10 things to do in Venice with children – Venice for children

Venice for Children

Rialto Bridge

Places to see in Venice with kids

Venice for children: as most of people know, Venice is an ancient city, almost like a museum on water.

It is rich in art, history and culture itineraries. Depending on the time available, you can choose to do very interesting things with your kids, no matter their age, with workshops and visits to child friendly museums, alternating them with short breaks to play in the campi or parks equipped for them.

Do not spare yourself the vaporetto rides and if your budget allows it, also a gondola ride because it will be an exciting experience for the little ones.

Venice is probably the most suitable city for children when it comes down to dangers. The little squares and the tiny streets are a wonderful place to play outside, away from the danger of cars that crowd other cities and also crime levels are very very low!

The best campi and campielli where your children can play and meet local Venetian kids are: Campo del Ghetto, Campo Santa Margherita, Campo Santo Stefano, Campo San Polo, Campo Santa Maria Formosa and Campo San Giacomo dall’Orio.

If you have the time, make sure to go up the bell tower of San Marco: children will enjoy counting the steps and get an overall idea of the city a breathtaking view! During the summer, the island of Lido is one more possibility: in fact you can go biking, walking on the beach or go for a swim.

Here is my list of 10 things which can be done with kids in Venice, it should keep them entertained and make their trip to Venice, one they will never forget!

10 things to do in Venice with children

1- A visit to Venice should not start first without a tour of the Gran Canal by vaporetto (the Venetian water bus). So make sure to get on water bus number 1 which follows all of the Gran Canal the water bus could be crowded, but it is worth it.

You get a first glimpse of the city and usually children are always thrilled when they first step on board. You can find out about vaporetto prices on ACTV site, the company which runs the public service.

Doge’s Palace in San Marco

2- Visit Saint Mark’s Square one of the main landmarks of the city of Venice, in particular go up the Campanile (church tower) for a stunning view of the city and visit the Doge’s Palace Palazzo Ducale – including the Secret itineraries tour, which takes you into the most secret and fascinating rooms of the DOGES PALACE, including the dungeons and the prisons!

Symbol of the power and wealth of the Venetian Republic and a masterpiece of Gothic art, the Palazzo Ducale offers children and their families fascinating routes through the prisons by the Bridge of Sighs (where the prisoners had to pass through to reach the cells) and the “secret itineraries’, like the secret spaces of the Serenissima (registries, archives, prisons …), where they carried out delicate and important activities relating to the administration of the State. The kids will love the Armour rooms and the weapon rooms.

3- Peggy Guggenheim Collection welcomes children with open arms so they can discover the masterpieces of the avant-garde artists of the twentieth century. Sunday is now consolidated KIDS DAY, with a free educational program aimed at children aged between 4 and 10 years, designed to introduce children to modern and contemporary art making the experience of museums more accessible.

Paint your own mask in Venice by Margie Miklas

4- Children love to dress up and to wear masks, generally, so why not get them to make their own mask in the city where Carnival was born? They can do that with a Carnival mask making course. Your little artists will be able to paint and decorate their own carnival mask and bring it home as a souvenir. Ca’ Macana organizes courses for families, contact them directly.

5- Visit a Squero, the place where they build gondolas. The boat-yard of San Trovaso is located along the river of the same name and dates back to the seventeenth century. It is one of the few still in operation in Venice. The same gondola builders will guide you explaining the characteristics of these particular vessels and their processing techniques. You can contact them

6- Take a trip to Murano island on a vaporetto and visit one of the many furnaces of the island. Experience the art of glass blowing and meet the masters, who have been creating works of arts for decades.

7- Do not miss the Natural History Museum, housed in the fascinating Fondaco dei Turchi, recently refurbished, with a modern and impressive scenic itinerary, especially in the first room where there is a skeleton of a dinosaur higher than 7 meters and the skull of the giant crocodile.

8- If it is summer, get active and learn to row like a true Venetian, with a lesson of Voga Veneta, a unique style of rowing, which is practiced only in Venice.

9- A short walk from the Bridge of Sighs, the Naval Museum of Venice, belonging to the Navy, provides a range of model ships of the Serenissima Republic of Venice from different eras, from 1200 to 1700, models of historic vessels of the Navy, the 1860, an interesting collection of shells and a pavilion with boats of the Navy as a torpedo boat and examples of typical boats in the lagoon, like bragozzi and gondolas.

Venice Churches: Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari

10- If your children are not easily impressed and scared , take a Food and Ghost tour of the city, sample the local Venetian food in a bacaro (small bar) and hear all about the legends, the ghosts and the murders of this amazing city or get them involved in cooking up some delicious local specialities like polenta, risotto or pasta, by taking a cooking class in a Venetian Palace.

But the best thing for you to do with your children is to put your map aways and get lost. Let them guide you with their eyes, their sense of smell and their ears. I am sure they will be able to find some incredible spots and things to do, which no guidebook will ever tell you!