Rome with an 11 year old

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Any suggestions? I think he will like the colloseum and the pantheon but I think the Trevi will just be a fountain and the steps, well, just steps. What can you suggest with an 11 year old? Not interested in the Vatican so won’t go there. Thanks.

Trevi is worth seeing..make a wish,
Throw a coin, Colleseum, Pantheon, my kids loved seeing the Vatican. Roman Forum? Football stadium? Gelato? 😂 shopping. Spanish Steps.

Sainte Clemente

Gladiator school? We didn't as too young but people seem to enjoy.
Colleseum would highly recommend the underground or up high tour ... only a couple of extra € on official website .... to beat the queues if nothing else but also because it really brought it alive for children...

I went last year with 9yr old and 11yr old. They loved the food and just wandering in the evenings soaking up the atmosphere (also gelato of course!). DD was most keen on finding the cat sanctuary...

We went last year. Our 11 year old shocked us with his random facts e.g. in the Sistine he was talking about the ceiling. I think we forget how accessible facts are these days for our pre teens. St Peter's was just jaw dropping and we did the top level tour in the colosseum which meant going through security in the back and seemed to save a lot of time. More generally we enjoyed just wandering the streets eating gelato and soaking up the buzz. Particularly in the evenings.

It's a totally walkable city so we were shattered by the end

Circus Maximus, do some research before hand so he has an idea of how it would have looked marble clad, but the size alone should impress an 11 year old.

Villa Celimontana (Via della Navicella) is a pretty park close to the city centre for a bit of a break from sight seeing.

We watched a couple of films about Rome with our two who were both younger than 11 to get them excited about all the sites.
They loved helping us navigate our way around Rome. Also loved the Borghese park and cycling on one of the electric 4 person bike/cart things, colloseum, Spanish steps, Trevi fountain, St Peters, pizza, gelato the monument with all the cats whose name I can’t remember. They didn’t like the capuchin crypt.

We hade a day in Rome last Easter with DC 14, 12 and 7. We got a round Rome hop on hop off bus ticket from one of the many companies by the train station. It was really interesting. The 12 year old stuck his headphones in and listened to the English commentary and came out with all sorts of facts. We hoped off to walk across the bridge towards Vatican but didn't go in. Hopped back on round to the stop for the trevi fountain - it's a very nice fountain but I get your point it's a fountain. We also went to Spanish steps which I didn't quite get the significance of. The McDonald's by Spanish steps was a welcome 15mins rest with cheap chilled bottled water, free wifi and clean toilets.

Seeing Rome from the upper deck of a double decker was great fun. I hadn't realised just how many very old buildings are still there. Things got pointed out by the comentary like a big old not that impressive building which in it's day was a supermarket equivalent. A place for merchants to stack produce high to feed Rome's million plus inhabitants thousands of years ago.

I'm not usually one for organised tours but with so little time the hop on off system worked really well for us and the commentary was very unobtrusive as you just plugged in if you wanted to hear it.

The forum , TiVo life gardens , you can hire a one of the pedal carts ( not sure what you call then, and go round. We enjoyed trevestino. Trastevere to wander around and piazza navona . Also comme il latte is the best ice cream!

Went with 9 year old DS (and his 3 year old sister) earlier this year. I second the Borghese park, the Colosseum and a double decker bus tour. He actually quite liked racing up the Spanish steps and it's close to the Borghese park. But as previous posters have said, lots of sitting in cafes eating pasta or ice cream and watching the world.

We stayed between Piazza Navona and the flower market so walked everywhere except Colloseum on the way there as had an early start/walked back and also got a taxi to St Peters for the same reason.

When I was 11 I knew it was my life's mission to see Trajan's Column. Took til 29. You say no to the Vatican and fine, but it really is jaw dropping, and I certainly would have loved it as a kid. A thought.

Fantastic. Lots of responses. Thanks everyone. Will take a proper look.

www.rome.net/monumento-vittorio-emanuele-ii Glass elevator to the top of the Altare della Patria for amazing views. My dd loved the Circus Maximus - they had talked about it at school. We did an "underground Rome" tour which was really interesting. www.atlasobscura.com/places/monte-testaccio There is a restaurant built in to the side of the Amphora Mountain, where you can see the pots in cross section etc.

We spent a day at Villa Borghese - there is an gallery (maybe not for your DS), but you can hire a boat, bike and/or sedgeway - DS was 10 when we went and he loved it.

We went to the Trevi Fountain - you're right, it was a bit "meh" and the steps were all cordoned off when we were there.

DS loved the Colosseum and the Pantheon, there is also a 5D cinema where you can get a deal, I think if you buy the Colosseum ticket with them, you get the cinema thing free.

There are several forum sites, the largest one being next to the Colosseum and Palatine hill. The opposite side of the Colosseum is the gladiatorial quarters excavation and just above a park with remains of baths and Nero's Golden house (you can book tours at weekends). Next to the Trajan market and column is the entrance to excavated Roman houses below modern street level. The theatre of Marcellus, Piazza Navona, Are Pacis and Baths of Caracella are worth a look. There is also a huge pile of amphorae near the Tiber. Further afield are the catacombs and tombstones along the ancient Appian Way. It is a great place to walk around and spot how the old has been incorporated into more recent buildings, temples beneath churches. The Pantheon is awesome.

www.palazzovalentini.it/domus-romane/ DS's 2nd favourite after the Colosseum. Prebook online from UK.

ciaobambino.com/capuchin-crypt-rome-italy/ This is the oddest half hour you can spend there. I've never met anyone else who's been but it is central, weirdly fascinating & you can have a good chat about the ethics.

We did Trevi fountain & Steps because DH and I had never been to Rome before & yes DS was totally underwhelmed.

If you Google Panthenaic Stadium Athens, you will see what the Circus Maximus would have looked like in Roman times.
Just like the Circus Maximus, the Panthenaic Stadium is situated in a natural valley to take advantage of the sloping hillsides. The Panthenaic Stadium was first built about 144AD, then excavated and rebuilt in marble (like the Circus Maximus) in the late 1800s.

Just for what it's worth..when we did Italy, I tried to have a story for each site, make it interesting, beforehand...really get them in the zone..my boys absolutely loved Italy, but we really got them on board with the food, staying on a farm, really appreciating how stunning Tuscany is and understanding the history of Rome, always with quirky stories to interest them. Trevi fountain is full of whistleblowers, and is just a fountain, but throwing the coin in over your shoulder and making a wish, knowing that the best time to visit it is in the middle of the night...that they clear the money from the fountain every day..that you can make a wish in any church you have never visited before..these are the little things that draw kids in and stuff they will remember..we don't spend hours in any one place, but try and make a shorter time count...and memorable...gladiator school looks like fun...or take a guided tour..there are some great ones on tripadvisor geared towards kids

I was going to say Capuchin Crypt too. At 11, I would have thought it was so cool (it was fascinating at the age of 30). Depends on your individual child, though!

Oh also there are segway tours which are a good and fun way to see the main sights. Not sure of age restrictions, but might be worth a look.

we went with an 8 and 9 year old for a week and they absolutely loved it. Piazza Navonna, Spanish steps, pantheon, Bernini's elephant, climbing the basillica of St Peters (get there early for the queue!), playing tag in the circus maximus, the forum, a trip down the catacombs, gladiator training, lots of pizza, lots of gelato lots of many other forms of delicious food (although mine do eat olives for breakfast..), colosseum, the capuchin bone crypt, this amazing 'water wall' fountain thing on the banks of the Tiber near the Corso/Piazza Navonna end, hunting Carravaggios, Trevi fountain is worth a look as it is so white now it almost hurts your eyes.

they keep asking to go back...