Rome with kids

Travel with kids is often stressful and Rome is not known for being a child-friendly destination but the Italian Capital has a lot to offer.

The fact that a lot of the monuments are completely free and can be found just by walking around the city means adults can enjoy the must see sights without forcing boring hours of waiting in lines on the children.

The Trevi Fountain, Colosseum, Piazza Navona, Panetheon and Roman Forum to name just a few.

If the kids have seen enough churches and museums take them to the Explora Childrens Museum in Via Flamina which is specially designed for kids to learn through play and has some great hands on experiments and other activities for them to do (Check the website http://www.mdbr.it/ for full details).

Rome is blessed with several parks that make fantastic get aways from the hussle and bussle of the city streets and offer open spaces for fun and games. Villa Borghese is right in the centre (close the the Spanish Steps) and has rides, bike hire, puppet shows and much more. 

If you're just after a quick break from sight seeing why not take them to one of the many play areas situated around the city. Piazza Re di Roma (near san Giovanni) has one as does Piazza Celimontana (near the Colosseum) and Piazza Vittorio Emanuele (near Termini).

When going to new places, everyone should try to learn a bit of the language and even very young children can learn to say a few basic words like "ciao" (hello/goodbye) and " Grazie" (Thank you). They'll love the positive react it gets them from the locals!

Italian for Tourists is the perfect book to take with you as it covers only the stuff you need to know and is simple enough for the whole family to use and understand. It's now available in various formats so you can even download a copy to your iphone or ipad from www.ibookstore.com and have it as an easy to use reference tool when out and about in the City.