Home to the glorious gladiatorial battles of Gnocchi, headquarters for secret conversations on Nonna’s red sauce and also overflowing with history, grandiosity and vibrant city life, Rome is an incredible destination for any traveller. A traveller with kids, on the other hand, you would think to stay away, but why?

Do kids not deserve to experience history, experience Piazza’s, walk up Spanish steps, sure they do but they need it interwoven with the below to keep their noodles engaged.

1. Gladiator School, why show them the Colosseum and bore them with the details, get them into the training and test their mettle against opponents. The Gladiator school will take the kids through a truncated day as a gladiator before dressing them in tunics, helmets and handing them weapons to fight for the best picture to be used on the wall at home or to share with the original Gladiators, their grandparents.
2. Bioparco, it’s right in the heart of Municipio II and part of Borghese Park. Bioparco is one of Italy’s largest Zoos, here they have exotic animals from all over the world that live in enclosures that some would refer to as being the Ritz of captivation. Some of the highlights are the Orangutan jungle, the Lupi or Wolves and then the always impressive long trunked Asian Elephants.
3. Capuchin Crypt, now if your kids are slightly afraid of skeletons then this is a great place to get them to confront that fear. Known in English as the bone chapel, this crypt is not just made from skulls and bones but it is also where a network of underground tunnels c inquisitive minds to explore.
4. Mouth of Truth, this is a large stone monument, free to attend, that supposedly if you put your hand in its mouth and have told a lie then your fingers will be chopped off. This is a wonderful way to involve kids in history and keep them attentive with fear.
5. Saturnia, this is a town about a two-hour drive out of Rome so grab yourself a good deal on a car through enjoycarhire.com and get up early as this is not just for the kids. Saturnia is a small town on the edge of Tuscany that is filled with Thermal Baths, kids can splash whilst grown-ups relax.

There’s no reason that any holiday needs to be purely child central, they are the centre of the world for you however you need to sneak some centre in for yourself as well.

Taking yourself and them into account with every holiday will make everyone happy, you can always leave them at Gladiator school and grab a prosecco in the sun.