In a nutshell
- Is Venice worth visiting with kids? Yes! Especially with preschool or school-age children. With toddlers, it depends — we’ll tell you exactly what to expect and what to keep in mind.
- For accommodation, we recommend the Corte dei Santi or the Casa del Melograno: both have their own garden with a playground.
- The water bus is free for children under six. The same goes for admission to most of the top attractions. For gondola rides, however, children pay full price from age two onwards.
- Traveling with a stroller? You’ll need to carry it over most bridges — but otherwise getting around is totally doable.
Is Venice a good idea with kids?
Whether Venice is a good travel destination with kids depends a lot on their age and personality.
We’d only bring children to Venice who don’t have a huge urge to run around and won’t dart off without looking.
That’s usually kids aged four or five and up, or school-age children. With them, Venice can be a seriously great city destination for families.
There’s just so much to discover in the alleyways and canals: instead of ambulances, there are ambulance boats; instead of police cars, there are police boats. With flashing lights!
Add to that water buses and gondolas and countless small and large bridges that have to be crossed.
Venice with toddlers
Venice can be exhausting with toddlers. Can be, but doesn’t have to be.
Many of the canals have no railing, and between the sidewalk and water that’s several feet deep, it’s just one step. Parks and playgrounds are also pretty scarce.
If your toddler is very easygoing, happy to sit in the stroller, and tends to stay away from water, Venice can absolutely be worth it with a little one.
If not, we’d recommend waiting a few more years before visiting. A better destination in northern Italy for an active toddler would be, for example, Lake Garda.
Getting Around Venice with Kids
In Venice, walking works great because the city isn’t particularly large.
You can walk across the entire center in about 40 minutes.
But since little legs get tired quickly, it’s worth having water bus tickets on hand. If you buy them online, you won’t have to wait in line at the machine.
Children under six ride for free; otherwise a ticket costs €9.50.
If you plan to take the water bus several times, a day ticket for €25 is a better deal.
Venice in a Day with Kids
Is a day trip to Venice with kids worth it? Absolutely! It’s just as worthwhile as a weekend or longer stay.
If you’re arriving by car, you can park on the artificial island of Tronchetto and take the electric cable car, the People Mover, into the old city from there. It runs on electricity and is unmanned. Pretty cool!
For the Venice day visitor fee, children only pay starting at age 14. However, you still need to register them and request a QR code for them. We explain exactly how the day ticket works here:
Venice with a Stroller
Navigating Venice with a stroller comes with a few challenges. The city is very flat and there are no potholes, but most bridges have stairs.
And you’ll have to cross a lot of bridges. If you have a lightweight travel stroller that you can easily carry up stairs, it’s totally manageable.
The water buses, on the other hand, are completely accessible — you can board with a stroller without any issues.
Note: Strollers are not allowed inside the Doge’s Palace or St. Mark’s Basilica, and there’s no place to check them either. If you want to visit these highlights, it’s better to leave the stroller at the hotel. Strollers are also not permitted in gondolas.
Hotel Tips for Venice with Kids
There are no family hotels in the traditional sense in Venice — meaning no kids’ menus, childcare, or anything like that.
But we’ll show you the places to stay that are still a great fit for families. For example, because they have a garden — which is rare in Venice — or because they offer family rooms.
For venice with children, we can recommend these accommodations for families:
Corte dei Santi: super central, apartments with a shared garden and play area. Minimum stay of two nights.
Casa del Melograno: with a courtyard garden and small playground.
Hotel Tiziano: with family rooms, great value for the price in the off-season. Perfect with older kids.
Our tip: If you’re traveling to Venice with kids in spring or summer, it’s also worth considering a hotel on the beach island of Lido. You’re only a 15-minute water bus ride from the center, and there are beaches and playgrounds.
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Cool Things to Do in Venice with Kids
Take a gondola ride
A gondola ride is one of the top highlights in Venice. And it’s an experience not just for kids!
The slow glide through the canals is genuinely relaxing, and you see the palaces from a completely new perspective. For kids, it’s super exciting to pass under bridges and spot crabs and fish.
A gondola fits up to five people, and a ride lasts about 35 minutes.
Even though it’s pretty pricey at around €140, we recommend a private gondola ride. Especially if you’re a group of at least four and the kids are older than two — because younger children pay full price. With four people, you’ll end up paying about the same as a shared ride, but you’ll have the whole gondola to yourselves.
Shared gondola rides cost around €35 per person, and you’ll be seated with other people. If you’re unlucky, you might even end up in different gondolas. But don’t worry — every child will be seated with an adult.
Book a shared gondola ride
Our tip: If your kids can’t sit still for 35 minutes, you can also take the Traghetto. It’s also a gondola, just much larger, and it’s used to quickly cross the Grand Canal. The crossing costs €2 and only takes a few minutes. The Traghetto stops are Dogana, Santa Maria del Giglio, San Tomà, Riva del Vin, Riva del Carbon, and Santa Sofia.
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Climb the Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo
The Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo is tucked at the end of a narrow alley that not many tourists wander into.
Which means it’s never crowded here, even though the palace is quite remarkable. There are no lines, so you can walk right in with the kids.
Tickets cost €9; children only pay starting at age 12.
The star of the show is the stunning spiral staircase that winds all the way up to the roof. Inside the palace, there’s an art exhibition featuring Venetian artists.
The wide steps of the staircase are easy even for very young children. Fun fact: the builder had the steps made so wide so that he could ride to every floor without dismounting his horse. Wild, right?
Get tickets for the Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo
Explore secret passages and prisons in the Doge's Palace
The Doge’s Palace is one of the top must-sees in Venice. It was once the seat of government, where the Doge — the head of state — ruled over Venice’s maritime empire.
That might not sound very exciting for kids at first — unless they’re into secret passages, prisons, weapons, and war loot. Because the Doge’s Palace has all of that.
A visit also includes crossing the Bridge of Sighs, which you’d otherwise only be able to see from the outside.
Children under six get in free; from age six, admission is €15. Adults pay €30.
Note: With an online ticket, you skip the line and get in right away. On-site, there’s also a family ticket where everyone pays just €15 — but you’ll have to queue at the ticket counter for that.
Get fast-track tickets for the Doge’s Palace
Climb St. Mark's Campanile
St. Mark’s Campanile is the bell tower of St. Mark’s Basilica and also the tallest tower in Venice.
From the top, people in the square below look like ants — that’s how high up you are. You can see across the entire city and out over the lagoon.
Getting to the top is quick and easy thanks to an elevator, so even little legs can handle it without any trouble.
The line at the entrance is always very long, so buy your tickets online in advance to go straight in. Children only pay starting at age six.
Get tickets for St. Mark’s Campanile
See dinosaur fossils at the Natural History Museum
In a city that’s almost entirely focused on art and art history, the Natural History Museum is a fantastic change of pace. And for venice family travel, it’s a real standout.
Dinosaur skeletons, interactive stations, a huge stuffed great white shark that was caught in the Adriatic — you can easily spend one to two hours here.
The exhibition is really well done too — modern, with cool lighting and sound effects.
And: the museum opens at 9 AM, not at 10 like most other museums in Venice. Perfect for families with early risers!
Children under six get in free; students receive a discounted rate.
Get tickets for the Natural History Museum
By the way: The Natural History Museum is also included in the Venice Museum Pass. We break it all down in our Venice pass comparison.
Try out Leonardo da Vinci's inventions
The Leonardo da Vinci Interactive Museum is especially exciting for kids with an interest in technology. It features reconstructed inventions by Leonardo that visitors can actually operate.
The first floor covers Leonardo da Vinci’s life, while the second floor lets kids and adults try out catapults, flying machines, and tools. There’s also a corner for building and puzzling.
The museum also has locations in Florence and Rome, and we really recommend it! Plan for one to two hours.
Get tickets for the Leonardo da Vinci Interactive Museum
Blow glass on Murano
Do your kids know how glass is made? No? Then you absolutely need to take them to Murano, the glassblowing island. It’s only a 20-minute water bus ride from the center of Venice.
Murano has been producing the famous Murano glass by hand for centuries — it’s one of the most prized glassware traditions in the world. Most of the glass factories here are open to the public.
Murano itself is also really beautiful and makes for a great day trip.
We recommend the glassworks Gino Mazzuccato, where real demonstrations are offered. You can even try blowing glass yourself.
Book a glassblowing demonstration
Play on the beach on the island of Lido
If you’re visiting Venice in spring or summer, you should definitely make a trip to the beach island of Lido di Venezia. It’s only 15 minutes from the center by water bus.
You can also get to Lido by car ferry, since the island has regular roads.
Lido has an 11-kilometer-long beach lined with beach clubs that are perfectly set up for families: there are playgrounds, pools, beach umbrellas, and restaurants.
Didn’t bring any beach towels to Venice? No problem — you can rent them at the beach club. Just make sure to bring your own swimwear.
We recommend the beach club Blue Moon. It’s the closest one to the Lido water bus stop.
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Playgrounds in Venice
There are only a few playgrounds in Venice, and they’re all on the outermost edges of the city.
In the park Giardini della Biennale, in the southeastern part of Venice, there’s a lovely shaded playground. The park itself is really beautiful, with wide tree-lined paths, benches, and kiosks right on the water.
It’s about a 20-minute walk from St. Mark’s Square, but you can also get there on water bus lines 4.1 and 4.2. The stop is called Giardini Biennale.
In the Cannaregio neighborhood, near the train station, there’s also a playground in Parco Savorgnan. It’s fairly small though, and really only suited for younger children.
Frequently Asked Questions about Venice with Kids
Can we buy baby food in Venice?
Yes! You can find baby food at any supermarket, so there’s no need to pack it. It’s usually a bit different from what you’d find at home — more of a puréed ingredient than a complete meal. Think puréed beef or puréed vegetables. Italian mothers typically mix these into a separately prepared porridge.
Can we see a pediatrician in Venice?
Yes, you can visit any pediatrician — just search Google for “pediatra” to find one nearby. You’ll need to pay out of pocket first, but you can usually get reimbursed by your health insurance provider back home.
Do children have to pay for the water bus?
Children ride free until age six. After that, they pay the full ticket price.
Do children also have to pay the Venice day visitor fee?
The day visitor fee only applies to children aged 14 and older. That said, you still need to register younger children and get a QR code for them — you can do this when booking for the adults. Make sure to bring a form of ID for your child so their age can be verified if asked.
