10 Things to Do in Florence for Children

With so many museums, churches and historical sites you might think that Florence is a boring city to visit with children. Quite the opposite is true. The Florentine capital has a lot to see and do even with the little ones.

The many museums in the city adapt their visits to make them more enjoyable for the little ones. Monuments and tourist sites have special rates and Florence is even the setting for one of the most popular video games among children... and not so children. Discover the top 10 things to do in Florence with kids below.

There are more than 70 museums in Florence and all of them are suitable for children. Do not miss them thinking that they will get bored because it would be a mistake. These are the ones that the little ones might like the most:

• Leonardo Da Vinci Museum: it houses many pieces, such as models of Da Vinci's inventions, with which children can interact and enjoy.
• Galileo Museum: like the Da Vinci Museum, it contains many interesting creations that children will enjoy.
• Natural History Museum: has a large collection of dinosaurs.
• The Uffizi Gallery: offers guided tours designed for children that transform the visit into a treasure hunt of sorts.
• Palazzo Vecchio: contains the Children's Museum where dramatized tours, laboratories and experiments that the little ones are sure to enjoy.

As you can see, there is no reason not to visit the best museums in the city with children and, moreover, they all have special rates for them.

Few things are more popular with kids than a meal of pizza and gelato. And being in the heart of Italy, children can enjoy the best ice cream, pizza and pasta dishes. There are pizzerias and ice cream parlors all over Florence, but my recommendation is that you encourage them to prepare their own.

To do so, you can book a pizza and ice cream cooking class, where Italian chefs will teach them how to make pizza and even homemade ice cream.

Touring the historic center of Florence on foot can be tedious for children. One way to turn a stroll through the streets into something different and fun is to take a bike tour. The entire city center is pedestrianized so there is no danger of cars for children.

Another original way to explore Florence that your children will love is to take one of the electric golf cart tours. The driver will take you around the corners of the city and with the audio guide that these tours usually include you will not miss any detail of the monuments and buildings that you will visit along the way.

Visiting the Duomo cathedral in Florence is a must-do activity if you're passing through the city. While seeing a cathedral doesn't sound particularly fun for kids, it can be if you get tickets to climb Brunelleschi's dome. It's a different experience that can give the little ones a great time climbing up the narrow corridors and stairs of the dome.

The climb is a bit overwhelming for adults because of the narrowness at some points while for them it is much more comfortable. It is always fun to watch the adults "suffer".

The Florence Cathedral, like many tourist attractions, offers special rates for children. In this case the entrance to the Duomo for children from 7 to 14 years old has a reduced rate.

Another must-see in Florence is the Pitti Palace. Luckily for the little ones, the gardens of this palace are an ideal place to play. Known as the Boboli Gardens, the hedges and trees are arranged in a maze-like pattern where children can play "get lost" while the adults accompanying them enjoy a pleasant stroll through the palace gardens.

The entrance to the palace and gardens is discounted for children and on the first Sunday of each month the visit to the gardens is free.

Piazza della Repubblica is one of the main squares in Florence and one of the most beautiful. While the adults enjoy the artistic part of the square, the children can have a great time on the merry-go-round that is installed in the square. It is installed all year round and a ride costs only 1 euro.

In the same square is also the statue of Porcellino, a fountain with a figure of a wild boar on which a curious tradition has been created. It consists of putting your hand with a coin in the animal's snout and letting it fall. If the coin falls into the grids of the fountain it means that the Porcellino has brought you luck and you will be able to return to Florence. This "game" always pleases the little ones.

The famous Ponte Vecchio, as well as a must-see in Florence, is a place full of stimuli for children. On the bridge there are all kinds of stores, food places and street performances with which they will not have a chance to get bored, as well as a "secret" tunnel at the top of the bridge.

But the main attraction for the little ones of the house is the puppet show that takes place almost every day and at various times on the Ponte Vecchio. There are several companies in Florence that do the show for free, although they do accept tips.

If you visit Florence in summer you will probably miss a swim at the beach. Well, surprisingly it is something that has a solution, because Florence has a beach. Logically it is not a normal beach, but an artificial one on the banks of the Arno River.

It is a very well conditioned space with umbrellas, hammocks and a beach bar perfect for a drink while the little ones play in the sand. It is a good option for the hottest days of the Florentine summer.

If your kids are over 10 years old and they like to play video games, it is very likely that they have played Assassins Creed. This video game is set in Renaissance Florencewhere the protagonist walks through scenarios that you will visit such as the Piazza del Duomo, the bell tower of the cathedral or the Battistero di San Giovanni.

If they have played it they will surely enjoy visiting the scenarios of this popular video game. In fact, there are specific tours that run through the main points of Florence with the story of Assassins Creed as a common thread. Video games and tourism can go hand in hand and this is an activity that kids are sure to enjoy...and adults too.

If we have a day to spare in Florence we have the opportunity to make it up to our children after a trip full of museums and monuments by taking an excursion outside the city. In that case the best option is to visit the Pinocchio Park.

This theme park is based on the famous Pinocchio novel by Carlo Lorenzini and features various scenes from the story with rides and interactive activities designed for the enjoyment of children.

The park is located in Collodi, about 80 kilometers from Florence. It takes about 1 hour by car and there are also buses that go directly to Collodi. It is a highly recommended activity for children to enjoy while visiting Florence and Tuscany.

Traveling with children requires some patience and planning, but taking into account a number of points and recommendations there is nothing you can't do in Florence. Here are some tips to keep in mind if you are traveling to the Florentine city with children:

• Book the entrance to museums and monuments in advance: if you do not do it is quite likely that you will encounter long queues and we already know that children and queues do not get along well.
• Get special discounts for children: there are special discountsfor children at all tourist attractions. Many of them also offer specific guided tours designed for the little ones. Find out about these tours before visiting a museum or monument.
• Don't worry if you are traveling with a stroller: Florence is quite accessible in this sense and in places like the cathedral they let you enter with a stroller and if not there is usually a locker where you can leave it to make your visit without problems.
• Find out about family tours: these are guided tours of the main sights of Florence designed especially for families with children. The advantage of these tours is that the guides adapt the visit to the little ones with treasure hunts and interactive activities.
• If you are traveling in summer... pay special attention to children's hydration as summer temperatures in Florence are quite high.
• If you are traveling by car with children... keep in mind that the city center is pedestrianized and not accessible by car. Doing so can lead to heavy fines and parking near the center is quite expensive. If this is your case and you are traveling by car, look for a centrally located accommodation to save you and your children long walks with strollers.