wait for the perfect place to eat - if you need to give them a street food snack whilst walking around and it's out of their usual routine then just do it.

Do you ever use a sling? I'm not saying don't take a buggy, but it might be useful to have a back-up sling with you.

Of course it’ll be fine. Do people in Rome not have toddlers? No, of course they do.

you’ll be fine.

Rome is fabulous with young children - we have been a few times and there is loads of stuff to do with kids. We've stayed in a few places, by the Vatican, by the Park and by the Roman Forum. As a PP said, its actually quite a small city and you can pretty much walk around easily or the metro is good.

We didn't do the more intense and busy stuff - for example, we didn't take them into the Vatican museums in summer but did go to St Peter's square and into the church, climbed part of the duomo etc - there is also a fabulous big park and a castle (actually Hadrian's tomb) which they had fun in.

We also found numerous restaurants (not fancy but for dinner/lunch) where the kids were not just welcomed but completely indulged. In one hotel, the chef went to the shop for strawberries as my toddler had asked for them for breakfast. I would definitely go

I honestly loved travelling just with my DH to Rome pre-children, but I am on the extreme end of travel itineraries- I want to see and do everything, walk for 10 hours a day only stopping for meals, etc. So I would have found this trip frustrating with my young children slowing me down 😂 However, if you are more relaxed and not worried if you run out of time to see certain things then go for it!

The Colosseum and Trevi Fountain lit up at night are must sees!

Yeah but you’d still go though, wouldn’t you? Just to see it.

I've been out of the country many times.

Yes, but I'd probably leave the toddler at the airport for safety reasons.

We also did the beach as a previous poster mentioned. While on that trip we visited Ostia Antica - which is the remains of an ancient city near the coast which I would recommend if you are happy to get the train out of the city.

Go! I went in November with my then 7 month old. I was absolutely blown away by how much Italians like babies/children. Rome is obviously incredible in itself but the attitude towards the baby made for a really pleasant trip.

I went while heavily pregnant and found crossing the road quite scary, if you are walking down side streets you get mopeds hurtling past you and also a lot of people barging past especially in the more crowded bits. I personally wouldn’t want to do it with a toddler for those reasons, it would be a bit too stressful for me.

I voted YANBU, but it really depends on how you do it and what you expect to get out of it. If you want to see all the big sights, forget about it. But if you're happy to take it easy, visit a couple of places at a slow pace, go to the park, chill out in a square listening to music and spend plenty of time watching your toddler chewing pizza crusts and rubbing gelato into their scalp, then go for it!

We used to hate city breaks with the children, until we realised two key things. One was to adjust our expectations (see above) and the other was to stay as centrally as we possibly could. Don't be tempted to stay in a nicer hotel if it means you're a half hour metro ride from the city centre. Spend the same on a more basic hotel close to the sights, or an apartment (airbnb etc - I know they can have a bad reputation, but read the reviews carefully and you could grab a bargain).

The time you would have spent commuting to the sights will account for a big chunk of the attention span and energy a young child has for sightseeing. Plus, staying centrally means you can go out for an hour or so, head back for a break, then head out again later.

Good luck!

@CasperGutman Really good point about the need to be as central as possible. If a toddler meltdown does occur a quick trip back to base could save the day!

One tiny word of warning about the Italian love for babies and toddlers. Whilst it’s true, sometimes it can be used as a distraction technique for bag theft etc. But of course, the majority of people are good!

Choose a hotel with a pool and go! I’d buy a cheap 3 wheel off road buggy like an out and about or Bob off Facebook market place.

Personally I would use the excuse to go to Rome! You can pace yourself and plan something easy for each day. It’ll be nice to stroll around and eat gelato!

My DD was 2.5 when we took her to Rome, in Spring. No problems at all. Lots to see, Green spaces abound. Wonderful food. Loads of interaction with doting Italians. We stayed in an apartment near the Spanish Steps. It was good to be central as we had to nip back for underwear changes (toilet training!).

Terrible

Rubbish! It's as safe as any other city.

I would go but not for the whole week unless you are used to city living with a toddler. It is full on. Also with a young child I would want a hotel with a pool for cooling off and a different kind of play.

3 year old will love all those museums and gardens.

Mine did! Now tween/teen they still love restaurants. Less so museums

I’d do it

by the time my daughter was 3 she’d been all over Asia

several Europe city breaks

and we live in London so always out and about in the city

toddlers do like museums - they don’t care where they are once they can have a bit of a walk around

there’s always kid friendly things in cities if you go and look for them.

i found soft plays in random office blocks in Tokyo for example

I’ve heaps of-playgrounds in Paris bookmarked on my map as we go loads

my 3 year old loved going to eat and loves being able to stop at cafes for pasties and stuff

or you can go for some ice cream

find parks to run around in

Wouldn't contemplate it. Cancel!

Yep! Bizarre. We’re not beach holiday people so when we had kids they just tagged on to our city breaks. There are so many great interactive museums out there. We’re so excited to go to Valencia’s science park this summer 😬