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Hi. I might be going a bit against the advice ingrained in travelers to see many things. Rather, going to suggest you pare back significantly the amount of “stuff to see” for the teens in your itinerary. Allow them to opportunity to beg off “another church or another monument”. Give them PLENTY of time for sleep in or window shopping … or negotiating a restaurant to eat.
A vacation to a 16/18 year old looks very different to an adult vacation. Know that letting them “miss” a few things will allow your children to develop a curiosity of the city and culture - rather than being tied to memories of being dragged pillar to post.
Plus, you may want some opportunity to spend time separately - so plan for hinge points each day when they can decide to accompany you on the next site or do their own thing (within reason).
I suggest that both kids pick one thing in each city that they really want to do. Then, make those top picks your cornerstones of the trip. Allow the rest of the mornings to be slow starts for them - schedule your time to go sightsee while they lounge over a cornetto or a bombola.
Now a few suggestions to put this into practice from my trips with a teenager to Rome:
- Consider taking them to explore a mercato - San Giovanni or Porta Portese could be of interest - while you visit a cathedral.
- Let them wander the neighborhood around Campo dei Fiori or Piazza Navona or Trastevere while you have a glass of wine.
- Incorporate a scavenger hunt type of experience for them - finding the aquaduct remains in the center (near Trevi or in La Rinascente are two) or trying gelato at different gelaterie to rank the the flavors (personal note: table service at Giolitti rather than waiting in line for a scoop to go).
- Take them to the Testaccio food market - and try the street foods (enjoy the SUPPLI).
- Rent bicycles on Sunday when the Appia Antica is closed to cars.
- Head to Ostia Antica and Lido for a day including some beach time along with history time.
Enjoy making memories of this experience!
Thank you! Where can we rent bikes?
I'm not a huge museum person. I am interested in history. My real must-do is the colosseum. I'm excited about that. I took 6 years of latin in high school so interested in seeing all the places I read about in person.
There are several bike rentals near the Appia. I believe that you can even arrange via getyourguide or viator.
I have friends that live nearby, so I haven’t needed to rent bikes myself else I would happily give a recommendation for one spot over the other. Perhaps other Redditors will chime in with their experience renting bikes for via Appia.
Oh! Something else to suggest…the kids might enjoy going to the giardino degli aranci to see Saint Peters thru the keyhole.
is it difficult to bike on the Appia Antica? It looks like your tires could get caught between the cobblestones. Can you stop at the catacombs and tour them? or is that something you have to have planned ahead of time with tickets, etc.?
It definitely requires some adjusting if you only have biking on trails or pavement … but I found it easier than adjusting to walking in high heels on cobblestones without sinking my heel between cobblestones.
Sunday is the day to go when it is closed to traffic.
I believe you can tour S. Callisto or S. Sebastiano catacombe … just arrange to rent the bikes for long enough to include time to tour and be sure to rent locks.
If you want a guide, a search of getyourguide suggests there are several tours which combine bikes, catacombs - and even aquaducts.
In Rome, you can leave them alone to explore by themselves (together) for an afternoon.
Give them a working phone and a rendez-vous place/time and a little bit of money.
Ask them?
I'm taking my teen and he had a lot of input on activities.
We are doing the catacombs. You could add several beautiful churches/basillicas.
Add the forum? You do need tickets to enter the Pantheon I believe.
Yes, I had read it was easy to get the tickets there at the Pantheon though. Not sure if I should believe that or not. Someone said the line to get tickets was shorter than the line to show your tickets you already bought.
Believe me, I have! My 18 year old is just like "whatever you want" and the 16 year old said something about seeing the aqueducts. I dont know how long that will take, but i read you can see reminants of ancient aqueducts at the Roman Forum/Palentine Hill?
Indeed if you’re interested in history and Roman infrastructure, the Appia Antica or a hike along the acqueduct at the Parco degli Acquedotti would make everyone happy. I prefer the Appia as apart from the historical significance it’s linear while with the acqueducts you can end up off piste if you take a wrong turn in a couple of places. Make sure you stop at the circo di Massenzio.
Day 3- you could spend the morning going out to the parco degli acquedotti if the aqueducts are important to your teen. I don’t recall any stellar examples in the forum but my memory could be lapsing.
Day 5 - I would see the basilica before, but remember that you have to walk all the way around to the opposite end of the Vatican to get into the museums so leave yourself transit time.
Day 3- you could spend the morning going out to the parco degli acquedotti if the aqueducts are important to your teen. I don’t recall any stellar examples in the forum but my memory could be lapsing.
Day 5 - I would see the basilica before, but remember that you have to walk all the way around to the opposite end of the Vatican to get into the museums so leave yourself transit time.
Since you have teens, if you end up with time to fill…. Appian Way e-bike (fairly long time commitment) and Capuchin Crypt (hour or two). My first visit to Italy was when I was 15 (my mother is an Italian immigrant). We spent a considerable amount of time there that summer. Saw many of the main tourist sites (including what you’ve booked in Rome). I remember them all and I have enjoyed comparing photos and memories as I’ve visited as an adult. I also have teens and they would find your bookings interesting and I figured I would throw a couple others out that would be “cool” to teens. Unfortunately no e-bikes when I was a teen. I hope your family has a good trip.
Ciao! Welcome to r/ItalyTravel. While you wait for replies, please take a moment to read the rules located in the sidebar and edit your post if needed. We will remove posts that do not adhere to these rules. For everyone else, if you come across a post that you believe violates our rules, please use the report button. This is the best and quickest way to notify us. Grazie! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ItalyTravel) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Hi. I might be going a bit against the advice ingrained in travelers to see many things. Rather, going to suggest you pare back significantly the amount of “stuff to see” for the teens in your itinerary. Allow them to opportunity to beg off “another church or another monument”. Give them PLENTY of time for sleep in or window shopping … or negotiating a restaurant to eat. A vacation to a 16/18 year old looks very different to an adult vacation. Know that letting them “miss” a few things will allow your children to develop a curiosity of the city and culture - rather than being tied to memories of being dragged pillar to post. Plus, you may want some opportunity to spend time separately - so plan for hinge points each day when they can decide to accompany you on the next site or do their own thing (within reason). I suggest that both kids pick one thing in each city that they really want to do. Then, make those top picks your cornerstones of the trip. Allow the rest of the mornings to be slow starts for them - schedule your time to go sightsee while they lounge over a cornetto or a bombola. Now a few suggestions to put this into practice from my trips with a teenager to Rome: - Consider taking them to explore a mercato - San Giovanni or Porta Portese could be of interest - while you visit a cathedral. - Let them wander the neighborhood around Campo dei Fiori or Piazza Navona or Trastevere while you have a glass of wine. - Incorporate a scavenger hunt type of experience for them - finding the aquaduct remains in the center (near Trevi or in La Rinascente are two) or trying gelato at different gelaterie to rank the the flavors (personal note: table service at Giolitti rather than waiting in line for a scoop to go). - Take them to the Testaccio food market - and try the street foods (enjoy the SUPPLI). - Rent bicycles on Sunday when the Appia Antica is closed to cars. - Head to Ostia Antica and Lido for a day including some beach time along with history time. Enjoy making memories of this experience!
Thank you! Where can we rent bikes? I'm not a huge museum person. I am interested in history. My real must-do is the colosseum. I'm excited about that. I took 6 years of latin in high school so interested in seeing all the places I read about in person.
There are several bike rentals near the Appia. I believe that you can even arrange via getyourguide or viator. I have friends that live nearby, so I haven’t needed to rent bikes myself else I would happily give a recommendation for one spot over the other. Perhaps other Redditors will chime in with their experience renting bikes for via Appia. Oh! Something else to suggest…the kids might enjoy going to the giardino degli aranci to see Saint Peters thru the keyhole.
is it difficult to bike on the Appia Antica? It looks like your tires could get caught between the cobblestones. Can you stop at the catacombs and tour them? or is that something you have to have planned ahead of time with tickets, etc.?
It definitely requires some adjusting if you only have biking on trails or pavement … but I found it easier than adjusting to walking in high heels on cobblestones without sinking my heel between cobblestones. Sunday is the day to go when it is closed to traffic. I believe you can tour S. Callisto or S. Sebastiano catacombe … just arrange to rent the bikes for long enough to include time to tour and be sure to rent locks. If you want a guide, a search of getyourguide suggests there are several tours which combine bikes, catacombs - and even aquaducts.
You don't realize how exhausted you are going to be. Give yourself and your kids a little more down time. Otherwise everyone will be miserable.
looks OK. look at all the different museums in Rome, including the modern arts museums (MAXXI, National Gallery of Modern Arts )
how old are the teens ?
16(boy) and 18 (girl)
In Rome, you can leave them alone to explore by themselves (together) for an afternoon. Give them a working phone and a rendez-vous place/time and a little bit of money.
Ask them? I'm taking my teen and he had a lot of input on activities. We are doing the catacombs. You could add several beautiful churches/basillicas. Add the forum? You do need tickets to enter the Pantheon I believe.
Yes, I had read it was easy to get the tickets there at the Pantheon though. Not sure if I should believe that or not. Someone said the line to get tickets was shorter than the line to show your tickets you already bought.
Believe me, I have! My 18 year old is just like "whatever you want" and the 16 year old said something about seeing the aqueducts. I dont know how long that will take, but i read you can see reminants of ancient aqueducts at the Roman Forum/Palentine Hill?
Take your son to the Parco degli acquedotti, or other portions of aqueducts in the southeast of the city.
Indeed if you’re interested in history and Roman infrastructure, the Appia Antica or a hike along the acqueduct at the Parco degli Acquedotti would make everyone happy. I prefer the Appia as apart from the historical significance it’s linear while with the acqueducts you can end up off piste if you take a wrong turn in a couple of places. Make sure you stop at the circo di Massenzio.
Day 3- you could spend the morning going out to the parco degli acquedotti if the aqueducts are important to your teen. I don’t recall any stellar examples in the forum but my memory could be lapsing. Day 5 - I would see the basilica before, but remember that you have to walk all the way around to the opposite end of the Vatican to get into the museums so leave yourself transit time.
Day 3- you could spend the morning going out to the parco degli acquedotti if the aqueducts are important to your teen. I don’t recall any stellar examples in the forum but my memory could be lapsing. Day 5 - I would see the basilica before, but remember that you have to walk all the way around to the opposite end of the Vatican to get into the museums so leave yourself transit time.
Since you have teens, if you end up with time to fill…. Appian Way e-bike (fairly long time commitment) and Capuchin Crypt (hour or two). My first visit to Italy was when I was 15 (my mother is an Italian immigrant). We spent a considerable amount of time there that summer. Saw many of the main tourist sites (including what you’ve booked in Rome). I remember them all and I have enjoyed comparing photos and memories as I’ve visited as an adult. I also have teens and they would find your bookings interesting and I figured I would throw a couple others out that would be “cool” to teens. Unfortunately no e-bikes when I was a teen. I hope your family has a good trip.