Itineraries and things to do in Venice with children

The magical city of Venice has always fascinated people of all ages, from the oldest to the youngest. There are many activities you can do with your children in Venice, from the different playgrounds to the museums that offer activities dedicated to children. Below you will find several activities that you can include in your itinerary in order to visit Venice with your children or grandchildren. 

Among the various museums to visit in order to enjoy a cultural adventure with your children or grandchildren, the Musei Civici di Venezia certainly stand out. Thanks to its educational service dedicated to families, "Families at the Museum", the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia offers both parents and children a variety of proposals for a cheerful and enjoyable museum visit. The offer, always available on-demand and in several languages, can be purchased online and includes a wide range of educational workshops and games aimed at children aged between 5 and 14; the activities concern all the museums of the Fondazione and the main temporary exhibitions. Among the various activities we find, for example, the "The lion hunt", at the Doge's Palace, which offers an interactive visit where you can discover the history and art of the palace through games, tales and puzzles to solve, "Glass treasures and secrets", at the Glass Museum in Murano, with a visit to a real Murano art glass production site and "Exploring a very special museum", at the Natural History Museum, a very magical place in itself for children thanks to its treasures, such as the almost complete skeleton of a dinosaur over 7 metres long, Ouranosaurus nigeriensis. All activities last 1.30/2 hours. 

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection, on the other hand, organises free workshops every Sunday at 3pm for children aged between 4 and 10, the "Kids Day". The educational programme is designed to bring children closer to modern and contemporary art, making the experience more interesting and engaging by creating creative workshops where they can put into practice what they have learned. Children are entrusted to the museum's educational staff for an hour and a half and during that time their parents can calmly visit the collection. The educational activity includes an introduction to the figure of Peggy Guggenheim, to her "home", a close-up visit to the works on display and a hands-on activity through which the young visitors can create their own work of art.

Another museum you should visit with your children is the Venice Naval Historical Museum where they can be amazed while they walk through the military vessels and the traditional Venetian boats housed in the Ships Pavilion.

In Venice, thanks to the absence of cars, children can play and run around peacefully. You can let your children or grandchildren play in the various campi in Venice, in other words the small squares of the city where Venetian children are used to playing football or to colouring with chalks on the ground, while you can watch them sitting on the benches, which adorn these campi, in complete serenity. Some of these squares are: Campo Santa Margherita, Campo San Giacomo dell'Orio, Campo San Polo, Campo Santa Maria Formosa, Campo della Bragora a Castello, Campo del Ghetto and Campo San Geremia.

But there are also several green areas in Venice where children can play. At the Savorgnan Gardens, just over a ten-minute walk from the Natural History Museum, your children can have fun on the slides, swings, seesaws and even play ping-pong. Other well-equipped parks include the Pineta Sant'Elena, the Giardini delle Biennale and the Villa Groggia Park.

Enjoying the architectural beauties and scenic views of Venice on a gondola ride is an essential activity to put on your itinerary, but if a long gondola ride seems too much of an activity to do with your children, we have the solution for you. If you want to experience the same emotion as the typical gondola ride, even though shorter, we recommend the gondolas that cross the Grand Canal from one bank to the other, known as "traghetto" gondolas, and its ride costs only 2 euros per person. The traghetto stops are located at various points along the Grand Canal in Venice, such as San Tomà or Santa Sofia. 

Taking the vaporetto to reach one of the islands of Venice is an adventure in itself for children. During the summer season, it would be ideal to organise a trip to the Island of Lido di Venezia, to spend free time playing with your children on the Lido beach or simply renting a bicycle or rickshaw to discover the island by riding. There is also a planetarium on the Lido Island, which from October to May, every Sunday at 4 p.m., offers various shows. Entrance to the planetarium is free of charge and the show lasts 50 minutes, during which children (for children aged 6 years and above) can admire different astronomical phenomena from the large dome above their heads. Moreover, a trip to the small island of Burano is also a suitable activity to do with your children, to let them get lost into the thousands of colours of its calli. 

In order to enjoy a relaxing break between the activities, the café Serra dei Giardini offers a cosy green space where you can let your children play while you relax with a coffee or a snack. Lastly, to end your day in Venice, you could taste the famous gianduiotto while you admire the magical sunset over Venice.