There’s not many things to do in Rome with kids that are specifically designed for kids and most of Rome’s sights and landmarks are going to bore the pants of most younger (under 10yrs) kids so this is a bit of a hard one.

I thought about waiting to go to Rome and taking Grobbler when he’s a bit older, but in hindsight, I’m glad I just decided to go by myself because I think for all but the most cultured kids, Rome is not going to be that great with kids.  For sure, most kids will appreciate the different things here, Grobbler would have loved seeing the Coliseum, but after a few minutes he’d have got bored. We could have ended up having an awesome game of hide and seek or something else in there, but if you really want to enjoy Rome and take in the sights, history and culture, it’s going to be difficult with kids because you’re going to be constantly trying to entertain them.

I saw very few kids 5-10 yrs old there, and the ones I did see I could see some quite tired parents who were, for the most part, trying to entertain them and not really enjoying the actual attractions in Rome.  Apart from the zoo, I couldn’t find any other things to do in Rome with kids.  Having said that, I’d be happy to go back to Rome with kids, now that I’ve been there and seen and experienced a good portion of the city.  But again, I can see after 15-30 minutes that most kids would get bored and with all the walking required, it’s not the best city to take kids to.

If you’re already booked, have flights and hotels confirmed and are desperately looking for things to do in Rome with kids, then don’t panic, but just prepare to bring their favourite toy and not spend so much time at things.  You can still have a good time and it’s not like kids are going to ruin the experience, but if you’re really into the history and want to take it all in, then you might have a bit if a hard time if you have younger kids.  Infants, babies and toddlers are fine, as I’ve said before, you could take them to the moon or next door, and they wouldn’t know the difference.  If you take a pram, make sure it’s a good one as most of the streets and footpaths and cobblestones.

Many shops in Rome close down in the mid afternoon from between 1-3p.m ish so if you’re trying to visit somewhere that requires a bit of a long walk, call ahead before going.  This only applies to shops, and usually, family run (of which they are thousands) ones.

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