Rome in October with a 12-year-old, any recommendations?

[againstalloddsss]

I’ve taken the plunge and booked a 3 day trip to Rome in October with my 12 year old daughter. Staying centrally.

I’ve booked a guided tour of colosseum and a golf cart tour on the first day.

Any recommendations for a 12 year old girl?

Apart from pigeon Italian, I assume it’s pretty easy to get by??

Thanks.

If she likes animals, go to Torre Argentina cat sanctuary, it's also the place where Caesar was assassinated.

Maybe do a food tour? There are lots of them, google and select the best fit for you and DD.

You will see most of the sights on the golf cart trip. But if the Vatican is not included, go there. Even if you don't want to queue for the museums, you can visit the Basilica and St. Peter's Square. Well worth it.

As for language, well if you have Buongioro, Per Favore, Grazie you'll be fine. Google translate will do the rest.

Great, thank you. Wasn’t aware of the cat sanctuary and that is perfect for dd.

Food tour sounds good too.

Really can’t wait now.

Our kids loved Rome - best city break we've ever done with them. Their favourite was the Forum and the Palatine Hill (just next to the Colosseum) - they're just such beautiful places to wander around, as well as the history. We went in February and it was shorts and ice cream weather - just lovely. Oh, and the ice cream! It's such a varied city, and if we plied them with enough pizza, ice cream and interesting ancient ruins in the sunshine, they then tolerated a few Caravaggio churches.
And yes to the Vatican - it's hard not to be impressed even if you're a teen.

My dd loved shopping at the Legami stores. We also had fun creating custom souvenirs at The Oddity Patch Bar.
The Leonardo da Vinci Experience Museum was better than expected and dd really enjoyed it. It was very interactive.

I liked the baths of Caracalla, you can hire a VR headset thing and they’ve recreated how it used to look. Would also recommend the cat sanctuary. The best thing about Rome was that there are ruins everywhere you look

Just remembered, we also did a VR headset thing at the Circus Maximus, which was fun.

There is so much to see. Mine really wanted to see thr Sistine Chapel - and worth the queues for me. The Gianicolo hill is a lovely viewpoint well worth the walk.

Also eating Italian food everywhere is great fun.

Can she be inspired by any sort of history or would you just be dragging her to see fountains and statues for the sake of it?

We went with our 11 year old a few months ago. We did all the main sights - colosseum, forum, Palentine hill, Vatican, castel angelo, Trevi, Spanish steps, mouth of Venus, pantheon, etc. Plus Legami shops and lots of gelato. She loved it. It is such an atmospheric city to just wander around.

Be aware even children need to cover shoulders and knees for the Vatican (what it says about the Vatican inhabitants that they are likely to find a child’s knees provacative is quite disturbing, but those are the rules). We had to do an emergency trouser purchase as we knew about the rules for women but not children.

Thanks everyone, lots of inspiration there and given me plenty of food for thought (pardon the pun).

I’m hoping she’ll tolerate the history stuff if we do some things she chooses, along with plenty of gelato and pizza.

It would be a crime to go to Rome and not take in all the historical sights.

I’m hoping the golf cart tour will help us get our bearings on the first day.

We went to a pasta/pizza place near the Trevi Fountain. It was cheap and really good. Called "that's Amore" or "it's Amore").

If she likes fighting, the gladiator school on the Appian Way is great fun.

There's a farmers market near the Circus Maximus on Sundays.

The tour of the dig at the Domous Aurea is really good. It includes a VR bit.

I did a Segway tour. That was a brilliant way to see the city. The Scavi tour under St Peter’s is also excellent.

Thank you.

A tour of the dig sounds good, especially with VR headset.

Segway sounds good too, as long as we’re not too near the mad Italian driving 😆

segways have to be 16+ in Italy. I’d recommend Domus Romane. It’s an excavated Roman mansion and they’ve put glass floors everywhere. You walk round with a head set on and they light up the different bits. My dd Latin teacher recommended it to us and it really was brilliant and not too expense

We booked a pasta making class with DD in Rome. It was in someone’s house and there was another family doing it at the same time and we sat together to eat our creations afterwards. Was lovely.

We also bought a book called Mission Rome which is basically a scavenger hunt around all
the main sites. Was fun looking for all the different things and earning points, as well as learning stuff. It’s available on Amazon.

Thanks both.

Domus Romano looks really cool. Really doesn’t look very well advertised, but looks a fascinating visit.

I’ve just booked a pasta and gelato making course, so that should be right up dd’s street.

The park at on the hill where you can hire electric scooters
It's pretty safe as it's not on roads and it's quite a big park to explore

Sounds like good fun, I’ll do a little digging. Thanks.

I think it's villa borghese

Brilliant, thank you. I’ve just found the tour and it was Villa Borghese.

Thanks again.

Rome is such exciting place to visit.
My boyfriend & I enjoyed our time there.
We have many fond memories of our time spent in Rome.
Plenty to see & do.
The Vatican was amazing!
Just make sure your shoulder's are covered.

Thanks. We’re both very excited and looking forward to it. Cannot wait to experience everything.

Bocca della Verità is free, and queues aren’t usually too long. Makes for a fun photo op. The Basilica San Clemente, near the Colosseo, is 3 churches in one, and fascinating. The whole area around there has been improved thanks to the new metro station. The park on the hill directly opposite the Colosseo usually has some sort of sports-related activity going on (curling, on our last visit) and offers good views.

Ostia Antica is worth visiting, but perhaps not on your first visit.

Hi I’m going to Rome with my 20yo dd on Monday so reading this thread with interest!

Does it matter who you book things like the colosseum with? I started looking at booking things and then felt a bit overwhelmed plus everything was more expensive than I thought it would be!

It seems difficult to just book an entry, they want to flog you a tour as well.

Worth knowing re the Vatican and covering knees and shoulders.

You don't need to book a tour for the scooters, just turn up and find them and pay by card. Then go explore, avoiding a couple of roads that cut through the park