Venice with kids: our itinerary for 3 days in magical Venice (+ our travel tips)
Our recommended itinerary for two nights / three days in Venice with kids. Hotel recommendations, child friendly actives and restaurants we loved.
I am very fond of Venice.
I find it to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world (for me, only Rome competes with it for beauty) and while I know this statement may sound like a cliche’, I promise you in this case it truly comes form the heart.
I have been to Venice more times than I can count and every time my heart skips a beat: the city has a type of unique beauty and pensive atmosphere that I simply cannot get enough us
However, this wasn’t always the case.
While I always found Venice objectively beautiful, it took me a while to ‘get it’.
The penny dropped, for me, when I got to know a little more about it: while I am usually not a tours person, when I finally invested in tours of the city I got to feel what Venice was all about and feel completely in love with it.
So, when the time came to bring the kids, I knew what I had to do!
I prepared an itinerary that left time to wander (always wander in Venice!) but also had some key activity and tours that would make the children love it as much as I do.
Today, I share with you my favorite Venice with kids itinerary, the one we ourselves followed during our most successful stay in the city (it’s actually two in one: we had a 2 day and one day stay, and this itinerary is a combination of the two!).
It is a pretty busy itinerary and quite activity heavy: if you prefer a less structured stay, I would skip one of the activities and the morning in Murano and replace them with a wander in the area of Castello and Cannaregio.
Good to know: if you are researching Venice with kids chances are you have come across the website mama loves Italy. That is mine too! So if you see things in common between the two, you now know why 🙂 This is my general travel blog, MLI is my specialised one about Italy and has a lot more ideas on how to spend your time in Venice, all gathered during out many family trips to the city.
Please note: this post contains affiliate links: should you make a purchase, we might make a small commission.
Table of Contents
3 days in Venice with kids: our itinerary at a glance
Day 1: arrival, settling into our accommodation, scavenger hunt tour of the city (or you can take a Doges’ Palace tour if you prefer, also excellent)
Day 2: photo session with vacation photographer; glass blowing workshop with Fabio in the morning; rowing class in the afternoon
Day 3: trip to Murano and Burano; departure
Below, I am going to talk in detail about each of these activities. If you like the sound of them and want to check prices and details, these are the booking links:
>> Scavenger Hunt tour of Venice with Lucia (you can select the neighborhood or opt for the city higjliuths)
>> St Marks’ and Doges’ Palace tour for kids by LivTours, which is an engaging way to explore Venice’s main landmark in a way that is engaging for kids (the palace is wonderful but it’s a museum so it is easily a little dry for children, if you don’t have a guide that makes it come to life)
>> Vacation photographer: Marta from Flytographer. You can use code MAMALOVESITALY for a discount!
>> Glass making workshop with Fabio (Venice city center)
>> Rowing Class with Row Venice (amazing fun, this is my absolute favorite thing to do in Venice!)
>> Murano and Burano day tour – we love this one by Matteo. Of you book on instagram and tell him Marta sent you, he gives a discount!
>> Murano glass workshop at Ferro Toso
Hotel: we have stayed in many hotels in Venice, over the course of the years. Our favorites were Carnival Palace in Cannaregio (modern) and Agli Alboretti in Dorsoduro (old style, Venetian)
Transport: we are used to walking a lot and hardly ever used the water bus. However, if you have littles or foresee more than a couple of water bus rides per day, you may want to consider the Venice transport pass, especially for the day to Murano and Burano.
Venice with kids – day 1
On arrival day we like to have abundant time to get to our hotel, get refreshed and settle before heading out again and this is just what we did!
The hotel we chose for our stay this time was Hotel Agli Alboretti, which is in the lovely area of Dorsoduro.
Dorsoduro is very close to St Mark and puts you walking distance from most attractions /activities in this itinerary. However, it is quieter than the area of St Mark and has a much more Venetian feel to it.
Here, in parts, you can even imagine what living in Venice as a local may feel like!
From the station, we walked here in about 20 minutes. however you can also get the water bus and come here by getting off at station Accademia.
After settling into out hotel, we were ready for our tour!
In the evening, we took a stroll in our area, made sure to look at the ‘squero’ (where gondolas are made!) and then went for a meal in Taverna San Trovaso restaurants.
Day 2 A busy yet exciting day in Venice!
On day two we went a little wild with activities, but we loved each of them so much, if I was to do it again: I would!
We started the day bright and early with a photo session with Marta.
I had been dreaming of a family photo shoot on location for years but the price had always put me off. This time, I decided to invest and wow, I am so happy I did!
Marta is a wonderful photographer and a lovely lady.
She told us where she though would be best to meet, she suggested lovely backdrops and managed to make us feel at ease in front of the camera, definitely something that does not come natural to us at all!
The result was perfect and I often look at our photos as one of my best memories!
After seeing Marta (yes, same name as me!) we headed to Fabio’s workshop to make glass.
This was a really fun activity and one that my daughter was much more suited to than me!
The class is divided into two parts. The main event is working with the flame so that you can make a little glass animal or ornament.
Fabi teaches you how to operate the flame safely and helps with the most difficult parts: you are fully kitted out with safety glasses so while you do have to pay attention, it is all pretty safe.
Since flame work requires supervision, you take turns and while you wait you get to design a colorful tile with a pattern and colors of your choice.
At the end of the class, Fabio takes charge of your creations, get ready to cook the tile and sets you free, with an appointment for later in the day to collect your masterpiece!
After the class we walked towards our rowing class and stopped in the lovely restaurant La Colonna.
In the afternoon, we had what I consider the absolute highlight of all our trips to Venice: the rowing class with Row Venice!
Row Venice is a local organization devoted to the local tradition of rowing and they are passionate about teaching you about their crafty and the Venice lagoon.
Our instructor was Luigina and she was a real gem: my daughter took an immediate shine to her and picked up the rowing technique in a flash.
I though the class would be a shared effort with me rowing part of the time and my daughter the other part but no!
My daughter loved the whole thing so much, she kept rowing all the time, letting me sunbathe in the boat as she worked. She loved it and I am very much not complaining about it either!
After the class we had delicious gelato in Bacaro del Gelato, then had a wonder around Cannaregio. As we strolled, we also popped into Liberia dell’Acqua Alta, which is a fun bookstore with books in gondolas and bath tubs.
Years ago the bookstore was authentic and a bit of an oddity. Now it is very much a social media favorite but it is still a cool place to pop in for a browse.
In the evening, we were very tired and therefore stayed in the hotel for dinner (lovely!).
Day 3 – Murano and Burano
After two days in Venice proper I like recommending going to Murano and Burano, the two most famous lagoon islands of Venice.
Murano is famous for glass work and a cool place to visit if you want to treat your kids to seeing the glass furnaces and masters doing lamp works.
Last time we went, we had a lovely time making a murrain in Ferro Toso and we also had a nice lunch in Da Tanduo, on the canal.
After lunch, we went to Burano which is my favourite island of the two!
Burano is further than Murano and you need a little more patience to get there. however, it is a delightful place for a wander and a quiet afternoon.
Here, you find some pretty canals, at the same time reminiscent of yet very different from those in venice proper, you have a great tradition of lace making, which you can learn about in the local lace museum; but most of all you have adorable colorful houses that make you feel like ou are walking in multicolor fairy world!
We never get to do much in Burano as such; this is not a place to do but a place to feel but if you like unstructured time and just being immersed in a pretty piece, you cannot beat it, Burano is special!
Good to know: make sure you take a note of the time of the last boat to Venice! The distance is significant so if you miss the last one and need to get a water taxi, you’ll easily blow the budget. You can find the schedule at the stop on arrival.
The ferry back to Burano leads you back to Fondamenta Nuove in Cannaregio. To end this day, we love to take a stroll here, see the wonderful Venice Ghetto and have a meal here. Last time we had a lovely dinner at El Mariner.
I hope you enjoyed this family itinerary and helped you plan your stay in Venice with kids Safe travels!
