Postby dudette » Mon Oct 02, 2017 11:45 am
We had a great time in Rome a few years back when the kids were about 9 and 7. It's a beautiful city and is quite compact to walk around. My two loved going up to the top of St Peter's - it's a bit of hike up all the stairs (don't bother with the lift) but there are great views from the top. The Pantheon is a must see - it's possibly the best preserved Roman building in the world. Quite amazing. We also took them to the Vatican. If you decide to do it, book before you go and try and get the first slot of the day so you can just whizz in. I suggest you head straight to the Sistine chapel before it gets packed. Give the kids a bit of a heads up on what they're going to be seeing beforehand and maybe work out a list of things for them to spot so once they've got over the sheer 'wow' factor they don't get bored. The Vatican museum is huge so maybe find one other thing to see that you think looks interesting (if they're fans of the the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles they'll already have heard of Michelangelo, Leonardo, Donatello and Raphael so that might give you a head start). The Forum and Colosseum are also must sees - I suggest you look at the Colosseum website and book a tour. There's one that takes you down to where the Gladiators waited before going out into the arena - it's closed off to the general public so makes it feel a bit special that you go down there. The Palatine Hill is a good place for the kids to stretch their legs and run around a bit, as well as potter about among the antiquities. There's a really interesting church called the Basilica di San Clemente Laterano - it's a Byzantine church on the top floor, but go down a layer and you find yourself in a Mythraic temple, and go down another layer and you're in a Roman street. It's very bizarre! Finally if you have time we all enjoyed the Baths of Caracalla which are like a Roman version of the Harbour Club. Take an audio tour so you know what you're looking at but it's in quite good nick considering it's so old.