Florence or Rome with young children?
 

We are traveling with our three young children to Italy this Spring. Would Florence or Rome be of more interest to young children? I have a feeling chasing pigeons will be the highlight of either of these cities for them, but they are very excited by sculpture and art. We have visited many art museums in the past.
Thanks!

Is this during your 8 days (with 2 in Paris)?

No. It is a two week trip.

Borghese Gardens in Rome has some nice activites for young kids (play areas, zoo, etc.). Here some info on this and other areas of Italy:
http://www.travelforkids.com/Funtodo...esegardens.htm

If chasing pigeons is to be a priority, I suggest that you go to Venice. Neither Rome nor Florence offers anything similar to the Piazza San Marco in Venice for chasing pigeons.

There are masses of sculpture and art in both Florence and Rome. In Florence, it is almost exclusively Renaissance. In Rome, the periods best represented are early Christian and Baroque (I consider St. Peter's early Baroque rather than Renaissance), but with the important addition of ancient Roman ruins. If your children are interested in history, visiting the ruins may prove more to their taste than going through museums, simply because they are outside. And the ancient temple remains at Largo di Torre Argentina also serve as a cat shelter.

We were in Rome and Florence with our 2 sons (age 6 &7 then) Feb last year and they had so much fun in both cities. We let them each bring a digital camera and they had fun taking pics of buildings, sculptures etc... Our highlight were the day trip to Pompeii from Rome (we read about the whole thing back home before we went so they had ideas of the background), chasing pigeons at the Spanish Step, climbing the dome at Vatican (they also read about Michaelangelo's work back home too), throwing coins into the Trivi Fountain....In Florence, the best thing we did was climbing the steps to Michaelangelo Plaza, day trips to Pisa and Siena, we also found the largest individually owned toy store in Italy (as the owner claimed) near the Duomo which is a few steps the opposite direction as you would walk from Duomo to the river bank. I also found children's version art books about the works in the museum gift shop which we read before we entered the museums in Florence and the boys had a lot of fun finding the particular paintings in the books and also learning more about the art work inside the museums. Of course, the pizza and icecream were our favorite food during the whole trip! I am sure you will have a lot of fun with the children in both cities.

How old are your children? We went to Rome and Venice with ours when they were 5 & 7. In Rome we stayed right near the Piazza Navona which was a blessing. It was a wonderful place to eat gelato and hang out and watch the entertainers. In our case over and over again. We loved the people watching too. My husband took my son and 14 yo nephew who went with us to a Roma vs. Milan soccer game. I think that was the biggest event for all of them. Also we enjoyed climbing the dome in St. Peter's and the kids loved seeing the Swiss Guard and somehow they were facinated by the Pope (who we did not meet). We went to the collesium (great for the kids), the Forum (a bust for the kids) and played soccer at Circus Maximus. We are active and enjoyed walking around. The kids enjoyed putting their hands in the "Mouth of Truth" (see the movie Only You) and generally observing all the differences from home, food, language, money, clothes, etc. We are not huge museum people, so we kept that to a minimum. We did a day trip to Ostia Antica which was, unfortunately closed the day we went, instead of going to Pompei. I wish we went there. There is a good book called Italy with Kids put out by one of the major travel book companies that was helpful. Venice was a huge hit as it is like no other place. If you decide to go there, I can give you more info . My kids loved the pigeons, especially when they landed on them. My biggest recommendation is to keep the kids as well rested as possible. Take it as slowly as possible. I gave the kids each a blank pad of drawing paper (no lines) and I had attached with a string a pen and a small glue stick. The kids collected things to glue into the book (ticket stubs, business cards from hotels and restaurants, etc.). Each afternoon, or in the early morning, the kids would sit down and draw pictures of what they enjoyed that day or the day before (they each brought colored pencils). My daughter made a wonderful scrapbook which I put together when we got home. It allowed creative downtime which they will need. We enjoyed learning Italian by memorizing gelato flavors and the kids enjoyed ordering themselves. It will be great, have fun!

I suspect Rome would have more "wow" factor for kids: The Colisseum, The Trevi Fountain (at night) St. Peter's, The Parthenon, the catttery at Lago Argentina, maybe the baloon in the Borghese Gardens. I think all the suggestions you are getting are good.

Althogh I would suggest skipping the places with long lines (the Sistine Chapel), if you want them to see something of great Italian artwork for its educational value, take them to a church rather than a museum.

If for some reason you opt for Firenze, your children might be most impressed by the Museo San Marco. There is also a Gallileo museum in Firenze. The Medici Palace and the Museum of the Doumo are quite manageable and quite lovely. The Piazzaele Michaelangelo is a good suggetion, and the Boboli Gardens if they need some running around time. I would definitely try to include a day trip to Pisa.

Whoa -- make that the Pantheon, not the Parthenon! Both are awesome but only one is in Rome.

Hi there!
For small kids, why not try Florence? It is such a compact city that you can nip back to the hotel whenever the kids get tired/cranky without any problem. For kids, specifically, try the Boboli Gardens for pigeon chasing and nature, the Pitti Palace for a view of the Royal Apartments (from when Italy was a Monarchy), the Palazzo Vecchio which has a children's program that is interactive, the Acadamia for David AND a display on historic musical instruments (with interactive computer stations), the San Lorenzo market for shopping, the Stibbert Museum for an amazing and ecclectic collection of armour and sharp pointy things (that would definitely interest the boys!) complete with life-size horse and human models, the Belevedere Fort for a nice walk and great view of the city, and the Science Museum which has displays and demos.
Try
http://www.lodging.it/florence-tour/florence-for-kids/
for specific info on what to do in Florence for kids. And, as I said, the great thing is that when everyone is tired, you will be steps away from your hotel/apartment. Have fun!

There's a poster on this site, "Huitres" who has travelled in Europe with her young child and would have good advice for you. Here's a couple of threads w/ input you may find helpful.

What to do with 3 weeks and 2 young children in Italy? >>>
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34729344

Calling Huitres, want to ask you a few questions >>>
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34713821

Florence is not for kids. We took our two kids to Italy when they were 11 and 8, and Florence was their least favorite city. The Uffizi is very large and difficult to navigate with kids (although the rooftop cafeteria may provide a diversion). Rome would strike me as of greater interest.

If you have some flexibility and means of travel, consider Lucca or Pisa for a day trip. In Lucca, you can rent bicycles (or tandems) and ride on top of the ramparts around the city. In fact, that's where my daughter learned to ride her bike. Pisa has the leaning tower, which is a guaranteed thrill for kids.

Sometimes it is surprising what impresses a child on a trip. Some years ago I took my daughter (now in college) out of the second grade for a weeklong family trip to Rome. After returning I was summoned to meet with her teacher. Seems that for show and tell, she demonstrated how to pick pockets!

We visited Rome a few years ago when my 3 daughters were ages 14, 11 and 11. One of their favorite memories is taking a day trip to Ostia Antica, which is a 20 minute train ride from Rome. The Roman ruins were incredible, and the kids loved running through the city.

REad the pages I wrote "Rome with Children" many years ago for DK "Eyewitness Guide to Rome". I must update it for my 4 yr old grandson!