10 Best Family Things to Do in Florence

Palazzo Vecchio is a fortified, 13th-century Florentine palace that also serves as a townhall and civic museum. The palace overlooks Piazza della Signoria and offers exciting interactive tours for families.

Your tour of the palazzo will usually cover the elaborately decorated rooms, where the kids can learn about the secret passages that follow into the private chambers of the Medici family. A fun part of the tour is being able to dress up in extravagant Medici clothing, then striking a pose like they do in those famous Renaissance paintings.

Museo Galileo (Galileo Museum) offers a great educational tour that can be inspiring for kids. The museum exhibits Galileo Galilei’s early inventions, extant telescopes, and scientific instruments, which date back to the 15th century. 

You can also learn about how the world was viewed back in the era, through the collection of terrestrial globes. Private tours are available, but it’s always a good idea to share with younger kids a bit of background on the great astronomer before your visit. 

Piazza della Republicca is the bustling public square in Florence that’s home to an antique but functioning carousel. The brightly painted carousel is compact, with 20 horses and 2 gilded carriages. You’ll often see the carousel spinning but empty, with many onlookers simply enjoying the sight alone. 

Rides are only a few euros, and your family photos here will be timeless. There are benches around, from which you can capture the best angles.

Giardino di Boboli (Boboli Gardens) is a 15th-century garden that’s part of the Pitti Palace in Florence. The lush, manicured grounds are dotted with Renaissance sculptures and ornate fountains. You can also enjoy some of the most splendid Florentine skylines from the garden’s hillsides. 

With a labyrinthine hedge and cypress tree-lined pathways winding throughout the hilly grounds, Boboli seems like one big maze garden. Tickets are required to explore the grounds, but entry is usually free every first Sunday of the month.

Piscine Le Pavoniere is one of the most popular outdoor swimming pools in Florence. It is part of the monumental and historical green oasis of Parco delle Cascine (Cascine Park). Compared to Florence’s larger pools, like the municipal swimming pool of Costoli, Le Pavoniere gets it just right for families.

The pools aren’t too deep, and the kids can alternately enjoy dry fun at an onsite playground. There’s ample shade and a complete range of facilities. These, plus a restaurant and cocktail bar insure you can spend a whole day here. 

The Stibbert Museum showcases the immense collection of armors that was amassed by the Italian-born English art collector, Frederick Stibbert. Stepping inside can be an overwhelming experience, much like entering a fully stocked toy shop. The huge variety of antique weapons and armours come from different civilizations, ranging from samurais to Greenwich armors – swords, protective garments, body plates, and all.

Check out the stunning Hall of The Ride, with its life-size cavalry of armoured riders on horses, posed against an intricately frescoed interior.

Il Papiro is a paper store in Florence that presents a wide range of handmade stationery items and marbled paper. Their friendly staff will be happy to show the kids around and even ask for you to join their paper-marbling workshops.

You can pick your favorite colors and try out how different mixtures and selection of tools can create varying patterns. You can then take your own masterpiece home. Il Papiro has 2 branches in Florence: the main one is on Via Cavour and the smaller shop is right behind the Duomo.

Joining a cooking class can serve as a fun family outing in Florence. Classes let you go through traditional Italian recipes together, then go hands-on with mixing ingredients to create delicious gelato and stretching doughs to make authentic pizzas.

With professional chefs leading you through the cooking process, you can create your very own personalized pizza with the most delicious selection of toppings imaginable. With the pizza in the oven, you will then learn how to make the much-loved Italian dessert. In the end, enjoying a family lunch or dinner in Florence becomes truly memorable with your very own creations.