13 Exciting Things To Do in Rome With Teens + Tips For Visiting

We loved visiting Rome with our 2 teenage daughters. We were excited to sojourn The Eternal City for galore reasons, but we weren’t expecting our teenage girls to emotion it arsenic overmuch arsenic they did. The crushed for this? There are tons of things to bash successful Rome for teenagers.

One of the fountains connected Piazza Navona

Our teens adore Rome due to the fact that it has this unmatched, vibrant vigor and loads of iconic landmarks to get their “I was successful Rome” photos. Places similar the Colosseum and the Pantheon captivated their young and funny minds and got them inspired and funny successful creation and architecture. 

They loved the bustling streets and lively piazzas, not to notation the delectable Italian cuisine from mouthwatering pizza to creamy gelato, which made adjacent the fussiest of eaters successful our household satisfied. 

If you’re not definite what to bash successful Rome with teens, past present are immoderate of the apical attractions that our teenagers bask successful Rome!

Things To Do In Rome with Teenagers

Wander Around Trastevere

Trasterverre

Rome tin beryllium a spot of an overwhelming metropolis astatine times. It’s busy, it’s loud, it’s bustling, and erstwhile walking from attraction to attraction, you find yourself cursing to yourself for the 3rd clip arsenic a scooter pulls retired successful beforehand of you from nowhere.

This is wherefore we loved the Trastevere vicinity truthful overmuch arsenic it’s a acold outcry from this country successful Rome. 

It’s quiet, it’s trendy, and it’s fashionable. It’s filled with loads of hep cafes, bars, and boutique shops. It inactive has the iconic Roman architecture and cobbled streets that Rome is celebrated for but without the honking and chaos. 

So galore photograph opps!

Delicious nutrient abounds

This territory is known arsenic the erstwhile working-class neighborhood. People are drawn to the constrictive alleyways, thoroughfare creation murals, and bohemian atmosphere.

Trastevere gave our teens a existent penetration into modern Italian culture. You tin spot however Italians spell astir their regular lives and consciousness the bushed of the metropolis arsenic you meander done a labyrinth of alleys and quiescent streets.

Because it’s located successful the southbound of the city, crossed the stream from the Colosseum, you get to debar a batch of the hustle and bustle but inactive beryllium adjacent to the action, truthful we ever urge that you enactment successful this vicinity erstwhile visiting the city.

It’s besides worthy noting that this is simply a lively territory astatine nighttime with backpackers heading to bars, but this didn’t fuss america oregon our teenage girls arsenic we picked a quiescent spot to enactment down a broadside street.

Trastevere was besides wherever our favourite edifice successful Rome was – Mama Eats. 100% gluten free, delicious and affordable, and ne'er excessively busy. They besides bash non-gluten escaped versions of each their nutrient if you petition it! Their tiramisu was incredible!

Go On A Roman Street Food Tour 

Roman thoroughfare nutrient tour

One of the things our teenagers loved the astir connected our sojourn to Rome was a walking thoroughfare nutrient tour. Not lone did we get to effort immoderate of the champion Italian cuisine (beyond pizza) but we besides learned a batch astir the past of Rome and the Italian mode of life.

The Roman Street Food Tour takes you to respective spots successful the metropolis wherever you tin illustration immoderate of the finest cuisines beyond the pastas and gelatos. You tin effort handmade, caller suppli, Porchetteria La Rinascita, and graffe! I stake you hadn’t heard of those dishes before?

Gelato

Pork sandwich

Graffe

Suppli

Roman pizza

The celebrated fried cod fish

It’s not lone a large mode to acquisition caller food, but a amusive mode to spot the sites of Rome that you whitethorn conscionable rotation through, specified arsenic Piazza Navona and Campo de’ Fiori – which without a gelato successful hand, wouldn’t beryllium the astir breathtaking spot successful Rome for a teenager.

I emotion the piazzas due to the fact that they are ever a amusive spot to beryllium with a batch going on. They are surrounded by awesome buildings and monuments, there’s usually immoderate signifier of thoroughfare performer somewhere, pigeons flocking astir picking up scraps disconnected the floor, and radical sipping espressos successful the cafes. 

However, we recovered our teens didn’t admit sitting and conscionable absorbing the ambiance arsenic overmuch arsenic the adults would, truthful we wouldn’t spell retired of the mode to sojourn the piazzas otherwise. 

Do A Guided Tour of The Vatican

The Vatican Rome

Our teens emotion state counting, truthful erstwhile I told them they could sojourn the smallest state connected Earth, they were truthful excited! Yes, The Vatican is besides the halfway for Christianity, location of the Catholic church, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but who cares erstwhile you tin tick different bucket database point disconnected the list?

The Vatican whitethorn lone beryllium 0.44 quadrate kilometers, but there’s a batch to spot and bash here, truthful we bash urge you program a afloat time to walk here.

Our biggest extremity is to marque definite you book a circuit of The Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel arsenic aboriginal arsenic you can. After astir 9.00 am, the queues for The Vatican Museum spell for miles (literally) and you tin beryllium waiting successful enactment for up to 3 hours to bargain a ticket.

Crowds tin beryllium intense. – wrong the Vatican

Also, The Vatican Museum is HUGE. The depository has 70,000 exhibits successful a abstraction of 42,000 quadrate meters – it’s conscionable not imaginable to spot it all. 

On a guided tour, you tin past beryllium shown highlights of the Catholic Church’s postulation and spot each the champion bits.

After visiting The Vatican Museum and The Sistine Chapel, beryllium definite to sojourn St. Peter’s Basilica. If you book the guided tour, you tin larn much astir the fresco paintings and the archetypal Pope of Christianity, St Peter, who is besides buried successful the church.

You tin larn much astir how to sojourn The Vatican successful our implicit usher here. 

Visit The Colosseum, The Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill 

Of course, nary travel to Rome would beryllium implicit without visiting The Colosseum and The Roman Forum, which are the astir iconic and important past ruins successful Rome.

The Colosseum is 1 of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World and the legendary amphitheater that erstwhile hosted gladiator battles and different spectacles successful past times.

It was built successful 72 AD and could erstwhile location up to 80,000 spectators. Next to it is The Roman Forum, which was the past marketplace and the bosom of political, religious, and commercialized beingness successful past Rome. 

The ruins day backmost to the extremity of the 7th period BC. Some of the ruins were erstwhile immoderate of the important sites successful Roman history, including the Temple of Saturn, the Arch of Septimius Severus, the Temple of Vesta, the Curia Julia (Senate House), and the Rostra – wherever governmental speeches were delivered. 

Temple of Antoninus Pius

Walking done these past ruins is the champion mode to larn astir the past beingness of Rome and ideate the grandeur of the Roman Empire. 

These are 2 different landmarks that are best seen connected a guided tour due to the fact that otherwise, you’ll person nary thought what you’re looking at! There’s a superior deficiency of signage and without proceeding astir the history, it tin beryllium an underwhelming acquisition to visit. 

The guides not lone explicate the inception, history, and plan of these 2 monuments but besides archer stories astir the foundations of Rome and what beingness would person been similar during past times. It truly helps to ideate what beingness successful Ancient Rome would person been like.

Rest successful Villa Borghese Gardens

Borghese Gardens

If you’re bushed of walking astir Rome oregon request determination to retreat to for a picnic, past our favourite escaped thing to bash successful Rome with teenagers is to meander astir the Villa Borghese gardens.

The Villa Borghese is simply a landscaped plot and the third-largest successful the city, wherever you’ll find the Rome Zoo, Pincio’s Water Clock, and Silvano Toti Globe Theatre.

It’s the cleanable spot to remainder and unbend nether a shaded tree, ticker the joggers and rollerbladers skate by, and bask immoderate much-needed household time. 

If you privation to, you tin besides rent rollerblades and bikes from the main gates, which is simply a fashionable mode to research the gardens.

You tin besides sojourn the Borghese Gallery wrong the Villa Borghese to spot world-renowned pieces of creation by Renaissance painters specified arsenic Raphael, Titian, and Caravaggio.

Go Shopping (Or Window Shopping) connected Via del Corso

Walking into Via del Corso

Rome is 1 of the apical cities successful Europe for high-end fashion, and the buying options present are endless. Of course, we each cognize that the Italian metropolis of Milan is the manner superior of the world, but it’s not conscionable Milan that knows manner successful Italy.

Fashion brands specified arsenic Fendi, Prada, Gucci, Valentino, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, and Giorgio Armani person each hailed from Italy. What amended spot to store for fashion, than the state that birthed immoderate of the top designers successful our history?

While we can’t each spend decorator goods, you’ll beryllium pleased to cognize it’s not conscionable decorator apparel that you tin store for successful Rome.

Via del Corso

The metropolis has ever had a past of craftsmanship and artistry, peculiarly with leather goods, and is good known for producing immoderate high-quality and luxury goods. 

You tin find boutique stores selling handmade items and artisan goods, arsenic good arsenic thrift stores selling second-hand, high-quality fashion. 

Some different fashionable items to look retired for are artisanal ceramics and creation prints, which are commonly recovered successful stores successful Rome.

Snap Photos of The Spanish Steps

The Spanish Steps

I’ll beryllium honest, my teenage girls weren’t into visiting The Spanish Steps excessively much, truthful we didn’t walk a batch of clip here. However, it’s 1 of the astir iconic landmarks successful Rome truthful you can’t spell to the metropolis without visiting the iconic steps for a “I Was Here” photo.

The Spanish Steps are gorgeous and intricately designed but don’t instrumentality excessively agelong to see. They were built successful the 18th period and are known to beryllium a fashionable gathering place, for locals and tourists alike, and it’s a amusive spot to beryllium and ticker radical watching.

At the bottommost of the steps is the Piazza di Spagna, which is surrounded by decorator manner stores and luxury restaurants, and astatine the apical of the steps is the Trinità dei Monti church, which was built successful the 16th century. 

Mission Impossible takeover

I’d accidental it would beryllium a bully spot to beryllium and devour a gelato, but unfortunately, you cannot devour connected the steps and there’s a information defender who likes to outcry and forcibly enforce this rule, arsenic we had witnessed hap to different tourists visiting the steps.

When we visited, they were mounting up for the premiere lawsuit for Mission Impossible that evening, which meant we couldn’t bash overmuch there. Perhaps different crushed my girls weren’t that funny successful it.

Throw A Coin In The Trevi Fountain

The Trevi Fountain

Can you get immoderate much iconic than throwing a coin successful the Trevi Fountain? It is possibly THE astir unmissable happening you person to bash successful Rome.

It’s said that if you propulsion a coin successful the fountain, you volition instrumentality to Rome – not to bring you bully luck arsenic galore volition person you believe.

Simply basal with your backmost to the fountain, and propulsion a coin implicit your near enarthrosis with your close hand.

The fountain is ever packed with people, truthful you volition request to hold your crook to find a spot for a photo. You should besides enactment that the fountain is drained for cleaning each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8.00 am-9.00 am, truthful effort to debar these times.

We did not cognize this and arrived conscionable arsenic cleaning was finishing, truthful we didn’t miss retired connected throwing the coin in. A bonus is that crowds volition beryllium less during these cleaning times.

Do you deliberation they’ll ever prohibition throwing coins successful this iconic fountain? It’s said that tourists propulsion successful a cardinal euro into the fountain each year, truthful I highly uncertainty it!

Marvel astatine The Pantheon

First circuit of the time astatine the Pantheon

The Pantheon is different marvel of engineering by the Romans and conscionable makes you think, “Gosh, however did they cognize to bash that?” 

The erstwhile Pagan temple turned Catholic religion is astir celebrated for the domed ceiling, which has a circular opening successful the center, called ‘The Oculus’, ‘The Eye of the Pantheon’ oregon ‘Eye of God’. It was primitively utilized arsenic the lone airy root successful the building, but what makes it peculiar is that the level beneath it was built connected a slant, starring to 22 hidden holes, wherever rainwater tin drain. 

Pretty chill engineering instrumentality from 125 AD, don’t you think?

It’s besides a beauteous gathering and is location to the resting spot of Rome’s top artists and royals, specified arsenic King Vittorio Emanuele II, King Umberto 1, and his woman Queen Margherita of Savoy, and the iconic Renaissance artist, Raphael.

It’s not a large attraction, but we urge getting the audio guide to springiness you a little past of the building.

Visit A Museum

Rome has truthful galore museums to visit, and they are immoderate of the champion successful the world. The 1 you sojourn should mostly beryllium connected your interests and what your household is looking for, but our favourite museums successful Rome are:

Galleria Borghese

Galleria Borghese

The Galleria Borghese wrong the Villa Borghese is an creation depository that contains works belonging to Cardinal Scipione Borghese, a salient creation collector and patron of the arts. 

The assemblage contains an awesome postulation of sculptures, paintings, and antiquities, arsenic good arsenic being wrong a beautifully designed 17th-century building.

One of the cardinal attractions successful the depository is the stunning sculpture of “Apollo and Daphne” by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. This masterpiece captures the melodramatic infinitesimal of Daphne’s translation into a laurel histrion arsenic she tries to flight from the pursuing Apollo. 

Another item is the coating “Sacred and Profane Love” by Titian, which depicts 2 women, 1 dressed successful rich, luxurious fabrics representing ineffable love, and the different successful simple, earthly attire symbolizing profane love. 

It’s besides location to Caravaggio’s celebrated coating “David with the Head of Goliath,” which portrays the biblical country of David holding the severed caput of the defeated Goliath. 

If your teenagers are funny successful creation oregon person been learning astir these iconic paintings successful school, past this is simply a depository to adhd to the itinerary.

The Capitoline Museums

The Capitoline Wolf

The Capitoline Museums are a bid of 3 buildings that flank Piazza del Campidoglio, which hint backmost to 1471 erstwhile Pope Sixtus IV donated a postulation of past bronzes to the radical of Rome. 

One of the standout attractions wrong the depository is the iconic bronze sculpture of “The Capitoline Wolf.” This past masterpiece said to day backmost to the 5th period BC but not confirmed, depicts the she-wolf suckling the mythical twins Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. 

The Capitoline Museums connection a blend of creation and past and would beryllium a large enactment for teenagers funny successful past arsenic good arsenic art.

National Roman Museum

Baths of Diocletian. Museum

The National Roman Museum is simply a large “all-round” past depository and takes you done respective historical buildings, including the Baths of Diocletian, Palazzo Altemps, Crypta Balbi, and the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme. 

The museum’s postulation contains artifacts that explicit the grandeur of past Rome, featuring sculptures, mosaics, and artwork that archer stories of the regular life, art, and civilization of the Roman Empire.

The Palazzo Massimo alle Terme successful peculiar houses an awesome postulation of Roman frescoes, including the celebrated “Garden Fresco” from the Villa of Livia frescoes. 

If you lone person clip for 1 museum, this would beryllium our apical choice.

National Gallery of Modern Art

Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna (GNAM, National Gallery of Modern Art)

The National Gallery of Modern Art is not lone a large spot to spot Italian creation from the 19th and 20th centuries, but it’s besides located wrong the beauteous neoclassical Palazzo delle Belle Arti, which is simply a enactment of creation successful itself!

One of the astir celebrated pieces successful the depository is ‘Un’onda di luce’ by Giacomo Balla, besides known arsenic Wave of Light, which is simply a futuristic coating from 1909 that depicts the effects of airy reflecting connected the water, which was avant-garde for its time.

The National Gallery of Modern Art is simply a large depository to larn astir the improvement of Italian creation and witnesser immoderate of the astir beauteous architecture successful the city.

Galleria Doria Pamphilj

Gorgeous interior of Doria Pamphilj Gallery

The Galleria Doria Pamphilj is housed successful the opulent Palazzo Doria Pamphilj, a 17th-century palace that has been meticulously preserved to showcase its grandeur. 

The depository has an awesome postulation of Baroque masterpieces, including the renowned “Velazquez Portrait of Pope Innocent X,” by Diego Velázquez and the striking “Rest connected the Flight into Egypt” by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio.

The Galleria Doria Pamphilj is the spot to spell to spot Baroque art, which whitethorn oregon whitethorn not entreaty to your teens. You decide!

Take A Cooking Class

Savannah enjoying our cooking people successful Tuscany

We didn’t person overmuch clip successful Rome, truthful we weren’t capable to bash a cooking class, but my teens said they would person enjoyed this if we had time. 

In a cooking class, you tin larn to marque your ain pasta from scratch, earlier turning it into fettuccine and ravioli, followed by learning to cook the classical Italian dessert dish, tiramisu.

A cooking people is simply a large mode to get to cognize the civilization of a city, arsenic good arsenic bring location a unsocial souvenir.

We emotion it erstwhile we tin supply acquisition and amusive experiences for our teenagers, particularly arsenic they emotion cooking and baking.

Take A Golf Cart Tour of Rome

Credit: LivTours

There are galore ways to get astir Rome – connected foot, by open-top bus, oregon adjacent by Vesper, but our teenagers were truly excited to research Rome by Golf Cart!

A play cart is simply a large mode to research the streets of Rome successful a comfy and covered vehicle. 

As you get driven astir the city, a usher volition explicate to you the past of the monuments, palaces, basilicas, and piazzas, with each their fountains and statues, truthful you tin genuinely get a consciousness of the past of Rome.

Sadly, we were excessively precocious to publication this and it was each sold retired connected our travel (another bully crushed to publication successful advance!), but we person earmarked it for our adjacent travel – we did propulsion a coin successful the Trevi Fountain, truthful it’s gonna happen. Click present for rates and availability for a play cart circuit with LivTours.

Explore The Rome Catacombs

Rome Catacombs

The catacombs are different attraction we missed owed to clip constraints, but our teenagers said however overmuch they would person liked to spot them.

The Rome Catacombs are located conscionable extracurricular the metropolis halfway and day backmost to the 3rd Century AD. They were utilized arsenic the burial spot for fractional a cardinal Christians and Jews, arsenic good arsenic 16 Popes.

You tin lone sojourn the catacombs with a usher truthful it’s important to publication successful advance. The usher volition amusement you astir the past burial sites and explicate burial rituals and traditions.

There is much than 1 catacomb successful Rome but the largest and astir important is the Catacombs of Saint Callixtus. Join a guided circuit of that here.

Tips for Visiting Rome With Teens

Below are immoderate indispensable things to cognize earlier you spell to Rome with teenagers:

• Talk to your teens astir what they’d similar to do. Get your teens progressive successful the readying signifier of the trip. Speak to them astir what they mightiness similar to bash oregon see. They whitethorn person learned astir thing successful school, specified arsenic Pompeii, and privation to sojourn it.
• Make definite to sojourn attractions aboriginal successful the greeting to bushed the crowds and get immoderate awesome photos. This is particularly important for The Colosseum and The Vatican, which are packed with radical by 10.00 am.
• Book attractions successful advance. Try to publication arsenic overmuch arsenic you tin successful beforehand to debar disappointment. Rome is the astir visited metropolis successful Europe and it’s rather apt for tickets to beryllium sold retired connected the time for cardinal attractions, truthful a small pre-planning tin spell a agelong way.
• Keep an oculus connected your belongings. We didn’t person immoderate problems with this due to the fact that we were alert of the imaginable dangers, but determination are pickpockets successful Rome, particularly astir tourer attractions. Don’t permission your belongings unattended and support an oculus connected your cameras. Make definite your teens support an oculus connected their valuables too, particularly their phones!
• Plan wherever you’re going to devour earlier you acceptable out. I would accidental the biggest occupation with traveling with teens is uncovering a spot to devour that everyone is blessed with. Save yourself clip and play by readying wherever you’re going to eat. This would besides beryllium an important extremity if you were to visit Rome with kids.
• Eat disconnected the main piazzas. While connected the taxable of food, you tin find cheaper prices successful restaurants if you don’t devour connected the piazzas and spell down the backstreets.
• Walk everywhere. Rome is precise walkable, truthful enactment connected your champion walking shoes and locomotion arsenic overmuch arsenic you can.
• Be alert of scooters and bikes. This is simply a fashionable mode of transport to get astir Rome and scooter drivers are known to whizz astir cars and adjacent spell connected sidewalks sometimes, truthful marque definite to beryllium vigilant of them erstwhile walking astir and crossing roads.

Where to enactment successful Rome with teens?

Our flat successful Rome

One of the astir communal questions, we’re asked is wherever to enactment successful Rome with teens? We’ve not stayed everywhere, but we loved our spacious flat successful Trastevere.

Staying successful this amusive vicinity gave america much of a section feel, it was successful walking region to everywhere, and we were surrounded by astonishing restaurants and cafes astatine a much affordable terms than the halfway of Rome.

And erstwhile the girls were exhausted and conscionable wanted to laic connected their beds chatting with their friends backmost home, Craig and I felt comfy to permission them successful the apartment, and locomotion astir the country for an aperol spritz, unrecorded euphony successful the square, and gluten escaped tiramisu astatine Mama Eats!

See rates and availability for our Trastevere flat here.