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19 picks in Italy

Where to stay with kids in Italy

We list areas and property types rather than single hotels: family-room availability changes constantly, and the area plus the room requirement is what survives contact with a booking engine.
Italy with Kids: Itineraries, Where to Stay & When to Go

Family hotel picks in Italy

  • Val Gardena — half-board family hotels
    Ortisei / SelvaMid-range

    Val Gardena — half-board family hotels

    Alpine half-board hotels are built for families: large rooms, a pool, an early children's dinner and a lift station within walking distance.

    • Half board with a separate early kids' sitting
    • Indoor pool and spa for wet afternoons
    • Walking distance to a cable-car base station
    • Free or discounted local lift and bus cards at many properties

    Fitting a family in

    Family rooms and interconnecting doubles are standard in this region, unlike most Italian cities.

    Watch out. Many hotels close entirely between the summer and ski seasons, roughly October to early December and April to June.

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  • Southern Garda — apartments with a pool
    Peschiera / LaziseMid-range

    Southern Garda — apartments with a pool

    Self-catering with a pool is the most practical setup for a week on the lake, and the southern shore is closest to the theme parks and the flattest beaches.

    • Kitchen for breakfasts and one meal a day
    • Pool on site for the afternoon heat
    • Short drive to Gardaland and the water parks
    • Flat, walkable lakeside promenades

    Fitting a family in

    Two-bedroom apartments are widely available and usually cheaper than two hotel rooms.

    Watch out. August books out months ahead and carries minimum-stay rules, usually a full week starting Saturday.

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  • Monti & Prati — apartments near the sites
    Monti / PratiMid-range

    Monti & Prati — apartments near the sites

    Roman hotel rooms rarely sleep four comfortably. An apartment solves that, adds a kitchen for breakfast, and both districts are quiet residential areas within walking distance of the major sites.

    • Walking distance to the Colosseum (Monti) or the Vatican (Prati)
    • Kitchen and laundry for a longer stay
    • Neighbourhood restaurants rather than tourist menus

    Fitting a family in

    Two-bedroom apartments cost less than two hotel rooms and are far more common in the centre than family rooms.

    Watch out. Many buildings are historic with no lift. Check the floor and the stair count before booking with a pushchair.

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  • Cannaregio — apartments away from the crush
    CannaregioMid-range

    Cannaregio — apartments away from the crush

    Venetian hotel rooms rarely sleep four and carry a premium near St Mark's. An apartment in the northern district gives space, a kitchen and everyday shops, with the station and the vaporetto stops a short walk away.

    • Residential streets with grocery shops and ordinary restaurants
    • Ten to fifteen minutes on foot from Santa Lucia station
    • A kitchen for breakfast, which is expensive to buy in the centre
    • Wide fondamenta walkways with fewer bridges than the centre

    Fitting a family in

    Two-bedroom apartments are widely available and cost less than two hotel rooms. Check how many bridges lie between the nearest vaporetto stop and the front door before booking.

    Watch out. Almost no building has a lift, and luggage has to be carried over stepped bridges from the nearest boat stop. Ask for the exact walking route rather than the straight-line distance.

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  • Mestre — mainland rooms with a train in
    Mestre (mainland)Budget

    Mestre — mainland rooms with a train in

    Mestre roughly halves the accommodation bill, has ordinary hotels with family rooms and parking, and sits about ten minutes by train from Santa Lucia — which also means a rental car can be parked and left.

    • Frequent trains into Venice taking around 10 minutes
    • Hotel parking, which does not exist in the historic centre
    • Family rooms and quads at a fraction of island prices
    • No luggage to carry over bridges on arrival day

    Fitting a family in

    Standard mainland hotels carry quad and connecting rooms that are very hard to find on the islands at any price.

    Watch out. Mestre is an ordinary mainland town with nothing to see, and every evening ends with a train rather than a walk home. Staying outside the historic centre may also mean the day-visitor access fee applies on peak dates.

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  • Oltrarno — apartments south of the river
    Oltrarno (Santo Spirito / San Frediano)Mid-range

    Oltrarno — apartments south of the river

    Five minutes' walk from the Ponte Vecchio but a working neighbourhood rather than a tourist centre, with quieter nights, lower prices and apartments that sleep four in a city where hotel rooms rarely do.

    • Walking distance to the Uffizi, the Duomo and the Boboli gardens
    • Neighbourhood restaurants and a square to sit out in
    • Kitchen and washing machine for a stop in the middle of a longer trip
    • Quieter at night than the centre or the station district

    Fitting a family in

    Two-bedroom apartments cost less than two hotel rooms and are far more common here than family rooms are anywhere in the city.

    Watch out. Historic buildings, which usually means several flights of stairs and no lift. Santo Spirito square is lively and loud late on summer evenings.

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  • Fiesole & the hills — a pool above the city
    Fiesole / the hillsHigher-end

    Fiesole & the hills — a pool above the city

    Florence in summer is a heat trap. Staying in the hills means a garden and a pool for the afternoon, cooler nights, and a bus into the centre that takes around 25 minutes.

    • Pool and garden, which the city centre cannot offer at any price
    • Noticeably cooler evenings than the river basin
    • Views over Florence and a Roman theatre in Fiesole itself
    • Parking, which is impractical inside the ZTL

    Fitting a family in

    Villa-style properties and residences in the hills have more genuine family rooms and apartments than the city centre.

    Watch out. Every trip into Florence is a bus or taxi ride each way, which adds up with a family and rules out going back to the room at lunchtime. The last buses up the hill run earlier than the Italian dinner hour.

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  • Monterosso — the flattest village to sleep in
    Monterosso al MareHigher-end

    Monterosso — the flattest village to sleep in

    It is the only one of the five villages where luggage does not have to be carried up a staircase, and the only one with a real beach — which turns the afternoon into a swim rather than another train.

    • Level walk from the station to the sea and to most rooms
    • The only substantial sandy beach in the park
    • Hotels with actual rooms rather than only rented apartments
    • Trains to the other four villages in a few minutes

    Fitting a family in

    Triples and quads exist here but are limited in number, and family rooms sell out for the summer months well in advance.

    Watch out. The most expensive of the five villages and the busiest beach in the park. The old town and the newer half are separated by a pedestrian tunnel, so check which side a property sits on before booking.

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  • Levanto & La Spezia — one stop outside the park
    Levanto / La SpeziaMid-range

    Levanto & La Spezia — one stop outside the park

    Both sit at either end of the line, minutes from the villages by train, with larger rooms, supermarkets, parking and prices that are not set by the national park. Levanto also has a long sandy beach of its own.

    • Frequent trains into all five villages
    • Parking, which is scarce and expensive inside the park
    • Supermarkets and ordinary restaurants for self-catering
    • A sandy beach at Levanto without the day-trip crowds

    Fitting a family in

    Apartments and hotel family rooms are far easier to find here than in the villages, and cost noticeably less for the same space.

    Watch out. Every evening in the villages ends with a train, and the last services run earlier than an Italian dinner hour suggests. La Spezia is a working port city rather than a resort.

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  • Chianti — agriturismo with a pool
    Chianti (Greve, Radda, Castellina)Mid-range

    Chianti — agriturismo with a pool

    A working farm with self-catering apartments and a pool is the setup the whole region is built around: space for children, a kitchen, somewhere to swim in the afternoon, and Florence and Siena both within an hour.

    • Pool on site for the hottest part of the day
    • Self-catering apartments with a kitchen and outdoor space
    • Farm produce — oil, wine, sometimes cheese — sold on site
    • Within an hour of Florence, Siena and San Gimignano

    Fitting a family in

    Two-bedroom farm apartments are the standard unit here and cost less than two hotel rooms in either city.

    Watch out. July and August are usually sold Saturday to Saturday only and book out months ahead. Access is often several kilometres of unlit gravel road, and farm pools are frequently unfenced and unsupervised.

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  • Val d'Orcia — farmhouse apartments in the hills
    Val d'Orcia (Pienza, Montalcino, San Quirico)Mid-range

    Val d'Orcia — farmhouse apartments in the hills

    The most striking landscape in Tuscany, with hill towns small enough to walk in half an hour and thermal pools nearby — a slower base for families who would rather look at the countryside than drive to cities.

    • Farmhouse apartments with kitchens and shared pools
    • Pienza, Montalcino and San Quirico each within 20 minutes
    • Thermal pools at Bagno Vignoni and open-air springs nearby
    • Quiet roads with very little traffic

    Fitting a family in

    Converted farmhouses are usually let as whole apartments sleeping four to six, often with a second bathroom.

    Watch out. Further from everything: Florence is around two hours and Siena an hour, so this is a base for the region rather than for city days. Shops and restaurants can be a 15-minute drive away and almost nothing is walkable.

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  • Sorrento — family rooms by the train and the port
    SorrentoMid-range

    Sorrento — family rooms by the train and the port

    Sorrento is the one flat, walkable town on the peninsula and the hub for everything else: trains to Pompeii and Naples, ferries to Positano, Amalfi and Capri, and buses along the coast road for the days the boats are not running.

    • Circumvesuviana trains to Pompeii and Naples
    • Ferry port for the Amalfi Coast and Capri
    • A level town centre with restaurants and shops within walking distance
    • The widest choice of family rooms on the peninsula

    Fitting a family in

    Triples, quads and connecting rooms are far more common here than anywhere on the Amalfi side, where most properties are small and stepped.

    Watch out. Sorrento has no conventional beach — swimming is from wooden platforms over the rocks, reached by lifts or long staircases. The town is busy and loud in summer, and the cliff-top position means a lift or a climb every time you want the water.

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  • Vico Equense & the peninsula — apartments with a pool
    Vico Equense / Sorrento peninsulaMid-range

    Vico Equense & the peninsula — apartments with a pool

    A few minutes up the line from Sorrento, with lower prices, apartments large enough for a family, and pools that solve the afternoon in a place where the sea is at the bottom of a staircase.

    • Pool on site, which most Sorrento town hotels lack
    • Local trains into Sorrento and on to Pompeii
    • Kitchen for breakfasts and a quieter evening than Sorrento
    • Parking, which is difficult and expensive in Sorrento itself

    Fitting a family in

    Two-bedroom apartments are common and cost noticeably less than equivalent space in Sorrento.

    Watch out. The peninsula is built on cliffs, so many properties involve steps or a steep lane down to the road and the sea. Without a car, every evening depends on the train timetable.

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  • Apartment or family room in Cefalù
    Cefalù / north coastMid-range

    Apartment or family room in Cefalù

    It is the rare Sicilian base that works without driving every day: a long sandy beach, a walkable town with an ordinary high street and a Norman cathedral, and a station on the Palermo line for the days that need a change of scene.

    • Long sandy beach with shallow water and seasonal lifeguards
    • Walkable centre with supermarkets and everyday restaurants
    • Trains along the coast to Palermo in around an hour
    • Apartments with kitchens throughout the old town and the newer quarter

    Fitting a family in

    Two-bedroom apartments are the standard local product and cost less than two hotel rooms; hotel family rooms exist mainly in the larger properties outside the old town.

    Watch out. The old town is a grid of stepped lanes closed to vehicles and almost entirely without lifts, so luggage is carried the last stretch and parking is a paid lot on the edge. The beach is packed and the restaurants are at capacity through August, and the Rocca above the town is a steep unshaded staircase rather than a walk.

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  • Seafront family hotels below Taormina
    Giardini Naxos / LetojanniMid-range

    Seafront family hotels below Taormina

    Taormina itself is steep, costly and short of family rooms. The seafront towns underneath it have half-board hotels with pools, a level promenade and a bus or cable car up to the town, which is the practical way to combine Etna, the theatre and a swim in one stay.

    • Half-board and all-inclusive boards with early children's sittings
    • Pools, which matter because the beaches here are pebble
    • Level seafront promenade for pushchairs and scooters
    • Buses and a cable car up to Taormina; Catania airport under an hour

    Fitting a family in

    Family rooms, triples and interconnecting doubles are standard in the larger seafront properties, unlike in Taormina's small hillside hotels.

    Watch out. The beaches are pebble and coarse sand rather than fine sand, so water shoes are close to essential. The coast road and the railway run directly behind the seafront in places, which makes a sea-facing room quieter than a road-facing one, and many properties close entirely from roughly November to March.

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  • Villa or farmhouse with a pool in the Val di Noto
    Noto / Modica / MarzamemiMid-range

    Villa or farmhouse with a pool in the Val di Noto

    The south-east has the shortest drives on the island, and a house with a pool turns the hot part of the day into a swim while keeping Siracusa, three baroque towns and several sandy beaches inside 40 minutes.

    • Private or shared pool for the afternoon heat
    • Kitchen and outdoor space, usually with a shaded terrace
    • Sandy beaches and the Vendicari reserve within half an hour
    • Noto, Modica and Ragusa each a short drive apart

    Fitting a family in

    Converted farmhouses and villas let as whole properties sleeping four to eight, frequently with a second bathroom, which usually costs less than two hotel rooms in Siracusa.

    Watch out. Access is often a few kilometres of unlit country lane, so a late arrival with tired children is slow going. Pools at smaller properties are frequently unfenced and unheated, there is rarely anything walkable nearby, and July and August are commonly sold as full weeks starting on a Saturday.

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  • Masseria with a pool in the Valle d'Itria
    Valle d'Itria (Alberobello, Locorotondo, Martina Franca)Mid-range

    Masseria with a pool in the Valle d'Itria

    A converted farmhouse with a pool is the setup the whole region is built around: grounds to run in, a kitchen or an on-site restaurant, and the trulli towns 15 to 30 minutes away, so a day can be one town and a swim rather than a drive.

    • Pool and grounds for the hottest part of the day
    • Self-catering apartments, or rooms with breakfast made on site
    • Alberobello, Locorotondo, Ostuni and Martina Franca within half an hour
    • Working farms often sell their own oil, cheese and vegetables

    Fitting a family in

    Two-bedroom apartments and family suites sleeping four to six are common, and some masserie let as a whole house, which works for two families travelling together.

    Watch out. Most sit several kilometres down an unlit country lane with nothing walkable nearby, so every evening is either the on-site restaurant or a drive. Pools are often unheated and unfenced, the coast is a 30 to 40 minute drive, mosquitoes are a real nuisance on summer evenings, and July and August are usually sold as Saturday-to-Saturday weeks booked months ahead.

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  • Villa or apartment near the Ionian coast
    Porto Cesareo / Torre Lapillo / GallipoliMid-range

    Villa or apartment near the Ionian coast

    The long shallow beaches are the reason to come this far south, and a self-catering house within walking distance of one removes the beach car-park problem that defines July and August here.

    • Walking distance to shallow sandy beaches in the better locations
    • Kitchen for the early suppers the Italian dinner hour makes necessary
    • Private or shared pool at many properties
    • Supermarkets and beach kiosks close by in the resort villages

    Fitting a family in

    Two- and three-bedroom holiday houses sleeping four to eight are the standard product, usually with a terrace or a garden and often a second bathroom.

    Watch out. This is the far corner of the region — roughly two hours from Bari airport and an hour and a half from Brindisi — and it is emphatically seasonal, with many properties, restaurants and beach clubs shut from October to May. August books out months ahead at roughly double the June rate, air conditioning is not universal in older houses, and some listings described as near the sea are a ten-minute drive from it.

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  • Old-town apartment in Monopoli or Polignano
    Monopoli / Polignano a Mare (Adriatic coast)Mid-range

    Old-town apartment in Monopoli or Polignano

    Staying in a coastal town rather than the countryside puts restaurants, a supermarket and a gelateria within walking distance, with a railway station and Bari airport inside an hour — the practical choice for a family that would rather not drive to dinner.

    • Walkable old town with restaurants and shops at the door
    • Coastal train line to Bari and the other Adriatic towns
    • Small sandy coves in Monopoli, rock platforms elsewhere
    • Kitchen for breakfasts and early suppers

    Fitting a family in

    Converted town houses and apartments sleeping four to six are widely available, frequently arranged over two floors with a roof terrace.

    Watch out. Swimming on this coast is mostly from rock platforms, ladders and small pebble coves rather than long sand, so it suits confident swimmers more than toddlers. Old-town buildings rarely have lifts, the lanes are limited-traffic zones a car cannot reach, and noise carries late on summer nights in a stone alley.

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