Handpicked selection of the best Rome tours for families, English speaking activities and tours for kids in the Eternal City. This list has been updated in April 2024 with our current recommendations
I am passionate about my kids learning about my beloved Rome.
The city is generous of interesting stories, legends and funny characters and I love seeing my children’s eyes sparkle when they learn a funny anecdote, a new piece of history or spot an unexpected view.
I know a lot about Rome. I was born and raised in Rome, I am a Roman history graduate from La Sapienza University in Rome and have always been an avid city explorer and tourist in my own town. So, I am very often my own guide, and that of my children!
However, I am a strong believer in always learning and so, often, I enlist the help of professionals and join kids tours of Rome that help my kids get to know the city even more. I also often learn things myself, Rome is an endless treasure trove of facts and things to discover!
Taking family tours is my favorite type of research (that and gelato tasting to bring you the best addresses!!)
Rome has a good number of options when it comes to family tours.
Some are for kids, some are not specifically kid centered but do welcome children and others are not really tours, but full experiences that make children engage with the city via an activity on location, in real slow travel style.
Over the last few years, my children and I have taken several family tours in Rome. This list is a result of that experience. Since we have visited some of the attractions multiple times, we have included all the goof tours we have come across, which therefore are presented here as valid alternatives one to the other.
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Best Rome tours for kids: how we chose them
This list is a work in progress and showcases tours that have been tried and tested personally..
These tours are a mix of tours for families (aka: group or private tours of Rome that are designed specifically for families with kids) and tours that are family friendly and welcome kids but are not for kids as such.
For each, I have written a short description that I hope helps you decide which tour is best for you and your kids.
What age are family tours of Rome suitable for?
Tours for kids cater to children of different ages and usually state the most suitable age in the tour description.
In my experience, children in primary school and tweens get the most out of these tours, so usually between the age of 6 and 11.
Toddlers, on the other hand, are often too young to be able to enjoy the tour activities.
If you are looking for tours for toddlers, I recommend you opt for those that include some clever form of transport (like a gold cart, see below), likely to stay as the highlight of the visit for your little ones!
Best Rome tours for families – city center / city highlights
Private Golf cart tour of Rome – super fun getting to know Rome tour TOP PICK!
A golf cart tour of Rome is the most recommended tour for kids in Rome in our group!
A golf cart is a fun and clever way to get to know Rome: small enough to be able to handle many small street in Rome city center, a gold cart is able to lead you much closer to attractions than a bus or hop-on hop-off tour.
The vehicle is fun for kids, allows for a lot of fresh air and views on the way and comes with a guide and driver that will take away the stress to find your way through the city and will share stories and info.
This is a great activity for your first day in Rome as it will allow you to find your feet and get a sense of what you may want to visit again.
The family friendly company I recommend for this tour is LivTours. Find info and prices here.
Rome scavenger hunt by Mariaclaudia Tours (best for primary school kids – tweens)
If you are looking for a family tour of Rome that will show you Rome’s highlight with a fun and engaging guide for kids, then you must book this scavenger hunt!
The tour is by Mariaclaudia, a local Rome guide and mom, and it is fabulous for kids but also interesting for adults.
The tour is setup as a competition kids vs grown ups and it is studied so you can see many of Rome’s main sights in a fun and engaging way.
The tour happens on foot so it is most suitable for families with kids who can walk independently.
I took this tour with my kids this summer: you can read my full review here >>> Mariaclaudia Tours review
Best tours of the Colosseum for kids
Tour of the Colosseum by Mariaclaudia Tours
The tours of the Colosseum by MariaclaudiaTours is a fun, game-based private tour for kids age 6 and up.
The tour covers the general areas of the Colosseum and while it doesn’t include the arena nor the underground, it gives and excellent picture of what the Colosseum was, how it was built and how it operated.
What makes this tour stand out is the price (it is the best priced kids’ tour we have found!) and the quality of the guides who are outstanding with children.
This tour sells out fast I highly recommend booking a few months in advance. You can contact them on Facebook https://facebook.com/mariaclaudiatours (tell her Marta from Mama Loves Rome sends you!)
Private family tour of the Colosseum by LivTours (all ages)
If you are looking for a fun and engaging tour of the Colosseum for kids which includes the Roman Forum, I recommend you pick this Colosseum Family tour by LivTour
The tour lasts 3 hours, it is a private experience so you know the needs of your kids will be at the center of it, and follows a treasure hunt format.
With the help of your guide and child-friendly maps and clues, this Colosseum tour for families will show your kids’ the gladiators’ arena and you will then be able to also visit the Roman Forum, which is also exciting for kids as it feels very much like a park!
Livitaly also offers the option of getting Augmented Reality glasses to see the Colosseum in its former splendor.
LivTour is a family company and the owner have kids themselves: they always have special attention for children and they share my love for cultural tourism with little ones, which is why I always recommend them to all families coming to Rome.
Find info and prices of their Colosseum Family tour here.
Express Colosseum tour with Galdiator Gate and Arena Floor (best suited for: older kids and teens)
Another fantastic family friendly tours of the Colosseum is this express one offered by LivTours.
While not for kids as such, this semi private tour is only 1.5h long (aka: more manageable in terms of duration, especially for younger kids) yes still gives a great idea of the Colosseum and how it worked: it also comes with the opportunity to step onto the arena, which is the old stage and where the gladiators’ fights happened.
Usually kids love this (and the views are stunning from here!).
As I mentioned, this is not a tour for kids but since it is a very small group there is great personal attention from the guides and they are able to involve children in the visit, even if not exclusively tailoring it to them.
Find info and prices here >>> LivTour Express Colosseum small group tour
Colosseum underground tour by the Colosseum direct
This tour is not for kids as such.
However, its is family friendly in many ways: kids go free, strollers are allowed (you are always given the option to use the ramp of lift when moving from one area to the next) and the guide makes a special effort to talk to children and involve them during the course of the visit.
There are two main things that make this tour stand out for me:
- It is cheap! By going direct you cut intermediaries and all third party fees (tickets are less than 30 Euro per person, kids go free)
- This tour is one of the very few that includes the underground part of the Colosseum. This is, I believe, the best part of the whole amphitheater for kids and I believe visiting is likely to be the highlight of the tour.
You can read here >>> why I recommend visiting the Colosseum underground with kids
The tour is very informative and the guide positively competent (I am a fussy Roman history graduate and I was impressed, it doesn’t happen often!)
The one thing I feel like warning families about is that the Colosseum saw many killings and this does get mentioned in the tour.
This is not at the center of the experience but if you have small kids or sensitive ones, maybe ask the guide to give you a nod just before that bit so you can manage the situation at best.
Find my tips for visiting the Colosseum with kids here
I found this tour excellent for kids of all ages although toddlers may find the lack of props a problem.
On the other hand, this is a cheap tour (the cheapest and best I have experienced) so even if they don’t get much from it, at least you know you haven’t gone bankrupt in the process!
The Colosseum tour with kids at a glance:
- Skip the line? Yes, reserved entrance. You pick a time when booking and you show up 20 minuted before to pass security, usually very quick
- Child friendly? yes
- Small group? Not very small but manageable (about 20 of us when we went). Headphones are provided as extra aid
- How to book. Find here >> how to book tickets for the Colosseum from the Official site
Best Vatican Tours for Kids
Vatican and Sistine Chapel tours for kids by LIvTours
LivTours, the same wonderful family friendly company I recommend for the Colosseum and the Golf Cart tour, also offers and exceptional Vatican Museum tour for kids.
This tour makes the large Vatican Museums manageable with a fun and game centred approach for kids and includes the Sistine Chapel, usually what parents want to see the most and the Egyptian Wing of the museum, which is hardly ever included in tours but is great for children especially!
Private Vatican tour for families at a glance:
- Skip the line? Yes
- Child friendly? Yes, for kids
- Group: private tour
- How to book: online, click here
Kids’ Tour of the Vatican Museums by Mariaclaudia Tours
MariaclaudiaTours also offers an excellent tour of the Vatican Museum which covers museums highlights and Sistine Chapel.
The tour is fun and interactive, uses a scavenger hunt / game approach and it is best suited for kids 6 and up although some of the guides are excellent with teens as well so, if you have teenagers, it is still worth enquiring.
This tour is very well prices: you can book directly with Mariaclaudia and her team on Facebook > Facebook.com/mariaclaudiatours
Rome4kids Vatican tour for families with Scavenger Hunt (Private Tour)
To visit the Vatican museums with kids you need a guide and our experience with Katja, owner and tour guide from Rome4kids was outstanding.
Rome4kids offer private tours of Rome for families and while pricey, you get a lot for your money.
This tour is specifically for children and leads you to the most family friendly areas of the Vatican as well as making sure you see the most famous sights there such as the Sistine chapel and the Laocoon statue (my favourite)!
The tour includes a treasure hunt and is well paced so that children do not get excessively tired despite the large size of the museum and the crowds.
We particularly appreciated a break with took from walking when the guide sat us down for coffee.
She used that time to tell us stories about the Sistine chapel and showed us close up on the ipad of the ceiling frescoes, which are just too far up in the chapel to appreciate fully if you don’t know what to look for.
This was an outstanding tour for kids and one we highly recommend if you decide to embark in the big task of visiting the Vatican with children ( if you are wondering what the big deal is and why we highly recommend to only go if you have a private guide, have a look at our tips for visiting, they will come in really handy!)
The tour as such did not include a visit to St Peter basilica but you do leave the museums just beside the main entrance so you can easily visit in your own time.
Private Vatican tour for families at a glance:
- Skip the line? Yes
- Child friendly? Yes, for kids
- Small group: private tour
- How to book: online, click here
Rome Food tour for kids (Jewish ghetto and city center) with LivTours
It has taken me ages to find a kid friendly food tour in Rome and I am delighted to report that I have finally found one, in the form the food tour by LivTour!
The tour covers the area of Rome’s Jewish Ghetto, which is famous for its delicious and unique food, and the Pantheon area, which is stunning, central and one of the most famous in Rome (so you get a lovely walk as well a lot of tasty food!)
The tour strikes a great balance between food exploration and kid friendliness as it skips the most controversial of Rome foods (tripe…) and focuses on pizza, several types, of pasta, street food and of course gelato!
Rome food tour for families at a glance:
- Kid friendly: yes,
- Skip the line: N/A
- How to book: online, click here (Put in the notes the age of the kids so they know to tailor it around their needs)
Best children classes in Rome (in English)
Rather than tours, in this section I share some classes that we have taken with our kids and that have allowed them to experience Rome in a deeper, meaningful way
These classes are in English, made for families and open to families with children visiting Rome and, sometimes, local expats.
Mosaic class in Rome for kids
If you have children who love art and making, then I highly recommend you look into the mosaics class organised by Arte al sole.
This class is held in a real mosaic workshop in Trastevere and your teacher is a real mosaic artist: she guides your child through all the steps needed to create a mosaic and helps them along the way with their creation while leaving them full room to express their creativity and vision.
This is an excellent class and one I highly recommend to all kids: all our friends who experienced Arte al Sole fell in love with what they do!a
You can read our full review here. You can book directly with Arte al Sole here
Please note – this is the only mosaic class in Rome I found that gets you to learn about REAL mosaic making and has a real mosaic artist to lead you.
Other classes we have seen do not use real stones or and are a fun game for kids but add very little to what you may get anywhere else in the world.
If you are looking for a real local experience, this is the class to choose!
Art and seek drawing tours for kids – best for also meeting local kids!
Art and Seek is different from the providers above in the sense that it caters for local expat children as well as visitors.
This means is doesn’t have tours on demand but rather set dates a for regular art based activities taking place in several parts of Rome.
We took their excellent drawing session at Palazzo Braschi, a live drawing lesson/workshop for kids with a knowledgeable and fun guide, but they also have other locations such as Villa Giulia (Etruscan museum of Rome) and something I cannot wait to try, a street art tour for kids in Ostiense.
This is a really fun class expecially for slightly older kids (7 and up) and parents are welcome to tag along or take their own time around Rome.
One of the things I loved about this class is that they select really interesting museum, often off the beaten track and also that it is very reasonably priced.
You need to sign up for their membership but it is a fraction of the cost of any other tour of Rome and a fun way for kids to meet other children their own age. You can book directly with them here
Pizza Making class for kids in Rome city center
If your children would like to learn to make pizza in Rome in a fun way, we recommend the class by Rome4kids, the same people we loved for the Vatican tour.
The class is specifically for children and takes places in a real Rome pizzeria which adds to the fun.
The children make pizza from scratch, cook it in a real oven (all is safe, don’t worry) and you end the morning eating the results of your effort in the pizzeria itself. You can read our review here or book this activity online here
Pasta making class in Rome (private)
If your children are like my daughter, they may fall in love with this kid-friendly cooking class, perfect to learn and make pasta from scratch!
The class takes place in the private home of Lucilla, a local mom and trained chef and it is a a lot of fun.
Lucilla makes you feel at home and teaches you all the the tricks to make perfect pasta, which includes a lot of mixing, stirring, kneading, and the use of rolling pins and pasta making machine.
A fun, interactive, family friendly class!
I originally found Lucilla on airbnb experiences but the app only shows classes for kids age 10 and up. For private classes, you can contact her on instagram at FromZeroToPasta
I hope you found this overview of tried and tested kids tours in Rome useful and it helped up plan you family vacation in Rome. Safe travels!
Rome’s Gladiator school
An absolutely hilarious yes educational and entertaining class for kiss is the Gladiator Class offered by Gruppo Storico Romano.
The class is run by a professional group of historic performances and it is fantastic for kids age 6 and up but really, great for teens and grown ups too.
During your gladiator experience, you will explore the gladiators’ museum, try on gladiator armours and of course train like a real gladiator.
I was skeptical about it as I worried it would be very silly. however, I had to completely change my mind after doing it as it is genuinely so well done and so fun, I tis one of the best things to do in Rome with kids!
You can find info and photos here >>> my review of Rome’s Gladiator school with kids
Best Rome tours for families – pin this!
