Kid-Friendly Tour of Rome & Florence

Rome is a city of inspiring places that conjure up images of knights and kings, along with the ancient structures that bring to mind gladiators and powerful emperors. Your flight will land at Fiumicino Airport, and your private transfer will await your family’s arrival. Inside the heart of the old city, the elaborate history of an unforgettable empire will unfold and show how its influence informed the evolution of Western Civilization. Your hotel will look out to a view of the shining dome of St. Peter’s Basilica, and your guide will meet your family in the lobby ready to lead you on an introductory tour of the city that will spark wonder in parents and children alike.

The pearled façade of the Basilica of St. John Lateran frames a structure that has been in use since its original construction in the age of Constantine. The kids will marvel at the sheer grandeur of the architecture and its ancient age as the piazza opens to the café tables that line the outer ring while locals sit and sip on wine as they watch visitors pass through the streets. On the opposite edge of the square stands the church of Scala Santa, which contains 28 steps brought from Jerusalem in the 4th-century AD, and the staircase is believed to have come from directly from the palace of Pontius Pilate.

Rome itself helps to alleviate the balancing act of travel with children as every day is both a rewarding experience of both education and activity. Your day will begin with a breakfast of freshly baked brioche. The sweet flavor and light texture will delight the kids as if they’re eating a donut for breakfast. After the meal, your kids will join a gladiator training experience to learn the techniques of the warriors that once fought in the Colosseum. They will don their tunic, grab a foam sword, and enjoy every minute with their trainer during the hour-long lesson.  They will exit the grounds with a beaming smile and certificate of achievement to prove that they have finished the course.

Your guide will then leads the family to the ancient center of the empire where the walls of the Colosseum tower more than 150 feet above the cobblestone street. After a tour of the magnificent ancient structure, along with the remarkable pillars of the outlined temples still standing in the Roman Forum, your guide will take you to the Circus Maximus to view the Mithraeum to imagine the chariot races and navel battles that once took place on the grounds. The kids will chant and cheer as if in the crowd of a rowdy race during the empire.

Beneath the site is a former city that contained an ancient religion connected to spiritual rites and ceremonial sacrifices. A subterranean structure was erected in the 2nd-century BC with ceremonial chambers to create the largest Mithras temple in Rome. A glinting marble relief depicts the ceremony of Tauroctony, one of the rites of the religion as the marble remains cold between the underground walls to protect the ceremonial grounds from Roman sun.

The Vatican is one of the world’s smallest countries and encompasses less than a half-mile area in Rome. These grounds remain one of the most important sites in Rome due to its religious connections but also due to its collection of artistic masterpieces, including the centuries-old architecture. After breakfast, your guide will meet your family at the hotel and escort you to the stunning St. Peter’s Square. The 132-foot Egyptian obelisk will draw your family’s attention to the center of the square as behind the obelisk rises the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica at nearly 450 feet tall.

Your guide will provide your kids with cards full of hints and clues, each with information about artifacts inside the museum and enough detail for the kids to find them. The treasure hunt will provide active stimulation for the kids and allow your entire family the chance to relish the wonder of the galleries. In the Hall of Animals, you will find stunning marble sculptures with immense detail that will capture your children’s imaginations. In the Gallery of Maps, your kids will help to determine the points of Italy as depicted on the tapestries and frescoes. The gallery is a length of nearly 400 feet and was crafted in the 16th-century. After lunch, you will venture to the Teatro di Pulcinella al Gianicolo, an open-air puppet theater in Janiculum Hill. The handmade marionettes will put on a show familiar to Roman children and quickly engross your family as well.

The Appian Way was considered the first highway, constructed by the Roman Empire to ease military repositioning and merchant routes. The original road stretched over 350 miles from Rome to the southeast port city of Brindisi on the Adriatic coast and was completed in the 4th-century BC. After breakfast, your guide will meet your family in the lobby and escort you to the edge of a road that is more than 2,300 years old. A portion of the road’s original pavement continues to seal the soil along the 10-mile portion now preserved as a regional park.

Your family will gather together on bikes for a ride alongside the cypress and oak trees that rise out of the verdant meadows. Sheep graze on the lush grass that spreads to the horizon as the breeze brushes past your cheeks and carries the aroma of fresh grass and olive groves. Your family will experience the wonder of the Roman countryside together as you traverse a portion of the ancient roadway. Birds chirp in the treetops and remind you that, although you are not far outside of Rome, it will feel as though you have traveled worlds away.

You will pass the basalt boulders known as basoli, which paved the road and your guide will lead you to the catacombs of San Callisto, the largest of the open burial grounds in Rome. The catacombs were founded in the 2nd-century AD and named after Pope Calixtus. Your guide will take you into the refreshing cool temperature of the subterranean tunnels, which crisscross over a course of more than 12 miles. Deep in the catacombs, your guide will point out ancient frescoes that depict the story of the loaves of bread and two fish.

The splendor of Rome emanates from the museums and palaces hidden along the cobblestone streets and open piazzas of the historical city. The day is yours to embark on the pleasures of the city, from the gardens of the Villa Borghese to the intricate architecture of the Pantheon. For a place that will truly inspire the family, you could venture into to the Church of Saint Ignatius. Jesuit monks erected the church in the 16th-century with an interior decorated with elaborate frescoes painted by Andrea Pozzo in the style of trompe l’oeil, which tricks the eye into perceiving elaborate three-dimensional detail. A small yellow spot on the floor marks the perfect position from which to stare into the depths of the ceiling.

The kids will watch as the ceiling looks as though it curves. The frescoes drape across the arching interior dome, except that the ceiling is actually flat. Deeper inside the church, you can look back at the main doorway to see exits in the wings of northern transept; the undulating surface adds to the illusion of a large space, to provide an extra layer of splendor in the church filled with magic. In the afternoon, you will meet your private chef with the kids eager to partake in a family-friendly cooking class. Your instructor will let you choose between cooking the two most famous dishes of Italy: pasta or pizza. The kids will usually choose to make pizza, and will quickly dig their hands into the dough to knead the soft, sticky substance down to a circular, flat shape.

Rome will return to life in the morning with the aroma of flowers that emanate from the stands along the corners of the historical city center. At breakfast, the kids will recount their time as gladiators and want to return to the Colosseum to battle lions and soldiers. Today your family will leave behind the glory of Rome for the Renaissance splendor of Florence. The old city walls continue to wrap around the historical center and protect the bustling heart of the city from invaders. Lavish palaces hide behind small walls along labyrinthine streets, and the elaborate dome of the Cathedral soars above the homes and medieval structures that branch out from the Arno River. The pink colors of the dome shimmer in the golden sunlight.

After you settle into your hotel at the center of the city, your guide will meet you in the lobby eager to show your family the remarkable wonders of the city.  The antique castle of Palazzo Vecchio towers over the cobblestone space of Piazza della Signoria as the palace once housed the Medici family before they moved to the Pitti Palace across the river. The structure was erected near the end of the 13th-century over the ruins of the former Ghibelline towers. The edifice currently holds the city’s government offices but maintains the opulence of its past.

The kids will marvel at the Salone dei Cinquecento as the massive murals line the upper walls of the gallery, each painted by great Florentine artists including Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti. The paintings depict elaborate battle scenes as the Republic of Florence emerge as the victor.  Your guide will appear in delicate period costume to lead your children on a scavenger hunt along old maps and local legend. A secret passage will lead you into a costume room where the kids will have the opportunity to dress in the period clothing of the royal family for an immersive experience on the castle grounds.

Your family will enjoy a unique, hands-on tour of Florence that takes you into the mastery of the city’s vibrant artwork and into the artisan crafts for which the city has been known for more than five centuries. After breakfast, your guide will bring you to the Uffizi Galler, just adjacent to the Palazzo Vecchio in which the family enjoyed their period costumes. The gallery was erected as Florence’s magistrate offices in the 16th-century before it opened as a public museum more than 100 years later. The polished marble floors and gilded windows glint in the natural light that spills into the halls. Your guide will provide a list of hidden images for the kids to search for in the artwork and use a combination of history, legend, and symbols to keep the kids engaged.

At the statue of Laocoon and his Sons, the kids will search the unique formation of the distinctive myth to find the head of the enrapturing serpent. The sculptor Bandinelli crafted the nearly seven-foot artwork off a description of the original Greek figures as told by Pliny the Elder. After you explore the elegant halls of the palace, your guide will lead you across the Arno River to the artisan workshops that connect the road to Palazzo Pitti to the open space of Santo Spirito. The maze of streets will lead you to a fifth generation bookbinder whose family played a role in a renaissance of marbled Florentine paper, an old tradition that continues in their workshops today.

Mornings in Florence feel as though you have traveled back in time as the cool air drifts down the empty streets to the merchants that set up their stands in the San Lorenzo Market. The vendors in the Mercato Centrale display their fruit and highlight their selections of cured meats and local cheeses. Before you venture to the Florence Airport, you can visit the often-overlooked Museo Galileo, dedicated to the contributions of the scientist in the fields of astronomy, geometry, navigation, and medicine. The kids will be fascinated by the display of ancient microscopes, boles, and clock parts. One unique instrument is the old telescope in which the family can look through to see the world through the preserved eyes of Galileo. When you are ready, your private transfer will meet your family at the hotel and escort you to the airport with plenty of time to check-in for your flight home.