We have three kids 15, 13 and 11.

We intend to explore the musuems, cathedrals and such, but what are your kids favorite memories?

Thank you.

We took our son, aged 10, to Rome (and Tuscany and Paris) 6 years ago. His favorite memories are of the food in Italy and of the piazzas (street performers, artists, fountains, all interesting). He also liked the place we stayed in Tuscany because the villa had a wonderful swimming pool overlooking a valley. As far as sights, I think the colosseum made a big impression. We also rode on a public bus, and that was interesting for him. Gelatto (sp?) is always popular and useful for bribing. We also climbed to the top of the tower at St. Peter's and other cathedrals, another popular activity for younger kids and teenagers. My son still raves about the food, though, so that made the biggest impression.

Over last Christmas we had the family with us. The grandkids, ages 6 & 9 loved Rome.

The 6 year old said that the Sistine Chapel was her favorite. That is probably because at her school the teacher had the kids climb under their desks and color on the bottom of them like Michelangelo.

Grandson, 9, said Ostia Antica was his favorite because he could climb all over the ruins and "get a feel" for the buildings.

My daughter has been to Rome at age 10, 14, 16, and she is going to Italy for summer academic program this year (age 17).

She loved the street entertainers at Piazza Navona at night when she was 10, Castle St. Angelo, Vatican (St. Peter's) -she found the museum too crowded and too much, Spanish Stairs, Pincio and Borghese Gardens (loves renting a tram and picnic in the park), loves the Borghese Museum (great sculptures), Coloseum, Trevi Fountain always a stop on the first night and last night, Touring the Forum and the story of the Vestel Virgins, Loved the Capucine Monk Church on Via Veneto (bone church and eirie), Piazza del Pantheon day and night and gelato from many of the great gelateria's nearby, She loves the turtle fountain in Piazza Mattei in the Ghetto, hanging out in the ghetto & the Great Synagague.
Another place she found facinating was San Clemente - that spans 17 centuries. Now she loves shopping on via Giubbonari near the Campo Fiori, Trastevere, and Via Cola Di Reinzo near the Vatican. Her absolute favorite memory was last February, we rented an apartment in Trastevere and invited her boyfriend to come on vacation with us (two good kids) so they had a blast in Rome.

Some of her fondest memories were feeding pigeons at St. Mark's, the blue grotto and Capri, and food moments.. favorite meals or fresh rosemary or olive bread, and restaurants that were just an insane Italian evening. Often times it is the outdoor or non-planned times that are the best moments in Italy.

She loved going to Orvieto as a day trip and down to Capri, too.

On our first trip to Italy we went to a few cities and spent a lot of time in Rome and I definitely made the mistake of taking her to too many churches - I was an art history major in college so I totally over did it. However, she loves Florence - loved seeing David and has gone to the Uffizi a few times. She will be studying in Florence and Tuscany this summner.
Be careful of not overdoing the museums and churches.

http://www.travelforkids.com/Funtodo/Italy/italy.htm

We went to Rome for a week last year with our then-16 year old son. His main interest was seeing the ancient Roman ruins. He was not enthusiastic about visiting many churches or museums, even the museums with ancient Roman art.

We all went to the Vatican museums and St. Peter's and churches that were nearby on our walks, and my husband and I went to other churches on our own a few times.

The Roman history sights that my son enjoyed in the central part of the city were the Forum, the Colosseum, the Arch of Constantine,the Palatine, the Pantheon, Trajan's column and Markets, the area Sacra dell'Argentina, the temples and arch of Janus near the Piazza Bocca della Verita (and the bocca--Mouth of Truth itself), the Baths of Caracalla, the Pyramid of Caius Cestio and the obelisks at Piazza del populo, St Peter's , Piazza della Minerva and Piazza Navona.

We stayed at an apartment in the ghetto area and all enjoyed walking across the ancient pedestrian bridges of Isola tiberina to and from Trastevere. Even though he knew there was very little left to see of the Circus Maximus I think my son was disappointed by that.

We took the hop on/hop off archeo bus tour. It goes out of the central city to the catacombs, the Appian Way and major aqueducts on Viale appio Claudio and is a convenient way to see these sites.We went to the catacombs of San Callisto, but my son thought the tour there was too short (not sure if any of the others would have pleased him more, but possibly the catacombs of San Domatillo which are larger) We also went into the Tomb of Cecilia Metella on the Via appia Antica but thought the interior was not really worth paying a separate entrance fee; it is possible to get a combined ticket with one of the baths
We spent an afternoon at Ostia Antica, a short train trip away from Rome. However, if you are going to Pompeii you might well skip this.

One day trip I had thought about taking from Rome was to Tarquinia to see the Etruscan necropolis there--but we could just not tear ourselves away from Rome

We did not take any guided tours in Rome. We relied mostly on a DK Eyewitness guide to Rome and have many pictures showing me reading from the book. The forum is probably the hardest area to understand/appreciate because there is so much there and it is not well marked.
We did use an audio guide at the Baths of Caracalla

My son really enjoyed the Piazza Navona/Piazza Rotunda area. Since our apartment was a short walk from this part of the city we went there at least once a day. We also walked by the Area Sacra dell' Argentina and the cat sanctuary several times a day and always stopped to see how many cats we could count among the ruins

the amazing thing about Rome is that there is so much else that we didn't see. I especially regret (1)not having booked the Scavi tour of the Vatican which is a highlight for many people and (2) not taking our son to a soccer game which he would have loved. Since we carefully threw our coins in the Trevi fountain I am confident we will all go back.

We spent 6 days in Rome in September with our 10 and 11 year-old boys, and we all had the time of our lives. I'll try to narrow it down to our favorites, but there were many! My kids just loved the food, gelato, and nutella, which they had never had before. They also loved watching the performers in the Piazza Navona. They got a kick out of being able to drink water out of the fountains (you really can--we'd fill our empty water bottles this way!). Of course, the Colosseum and Forum are a must-see, and I am so glad we used a guide for this, which was ICON Tours. They do smaller groups (up to 15 ppl) and our kids were free. The guide we had was extremely knowledgeable, and able to make everything come back to life for us; the kids just loved it. We also used the same company for a tour of the Vatican Museum and St. Peters, and it was great because they give you headphones to wear (you need them!) and it really kept the kids engaged. We went to Pompeii when we were in Sorrento, prior to Rome, and a guide would have made a world of difference.

If anyone in your family likes cars, there is a great Ferrari store down the street from the Spanish Steps, it was a big hit with our guys. Also, we visited the Spanish Steps a few times, because the fountain there turned out to be a favorite of the boys. The Trevi was great too!

If you are an active family, I highly recommend staying somewhere in the historic center of Rome. We stayed right next to the Pantheon (kids also liked visiting this). We were able to walk virtually everywhere, except for the Vatican and the Galleria Borghese, which is a beautiful museum that only takes a couple hours to go through, and the kids were as amazed by the Bernini sculptures as we were.

We also regret not making it to a soccer match when we were there, will definitely try that next time.

One other thing that was a hit with them was letting them bring a digital camera to take pictures of what they liked (such as the Smart cars). My older son often emails me one of his pictures and says "Remember this, Mom?".

I think I sort of overdid the churches, too (not for me, but for them) and the worst was when we'd walk walk walk to the next one, and then couldn't get in because mass was being held! Be sure to check hours before you go.

Have a wonderful trip!

I posted a trip report last summer entitled, Amazing Two Week Family Trip to Italy! Our family, including boys ages 12 and 9, found Italy to be truly magical! You will adore sharing this experience with your children!

RKogel - Enjoy!

We went last summer, my daughters enjoyed:

riding bikes through the Villa Borghese park- we did like the locals and put our feet in the fountain (Okay maybe those were all tourists).

The Catacombs - a highlight for 10 year old. I enjoyed it as well.

The silly horse/carriage ride. Again they loved it. Dh did NOT love the price and still jokes about it today.

Oh yes, they loved St. Peters but could have passed on the Vatacian.

bookmarking this one. great responses.

Hi, RKogel,

virtually the first thing our son, then 15, said when we arrived in Rome was that Rome redefined the word "big". after that, it was all plain sailing - he loved all of it. from the kitch gladiators outside the colosseum to the copulating toads at the Villa d'este, from freshly squeezed blood orange juice eating slices of pizza in the street, from the palatine to the vatican museums...

one particular highlight for HIM was going out every morning to buy breakfast for us all, which he did at the little cafe opposite our apartment. he had no italian, and they no english, but that didn't seem to matter much.

he even liked counting the staits up to the apartment - there were 81. [which may have had something to do with our enthusiasm for him buying the breakfast!].

you may find that the kids enjoy the everyday experiences like ordering meals and testing endless flavours of gelati, rather than the big highlights that adults concentrate on.

regards, ann

annhig's story of her son getting breakfast for the family each day reminds me that kids, even older teenagers, seem to like repeating experiences more than adults do. I think we are more inclined to want to try something new and our kids figure it makes sense to repeat a pleasurable and fun experience.

Our son was quite disappointed one evening when he thought the saxaphone player who usually played in the evenings on the Ponte Fabricio on Isola Tiberina wasn't there --fortunately he was just taking a short break until some more pedestrians (our family) came into view

another thing we all enjoyed was going up to for good views of the city (Piazza Garibaldi on the Janiculum), the Pincio gardens above Piazza del Populo, the Farnese gardens over the Forum) and pointing out places we had been on our earlier walks through the city

Hi VT,

I do so agree with you.

even at their great ages, [20 & 17] our kids still prefer holidays where we stay still more than move around - they like going to the same cafe for breakfast, the same bar for a last drink each night, the same gelateria etc.etc. - even hearing the same saxophonist.

perhaps because everything else is new, it makes them feel more secure?

stangely enough, it never bothered me at their age. but I do like now being recognised in shops and bars, and developing my own routine, even if I'm only there for a week.

I think that's why apartments work so well for families too - you can develop your own routines far more succesfully.

regards, ann