We regularly receive questions about visiting Italy with children. First of all, we can tell you: Italy is a perfect destination with children! We have summarized the other tips for you as a parent – so that both you and your children have a great holiday in Italy.
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On a family holiday to Italy
Italy is an ideal destination for the whole family. Italians love children. Especially if they are those cute blond Dutch or Flemish children. In addition, Italy is also the land of the sun, nice swimming, ice cream and pizza! What more could a child want?
Good. So for your next holiday you are looking at nice destinations in Italy. Do you want to know what the most beautiful places are to go? Then look at the page with the most beautiful places in all of Italy.
On this page we help you on your way with specific tips for a holiday with children in Italy. Will it be your first holiday in Italy? Then you can also benefit from our article with the 12 best tips for the first time Italy.
Tips for the road
A holiday to Italy already starts en route. If you are going to take a car holiday to Italy, you will be on the road for at least a whole day. Also by plane, because you first have to go to the airport and from the airport to your accommodation. The journey itself takes at most an hour or two, depending on your destination in Italy. But with a flying holiday, the children probably don't get much chance to get bored anyway. We will therefore mainly focus below on tips for a car holiday to Italy.
Have some fun in the backseat. If you're taking several children to Italy, it can provide some peace of mind if you can show a movie on a DVD entertainment system or an iPad attached to the headrests.
What to bring:
- Holiday activity books and coloring books
- DVDs with fun movies for the kids
- A Nintendo or a tablet
- Books for children about Italy
- Games
It is also fun to play games with the colors of cars (who will see a red car first?) or with license plates (what kind of words can you make with the letters?).
If your destination is in the north of Italy, you can easily drive there in one day. If you are going to Tuscany, Umbria, De Marche or a destination even further south, a two-day drive is recommended.
Accommodation en route
Our tip for an overnight stay while traveling on the Gotthard route through Switzerland:
Motel Gottardo Sud about 800 kilometers from the Dutch border.
This neat hotel is located right after the Gotthard tunnel at the Piotta exit. You can see it along the route. After an extensive breakfast buffet you drive directly from here the next day highway up again. Depending on your destination, you still have to drive a few hours before you get there.
More tips for hotels on the way to Italy can be found here.
Accommodation
An important factor for your holiday is of course the accommodation. Which one you choose largely depends on your own preferences. Do you like camping? Are you more of a hotel type? Or would you like to live like an Italian in Italy?
For the children, the campsite will in many cases be a good choice. Earlier we wrote an article about the most beautiful campsites around Lake Garda.
The advantage of a (larger) campsite is that the children always have something to do. Usually there is a playground, a swimming pool and often also an animation team in high season. Moreover, there are enough peers for the children to play with.
But not everyone is a fan of the large Italian campsites that you will find especially around Lake Garda. Fortunately there are also plenty smaller campsites where camping rather than entertainment comes first.
You have to realize that the campsites in Italy are thinner than, for example, in France. It is therefore a good idea to book your stay in advance, to avoid having to search for a campsite that has space. Italy is therefore less suitable to go on spec.
In addition, it is good to know that campsites are generally more expensive than in France. You pay the highest price, especially in the high season in the popular places.
If you are not a camping type at all, fortunately there are plenty of alternatives. You can also choose a hotel, an apartment, a bed and breakfast or an agriturismo.
An agriturismo is usually a small-scale holiday accommodation in the countryside. Old country houses or farms have been converted into holiday accommodations. The so-called 'camping at the farm'. Sometimes the farms are still really in operation. The presence of animals makes it extra fun for children.
The disadvantage of an agriturismo may be that there are no other children around, or you have to book an agriturismo where several accommodations can be reserved.
Are you going to Italy in the spring or summer? Choose an accommodation with a pool! Kids love to spend the day just staying at the property when they can splash around in a pool.
A refreshing dip in the pool is also wonderful after you have been on the road to a medieval town. Keep in mind that many accommodations (including campsites) don't open their pools to the public until May 1 or sometimes even mid-May. Therefore, always check in advance whether you can enter the pool. In the May holidays the weather in Italy is often fine, but the Italians find it 'too cold' to swim in April anyway, even if it is warmer than 25 degrees Celsius.
More tips when booking your accommodation:
- Choose an accommodation with activities for children (playground, swimming pool, games)
- Preferably also choose an accommodation where you are not alone with your family (unless you want that, of course)
A relatively new phenomenon is Airbnb, where you rent the accommodation from private individuals yourself. It often concerns (holiday) homes of Italians. We ourselves have rented such a holiday accommodation from Italians a number of times. In this way you can often rent a whole house, fully equipped.
It is of course ideal if you find a fully equipped kitchen on your holiday with children and if you have a washing machine at your disposal.
Discount with Airbnb
Airbnb offers you the option to book your vacation rental directly from private individuals. If you sign up to Airbnb with this link you will receive a € 25 discount from us on your first booking. Nice to have anyway.
Tips during the stay
Dining out
In Italy you can of course enjoy delicious Italian food. Also with children. There is always something on the menu that they like. Just think of those delicious pizzas!
In Italy you will not easily find children's menus on the menu. Kids just eat what the grownups eat. Don't be ashamed to let your kids share something or just ask for an empty plate ("solo un piatto") so you can share something from your own order with them. That is very common in Italy.
You can take a complete meal (first and according to), but ordering only pasta or just taking a main meal is no problem either.
Most restaurants are open from seven o'clock in the evening, but then you will not find anyone there. Most restaurants only fill up from eight o'clock, half past eight. You can also order food until late in the evening.
Transportation
In Italy it is useful if you have a car with you. The distances are often long and you probably also want to see some of the beautiful surroundings. If you came to Italy by car, you will of course immediately have a car with you. If you come by plane, it is a good idea to rent a car.
Tip: on the page Rent a car in Italy you will find a number of useful tips when choosing an affordable rental car.
Activities
What should you do with the kids in Italy? We will of course not prescribe that for you. You know best what you and your children like to do. We can inspire you here with a number of examples from experienced Italy travelers.
- Go to a local zoo
- Go to an amusement park (make sure to arrange discount tickets in advance)
- Let the children run errands in the camping shop
Activities in bad weather
Yes, the weather is bad in Italy too. To get through a rainy day (or days), it is useful to at least bring paper and pencils or felt-tip pens. You can also pre-order some holiday coloring pages to print.
Also let your kids pick out some things for them to play with in Italy. A card game like Uno, a board game like Don't annoy you or other fun games don't take up much space.
A Nintendo or an iPad is also an option, but keep in mind that the children also need to have a holiday and preferably have other activities than at home. It might be nice to bring a booklet about Italy for children or another nice children's holiday guide.
Don't do it with children
From our experience with going on holiday to Italy with children, we have a number of tips for you what it is better not to do with children. We don't want to sound pedantic, these are just our personal experiences.
- Planning too many activities in one day
- Going out during the hottest part of the day (do like the Italians: keep an extensive lunch)
Doing things with children
More fun than what not to do with children in Italy are probably the tips you should do. Again from our personal experiences.
- Go to a local zoo
- Go to an amusement park (make sure to arrange discount tickets in advance)
- Let the children run errands in the camping shop
