Venice and Rome - for kids?

[Jones3A]

Hi there
Anyone have any kid-specific tips for either city please? They're 11 and 8.

I've been to both, so not worried if they don't want to do some of the top attractions as we've seen them.

We have 2 days in Venice and 4 in Rome.

Gondola ride in Venice, obvs.

Someone recommended Gladiator school in Rome, and they're excited to see the coliseum.

Other than that - we don't have anything particular.

Anyone any top tips specifically that might interest or entertain the smalls?

Thanks 😊

Mine enjoyed the da Vinci museum in Venice and glass making in Murano.

Oh thank you, will take a look at those 🙏

Yes glass blowing demo in Murano, there is also a little place where they can make their own jewellery/keyring out of glass.

Mask making workshop in Venice - pricey but worth it

We didn’t do a gondola ride as thought taking the vaporettos was sufficient

If you have long enough you could go to the Lido

Rome: Colosseum obvs, try to get tickets with Arena area included. Rick Steves app has a very kid friendly guide. Pantheon was a hit. Trevi fountain was funny for all the posing instagrammers. With enough time you could go out to Ostia

Thank you!

We've just been to Rome. My slightly older teens really enjoyed the main sites like the Colluseum, Roman Forum etc.

Something a little different in Rome is The Villa Borgase. We didn't manage to get tickets for the art gallery there as we weren't organised enough to prebook so we did the bike hire in the park there instead. You can hire a 4 person bike/golf cart type thing and cycle all over the park. It was a lot of fun. The kids really enjoyed it and it was a little break from the huge amount of walking that you do when sightseeing.

Our DC loved visiting thr feral cats among the ruins of the Largo Argentina (the forum area where Julius Caesar was stabbed).

Oh yes ours did too Yireos! Although we weren’t allowed out into the ruin area, just the indoor bit with the cat pens.

In Rome: Castell ‘Sant Angelo and the glass lift to the top of the ugly monument by the Forum.

Ca Macana for mask painting in Venice, highlight of holiday with 13yo dd

rooftop views of the city from Fondaco dei Tedeschi, go at 11.45 to hear all the church bells peal midday. Best of all it's free

the fish market at the Rialto - til midday Tuesday through Saturday

riding all the way round the islands on the 4.2 vaporetto or up and down the Grand Canal on line 2

ice cream at gelateria del doge. I highly recommend Profumo do Sicilia - caramelised round nuts with sweet lemon ripple 🤤

watching them repair gondolas at Squero San trovaso sitting on the wall eating cicchetti

fritto misto in "scartosso" from Frito Inn in canareggio and a wander down strada nove

I adore Venice.

Also you could consider https://rowvenice.org/ instead of a gondola ride - you get to explore gorgeous canareggio abd try this unique rowing for yourself. We didn't do it but I'd love to.

crepes at crepe house by pepe https://www.instagram.com/crepeshousebypepe/?hl=en

warning. You may fall in love with Venice amd never want to go home.

We did both of these with kids of a similar age and would also recommend them.