Venice with children

In this article we have tried to find out the informations that could be helpful for visiting Venice with kids , trying to give you an idea of the problems that may arise during the stay and any advice on how to deal with them.
First of all, we have identified the best period to stay with the children with the aim of making it as much as possible a trip for children.

The best time to visit Venice

The best time to visit Venice with your family is the spring period. First of all, the city is less chaotic and crowded and this allows you to have a more relaxing vacation with your children. Indeed, is essential that there is not crowd of the summer period to move better with your stroller and your bag. Moreover, walking every day is easier and less hard than in summer. Compared to the winter months, spring has a better weather and you can avoid to use the umbrellas, that cause problems if you have the stroller. Remember that the periods with lot of people in Venice are also February for the Carnival and August and September for the Film Festival and for Biennale.

Let’s start to analyze the problems that you can find when you want to visit Venice with your children and the advices about the best hotels for you and your family.

What to do and places where to stay in venice with children

To understand how to visit Venice in the best way with you children we collect in this paragraph the problems that you could face if you visit the city, like the ferry boats or walking in venice with the stroller. Finally, we have pointed out the best hotels of the city with the best services for the families

Ferry boat with children

If you want to use the ferry boat, we inform you that children until six years old don’t pay the ticket and the transport of the stroller is free. There are not family packages, so we suggest you to buy a card for 24/48 hours for example if you want to take the ferry boat more than once a day (the single rides are 7,50 euros).

Around Venice with stroller

Venice is a problematic city for who wants to use the stroller.
There are a lot of bridges and steps, and also the entry and the exit from the ferry boats is not simple.
So we suggest to alternate the use of the stroller and the use of the bum bag that allows a easier visit of some parts of the city or in some buildings like museums. Especially for museums, the stroller is a problem because you must left it in the wardrobe.
But there are a lot of public toilets with changing tables for children (you have to pay for use it). This toilets are in there areas:

 

 

• Rialto Novo (San Polo 551, open from 7 am to 7 pm)
• San Bartolomeo (San Marco 5404, open from 8 am to 8 pm)
• Diurno San Marco (Calle Ascension 1265, open from 9 am to 20 pm)
• Piazzale Roma (Calle Cosetti 456)Here you can find a .pdf with all the toilet facilities in Venice and the timetable
  public toilets in Venice (PDF)

 

Where to stay in Venice

Now we propose you a selection of the best Hotels and Residences in Venice with the best reviews from families with children that stayed in this facilities. These hotels are good for families because of the big rooms, the position close to the best attractions, the hospitality for the children and the gardens where they can play together. We propose a list of facilities that have all this features:

Things to do and places to visit with children

It is well known that children’s attention and interest is often difficult to capture, especially when it comes to visits and city tours. So we try to understand how to organize a fascinating journey for them and let’s highlight the events dedicated to children in Venice, such as educational workshops and guided tours created especially for them!

Museums

If you want to stuìimulate the interest of the little visitors for the most important museums of the city, there are a lot of activities for the families. We suggest you “Family at the museum“, organized by the Venetian Civical Museum Foundation and Kids Day organized by the Peggy Guggemheim Collection.

“Families at the museum”

Every sunday in the facilites of the Foundation there are a lot of games and educational laboratories for kids. The program is wide and it includes “on-demand” activities in more than one language and different events every month. For who wants to live the atmosphere of Dogi and myths, we sggest you, for example, Doge’s Palace, which proposes an interactive visit for young people to discover art and history of the palace with games, stories and mysteries, or the activities of Museum Correr like a drawing lab inspired by myths and legends and a journey in the Venice of the sixteeth Century. For who wants more accessible itineraries for the children we suggest the Museum of Natural History, where there are some fossils, a huge acquarium and a gallery dedicated to cetaceans.

In addition there is the possibility to buy Muve Museum Pass to discover the art and cultural heritage of Venice that allows you to visit 11 museums in Venice, Murano and Burano, with a validity of six months!

“Kids Day” da Peggy Guggenheim

Every Sunday, the Peggy Guggenheim museum organizes Kids Day, a free initiative for children between the ages of 4 and 10. The program was created to encourage children discover modern and contemporary art, trying to make their experience more interesting and engaging them with the creation of workshops to practice what has just been learned. The activities must be booked via telephone and is available in various languages.

Shows, Music and Theater

Shows and music: Palazzetto Bru Zane in Venice dedicates special concerts to children from the age of six with their families. The program consists of concerts that are preceded by workshops led by a musician or mediator whose purpose is to entertain the children and make them participate in an interactive way. Furthermore, since this year, further activities have begun such as treasure hunts.
Theater with shows for children and families::

• Teatro Goldoni: in addition to hosting a museum and offering entertainment activities, it stages the puppets and their creation.
• Teatro ai Frari: organizes shows and cultural offers for children of all ages such as the puppet show.

Tips:
Mamma Cult Venezia is a program of guided tours with for families . Family friendly cultural routes in which the needs of children are the most important things
We suggest to isit the website that constantly offers new appointments for children.

Where to play with children

If you want to bring your children in some playground for a break after a stressful and long day of sightseeing we recommend some areas equipped with swings and slides where they can play, including:

• il Parco Savorgnan, just over ten minutes on foot from the Natural History Museum, is a great break for our children who can find slides, swings, and even ping-pong tables inside. It is located near the Ponte delle Guglie.
• i Giardini Napoleonici (Giardini Biennale), a large green corner in the city where you can run, play and have fun with games for both children and older people. Excellent for those who has just finished a visit to the Biennale or a ride in the Arsenale area, it just 15 minutes from the area. They are also ideal for an outdoor picnic.
• Pineta Sant’Elena where there are fountains, soccer fields and games.
• il Giardino Papadopoli, located near Piazzale Roma (the games are located inside the park). Ideal if your children want to play after a visit to the Civic Museums.

Gondola Tour

The gondola tour is one of the symbols of the city and is very popular among children, who are strongly attracted to it. Beware, however, that especially for the smallest and wildest of them there is the danger of falling into the water; it is therefore essential that the parent keeps them close to them during the journey.

In fact, a fascinating gondola tour in Venice is ideal to admire the majestic architectural masterpieces that overlook the water, the bridges and the magnificent views. You will discover the most suggestive areas of this city through the narrow canals!

We recommend families with babies to ride the gondola using the baby carrier because the stroller has to be left on the ground at the reference gondola station. A 40 minute ride costs approximately 80 euros; however, if you want to experience the same emotion even if shorter we recommend the gondolas that cross the Grand Canal (known as “ferry” gondolas), which is located in some points of Venice (S.Sofia, S.Tomà and S.Maria del Giglio) and costing a few euros, it is a cheaper way to try the typical Venetian boat and a way to please our kids (strollers can bring).

Itineraries for children

If you want to spend a day for the tour of the islands with your children:

Burano’s trip

It is very suggested a visit of the island of Burano, which immediately succeeds in attracting the attention of children thanks to the coloured houses. Full of flowers on the balconies are reflected in the waters of the canals, giving a wonderful show. Do not miss the most famous house of the island, the house of Bepi Suà, painted with multiple colors that follow different geometric shapes. Finally do not miss the typical biscuits, called “bussolai“.

Furnaces of Murano

It is strongly ecommended a visit of Murano and its furnaces where children can admire the master glassmakers compose their colorful glass creations from the beginning. Magically, a glowing ball turns into a chandelier or an animal and these demonstrations are free!

Bike Ride At The Lido Of Venice

Nolate a bike or a rickshaw and enjoy a ride to discover Lido of Venice. Bike to Malamocco, a historic village that still retains its original atmosphere and give a little entertainment to children.
For info on the rental click here.

Beach At Lido

If you want to have a break or a moment of relaxation and let your children have a nice bath, we suggest you to spend a day on the beach of Lido di Venezia, just 15/20 minutes by boat from Piazza San Marco.

Lido’s Planetarium

For the older ones (recommended from seven years upwards) from October to May the planetarium offers performances every Sunday (beginning at 4 pm) according to a calendar that can be consulted on the website or on the Facebook page. The entrance to the performances is free and the duration of the show is 50 minutes, when the children can admire the large dome above the head, the phenomena of the sky like the rainbow, a starry evening and the twilight, all sitting in comfortable armchairs.

Finally, visiting Venice with the children is not impossible, but you have to use some trick and prepare yourself for any difficulties you may encounter. We hope to have clarified the various doubts you had about a visit with your children and to have provided the solutions for the problems highlighted.