Getting ready to visit Italy with a toddler or a baby? Lucky you! It is an absolutely amazing place to visit, and a perfect getaway with a little one. But as with all vacations with little ones, there are a few things to know about and prepare for ahead of time.
Below you will find everything I wish I had known before my first time visiting Italy with a baby!
Mix up your experiences.
There are so many amazing areas to explore in Italy. Where to even start?!
We’ve been a number of times now over the years, and I can honestly say that there no one right way to experience Italy.
Do you want to stay in the historic centers and see the most famous sites? Do you want to lounge around the Italian countryside without a care in the world? Do you want to see the sparkle and fashion of Italy’s most metropolitan cities?
If at all possible, try to do a little bit of each. Our best Italian trips have been the ones where we spent some of the time in the city, and some of the time in the country.
What’s the best way to travel in Italy with a family? Consider renting a car.
We’ve rented cars on each of our trips to Italy. It’s a wonderful way to get away from the cities and explore the vast, beautiful countryside. We had so much fun just setting out without an itinerary, seeing where the road would take us. Along the way, we found castles, amazing little towns, and gorgeous scenery. Without a car, we would have never discovered the absolutely perfect Alberobello!
Italian roadways are fairly straightforward to navigate, but understand that Italians drive a little differently than we Americans are used to. There is little regard to the speed limit by locals, but they know all the tricks to avoid getting tickets by mail, and you probably don’t. (Even with tons of online research, we couldn’t figure it out!)
You’ll get used to the flow of traffic quickly. Italian drivers might be fast, but they’re also predictable – in a good way! Just stay out of the left lane until you’re ready to drive like a true Italian.
If you are renting a car, it is best if you can bring your own car seat along. Some car rental companies will have them available, but it’s not a guarantee. You also are not guaranteed to get one that is the right size, accident-free, and clean. Car seats check on the airplane for free. Or, if baby has their own seat, use it on the flight to make flying with a baby more bearable!
Check out this helpful guide to renting a car in Europe for detailed information and tips to help you avoid scams!
Stay out of the city centers!
With your car, that is.
All Italian cities, large and small, have what’s called a ZTL. This is a zone that non-local cars are not allowed to drive in, and they have cameras all over to enforce this.
As you’re driving in toward the center of the city, watch out for Zona Traffico Limitato signs. It will have a big, red, open circle on it. If you see one, do not go down that street. Park outside of the ZTL and walk to the city center. It’s usually not too far. Bring your baby carrier.
We did not know this on our first trip to Italy. We lucked out with most of the cities we visited – we ended up parking outside of the ZTL without knowing. But we did end up driving in the ZTL in Pisa, and got a hefty ticket in the mail many months later.
You might think that you could just blow off that ticket since it is from another country, but the internet has countless horror stories of what happens when you do that. Best to know the rules before you go and avoid the ZTL altogether.
For more info about driving laws, along with over 100 other general Italy travel tips, check out this huge list of Italy tips for first timers.
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Can you use a stroller in Italy?
It depends.
For most of the major cities, in the historic centers especially, no.
Sidewalks are sometimes non-existent, or completely cluttered with motorbikes that you need to step around and over. These cities are not flat, and you’ll find staircases are the only way to get through many areas. And then there’s the cobblestone. Even the smoothest strollers are going to get stuck in true Italian cobblestone.
However, this is not the case everywhere. Once you get outside of the historic center, you will find more modern walkways, smoother roads, and an easier time for strollers. There will still be stairs, and often still cobblestone, but if you have a great travel stroller that you can easily lift to get around obstacles, you should be fine.
Smaller towns tend to be easier to navigate with a stroller, as well. But still challenging.
Another issue with having the stroller is storing it when you are out and about. Museums and restaurants in Italy aren’t going to have a stroller storage area, and might ask you to leave it outside. Again, you’ll be in better shape if you have a stroller that folds down really small, but it can become quite the burden.
For me, personally, I always leave the stroller at home for Italy. Even with a toddler, I’d rather babywear and not have to deal with lugging the stroller around when the majority of our time is spent in historic centers.
If you’re not sure about the area that you’re staying in and how stroller-able it is, try using Google Maps street view. Put in the address of where you’re staying, and virtually walk around the streets. You’ll get a good sense for what to expect.
We visited Matera in the Basilicata region, and while this was one of the most incredible places I have ever seen, the thought of bringing a stroller there is beyond laughable. The entire town is stairs. I wish I’d better prepared for that, because even without a stroller, being almost 8 months pregnant and with a toddler was tough there!
Knowing what to expect in terms of walking before you go will help you plan just what you should bring to help get your child around.
In the historic city centers, watch out for cars.
To make the challenge of navigating tiny, winding cobblestone streets even more challenging, you will need to watch out for cars that don’t mind getting right next to you. At full speed.
You might be convinced that the tiny winding pathway you’re walking down would be impossible to fit a car into. Italians would say you’re wrong.
Even in the middle of a tourist-packed plaza between age-old monuments, you can expect to see a car or two winding their way through the crowd at an alarming pace. Never trust that you are safe as a pedestrian, and keep your toddler very close if you are not wearing them.
Taxis in busy cities aren’t very car seat friendly.
Our experience with taxis in Rome was pretty anti-car seat. When we tried to catch a taxi while holding a car seat, several passed us by. The one who did stop tried to make us put it in the trunk.
And it’s understandable. Cars quickly piled up behind him, honking. I can get why he didn’t want to wait for us to install the car seat. We asked if he could pull over onto the next (quieter) street so we could install it there, and he agreed, begrudgingly.
If you are planning to get around the busy historic center of major Italian cities, don’t plan to bring a car seat. Plan to use the hop-on hop-off bus as an alternative, or stay within walking distance of most of sites you want to see. This is easy to do in cities like Rome.
If you do end up taking a taxi, just know that they are the Italian-est of the Italian drivers, which – depending on your perspective – is a good or a bad thing. In all seriousness, they are very skilled and they know the roads well. And in the ZTL, only locals can drive there so you know everyone plays by the same rules.
For other ideas about how to get around when you don’t have a rental car and don’t want to bring your car seat, see this article about safe transportation on vacation with a baby.
For the trip to and from the airport, I highly recommend booking a transfer ahead of time and either bringing your car seat (and letting them know you will have it) or renting one from the transfer company and ensuring they have it ready for you.
Drink the water!
The water is potable in Italy, so you’re safe to drink it. As with any travel, you might still get a slightly upset tummy from drinking water anywhere outside of your home region. But it’s not going to make you sick.
If you have a young baby, you might want to still stick to bottled water for preparing formula or for drinking. While you might not need to worry about food poisoning from the water, anything you can do to avoid stomach upset is a good thing.
When you go into a restaurant, you are expected to buy the water. You will be asked if you want still or sparkling water, and with still water you will sometimes get tap water, and sometimes bottled. Buying the water is essentially like paying for the service… it’s a cultural expectation.
That’s why the water is sometimes more expensive than the wine. Speaking of wine…
Wine-to-go is totally a thing.
In every larger city I’ve stayed in in Italy, I’ve had the joy of taking wine “da porta via” – in other words, for the road. There are lots of little shops where you can fill up your water bottle or get a plastic cup of wine to go for very cheap. It might come out of a tap through a plastic hose, but it is some of the best wine I’ve had. (Or maybe it just seems that way at the time.)
Sure, this has nothing to do with visiting Italy with a baby. But if things start going downhill and you’re getting stressed out, just remember… there’s always wine-to-go somewhere nearby. You’re in Italy! If that’s your thing, enjoy.
Pay to play at Italian beaches.
In Italy, all of the beaches are either stabilimenti (private) or spiagge liberi (public). You’ll be able to spot the private beaches (also commonly called bagni) from a mile away by the rows and rows of matching umbrellas.
Bagni have a lot of advantages over the free beaches. First, they’re usually located on the better stretches of beach. They also have amenities like a lifeguard, changing rooms, bathrooms, and usually a bar or restaurant. Additionally, you get to use the umbrella and chairs and have a guaranteed spot for the day.
You do pay a fee to use the private beaches, but we’ve always found it to be very worthwhile for what you get, especially if you’re traveling with kids and don’t feel like hauling beach equipment with you. You may have to pay an additional fee for the chair and umbrella.
Know that if you’re traveling in the summer, and especially in August when Italians take their vacations to the beach, it’s going to be crowded. And while it is technically true that the very front of the beach is always public, I recommend against trying to set up in front of a bagni without paying.
Here are some tips on how to actually enjoy a beach vacation with a baby!
There is such a thing as too much pasta.
Even for a toddler. What do you mean, you’re sick of mac n cheese?!
I take for granted how awesome it is to be able to eat food from such a wide variety of cuisines without traveling far from my home. But that’s not really a thing in Italy, where so much of the food is locally-sourced and traditional to the region.
10 days into our trip, we all started to feel a little bit over Italian food. I know, that’s blasphemous, but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. We started craving more variety.
We were hunting for any other cuisines, just to give our taste buds a break, but we did not have a lot of success. We might find 1 or 2 choices in a city, and even those were primarily Italian food with a slight Japanese twist, for example.
Consider stopping by the grocery and preparing a few meals yourself with some different flavors if you want a break from local cuisine. Even just having a few peanut butter and jam sandwiches to break up the pasta routine for our toddler helped a lot.
When in doubt, gelato for dinner.
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How to pick the best gelato.
You will have so many options for gelato, no matter where you are in Italy. But not all gelato is created equal. If you are staying in small towns or outside of the city centers, you’ll probably find great gelato. But if you are in a tourism-heavy space, you can expect lots of low-quality gelato, unfortunately.
So how can you find gelato that will thrill not only your toddler, but you as well? Surprisingly, it basically boils down to this: the better it looks, the worse it tastes.
- Color: True gelato uses natural flavors without additives, so it will not be bright or vibrant. Our go-to trick was to look at the pistachio. Bright green? Move along to the next gelateria. Brown? You’re in the right place.
- Containers and scoops: A gelateria that really cares about their gelato will keep it in metal tins with lids on them to maintain the perfect temperature. You also want to look for metal spades instead of round ice cream scoops. Good gelato is denser than ice cream and needs a spade.
- Display: You will undoubtedly see several gelaterias with gelato whipped up in gorgeous mountains over-flowing the bins. These shops are bright, inviting, and cater to tourists. This is where you’ll find lower-quality, mass-produced gelato.
It didn’t take long for my toddler to recognize the telltale glass case of a gelato stand several storefronts away, and she continued to ask for gelato long after we returned home. Who can blame her?
Plan for the riposo.
The riposo is the Italian equivalent of a siesta, and it can seriously last for 4 hours in some places. In the major cities, we didn’t have too hard of a time with this. The museums and main attractions will likely be closed for a few hours in the middle of the day, and some restaurants and shops as well. But many small marts and eateries will remain open. We never struggled to find food.
And that set us up for failure when we got to the small towns! Our experience in small Italian towns was that they do follow the riposo, and everything will be closed.
During our road trip across Basilicata, we stopped (after a few hours of driving) into a small town to get food for our very cranky toddler, only to find that every door was locked. Our daughter was crying, I was hot and hungry and so pregnant, and we could not find a meal!
Luckily, one shop took pity on us and let us in. The workers were just hanging out inside eating and relaxing, and they were willing to make us a meal. We learned our lesson!
Bring some entertainment for the tour bus.
How many hours are you willing to sit in a tour bus all over Italy with your toddler or baby to see a cool attraction?
Florence to Cinque Terre, Rome to Pompeii – these were some of my favorite memories from our honeymoon time in Italy. But they also involved several hours on a bus, and miles of walking. I would be extremely hesitant to try that with a baby or toddler in tow.
If you’re considering any major day trips, be sure to look carefully at all the details so that you know exactly what you’re getting into. I’ve done half-day trips with a baby, but I won’t do much more than that on an organized tour. It is just too tricky if things go south when there is a whole hoard of people waiting on you!
Consider whether there is a specifically family-friendly tour that you can do instead, or even hire a private guide if you really want to get to an attraction. This is a great option as you will have more flexibility, and you can arrange ahead of time to make sure you can bring your car seat for the trip, too.
Not all museums and restaurants are kid-friendly.
It’s not that they’re going to turn you away, but some of the popular museums can be so crowded and have such a long wait that it might not be worthwhile to try with a little one.
I remember waiting in a completely shade-less alleyway for 2 hours to get into the Galleria dell’Accademia to see Michelangelo’s David, despite having bought the tickets ahead of time. Not ideal to do with a toddler!
Look for attractions that have a little more room to roam for an easy day with the kids. Our daughter especially loved the Colosseum, which was much easier to navigate than an indoor museum.
Keep this in mind when choosing a restaurant, as well. Italian meals take a long time, and it can be hard to keep a baby or toddler happy throughout.
Sitting in an open-air plaza restaurant is fabulous with little ones. There is so much to see, it’s already noisy there so your kid is less likely to annoy people, and it’s easy to take a little stroll with your child if needed. Maybe avoid the intimate, quiet, romantic restaurants unless you’re certain your baby is going to sleep through it.
Look outside of the box for interesting things to do.
Sometimes getting away from the major tourist attractions can be the best part of the trip.
One of our most memorable experiences was sitting down with a lovely family for a traditional home-cooked meal. Airbnb Experiences offers this in many places, but in Italy we actually did this through an Italian company called le Cesarine. The experience was amazing, the setting was beautiful, and the woman who hosted us even taught my husband how to make their region’s traditional flatbread!
We came across this experience after reading about it on someone’s blog, and we were so glad we did! Look around for other unique things to do with your family while you’re in Italy – it just might turn out to be way better than dragging a toddler through endless museums.
Breastfeed however you are most comfortable.
If you are breastfeeding, you can feel confident that no one is going to bat an eye at you for feeding your child in Italy.
While Italy’s percentage of breastfeeding mothers is not amongst the best in the world, there are still plenty of Italian women who do, and it is normalized there. Italians will not care if you breastfeed openly, with a cover, or privately. Do whatever makes you and your baby most comfortable.
Pope Francis has even repeatedly encouraged mothers to breastfeed while in the Sistine Chapel. And if the Pope says it’s okay, you’re good.
Visiting Italy with a toddler or a baby can present some logistical challenges, but it is absolutely worth it for the amazing experience that you will share with your little one! So, are you ready to pack your bags yet? Let me know in the comments!
to pin for later:
Originally published December 2018. Updated December 2021.
19 thoughts on “Italy with Toddler or Baby: Know Before You Go”
Where is the first photo is taken? It looks like a fairytale place. I absolutely want to go!
Hi Sofia! That picture is from Matera, in the southern part of Italy. It is an incredible destination. I wrote a little more about it here, if you’re interested!
Wow- I learned a lot from this post! I had no idea things closed in the middle of the day! Makes sense being that dinner isn’t until so much later than we are used to. We had always thought it best not to rent a car (also what we are used to) but it sounds like it’s a good idea for exploring outside of the major cities!
I’m so glad you found it useful! Yes, we were surprised by that as well, but it was only an issue outside of the major cities. Renting a car is great so long as you are spending that part of your trip around the countryside. Definitely not if you’re staying in the cities.
This is awesome. I have vowed not to give up traveling once I have kids and this is a good reminder of all the things you need to think about. Traveling as young adults is so easy! If I don’t eat all day, but I got to see the coolest stuff, who cares?? But a toddler…well done getting in that restaurants. Italians love their rest time 😛
So true! I definitely miss traveling solo or with just my partner – it was so much easier! But as long as you’re dedicated to still traveling with kids, you’ll make it work. 🙂
Italy is such a fantastic country! I’ve drank so much cheap wine out of them plastic bottles when visiting Italy, it’s so good! Glad to hear you can still enjoy Italy with young ones in tow.
It would be really (!!!) rude to bring your own bottle of water to a restaurant… Paying for the service is a part of our culture.
Thank you so much for pointing this out, Maria! I did not realize that was the case – it is not in our culture. I will update the article soon to reflect that!
I’ve been to Italy several times but never with a toddler! I can’t imagine trying to navigate a stroller through some of those little towns. It’s true, Italian drivers are crazy!!! Lol.
People ask a lot about what stroller they should bring to Rome or other Italian cities. The only right answer: none! Those streets are impossible!
Hi Dani – thank you for the various posts! We are traveling to similar destinations in September and I am quite wary about the afternoon closures. I thought we could pack in additional places by staying put in Gallipoli and Matera and road-tripping to these other places with a 21 month old. However, that would be limiting if we can’t get an afternoon coffee or spend some time indoors in shops, etc. Did you find it limiting?
Hi Cristina! That sounds very much like what we did. Yes, it was limiting when we were out in the countryside visiting little towns. But any larger cities, like Matera and Gallipoli, will have plenty of places that stay open. If it’s a place that tourists visit, you will have no trouble. If it’s completely off the beaten path, you will need to plan ahead for meals and snacks in the middle of the day. Overall, we did not find it to be a major issue – but definitely be aware of it before you venture out for the day!
Ciao!
Thank you for the nice articles. I have also been travelling in Italy with a toddler and a baby and I think one thing you might want to add here is how changing a diaper can be tricky in the small italian toilets 😅
OMG yeeessss. You’re absolutely right – it’s often impossible. I would generally just find a decent place outside to change the diaper, and not even try to mess with the bathrooms! But we’ve only ever been there when it’s warm. You might need to get a bit creative in the colder months!
Hi! I plan to go to italy with my husband 25 month old & 2 month old next year for a month or so while I am on maternity leave! Sounds insane, but we will never get this time back. Do you have any reccomendations? I am so overhwlemed with trying to plan which places to visit because there are so many. Part of me wants to go with a very basic plan and maybe only book air b&bs for the longer days we will be somewhere or more touristy places but it will be high season so I’m not sure If I should do that.
Doesn’t sounds crazy to me! We’ve taken advantage of each maternity leave and traveled with very young babies, and it is honestly the best. Assuming the birth goes well and baby is healthy, the baby will be easy to travel with. Your toddler will be the challenge. 🙂 I completely agree about never getting this time back – take advantage!
It’s so hard to recommend places in Italy, because there are truly SO MANY GREAT OPTIONS. I would recommend splitting time between the countryside and the cities. The country (we loved Umbria as a calmer alternative to Tuscany) will be the easy-going, relaxed part of your trip. Then get a great Airbnb for the city portion – assuming you want to stay in a city rather than drive in. If you are planning to see a lot of sites within a city like Rome, I would say definitely stay in the middle of it. It’s so hard to drive into and park in the big cities in Italy.
We’ve always gone during high season, and managed to book things last minute no problem. I think the best thing to do is to make a list of what you would like to do in each place. If there are certain things that you know you should book early and definitely can’t miss, book them. But don’t book things for every day – maybe every other or every third day. That way you have some flexibility when you just need to rest at home, but you also know what you want to do on the days that everyone is ready to get out the door and explore. Also just keep in mind that you will be much slower than you’ve ever traveled before, and that’s okay. Expect to do less stuff in a day, and plan around nap time. That’s actually easy in Italy because of the riposo (siesta).
I would be happy to chat more with you over email if you’d like! Feel free to shoot me a message through the contact me page if you still have concerns. I always enjoy problem solving and brainstorming for trips with babies!
Hi!
My husband and I will be traveling to Italy in June with a (then) 20 month old. We are trying to stay for about 4 weeks and see a good mixture of city and country. We are completely clueless how to plan for the travel within Italy. Is it best to rent a car? Is iit best to rely on the train system instead? Do we do a mixture of both? Thanks for any help you ca provide!
Hello! Yay – you are going to have so much fun!! When we did Italy with an 18 month old, we also wanted the mix of country and city. We chose to split the trip into two halves. For the first half, we stayed in Rome and did not have a car. We relied on mostly just walking everywhere (you can see SOOOO much within walking distance in Rome) and occasional taxis. I think you could do this in any major city. Then we rented a car for the second half, where we traveled around the countryside in Umbria. For that, it was nice (necessary even) to have a car. It would be tough to see much without one. But I wouldn’t want a car while staying in a major city, because it is so challenging to park/understand where to drive… you are better off just renting for the time that you want to explore the countryside!