From picnic-ready parks to al fresco cinema screenings, Rome is bursting with family-friendly things to do during the summer. If you’re heading to the Eternal City with your loved ones this season, follow our essential guide.
Make Italian pizza at a cooking class
Get a literal taste of la dolce vita by trying your hand at making authentic Italian pizza, pasta or gelato at a private cooking class at InRome Cooking. At their stunning palazzo school, you’ll learn Italian culinary secrets from an expert, perfect your techniques and—of course—taste your creations.
Bioparco
With exotic birds and rare breed animals from all continents, Bioparco will inspire young, nature-loving minds. The whole family will adore its colourful botanical displays, cool Komodo dragons and seeing the smallest monkeys in the world, emperor tamarins.
Picnic in Villa Borghese
Spend a sunny afternoon together basking in the beauty of the Villa Borghese gardens, just moments from Hotel de Russie. Throw down a blanket in a shady spot near the picturesque lake and tuck into a tasty hamper organised by the hotel. Afterwards, take a rowing boat out on the lake.
The Colosseum
No family day out in Rome would be complete without a trip to the Colosseum. Journey back in time together to ancient Rome and immerse yourselves in the world of brave gladiators and emperors. The best way to explore the historic amphitheatre is with a guided walk, where you can visit the atmospheric underground tunnels.
Isola del Cinema
Located on the pretty Isola Tiberina in the middle of the River Tiber, Isola del Cinema is an outdoor movie theatre open throughout summer until September. Screening a host of family favourites, it’s the perfect destination to head with your loved ones and catch a film together as the sun sets.
Set in the heart of Rome, by Piazza del Popolo, Hotel de Russie is an enchanting location for your family, from which you can explore Rome’s many highlights. Call +39 06 32 88 81 or email reservations.derussie@roccofortehotels.com
Photo Credit:
Villa Borghese fountain © iStock/bwzenith
Family at Coliseum Rome © iStock/travnikovstudio
Homemade pizza © iStock/AleksandarNakic
Colosseum in Rome and morning sun, Italy’ © Istock/vwalakte
The soul of a destination – that special something all travellers yearn to glimpse – is really the soul of its people. It is timeless humanity refracted by a place’s unique qualities, by its bounty and scarcity, its landscape and climate.
A child with flour-dusted hands, entirely absorbed in the soft tactility of dough, falls quiet in concentration. The same wonder is felt as a small finger points skywards, following the erratic flight of a bumblebee – noticing that the orange pom-poms clinging to its legs are, on closer inspection, minute pockets of pollen. These are the seemingly small moments, observed offline, that are exactly the kind of adventure the best family holidays create. One where each destination invites children and teens to become absorbed in the world around them – not their devices – making, discovering and noticing along the way.
Florence becomes the most compelling creative retreat when you fall in step with the city’s pace. In Milan you might ‘get your hustle on’ and Rome leans into a meandering walk or Vespa ride, this city, the birthplace of the Renaissance, draws us more towards strolling.
