Florence is a wonderful city for a family visit, it’s perfect for wandering and full of lots of family-friendly activities. If you’re visiting Florence with kids there’s plenty to do to keep every member of the family happy. Here’s our roundup of all the top things to do in Florence with kids when you’re on a Florence family holiday.
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About Florence with kids
We have visited Florence a number of times with kids. It’s a beautiful city, small enough to wander on foot but packed full of architectural delights.
This UNESCO World Heritage site is somewhere to savour. From the art museums to beautiful churches and palaces there’s so much to soak in here.
It’s a wonderful city to inspire kids.
Florence with children – the best activities
Take a pizza making class – top things to do In Florence with kids
There can’t be anything better than eating pizza in Italy. Except, perhaps, learning how to make it for yourself as a skill to take home with you.
Wowing friends and family with your Italian learnt recipe sounds amazing.
Attending a pizza and gelato-making class in Florence then will be something the kids will absolutely love. And give them something to really talk about when they get home.
Find out more and book your own class here.
Enjoy the Uffizi Gallery – one of the top things to do In Florence with kids
The Uffizi is one of the most famous museums in Italy, if not the world.
While it might not immediately seem like the best place for kids there is plenty going on here to attract young visitors.
From themed talks to guided tours this is somewhere to really engage kids.
Get “skip the line” and reduced tickets here.
Visit the Cathedral
Close to the central train station you can walk to the beautiful Cathedral which is one of the iconic sights of Florence.
It is a breathtaking building in striking green, pink and white marble that is simply beautiful from every angle.
If you get the chance to go inside it’s an inspiring sight for young minds and definitely worth the queues if you have the time (or book skip-the-line tickets below).
Find out more and book your skip-the-line tickets here.
Hop on Hop off bus in Florence with kids
We love hop on Hop off buses in every city. They are a great chance to rest tired legs but still see the sights.
Buy tickets for 24, 48 hours or 72 hours. They are great as a tour guide but also to get you around the city.
Find out more and book here.
See the Ponte Vecchio Bridge
The Ponte Vecchio bridge is always an inspiring sight with all its jewellery shops lining the edges. As you walk along the Arno river it’s wonderful to see it.
It’s the only bridge not destroyed by Hitler in the Second World War.
It’s a great place to walk over too. Full of little shops, glitzy window shopping opportunities and lots of places to stop and watch the river drifting by.
Palazzo Vecchio – Florence with kids
As you keep wandering the statues around Palazzo Vecchio all with their own stories. Of course, David is magnificent.
But there are many others to look at here. And it’s a great place to linger over the different pieces and the stories they tell.
Book your own skip-the-line tickets to the Accademia Gallery
Museum of the Palazzo Vecchio (Museo dei Ragazzi)
This is also the site of the Museum of the Palazzo Vecchio (Museo dei Ragazzi). It’s a good alternative to the Uffizi if you only have time for one and would prefer not to spend so long queuing.
They have an exhibition geared towards three – eight-year-olds. And if you book one of their tours in advance they are full of secrets and fun (all in English).
There’s lots going on here and plenty to keep the adults entertained too so well worth planning a trip. But check times beforehand as they aren’t open every day.
Piazza della Republica
We also loved the bustle of the Piazza della Republica, right in the heart of Florence. This is a spot where you can stop and watch the world go by.
There’s music all around, whether from busking female opera singers (who are amazingly good) through to the music of the beautiful historic carousel.
The carousel is run by Carlo Picci, whose family have been running carousels for over four generations.
Florence Boat Tour
Seeing Florence by water is a lovely activity. Particularly if you’re visiting with kids.
Board a historic boat and watch the city gently pass by.
Find out more and book tickets here.
Wander through Florence with kids
More than anything Florence is a city to wander around. It is historic and beautiful and there is something to see around every corner.
It can often seem adult orientated but with a bit of imagination (and some ice cream thrown in) it’s possible to bring its stories alive with a few hours to wander around.
Day trips from Florence
While there’s plenty to do in Florence you can easily take some great day trips. If you’re in the city for any amount of time you might want to consider one of these.
Pisa
Pisa is a fun city to visit as a family. There’s plenty to keep you occupied.
Visit this beautiful medieval city with transfers from Florence.
Find out more and book here.
Where to eat in Florence with children
There are cafes all around for slices of pizza as you wander and to be eating pizza in Florence is a great experience.
They also have some delicious pastries and biscotti, perfect little snacks along the way.
Florence can be hot work and the ice cream shops here are legendary. There are plenty of places to stop for gelato and so many delicious, fresh flavours to try.
Where to stay in Florence with kids
Getting to Florence
It’s very easy to get in to Florence by train. This is definitely advisable compared to cars which can be very difficult.
The city has a bad traffic problem and we have been caught in it a number of times.
If you’re visiting on a cruise then Livorno Port is a great port to get in to Florence from.
Read more: Our guide to Livorno Port stop
A cruise around Italy and Croatia
Visiting Pizzeria Port Alba the oldest pizzeria in the world
It looks so pretty and the architecture looks amazingly impressive. The detail is fantastic isn’t it? My friend has recently been and his photos were great too and really makes me want to go. Reading this makes me want to go even more. Fab pics 🙂
Looks just amazing… especially the ice cream… delish!
What beautiful pictures! Florence looks a wonderful place to visit- I’ve never been to Italy.
Oh ice cream makes everything better. I would love to visit Italy with the boys
Such a beautiful place. I love the carousel x
i never been to Italy but im sure that any holiday and the way you “soak” information is completely different when you have kids
Looks like a beautiful place – you had me at apple pie ice cream !
we were just talking yesterday about taking the kiddos to Italy, I’ve always wanted to go!
Florence is great for mooching around but it can get very busy and hot. We love the Boboli Gardens, there is lots of grass to run around and beautiful water features and statues, as well as shady spots. There is also an amazing Gelato shop opposite the entrance. We also liked the open top bus tour which is a great way for little legs to see the city quickly without too much walking. Looks like you had a fantastic time x
Such stunning architecture. I would love to visit Italy and just soak in all the history and beautiful surroundings.
such a beautiful city, would love to go, im not sure i would like to live on those little ouses on the bridge wow looks frightful but beautiful at that
It certainly does look a great place for children. I love all the shape spotting you could do in the buildings.
That really does look so beautiful! Love the sound of the ice cream and the carousel is so pretty.
I love Italy and cant wait to take my two when they’re a little bit older x x
wow your photos are absolutely stunning! Im not sure if I would be brave enough to take me little boy hes a bit of a destroyer and i dare not take him inside any of those beautiful buildings lol! The ice cream and biscotti look so good!
Jess
http://owlcrazymummy.blogspot.co.uk
What an amazing looking place, it sounds like you had a lovely time 🙂 x
Some great pictures of a beautiful city. Loving the photo of the ice cream!
Thanks for the “Children’s Museum” hint. Our children love discovering museums, but such impressive ones as the Uffizi (or the British Museum, the Louvre, El Prado…) can be discouraging (or even counter-productive) because of the incredible amount of master works, the huge queues of tourists and the kilometers you have to walk inside.
Your kids will have seen so many beautiful things at such a young age!
Gery
I love reading about your travels with your children – and your photos are amazing – Florence looks as lovely as I thought it would! Not to mention the food and ice cream on the way round – mmmm!
I now want ice cream! It looks such a wonderful place, I’d lvoe to visit one day 🙂
It sounds like you had a wonderful time. I would love visit the shops and the river – it looks beautiful.
I think that this would be a great place to take my children, all that art & culture not to mention the yummy icecreams!
I always look forward to your posts. We haven’t travelled aboard yet with the girls and i am getting quite a good list from your blog of the best places 🙂 x
Interesting way to explore Florence with the kids. I’ve been wanting to go to this place ever since I was 10 !
Shame you only had a few hours –even if you’d been before. Glad to see you made the most of your time. 🙂