The ancient city of Rome has so much to offer for kids. Education, wonderful family tours, good food, and beautiful artwork around every corner. Rome can be a very family friendly city.

A Family Guide to Rome: 10 things to do with kids

This post about visiting Rome with kids was written by Italy travel expert Vanessa Hunt and contains affiliate links which means if you purchase something from one of my links, I may earn a small commission that goes back into maintaining this website.

A Family Guide to Rome: 10 things to do in Rome with kids

Rome! One of the most visited cities in the world, full of great food, ancient sites, history and incredible works of art. There is also so much for families to do and see when you visit Rome! We have been to Rome many times, but I wanted to highlight which activities and sights were particularly exciting for the kids!

Where to Stay in Rome

Deciding where to stay in the Eternal City can be tough. It’s built on hills and distances can be deceiving. You want to stay close to the sites you plan on seeing so you won’t spend your whole trip walking or driving. I’ve written this detailed guide to the best places to stay in Rome that will be helpful.

The Best Things to do in Rome with Kids

We did so much during our time in Rome and our kids honestly loved it all. The abundance of gelato didn’t hurt either, but here are our top 10 activities for families in Rome:

1. Colosseum Tour for Kids

I’ve never really been one for guided tours, preferring to wander at my own pace, but I’ve learned over the years that if I’m spending the time and money to take my family to these famous historical sites such as the Colosseum and Roman Forum, then spending the extra time and money to take a tour is well worth it.

We always try to book kid-friendly tours where we can. The tour of the Colosseum with Dark Rome was fantastic. Our guide was so great with our school age kids, giving them a good mix of fun and history. We all learned a lot and had lots of fun. The big bonus about booking tours is that you get to skip the lines!

The kids all got laurel wreaths on the tour!
Our guide was so great with our kids, even holding up little man to get a better view of the ground floor.

Lots of games to learn about ancient Roman life!

Little man not really so into his laurel wreath!

I suggest doing a bit of ancient Roman studies before going to Ancient Rome so your younger kids can make a connection when they are there. Explore more of our favorite Colosseum tours.

2. Vatican Museum and St. Peter’s Basilica

I wish we would have done a bit more research before visiting the Vatican Museum and St. Peter’s. We had tons of tour sales people trying to get us to sign up for different tours and tickets. It was so complicated and by the time we finished, I swore I would write a clear post about this so other families could be helped!

We ended up buying more expensive “skip the line” tickets, which I would never do again. We had to pick up the tickets in front of St. Peter’s, then walk a mile to the actual entrance of the Vatican museums (there wasn’t even a line when we got there), then had to wait in a separate line to trade in our skip the line tickets for the “real” tickets! The whole situation was ridiculous! So I’m going to break it down for you here:

Buying tickets to the Vatican Museum is the only way to see Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. You have to walk through long halls (4 miles) of the museum, with interesting (and odd) artifacts and beautiful artwork to get there. You have to pay to enter the museum. It was 16 Euros for adults and 8 Euros for children when we went. The museum is closed on Sundays. You can find hours, prices and more here.

2. You do NOT have to pay to enter St. Peter’s Basilica. There is a line, but it moves quickly and is worth it.

My recommendation for seeing the Sistine Chapel with kids is to book the Pristine Sistine tour. You’ll be able to see the chapel before any other tourists and it’s worth getting up early for! Check out the best tours of the Vatican here.

Book Sistine Tour

Learn more about other amazing tours for families in Rome.

You can find a more adult explanation of why all the genitals are missing in the Vatican city here.

3. Campo de Fiori

This open-air farmers’ market in the heart of Rome is open every day and constantly buzzing with fresh fruits and vegetables, beautiful flowers, meats, cheeses, pastas in all sorts of shapes, and more! The kids loved all the sites, sounds and smells of the market! It’s also really fun to wander this piazza at night.

4. Trastevere

Wandering the streets of Trastevere gives you a taste of what Rome without all the tourist hustle and bustle is like. Old buildings, laundry strung across tight alleyways, bikes and scooters lining the streets, locals smoking out of windows, wisteria hanging everywhere and delicious cafes!

We ate at Grazi et Graziele…delicious!

5. Fountains

Rome is full of beautiful fountains! The most famous and magnificent probably being the Trevi Fountain. It’s crowded and crazy, but a must! I do recommend getting there as early as possible. It will still be crowded in the morning, but much less than the afternoon or evening!

Rome29 — If you’re feeling really hot, the kids can dunk their heads. Just kidding, not recommended, my kids are weird!

6. Villa Borghese

Besides gelato, this was probably the biggest winner for the kids. Rome’s central park has so many kid-centered things to do here. You can ride a carousel, rent a golf cart or Segways, see a Shakespearean play at a replica of the globe theater, play in a fountain, or just stroll through the beautiful, lush gardens (with gelato in hand of course)!

If you’re visiting Rome with a baby or toddler, this is a great place to go in Rome to let them run off some energy before bedtime or even a good place to escape the city sounds for a nice stroller nap!

7. Pantheon and Piazza Navona

I was surprised at how you can just stumble upon ancient ruins in Rome and the Pantheon is no exception. It’s just right there in the middle of the Rome city center! And if you go around the corner, you’ll hit Piazza Navona which has an amazing church. We lucked out and saw a youth choir sing there! The best thing about piazzas is that there are usually no cars so the kids can run wild and dip in the fountain! It’s just amazing that you can see famous artwork literally in the middle of the street!

8. Take an UBER Tour

My very favorite thing to do in Rome with kids, besides eating of course, is an UBER Tour. We were exploring Trastavere and it started to drizzle. We were all a little worn out from a week of sightseeing and a little out of shape from a week of eating! We were just going to take an UBER back to our AirBnB, but saw “UBER Tour” pop up and we thought we’d give it a try. Our nice driver picked us up in a huge van that fit all 8 of us. He drove us around for about an hour and a half. He took us to all sorts of places that we didn’t even know existed! Small, old churches with amazing art, huge fountains overlooking the city, a secluded orange garden, and much more. I have limited pictures, because my babies both fell asleep in the back seat on my lap. I was totally happy to enjoy the views from the window. Our driver would stop at each spot, drop us off and make a loop to pick us up 5-10 minutes later. No parking, or waiting for the next tour bus and no getting out of the car if we didn’t want to. The best part is that it is totally customizable. We just said, we’ve seen all the touristy stuff, show us something new! And he sure did. I thought it would also have been a great thing to do on your first day in Rome so you can get a feel for what you want to see and do and also to get a layout of the city, which is much more walkable than I originally thought. If you decide to do this, you can sign up for UBER and get $20 off HERE.

9. Drool Over Cars

So many adorable cars in italy! Just wander and check out the many tiny cars, beautiful cars and scooters (also known as bees) and buzz all around the bumpy streets of Rome! The kids loved seeing how small they were. Almost tiny enough for them to drive…almost! If you want to rent a car in Italy, be sure to get your International Driving Permit before you visit.

10. Food

I mean, what is the point of going to Rome if you’re not going to EAT!? Pizza, pasta, cannoli, gelato…need I say more.

I found most of the restaurants to be about the same in quality and price. Here’s a tip I use in all big cities to find those hidden gems and avoid tourist traps. Go to a busy tourist place then head directly 2-3 blocks OUT of that area.

Walk down little alleyways if you must. Also, using an app like Yelp is a huge help. Our favorite gelato stop was Gelato del Teatro. Check out my guide to finding the best gelato in Italy and my other guide to finding the best gelato in Rome.

We probably went about 5 times during our week there. But whatever you do, don’t leave Rome without sitting in a piazza in the sunshine and gobbling up something tasty and then wandering down twisted, narrow cobblestone streets, gelato in hand, dodging scooters as you soak up the smell of the Wisteria growing everywhere and the bright, dripping laundry strung from the windows!