Seven mistakes that spoil a day in Rome

1. Three museums in one day

The most common and most expensive mistake. After the second site everyone’s attention runs out, and a child’s runs out after the first. You will walk the third quickly, in silence, and not remember it a month later.

What to do: two places before lunch, one after. And let one of them be a street rather than a gallery.

2. Midday on the Forum

The Roman Forum and the Palatine have almost no shade, and marble and stone reflect the heat. From twelve to four in July it is hard going even for an adult.

What to do: take the first slot at 8:30, or go after four. In the middle of the day head for somewhere with a roof: basilicas, the Pantheon, lunch in the shade.

3. A restaurant with a tout by a monument

Three signs of a tourist trap: somebody calling you in from the street, a menu in six languages with photographs of the dishes, and an address right on the square. The price there is double and the pasta arrives reheated.

What to do: walk two or three blocks in any direction. It works across the whole centre and needs neither apps nor ratings.

4. Shorts at the basilica door

St Peter’s and most basilicas have a dress code: shoulders and knees covered, for everyone, children included. People are turned away calmly and without exception — after they have already queued for the security check.

What to do: keep a shawl and a light shirt in your backpack. They weigh nothing and save half a day. The details are in our guide to St Peter’s Basilica, the dome and the dress code.

5. Sitting on the Spanish Steps

Since 2019 sitting on the steps has been forbidden, and the rule is enforced: an officer comes over and asks you to stand, and there can be a fine. A child who has walked three kilometres sits down on the first step they see, automatically.

What to do: know it in advance and do not plan the steps as a place to rest. You can sit on Piazza Navona, on Piazza del Popolo and in any park.

6. Buying water by the monuments

A half-litre bottle by the Colosseum costs about EUR 3, in a shop round the corner EUR 0.5, and in the city’s nasoni fountains the water is free and drinkable. There are more than two thousand of them in Rome.

What to do: take reusable bottles for the family and top them up as you go. Over a week it adds up, and it solves one problem for good: a child is always thirsty at the wrong moment.

7. Buying a ticket from someone in the street

“Skip the line, right now” is offered by the Colosseum every five minutes. The official ticket is in your name and the name is checked at the entrance. Resale does not work, and there is nobody to get your money back from.

What to do: buy only on the official site and in advance. How the sales window works is covered separately: do you need to book the Colosseum in advance.

And one mistake made the other way round

Many families cross out everything “grown-up” from the plan — and end up walking the city without a single place the parents find interesting. That does not work either: children read boredom instantly.

The right balance is not “children only” but alternation: one place for them, one for you, and in each one somebody explains to the other why we are here. How that lays out hour by hour is in our route Rome in one day with a child.