Italy Itinerary with Kids

Offering cultural heavyweights like Rome, Florence and Pisa, and the incredible natural beauty of Cinque Terre and the Island of Elba, deciding on a family trip to Italy was an easy choice!

Below, we share our Italy itinerary with kids. We were fortunate enough to spend one month in Italy with our kids, but we also share our insights on a 14-day Italy itinerary with kids as well as a 10-day Italy itinerary with kids.

This post contains compensated links.

Planning a Family Trip to Italy

Best Time to Visit Italy with Kids

When planning your family trip to Italy, be prepared to book your accommodation well in advance, especially if you are traveling to Italy with kids in the peak season summer months.

We always find ourselves surprised at how quickly accommodations in Europe get booked for high season. If you are visiting Italy with kids in high season, begin planning your accommodations in January to get the best selection of quality and price.

So, the first step in planning a family holiday to Italy with kids is deciding the best time to go. If you are limited to school holidays, you’ll probably be planning your Italy itinerary during summer – the most popular time to visit Italy.

If you can visit Italy with kids at other times, then we recommend looking a family trip to Italy in the spring. We were lucky enough to visit Italy with kids (a toddler and preschooler) before they started school, so we were able to visit in April – in the heart of shoulder season.

In spring, the temperature in Italy will start to warm up, the snow should be all gone except maybe at the highest peaks and there should be less crowds. In addition, spring is a beautiful time in Italywith many flowers in full bloom.

The benefits of summer travel in Italy is longer days and the warmest temperatures. But everything will be busier and more expensive.

How Long to Travel in Italy with Children

Coming up with the best Italy itinerary for families will depend on how much time you have. Italy has so much to see, that you could literally spend a year and not get bored.

So, we recommend spending as much time in Italy as your schedule allows. Try to pick your destinations wisely to limit the amount of time traveling between each.

We were lucky to have one month to visit Italy with kids, so we developed our family trip to Italy itinerary based on our desire for culture and outdoor recreation, along with the best things to do in Italy for kids.

If you’d prefer to spend two weeks in Italy, we offer some suggestions below on how to reduce our four-week Italy itinerary to a two-week Italy itinerary. We also included a modified version for a ten-day Italy itinerary with kids.

Getting Around Italy with Children

Traveling by train is one of the best ways to get around Italy with kids. It’s so much more relaxing than renting a car and you can leave your car seats at home. Plus, the Italian countryside and seaside scenery is spectacular.

Don’t be shy taking the train in Italy with kids – Italians LOVE kids and they will be made to feel welcome on every journey.

How to Buy Train Tickets in Italy

The easiest way to buy Italy train tickets for your family is to use ItaliaRail. They are a one-stop shop for purchasing Italy train tickets and sightseeing products. A big advantage to using ItaliaRail is that you can use English station names and buy tickets in your local currency.

Kids aged 3 and under travel on trains in Italy for free. Despite this, we still bought reasonably cheap youth train tickets for our 1 & 3 year old kids to ensure they wouldn’t have to sit on our laps.

The Italian train officials went out of their way to tell us we didn’t need to buy tickets for the kids, but given how cheap train tickets are in Italy, we felt comfortable with our strategy.

What about a Road Trip in Italy with Kids?

Given how cheap and easy it is to travel by train in Italy with kids, we recommend getting an Italian rental car only if you have a specific need or are heading to a rare Italian destination not served by the Italian train network.

Our Italy itinerary had us traveling exclusively by train and ferry, but when we rent cars for our family vacations, we prefer to use RentalCars.com.

In addition to the wide variety of options at each airport, we appreciate how clearly the ‘fine print’ is spelled out for you, such as insurance requirements, credit card deposits, etc.

Where to Stay in Italy with Kids

Vacation rentals (like Airbnb and VRBO) are your best accommodation option when traveling to Italy with kids. You simply can’t beat the many family-friendly features of a vacation rental, including separate bedrooms, a full kitchen and laundry facilities.

Staying in vacation rentals in Italy allowed us to cook our own meals occasionally, which helped us travel to Italy on a budget.

For our Italy accommodations, we stayed exclusively in vacation rentals during our one-month Italy family vacation. For details of our five different vacation rentals in Italy, check out the links to each destination on our Italy family vacation itinerary below.

If you’d prefer to stay at a kid-friendly hotel in Italy, we recommend using Booking.com. We use Booking.com almost exclusively when looking for kid-friendly hotels as they have an excellent Top Picks for Families search filter.

Our Italy Itinerary for Families

Once we decided to become full-time family travel bloggers, we sat down with our bucket list of destinations for our first family trip. We were looking for a mix of world-class culture with excellent outdoor recreation options, such as hiking and biking. A family trip to Italy was the clear choice!

Here is our one-month Italy family vacation itinerary. We tried hard to create a good mix of things to do in Italy for kids, along with adult-focused activities such as hiking, outdoor activities, castles and museums. With a good balance of activities, we tried to make sure everyone would be happy with our family-trip to Italy.

One Month in Italy Itinerary with Kids Overview

• Days 1-8: Rome
  
• Days 9-15: Island of Elba
  
• Days 16-22: Cinque Terre
  
• Day 23: Pisa
  
• Day 24: Lucca
  
• Days 25-30: Florence

One Month Italy Itinerary with Kids

We loved our family vacation to Italy and couldn’t be happier with how we spent our 4-weeks in Italy with kids. Our Italy itinerary gave us sufficient time to explore each area and find some of the best things to do in Italy with kids.

Days 1-8: Rome with Kids

Arrival Day in Rome

After a long flight to Italy from Canada, we arrived in Rome. We checked into our Rome apartment, had pizza in a nearby piazza and went to bed.

Rome’s airport is way outside of town. We didn’t travel to Italy with car seats, so we couldn’t safely take a taxi with our kids. We took the Rome Airport Bus to get from the airport to central Rome, followed by a local bus to our apartment.

We chose the Rome airport bus as we had lots of time to kill before check-in, but there are many other faster, more convenient options to get from the Rome airport to your hotel to consider. For example, a Welcome Pickups private transfer is one of our favorite affordable luxuries when traveling with kids.

Day 1 in Rome with Kids

We hit the ground running on our first full day in Rome with kids. We woke early due to jet lag, so we enjoyed seeing many top Rome attractions early, before the crowds arrived. We started with a visit to a nearly empty Piazza Navona, followed by a visit to the Pantheon right at opening time.

Walking the streets of Rome with kids provides endless surprises and discoveries. Our first example of this was our accidental discovery of Largo di Torre Argentina, the ruins of four temples which are ‘owned’ by a large colony of cute stray cats (which our daughter loved!).

We ended our morning with excellent pizza at the vibrant, colorful Campo de’ Fiori street market.

We spent our first afternoon in Rome with kids with a visit to the very crowded Spanish Steps.

We left quickly due to the crowds and went to Villa Borghese Gardens where we rented a 4-seater bike. We laughed so hard it turned out to be one of our favorite things to do in Rome with kids!

Day 2 in Rome with Children

In the morning, we walked to the Roman Colosseum from our apartment. Again, we passed some incredible antiquities and monuments on our way. The Colosseum itself was incredible and is a must-do activity in Rome with children.

By the afternoon, we were already craving a little time in nature away from the crowds, so we went for a family walk on Janiculum Hill. We enjoyed the shady, tree-lined paths and the amazing views of Rome.

Day 3 in Rome with Kids

We began Day 3 with a peaceful walk through Palatine Hill, one of the Seven Hills of Rome and one of the most ancient parts of the city.

Afterwards, we checked off another must-do attraction in Rome, the Roman Forum.  

The kids were pretty tired of the adult things to do in Rome, so we treated them to an afternoon doing their favorite thing to do in Rome – chasing pigeons at Piazza Navona. I love how the best things to do with kids while traveling are often so simple – and free!

Day 4 in Rome with Children

We were lucky enough to bump into Jake and Dannie – two very talented family travel photographers in line at the Colosseum. They were generous enough to offer us a family photo shoot!

The our family photos in Rome are some of our favorite family pictures we’ve ever had. Rome is such a photogenic city; we highly recommend getting some professional photos taken of your family trip to Rome.

Our new friends joined us for a fun afternoon of cycling the Appian Way – another super fun thing to do with kids in Rome, especially if you enjoy outdoor recreation with your kids.

Day 5 in Rome with Family

We explored the streets of Rome again on Day 5. We began our day with an early morning visit to Trevi Fountain – one of the most beautiful sights in Rome.

It was early enough in the day that we snuck in a second visit to the Spanish Steps, which were much more pleasant without the massive crowds.

Day 5 was a Sunday, so we joined the locals with a visit to the most beautiful park in central Rome, the Villa Borghese Gardens. We enjoyed a few amazing Italian cappuccinos and pastries before meandering through the beautiful grounds.

Day 6 in Rome with Children

When traveling in Italy with our kids, we loved to find activities which mix culture and outdoor activities. A visit to the Rome Aqueduct Park was a perfect blend of the two and ended up being our favorite thing to do in Rome with kids!

Day 7 in Rome with Kids

We tried to visit the Sistine Chapel on our final day in Rome, but we balked at the massive lineups to get in. In hindsight, we should have purchased skip-the-line Vatican Museum & Sistine Chapel tickets like everyone else!

Although we were really disappointed to miss the Sistine Chapel, we still had a great visit to the Vatican with kids. We visited St. Peter’s Basilica and climbed to the top of the Dome, where we enjoyed great views of St. Peter’s Square and beyond.

Our final activity in Rome was a visit to the park at Castel Sant’ Angelo. The moat of this former Rome castle has been converted into a park, complete with a fun Rome playground.

Days 9-15: Isla d’Elba with Kids

We visited the beautiful Island of Elba with kids after a week in Rome. Elba’s natural beauty and laid back vibe was the perfect destination to follow the super-hectic pace of Rome.

Our original plan for our week in Elba with kids was to rent bikes with child seats and use them to explore the entire island during our week. We hadn’t counted on Isla d’Elba being so hilly! We still got around with rental bikes from Portoferraio, but our range wasn’t as far as we’d hoped.

We found lots of fun things to do with kids in Elba. We went on several great bike rides and hikes, played on countless beautiful beaches and explored the Old Town.

We enjoyed two scenic Elba bike rides with our kids during our stay. The first was a bike & hike to the top of a short peak on a peninsula near the tuna fishing port town of Capo d’Enfola. The views of the Ligurian Sea from the top were amazing!

The second was a pleasant bike ride through the Elba countryside to the charming seaside town of Bagnaia. You can relax and let your kids run free on the pedestrian-only streets of this cute little town.

It doesn’t take long for the relaxed vibe of Elba to seep into your bones. Despite our natural inclination to be on-the-go all the time, we found ourselves relaxing and playing with our kids on the beautiful Elba beaches every day. The pebbles on the beaches of Elba can be a bit hard on tender city feet, so having water shoes for everyone is a good idea.

Our four favorite beaches were all within easy walking distance of our Portoferraio apartment.

We enjoyed taking our kids to the towering beach cliffs of Spiaggia Di Sottobomba Beach, the beautiful blue and white pebbles found at Spiaggia Capo Bianco Beach, the seclusion of Spiaggia Seccione Beach and the action at the ever-popular Spiaggia della Padulella.

Our visit to the Island of Elba with kids was over the Easter holiday. Visiting Italy over Easter is known to be super busy and expensive, but visiting the Island of Elba with kids is a place to visit Italy over Easter as it avoids the craziness of the mainland.

Days 16-22: Cinque Terre with Kids

If you enjoy outdoor activities such as hiking and biking with your kids, visiting Cinque Terre with kids is a must. The five incredibly charming seaside villages which comprise the Cinque Terre are nestled in some of Italy’s most incredible scenery.

We based ourselves in Monterosso al Mare for our 6 days in Cinque Terre with kids. It’s the biggest (and admittedly least charming) of the five villages, but it is the most kid-friendly village in Cinque Terre.

Monterosso al Mare has a great playground, a large beach and several grocery stores. We rented a 2-bedroom apartment in the most family-friendly Cinque Terre village and used the easy train connections to explore the other villages.

The hiking around Cinque Terre is simply incredible. Each morning, we would hop on the regional Cinque Terre train and explored one of the five villages.

Getting to the Cinque Terre villages early in the morning with our kids was very enjoyable as we beat the crowds. Walking the nearly deserted streets was such a peaceful experience, allowing us to fully soak in charm of each town and its unique seaside setting.

The Cinque Terre villages are all pretty small, so they don’t take long to see. After fully exploring each village we’d put our toddlers in their backpack carriers and hit the hiking trails.

Hiking Cinque Terre with our kids in backpack carriers meant we were not limited to easy, kid-friendly hikes. There are Cinque Terre hiking trails for all skill levels, although the majority of the trails are a moderate difficulty level.

Some of the most kid-friendly Cinque Terre hikes are currently closed for repairs, so if your kids are too big for backpack carriers, but too small for moderate hikes, browse the list of Cinque Terre hikes on AllTrails to find the best hiking options for your family.

Enjoy map downloads and many more premium features with a 7-day free trial of AllTrails+!

Given the mountainous terrain of the region, we were pleasantly surprised to find a kid-friendly bike ride in Cinque Terre. A former rail line between Levanto and Framura has been converted into a hiking and biking path.

This flat, seaside bike path alternates between stunning ocean-front scenery and long, well-lit train tunnels. It’s a ton of fun for a family-friendly Cinque Terre bike ride.

Day 23: Pisa with Children

We decided there weren’t enough things to do to in Pisa with kids to justify spending the night, but given we had to go through Pisa on our train ride from Cinque Terre to Lucca, we decided to spend a half-day in Pisa.

After storing our luggage at the Pisa train station, we immediately walked to the Leaning Tower of Pisa – the town’s star attraction. We love climbing towers, but our kids didn’t meet the minimum age of 7 to climb the Leaning Tower of Pisa, so we were content to walk around, take pictures and enjoy the views of this iconic landmark.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is just one of four historic buildings in the Campo dei Miracoli (the Square of Miracles). After soaking in Pisa’s Leaning Tower, we wandered around the Square of Miracles before grabbing some lunch on one of Pisa’s kid-friendly pedestrian-only streets.

After lunch we found an excellent Pisa playground, located along the track of yet another aqueduct (can you tell we love aqueducts?!?). This playground was a great place to kill the rest of our time before hopping on our train from Pisa to Lucca.

Day 24: Lucca with Kids

We took advantage of easy train connections and spent two nights in Lucca on our way from Cinque Terre to Florence.

Lucca is famous for its well-preserved city walls. They are so big and in such good shape that you can walk or ride your bikes around the top. Ever since riding our bikes around the Xi’an city walls in China (pre-kids) we’ve been hooked. We couldn’t pass up this opportunity for a unique family bike ride in Tuscany, Italy.

We found great Lucca bike rentals with child seats a few blocks from our Lucca vacation rental apartment. Biking Lucca’s city walls with our kids was great fun! There are even parks and playgrounds along the way for kids to play at.

We spent our remaining time wandering the charming cobblestone streets of Lucca. We climbed to the top of Torre della Ore and enjoyed views of Torre Guinigi and the tiled roofs of Lucca’s Old Town, before stopping to enjoy some Italian gelato.

Days 25-30: Florence

Arrival Day

Our train from Lucca to Florence arrived early afternoon. We checked into our Florence vacation rental apartment and walked to the nearby Piazzale Michelangelo to let the kids burn off steam, get the lay of the land with great views of Florence. The replica of Michelangelo’s David was pretty cool as well.

Day 1 in Florence with Kids

As you may have noticed, we love climbing bell towers, so on our first full day in Florence, we set off to climb the Tower of Palazzo Vecchio, but found out kids must be 6 years old to climb.

The replica of Michelangelo’s David in front of Palazzo Vecchio was worth the visit – it’s much better than the one we saw in Piazzale Michelangelo the day before.

Not easily defeated, we walked to Giotto’s Bell Tower (Giotto’s Campanile), one of the four monuments on the Piazza del Duomo. The 414 steps to the top were well worth it as the views of Cupola of Brunelleschi must be the best of anywhere in Florence!

We wanted to visit Florence’s Duomo, but were turned away. We didn’t know that Duomo tickets sell out well in advance, so we missed out on this iconic thing to do in Florence with kids.

We finished our first day with a visit to the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore. Despite a very extravagant exterior, the interior of the Florence Cathedral is surprisingly plain.

As with all the great Italian churches, it’s still quite impressive and worth a visit. We really enjoyed exploring the excavations under the Florence Cathedral.

Day 2 in Florence with Children

Ponte Vecchio, or “Old Bridge”, is one of the most famous things to do in Florence. We enjoyed our relaxed walk across Ponte Vecchio early in the morning on our way to Giardino di Boboli (Boboli Gardens).

After a hectic day of seeing some of the top things to do in Florence, we were craving some peace and quiet in nature. Our visit to Giardino di Boboli was a wonderful antidote to the busy day of Florence sightseeing we had on Day 1. Filled with fountains and statues, the Boboli Gardens are a great place to visit on a hot day in Florence with kids.

Afterwards, we enjoyed the roses, irises and amazing views of Florence at the nearby Giardino Bardini, which was included in our ticket to Giardino di Boboli.

Day 3 in Florence with Kids

Fiesole is a picturesque town high above the outskirts of Florence. After a few easy public bus rides, we enjoyed a wonderful nature-filled day trip from Florence.

In addition to wandering around the charming town center, we enjoyed two easy hikes around Fiesole. Our easy hikes took us past convents, graveyards, Roman amphitheaters and playgrounds.

Much of the Fiesole hiking trails were through lush forest, but the non-treed parts provided excellent views of Florence.

Day 4 in Florence with Children

Perhaps because our family vacation to Italy was winding down, we decided to skip two of the top things to do in Florence: The Uffizi (home of Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus“) and the Accademia Gallery (home of the authentic Michelangelo’s David).

I’m sure the authentic version of Michelangelo’s David is incredible, but on our last day in Italy, the thought of taking our toddler and preschooler to two super-busy museums was not appealing.

So, we spent our last day in Florence with kids at Palazzo Vecchio. It was a decent museum, but it wasn’t the best museum in Italy by any stretch. We visited Palazzo Vecchio as they had some great activities for the kids, which were a big hit.

Italy 2-Week Itinerary with Kids

Based on the knowledge we gained during our month in Italy with kids, here is our recommended 14-day Italy Itinerary for your family.

Days 1-4: Rome

There are so many amazing things to do in Rome with kids that it may be hard to squeeze them all in over four days. You could save time by skipping the visits to the Appian Way or the Roman Aqueduct Park as they are a bit out of the way.

Days 5-7: Isla d’Elba

Reward yourself for surviving the craziness of Rome with a few days relaxing on the beautiful Island of Elba beaches.

Days 8-10: Cinque Terre

After relaxing with your family on the beaches of Elba, enjoy some family hiking between the world-famous seaside villages of the Cinque Terre. Treat yourself to some of the most scenic hiking in the world by picking a few of the trails within your family’s capabilities.

Day 11: Pisa

You can’t miss an opportunity to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa! Pisa is an easy stop on the train route from Cinque Terre to Florence, so time your train journey to allow a few hours to see Pisa’s most famous attraction.

Days 12-14: Florence

With just a few days in Florence, you can skip the trips to the gardens and the day-trip to Fiesole.

Your 14-Day family trip to Italy itinerary might look something like this:

Day 1: Rome – Arrival

Day 2: Rome – Piazza Navona, Pantheon, Largo di Torre Argentina, Campo de’ Fiori, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain and the Villa Borghese Gardens.

Day 3: Rome – Roman Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill.

Day 4: Rome – Vatican and Castel Sant’ Angelo.

Day 5: Island of Elba – Train & ferry ride from Rome to Portoferraio. Spend the afternoon exploring the city.

Day 6: Island of Elba – Rent a bike in the morning and explore the countryside. Play on the beach with your kids in the afternoon.

Day 7: Island of Elba – Relax on the beach on the beach with your kids.

Day 8: Cinque Terre – Enjoy a scenic ferry & train ride from Portoferraio to Cinque Terre. Spend the afternoon exploring your home village and try one of the hikes which depart from there.

Day 9: Cinque Terre – Take the local train to Vernazza, the most beautiful of the Cinque Terre villages. Explore and take pictures for a while, then enjoy the hike from Vernazza to Corniglia, considered by many the best hike in Cinque Terre.

Day 10: Cinque Terre – Take a short train ride to Levanto and enjoy a super-fun seaside family bike ride through long tunnels on an abandoned rail line converted to a bike path.

Day 11: Pisa – Stop in Pisa on your way to Florence and visit the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Kill the remaining time before your train to Florence at the cool Pisa aqueduct playground.

Day 12: Florence – Visit Florence’s Duomo, then visit the other amazing buildings in the area. If you have the energy, climb Giotto’s Bell Tower for amazing, up-close views of the Duomo.

Day 13: Florence – Visit the iconic Florence Uffuzi and L’Acadamia museums.

Day 14: Florence – Enjoy a day trip to the beautiful suburb of Fiesole.

Italy 10-Day Itinerary with Kids

To reduce it even further, this is how we would spend 10-days in Italy with kids:

Days 1-4: Rome – We’d keep our Rome itinerary untouched from our suggested 14-day Italy itinerary with kids.

Days 5-7: Cinque Terre – As beautiful as it is, with only 10 days available, we cut the Island of Elba from the 10-day Italy itinerary. Spend three days in Cinque Terre as described above in the 14-day Italy itinerary.

Day 8: Pisa – Visit the Leaning Tower of Pisa as a stopover on your train ride from Cinque Terre to Florence.

Days 9-10: Florence – To cut one day from the 3-day Florence itinerary, we suggest skipping the day trip to Fiesole.

And that’s it! We hope you enjoyed reading about our Italy itinerary with kids, and that it has helped you plan your own amazing family vacation to Italy!

Found this post helpful? Pin It For Later!