Venice with Kids
A boat ride down the Grand Canal, a hand-painted mask, and glass turning to shapes before your eyes, the version of Venice that actually works with children in tow.
Venice has a reputation for romance, but the whole car-free city genuinely works like one giant playground once you know where to look, boats instead of buses, mazes instead of streets. Here’s how to spend the time on what actually works with kids.
A vaporetto ride down the Grand Canal
Widely the best value activity in the city, ride the number 1 vaporetto from the train station to St. Mark’s Square, kids love watching the boats, palazzi and gondolas glide by from an open-air seat at the front. Considerably cheaper than a gondola and just as memorable for younger kids fascinated by anything that floats.
A mask-making workshop
San Polo’s narrow lanes hold several mask-making shops where kids can watch artisans at work, and Ca’ Macana in Dorsoduro runs proper hands-on workshops where kids design and paint their own Carnevale mask to take home. A genuinely memorable souvenir that beats anything bought in a tourist shop.
The Peggy Guggenheim Collection
One of the more surprisingly kid-friendly museums in the city, free Sunday workshops for ages 4-10 and family tickets that make modern art considerably more approachable. Some works can even be touched during the tactile tours, a proper change of pace from look-but-don’t-touch galleries elsewhere.
Murano and Burano
Murano’s glassblowing demonstrations are properly mesmerising for kids, watching molten glass turn into delicate shapes in real time. Burano’s candy-coloured houses are a proper photo opportunity too, and both islands offer a slower, calmer pace than the main city’s crowds.
Rialto Market and a rowing lesson
Rialto Market, operating for almost 1,000 years, gives younger kids a genuinely hands-on introduction to local food, fresh produce and seafood stalls worth a browse even without buying. For older kids, a Venetian rowing lesson, learning the standing “voga alla veneta” style, is a proper local skill most visitors never even attempt.
If a full day of energy needs burning
Giardini Pubblici and Parco San Giuliano both offer genuine green space and playgrounds to run in, a welcome break from cobblestones and canals. St. Mark’s Square itself doubles as an open-air playground of sorts, plenty of room for younger kids to run, though feeding the pigeons is no longer allowed.
Eating with kids
Cicchetti, small Venetian tapas-style plates, work well for adventurous eaters, and Osteria ai Pugni serves crowd-pleasing options like meatballs and bruschetta for pickier ones. Gelato is the easy, reliable win everywhere, Gelateria Nico and Gelateria Alaska both come highly recommended for a proper treat between sights.
A few practical notes
Venice is genuinely one of the safer cities to explore with kids, entirely car-free streets mean no traffic to worry about, though the canals themselves need supervision with younger children. Strollers struggle with the many bridges and steps, a lightweight carrier works considerably better than a bulky pram for most of the city.
That’s everything I’ve got.
A note before you plan around this: prices, opening hours, booking requirements and admission details in this guide were correct at the time of writing, but venues change these often and sometimes without notice. Always check directly with the attraction or its official website before you travel or build a schedule around a specific time or price.
Before travelling to any destination featured on this site, please also check your government’s latest travel advice, as safety situations, entry requirements and travel warnings can change.
