The best places to visit in Italy with kids offer culture, local color, and plenty to keep them entertained.
There’s such a breadth of experiences in Italy that there truly is something for everyone. And enhancing any visit to the bel paese is its people. Italians, as a rule, tend to be open and friendly to visitors, and famously adore children, so your kids will quickly feel at ease wherever you are in this beautiful southern European country.
Prepare to leave the tablets and headphones behind as you dive into the best places in Italy with kids.
Pompeii, Naples
Pompeii, Naples
A cultural heavyweight, Pompeii is an extraordinary destination. A visit to this archaeological park can spark interest in Italy’s omnipresent Roman history. Close to Naples, it’s the museum experience for kids who aren’t into museums. Call it the ultimate ghost town.
Entering this well-preserved ancient city, you’ll see the main sights like the Porta Marina and The Forum, and explore how the other half lived around 2,000 years ago in the House of the Faun. Of course, any teen worth their salt will insist on a visit to the erotic frescoes in the Suburban Baths.
Suburban Baths in Pompeii, Naples
Younger minds are drawn in by the stories that illuminate various corners of the park. The Garden of the Fugitives is a prime example, where you encounter the contorted casts of Pompeiians caught during a doomed escape.
When young stomachs begin to rumble, hunt down slices of Margherita pizza at the café near the Temple of Jupiter. For follow-up excursions, a trip to the even better preserved Herculaneum, much smaller than Pompeii, adds color and detail to the ancient world. The National Archaeological Museum of Naples also exhibits many of Pompeii’s treasures.
Bagni della Regina, Sorrento
Bagni della Regina, Sorrento
If you’re on a day trip to Italy’s limoncello-capital of Sorrento, the Bagni della Regina is one of the best places to visit in Italy with kids.
Beach bag packed, follow the stone pathway for 20 minutes out of town and through the macchia scrub to this unique swimming hole. Apparently, once the private sea-pool of a Neapolitan queen, it’s a special place for a swim far from the packed summer beaches.
The enclosed pool is calm and peaceful, with water that is clear as glass and tinted emerald. Wade to the natural stone arch to reach the sea, and you’ll also find plenty of basking Italians on the rocks around you. There’s a snack bar there, but bringing water bottles is recommended.
Grand Canal, Venice
Grand Canal, Venice
A visit to Venice is a landmark experience in any traveler’s life. It’s all the more magical if you get on the water and really see things from a Venetian point of view.
Hop on a boat—or gondola—and cruise the Grand Canal, Venice’s major artery. Snaking lazily through La Serenissima for over two miles, it’s the perfect way of people and palazzi watching.
Along the Canalazzo’s route you’ll see some of the city’s most impressive dwellings that once belonged to medieval nobility. One to look out for is the Ca’ Foscari palazzo, identifiable by its elaborate Venetian Gothic facade. It’s now the home of the University of Venice, something for your younger ones to consider if they’d like to return for a longer stay sometime.
The Appian Way, Rome
The Appian Way, Rome
The Appian Way is an incredible long-distance Roman road that’s haunted by history. For example, the slave revolt leader, Spartacus, was crucified on its verges. The Way has recently been deemed the country’s 60th UNESCO site.
The road slices from Lazio in the north-east to Puglia in the south-west, concluding at the ancient port of Brindisi. Since being awarded UNESCO status, the route has had an injection of funds and a dose of care, especially on the basalt-paved miles closer to Rome. This makes a family cycle ride to some of its sites one of the best things to do in Rome with kids.
Feel the breeze in your hair as you pedal beneath crooked pines and past picturesque ruins. Too hot to cycle? Hail a taxi or consult the Via Appia Antica visitor center for information on the regular buses.
Colosseum, Rome
Colosseum, Rome
The Colosseum is great for kids—except that you’ll have to get them up early. The best time to visit this ancient arena is around 8.30 am, when it’s still quite cool outside, and all the other Colosseum-goers that day are just finishing their morning cappuccini back at the hotel.
A guided tour is recommended to best illuminate the history and nuance found within that immense stone drum of elegantly repeating arches. Wander amid its weathered seats, explore the hypogeum below, and watch your kids light up as they step onto the recreated floor of the arena, once the site of grisly gladiatorial battles.
Lucca, Tuscany
Lucca, Tuscany
Throughout Italy, you’ll find cities of terracotta and travertine brimming over with artistic and cultural treasures that must be seen. These make for memorable, nourishing, and often exhausting visits. A trip to Lucca, however, is more easygoing, and therefore a fun and easily digestible day out with the family.
On top of that, this once-wealthy medieval enclave is simply stunning. A short drive inland from the Tuscan coast, Lucca’s walled historic center contains a charming maze of boutiques, oval piazzi, and interesting sights.
Hop on bikes and cycle its wide, historic walls-turned-circular park. And ascend the tree-topped Guinigi Tower—among the country’s most distinctive medieval towers.
Leaning Tower of Pisa, Pisa
Leaning Tower of Pisa, Pisa
Pisa’s Piazza dei Miracoli is one of the best places to visit in Italy with kids. It’s where you’ll find the world-famous Leaning Tower.
For kids, it’s an opportunity to set their socials alight with one of the world’s most recognizable backdrops. But there’s much more to be found here than just a wonky, overly ornate bell tower.
This so-called “Square of Miracles” is a UNESCO site. And while the tower is the main cultural draw for many, for art history nerds it’s the Baptistery that is the true treasure among the marble quartet of buildings found here. Within the Baptistery you’ll see Pisano’s pulpit—a sculpture that has been described as the starter gun for the Renaissance.
Poetto Beach, Cagliari
Poetto Beach, Cagliari
Once you’ve explored Cagliari’s Castello district and gazed out from the top of medieval Torre di San Pancrazio, you’ll be ready to sink your feet into the talcum powder shallows of Poetto Beach.
Poetto, a huge five-mile crescent close to the city, is often called “Sardinia’s answer to Copacabana”. Among the sandy acreage, you’ll find lots going on, from heated volleyball duels to paddleboards for rent, as well as prime snorkeling opportunities in the clear water of the Gulf of Angels.
On the inland side of Poetto’s golden arc you can see the haze of pink flamingos in the 4,000-acre Parco Naturale Molentargius Saline. Or set out for a family hike to the Sella del Diavolo promontory to be rewarded with superb views back towards the city and the beach.
Read: Best Beaches in Italy for Families
Santa Gilla Lagoon, Cagliari
Santa Gilla Lagoon, Cagliari
Known as the “Pond of Cagliari”, at close to 40,000 acres the Santa Gilla Lagoon is quite a pond. Think of your excursion there as a nostalgic return to the duck ponds of your children’s younger years.
And there are ducks, but also much more. One of the continent’s most ecologically important wetlands, Santa Gilla is a bird-lover’s paradise. Its flamingos are its most famous year-round inhabitants with spring, or the nesting season, a particularly good time for sightings.
You can walk or cycle along its path, or book a guide to really dig deep into the world of Sardinian wildlife. If you want to catch shy inhabitants such as the red Sardinian deer, you’re best off arriving early in the morning or in the late afternoon.
Castel del Monte, near Brindisi
Castel del Monte, near Brindisi
Castles tend to feature on any visit to the Old World. And if your children are veterans of those draughty, mossy northern European fortifications, there might be an eye-roll when you suggest an excursion to Castel del Monte. Hold your nerve—when they see it, they may find their interest in reinforced living reignited.
Castel del Monte is one of Puglia’s most unique treasures. Commanding a hilltop, the Italian castle looks strikingly modern in its sleek, uncluttered design—eight towers surround a tall octagonal fortress constructed of shining pale stone.
A tour around its 13th-century interior feels gothic and slightly spooky, as if you’re touring an elaborate tomb. So revered is the castle that its image features on the Italian one-cent coin.
Alberobello, near Brindisi
Alberobello, near Brindisi
One of the best places to visit in Italy with kids, UNESCO-listed Alberobello is a charming, traditional Puglian town that’s dynamite for social media snaps.
Traveling through the southern region of Puglia, you’ll spot the occasional conical trulli dotted among the olive groves. In Alberobello, the trulli houses gather in unusual and particularly picturesque abundance.
Inland from Taranto, this white-washed town is wonderful for strolling, learning about trulli history at the Trullo Sovrano museum, and picking up souvenir bags of crunchy tarallini at trulli-shops.
Zoosafari Fasanolandia, near Brindisi
Zoosafari Fasanolandia, near Brindisi
There’s a genuine risk of cultural burn-out on a trip to Italy. So rich is the peninsula in must-see cathedrals, Renaissance masterworks, and luminous frescos, that occasionally your kids—and even you—will need a complete absence of Michelangelo in their calendar. Enter Zoosafari Fasanolandia.
After a 40-minute drive from Brindisi, you’ll arrive at one of Europe’s largest wildlife parks, operated with a conservation ethos. You can drive into its grounds with the knowledge that the elephants, tigers, and giraffes you excitedly photograph on your self-guided safari are being well looked after.
Zoosafari Fasanolandia, near Brindisi
Best of all Zoosafari, Fasanolandia acts as a dynamite two-for-one experience. If you’re concerned about the way the monkeys are eyeballing your windshield wipers, leave the safari, park up, and just explore Fasanolandia instead.
The amusement side to the park contains rollercoasters, log flumes, and even gondolas with a replica Rialto Bridge. Who needs Venice?
Portofino Marine Park, Portofino
Portofino Marine Park, Portofino
Portofino in Liguria is possibly Italy’s most glamorous fishing village, on a par with the Amalfi Coast’s Positano.
It’s a must-visit if you’re in this northerly neck of the Italian woods. For kids, however, their heart rate might not be raised by pastel-bright architecture or tales of glamorous jet-set life, but by what lies beyond the moored superyachts.
The Portofino Marine Reserve is a protected aquatic park that contains nearly 1,000 acres of crystal-clear seawater. Protected for 25 years, the sea life is abundant. Dolphins, sunfish, and octopuses swim amid the gently waving seagrass meadows.
Portofino
While you’re in Portofino, it’s possible to book diving or snorkeling tours of the reserve. Or hop on a kayak tour to explore the beautiful sea-carved coastline.
Villa d’Este Gardens, Tivoli, near Rome
Villa d’Este Gardens in Tivoli, near Rome
It’s often thought that some of the best places in Italy with kids in tow are the country’s formal gardens. It’s a way of making the abundance of history more easily digestible.
A visit to one of these places combines the universality of the outdoors with the visible history of grottoes, statuary, and traditional topiary. A few headline destinations are Florence’s Boboli Gardens, Ischia’s La Mortella, and Villa d’Este.
Just an hour’s drive from Rome, Villa d’Este has a UNESCO-listed, Renaissance-era garden. It makes for a particularly refreshing change of scene from the city heat during a scorching Italian summer.
Villa d’Este Gardens in Tivoli, near Rome
Villa d’Este is known for its fountains, over 60 of them. The lapping, plopping, and gurgling of water tapped from a redirected river are all around as you explore what was once a cardinal’s 16th-century pleasure garden.
Let the spray from the 64 waterfalls cool you and watch as your kids delight in the musical water organ.
Grand Canal, Venice
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