Rome at Christmas with kids?

[Seasonofthesticks]

Hi all, looking for advice on whether Rome is a good destination for a key stage two child at Christmas, has anyone spent time there at that time of year?

my daughter isn’t into men dressed as Santa or busy Christmas markets, she’s autistic. I’m looking for a Christmas getaway for the two of us that has places to wander on foot, good food (Italian is our favorite!). Weather is not an issue.

Thankyou!

i think Rome would be lovely at Christmas. I prefer to stay in Trastevere. It can be quite a lot of walking though, and some areas will inevitably be busy and noisy. Will she cope with that? There are lots of smaller Italian cities that are a bit easier and still nice for wandering and eating! Eg Lucca, Ravenna, Sienna, Lecce...

We were there one year arriving just after Christmas and staying for a week.

It was fantastic! DC upper primary age, and I was worried that we'd run out of things for them to do, but it turned out that we didn't do everything we wanted!

It's likely they'll have done the Romans in school, so seeing Roman remains worked really well. You can easily spend most of a day just in the Forum, which has plenty of space and things to see. If you want impressive but less visited, try the Baths of Caracalla. And ours raced each other round the Circus, whilst we drank coffee at a cafe on the edge of it (can't remember the name, but it was reckoned to be one of the best in Rome)

If you want to see any of the big sites that get more crowded, go first thing (Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain) and skip the Sistine Chapel (St Peter's itself isn't as crowded - it's huge and just seems to swallow the crowds and the crypt with papal tombs isn't usually that busy).

We didn't get round to any museums, so don't know how busy they get.

It would be a shame to miss the Christmas markets all together at that time of year. You could try going early to the one in Piazza Navona - it's not too big and not cramped and you can leave as it starts to get busy.

Trastevere is a good shout - generally quieter and loads of good places to eat