Thinking about visiting Florence with kids? Wondering if this is a good idea or not?

Keep reading to find out why you absolutely should travel with your children and some of my top suggestions for a successful family vacation to Florence.

The good news for anyone traveling to Florence with kids (or anywhere in Italy from Rome to tiny villages for that matter), is that this country welcomes and celebrates children at every turn.

My first piece of advice – don’t feel like you have to do it all, you and your kids will get hot and tired.

Many of the locals still haven’t done all there is to ‘do’ in their own city so don’t let fear of missing out make you trigger happy with the buy now button on all the ticket websites. Best to pick a few top attractions in advance and book tickets and time slots so you can plan accordingly.

The kids will get much more out of spending time at one or two sights than rushing around the city between Botticelli, Michelangelo, Brunelleschi, Galileo and Da Vinci and getting culture overload. Remember, just walking from A to B in Florence is an attraction in itself.

The entire city is essentially an open-air museum, it’s like one huge playground. This means that there is so much you can see and do on foot, simply by walking around.

Take, for example, the stroll between the historic food market Mercato Centrale and the Boboli Gardens at the Pitti Palace. Only a 20-minute walk, but WHAT a walk!

This route will take you past some of Florence’s most famous sights. The iconic main cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore with its dome, Piazza della Repubblica whose antique carousel is always popular with the little ones, and across the Arno river over the Ponte Vecchio, one of the most famous bridges in the world.

Schedule in a fresh plate of pasta on a shady terrace, or inside where there is air con, followed by an afternoon visit to a top gelateria in town and that’s a whole day right there.

Parents can even enjoy an aperitivo or two at a decent hour, which, by the way, is a cultural must-do alongside all those must-sees.

As a mother of two curious boys, I love that all the museums in Florence are suitable for kids, if you adopt the right approach.

Before visiting, in most bookstores here you will find several city guides specifically for kids. These offer bite size snippets of history, breaking down the array of tourist attractions which can sometimes appear overwhelming.

As a general rule, there are reductions or free tickets for under 18’s at all state museums (like the Uffizi Gallery), and reductions for under 11’s at civic (city-owned) museums. Private museums make their own rules so no single discount policy applies everywhere, but always check so that you pay the correct price for the entire family.

The Uffizi Gallery

I’ll start with the big one: the Uffizi Gallery, one of the greatest art galleries in the world.

The Uffizi stretches all the way from Piazza della Signoria to the Arno river, with over a hundred rooms of famous paintings and sculptures in 13,000 square metres of rooms.

It’s big. You would need several days to see it all and the queues can be incredibly long.

It’s a must see location when visiting Florence, but for kids, our recommended approach would be to hire a tour guide. They can keep it brief, whisk you to the best bits and keep the experience relevant and fun for a young audience.

The Uffizi Gallery is also perfectly manageable to visit by yourselves. There is a section on their website with lots of information and resources for children to help them understand this wonderful museum, and you can contact them to see what tours are available for families.

When it comes to booking tickets, if you are in Florence for a few days, it would be worth considering the Passpartout 5 days ticket which combines entry to the Uffizi Gallery, the Boboli Gardens and the Pitti Palace over a consecutive five day period. You must start with the Uffizi and you need to reserve a date and time for your visit.

Keep an eye on the Free Admission days when the gallery is open to the public free of charge. These are usually on national holidays such as Liberation Day on April 25 and Republic Day on June 2, but children under 18 always get free entry regardless of which day you visit.

You won’t be able to book a time slot or request priority admission on these days and you can expect lots of people… but then again it’s free entry.

Galileo Museum – Science Museum

This centrally located museum, round the corner from the Uffizi, is perfect for slightly older kids aged 7-8 and upwards with an interest in science and history.

Interactive installations on the ground floor immediately transport visitors into the wonderful world of astronomy and upstairs you can find scientific instruments that Galileo used himself. This famous scientist is the guy that discovered that the earth moves around the sun.

You can book tickets and a time slot online. Kids under 6 are entitled to free entry but they may be a little young to fully appreciate the whole museum. Family tickets are available to include two children under 18 as well.

Museo di Palazzo Davanzati

Another must see for coming to Florence with kids is the Museo di Palazzo Davanzati, also known as the Museo della Casa Fiorentina Antica.

This museum offers an experience similar to travelling back in time. Walk inside a 16th century noble Florentine home with original furnishings, frescoed walls, playfully decorated bedrooms and medieval kitchens with cooking utensils.

A pretty engaging museum for a family trip, it is right in the center of town. It’s also a short walking distance from bars and restaurants for a refreshing drink or gelato after exploring the different rooms.

Under 18’s enter for free, although if you are booking online you need to add the appropriate number of free tickets to the overall booking so they know how many people will be inside at any point.

Leonardo Da Vinci Museum and Leonardo Interactive Museum

Some of the more modern, interactive museums are hugely popular with kids of all ages and, in contrast to a traditional collection like the Accademia Gallery or Uffizi, offer an immersive and tactile educational experience.

There are two interactive Leonardo da Vinci museums, located very close to each other in the Florence city center, just up the street from the Duomo.

At both the Leonardo Da Vinci museum on Via del Castellaccio and the Leonardo Interactive Museum on Via dei Servi, children can operate real mechanical replicas of Da Vinci’s inventions. Examples include the Tank, the Catapult, the Hydraulic Saw and the Printing Machine, which are sure to keep the kids entertained for some time.

Da Vinci’s original drawings, examples of his mirrored writing technique and intricate maps are displayed throughout the museums. You can book tickets online for a specific time slot so there is rarely a queue to stand in.

At both these kid friendly museums there are reduced entry fees for children and families.

Accademia Gallery

Around a 10 minute walk from the Duomo through the historic city is the Galleria dell’Accademia. Millions of tourists head inside every year to see the original sculpture of Michelangelo’s David.

It’s your call whether or not to include this museum on your trip as, even with a ticket, there are queues to follow and once inside the experience may not be as engaging as other museums.

While it isn’t one of the most child friendly museums, Michelangelo’s David is one of the most famous sculptures in the world so to be able to walk up to it is a pretty humbling and inspiring moment. Children under 18 always have free entry.

The Soccer Museum – Museo del Calcio

The Italian Soccer Museum is an entertaining and alternative attraction for those budding soccer players or fans of the game. It takes the visitor through the history of the national team and, of course, the internationally renowned city club ‘La Fiorentina’ or ‘La Viola’ (after the purple strip).

There are even world cup replicas and original pieces of kit dating back through the decades. The shop will be difficult to leave without buying one of the stylish soccer shirts with a personalised name and number on the back, they do it for you there and then.

The Museo del Calcio is out of town just north of the city, a 20-minute cab ride away, or you can hop on the number 17 or 20 bus from the tram stop T1 Fortezza. It is free to enter for under 5’s and reduced entry for children 5 and up.

Other Kid Friendly Museums

The exhibition of Pinocchio all’Opera celebrates the magic of opera and this famous puppet and fairytale character, whose author, Carlo Collodi, spent much of his life in Tuscany.

There’s a great deal of excitement about the Museum of Illusions in Borgo degli Albizi in the historic center. This is possibly one of the more impressive interactive experiences for kids, where illusion meets art, physics, science, optics and history. It is top of the list for my two boys.

Best to book tickets on-line to avoid unnecessary queues as it’s a popular one.

For dinosaur and fossil lovers the Natural History Museum on Via la Pira is a must-see with its interesting fossil collection and impressive mammoth skeletons (there’s also the skeleton of a whale).

Entry to the Natural History museum is free for under 6’s, reduced for kids between 6 and 14, and there’s also a family ticket where up to 2 adults can go inside with up to 4 kids.

There are many many more but this collection should keep you busy for at least your first two trips to Florence with kids.

If you prefer to book a guided tour when visiting museums, you can choose a kid focused tour or family tour option which is designed to be interesting to the whole family.

Climbing the Duomo of Florence’s cathedral and Giotto’s Bell Tower are some of the most memorable ways to view the city of Florence. To reach the 360 degree views of the Renaissance city center at the top you will need to climb steps, lots and lots of steps (463 for the Duomo and 414 for the Bell Tower) and you need to be okay with narrow, low-lit staircases.

This experience is recommended for slightly older kids and young kids need to be accompanied by an adult. I wouldn’t recommend attempting the climb with babies or toddlers.

You need to book tickets and time slots in advance and make sure you turn up plenty of time before your allocated slot, as there will be a queue to enter.

Tickets are now grouped together rather than separated for individual climbs. The Brunelleschi Pass includes both the Duomo and Giotto’s Campanile along with a visit to the Crypt of Santa Reparata and the Baptistery.

It also includes entrance to the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo which reveals (amongst many other things) the fascinating architectural story of how the cathedral and the famous dome was built.

What kid doesn’t get excited about a big, red, double-decker, open top bus?

There are two bus routes in Florence and you can get on or off as many times as you like on either a 24 hour, 48 hour or 72 hour ticket. It’s a great way to get your bearings and cruise the city sitting down while taking in the main sights and feeling the sun on your face.

To mix things up a bit after some time in the historic center and for time out between museums on your family vacation, there are plenty of great open spaces in and around Florence for kids to run, relax and play.

Le Cascine to the west of the city can be reached by tram (line T1) from the centre. Taking the tram in itself is a mini adventure for the kids, but please remember to validate your tickets once purchased using the machines on board.

In its 160 hectares Le Cascine has play parks, sports facilities, amusements and an outdoor swimming pool with restaurant Le Pavoniere.

One of my favourite public parks is the Parco dell’Anconella on the southeast bank of the Arno river. A park for the locals with great play areas for kids and a decent bar for the adults. In the summer you will see stages appear for outdoor theater productions and concerts for all the family.

Check out some of the other beautiful gardens in the city too (not just the Boboli Gardens) like the Giardini dell’Orticultura or the Giardino delle Rose, just under the famous Piazzale Michelangelo which you can visit along with the beautiful church of San Miniato al Monte for free.

Other great pools and lidos to consider can be found a little further towards the outskirts but still close to the center.

More family friendly than Le Pavoniere in Le Cascine park (which also gets very busy) are Bellariva (with a lovely pizza restaurant and shady grass area) and Costoli near the Florence football stadium, also with plenty of shaded green space. Entry prices are very reasonable and there are always bars or restaurants once you’re inside but you’ll need a swimming cap.

The campsite Hu Firenze Camping in Town to the southeast of the city has a great kids pool and a fantastic pizzeria restaurant but you’ll need to book as it’s a super popular spot.

If you fancy a little trip up into the hills above the city then I fully recommend the farm Fattoria di Maiano where kids can visit the animals, help pick the olives (they make award winning olive oil), visit the bees in the apiary and taste the honey and much more.

There is plenty for the adults to enjoy too including night trekking through the woods and a historic botanical garden.

I’ll leave the closing comments to my own two (half Florentine) sons aged 8 and 10, who happily set about the task of listing their top three things to recommend to their friends if they visit Florence.

Following many squeals of delight (and pleas to include at least six things), the following list was thrust into my hand:

• Illusions Museum
• Climbing the Duomo (My eldest – “This is so epic. When can we do it again?”)
• Gelateria De’ Medici
• Walking across the Ponte Vecchio
• Taking the tram somewhere
• Chasing lizards in Boboli Gardens and Parco dell’Anconella

I wonder what their list will look like ten years from now!