Ten days with kids means you can add a beach destination. This changes everything. The number one cause of family meltdowns in Italy is too much art and not enough swimming. I give you culture AND downtime, museums AND gelato hunts, history AND beaches. The kids won't even realize they're learning.
Get a personalized version →Rome (3) → Amalfi Coast (3) → Florence (2) → Venice (2). Ten days means you can add beach time between cities. This changes the family dynamic completely — after museum mornings in Rome, three days of swimming and boat rides resets everyone's energy before the art of Florence and the boats of Venice.
Follow the 7-day kids itinerary Rome section: Day 1 — Colosseum arena floor (under-18 EU free) + Gladiator School (~€55/person) + pizza at Baffetto + gelato at Fatamorgana + Trevi coins. Day 2 — Vatican speed run (Gallery of Maps, Sistine Chapel challenge, St. Peter's dome climb) + Villa Borghese bikes/boats/zoo. Day 3 — Catacombs (San Callisto, €8) or Borghese Gallery + Trastevere street food tour (Eating Europe, ~€85/person). Train to Naples afternoon.
Ferry from Naples to Positano. Base in Positano or Praiano. Day 4 — Beach day: Fornillo Beach, SUP rental (€15-20/h), Da Adolfo beach restaurant (water taxi, grilled fish, feet in sand). Day 5 — Ravello family day: Villa Cimbrone gardens (kids love the statues), gelato in Amalfi town, swim at Atrani (tiny village next to Amalfi, quieter beach). Day 6 — Optional: Path of the Gods hike (teens OK, under-10s need to be confident walkers) OR boat excursion to Capri (shared boat tours from €40-60/person). Evening: pizza on the beach.
Ferry to Naples, train to Florence. Day 7 — Duomo dome climb (make it a race, 463 steps), San Lorenzo leather market (teach kids to haggle), Mercato Centrale lunch (everyone picks their own), gelato-making class (Mama Florence, ~€35/person, 1 hour). Day 8 — Accademia/David (brief), Piazzale Michelangelo (bus 12), bike rental to Fiesole if older kids. Train to Venice afternoon.
Day 9 — Vaporetto Line 1 Grand Canal (kids love being on a boat-bus), Murano glass-blowing demo (free, kids watch molten glass become a horse in 2 min), Burano rainbow houses, cicchetti lunch (kids pick what looks good, €2-3 each). Day 10 — Mask-making workshop (~€30-45/person, 1 hour, kids paint their own) + San Marco + Campanile elevator (€10). Optional gondola. Final cicchetti + gelato.
Italian restaurants don't have "kids' menus" in the American/British sense. But here's the secret: every restaurant in Italy will make pasta in bianco (plain butter/oil pasta), pizza margherita, or grilled chicken breast if you ask. Waiters love children and will bring bread immediately. Here are the specific restaurants that work best with kids at each stop:
Pizzeria da Baffetto (Via del Governo Vecchio 114) — chaos, paper-thin pizza, kids blend in, €8-12. Ai Marmi (Viale di Trastevere 53) — "the morgue" for its marble tables, huge cheap pizzas €7-10. La Gatta Mangiona (Via F. Ozanam 30, Monteverde) — gourmet pizza, fried starters kids love, €25/person, worth the taxi.
Da Adolfo (water taxi from Positano) — feet in sand, grilled fish on lemon leaves, €25-35/person. Pizza a Metro (Via Nazionale, Vico Equense near Sorrento) — pizza sold by the meter, kids choose toppings by pointing, €5-8/portion. Il Pirata (Praiano) — terrace, fresh fish, relaxed about kids, ~€25/person.
Gustapizza (Via Maggio 46) — wood-fired, no frills, €6-9/pizza. Mercato Centrale (first floor San Lorenzo) — everyone picks their own, high chairs available, €8-15. Trattoria Mario (Via Rosina 2) — shared tables, fast, loud, kids fit right in, €15-20/person.
Pizzeria Oke (Campo Santa Margherita) — casual, outdoor seating where kids can run in the campo, €8-12/pizza. Dal Moro's Fresh Pasta to Go (Calle de la Casseleria 5324) — choose pasta + sauce from a window, €7-9, eaten from a box. Gelateria Nico (Dorsoduro, on the Giudecca canal) — gianduiotto (chocolate-hazelnut ice cream on a stick), €3.50, canal-side bench.
Rule: if the gelato is piled in fluffy mountains above the container, it's fake (air-pumped, artificial). If it's flat in metal pans with lids, it's real. Rome: Fatamorgana (Via Laurina 10, creative flavors), Come il Latte (Via Silvio Spaventa 24, near Termini, better than it should be for the location). Florence: Vivoli (since 1930, Via dell'Isola delle Stinche 7), La Carraia (Piazza N. Sauro 25, huge portions for €2-3). Venice: SuSo (near San Marco, actually good despite the location), Alaska Gelateria (Santa Croce 1159, artisan). Budget: €3-4/cup everywhere. Give each kid €5/day gelato budget — they'll remember the gelato hunt more than the museums.
Pack these: Small toys/coloring books for restaurant waits (10-15 min between courses is normal). Refillable water bottle — Rome's nasoni (public fountains with nose-shaped spouts) dispense free, cold, drinkable water all over the city. Sunscreen + hat — Italian sun hits harder than you expect, especially on the Amalfi Coast and in Florence's treeless piazzas. Band-aids — cobblestones + running kids = scraped knees. Baby wipes — useful for everything until they're 40. Italian farmacie (pharmacies) have everything else, including children's Tylenol equivalent (Tachipirina, ask the pharmacist for dosage by weight).
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