Venice with Kids: Things to Do, Where to Stay and Family Tips
- rowofthree
- Aug 16
- 8 min read
We travelled from Milan to Venice by train, and our first glimpse of the city remains one of my favourite memories from our Italian trip. It was a misty day, and as we crossed the Venetian Lagoon, the tracks seemed to disappear into the haze. For a moment, it felt as though we were travelling directly across the water.
We spent two full days exploring central Venice as a family. The magic was not only in its famous landmarks, but in wandering through narrow lanes, crossing little bridges and watching vaporetti, water taxis and gondolas move along the canals.
This guide to Venice with kids covers the things we most enjoyed, where we stayed, how we got around and the practical family tips we wish we had known—particularly when travelling with luggage.
Venice at a glance
Currency: Euro (€)
Main airport: Venice Marco Polo Airport
Main railway station: Venezia Santa Lucia
Time needed: Two full days for central Venice
Best time to visit: Spring or early autumn
Getting around: Mainly on foot, with vaporetti for longer journeys
Luggage tip: Check how many bridges lie between the station and your accommodation, and consider arranging a porter
Contents
How to get to Venice
Arriving by train
Trains from Milan, Florence, Rome and other Italian cities arrive at Venezia Santa Lucia, directly beside the Grand Canal.
When booking, select Venezia Santa Lucia, not Venezia Mestre. Mestre is on the mainland; Santa Lucia brings you directly into historic Venice.
Flying into Venice
Venice Marco Polo Airport is approximately 13 kilometres from the historic centre.
As vehicles cannot enter central Venice, the best transfer depends on where you are staying:
Airport bus: Around 20 minutes to Piazzale Roma, followed by a walk, vaporetto or water taxi to your accommodation.
Road taxi: Also takes you to Piazzale Roma, but cannot reach most hotels in historic Venice.
Private water taxi: The most direct and atmospheric option—and the most expensive—if it can stop near your hotel.
Keep in mind: The often-quoted 20-minute airport transfer only gets you to Piazzale Roma. Allow extra time to reach your accommodation.
When is the best time to visit Venice?
For comfortable walking weather and fewer peak-season crowds, we recommend visiting Venice in spring or early autumn.
Spring: Pleasant weather and fewer visitors than during the European summer-holiday period.
Summer: Long, warm days, but Venice can be hot, expensive and extremely busy.
Early autumn: Our preferred time to visit. We travelled in October and enjoyed comfortable temperatures, although some days were overcast. Venice was still busy, but we avoided the most intense summer heat and crowds.
Winter: Quieter and atmospheric, with Venice Carnival usually held in February. However, it can be cold, damp and more susceptible to high-water events. It would not be my first choice because the weather may take away from the pleasure of walking and absorbing the city.
For us, October offered a lovely balance of comfortable walking weather and fewer peak-season tourists.
How many days do you need in Venice?
For us, two full days in Venice felt right. We didn't pack each day with attractions in the way we did in some other Italian cities, because Venice wasn't really about moving from one church, building or bridge to the next.
Venice itself was the experience.
We had time to wander, take a gondola ride, travel along the Grand Canal, visit the key landmarks, enjoy the food and absorb the atmosphere. Two days allowed us to leave while the city still felt exciting.
We didn't paint masks, take a cooking lesson or visit Murano, and we didn't feel that anything was missing. If you plan to visit Murano, Burano, several museums or organise multiple workshops, add at least another day.
For a family wanting to experience central Venice as part of a broader Italian holiday, two full days worked beautifully for us.
Venice formed part of our Classic 3-Week Europe Itinerary for Australian Families, and two full days felt right for our first visit. We had time to wander, take a gondola ride, travel along the Grand Canal and visit the landmarks that mattered most to us without overloading our days.
Where to stay in Venice with kids
We stayed at Hotel Papadopoli Venezia – MGallery in Santa Croce. It is close to Venezia Santa Lucia railway station and Piazzale Roma. It was a convenient base for arriving and leaving Venice, while still allowing us to reach the major sights on foot or by vaporetto.
However, we quickly discovered that “close to the station” can be misleading when you have luggage. I hadn’t realised Venice has porters who transport bags by trolley, and I was wary of handing our suitcases to strangers. We decided to manage them ourselves.
Our supposed ten-minute walk took half an hour—and cost us a suitcase wheel. After dragging our bags over cobblestones and up countless bridge steps, we watched other travellers’ luggage glide past on trolleys. It was clearly a service we should have trusted.
Row of Three Tip: When choosing accommodation, check not only its distance from the station but also how many bridges you will need to cross. If you have large or multiple suitcases, consider arranging an official porter and confirm the price beforehand. KiBag accepts porter enquiries for Venezia Santa Lucia station.
The station also offers staffed luggage storage near Platform 1, which can be useful before check-in or after check-out. Check current hours and prices before travelling.
Santa Croce felt calmer than the busiest parts of San Marco while remaining well connected to the rest of the city.
Other areas families may consider include:
Cannaregio: Convenient for Santa Lucia station, more residential and generally calmer than San Marco.
San Polo: Central and atmospheric, with easy access to Rialto.
San Marco: Convenient for the major landmarks, but busier and usually more expensive.
Dorsoduro: Attractive and relatively relaxed for families who don’t mind staying farther from the station.
How to get around Venice
Walking is the best way to experience central Venice. Some of our favourite moments came from wandering without a destination, admiring the Venetian masks in shop windows and discovering another canal or beautiful building around each corner.
The main transport options are:
Vaporetto: Venice’s public water bus and the most practical way to travel farther or visit the lagoon islands.
Water taxi: A faster and more direct private transfer, but considerably more expensive.
Gondola: A sightseeing experience rather than everyday transport.
Row of Three Tip: If you only plan to take one or two vaporetto rides, individual tickets may be sufficient. A timed ACTV travel pass can offer better value if you expect to take several trips or visit Murano and Burano. Airport boats are generally not included, so check the latest fares and inclusions before travelling.
7 of the best things to do in Venice with kids
See St Mark's Basilica
St Mark's Basilica dominates the square with its domes, mosaics and intricate façade. Even if restoration work or crowds affect the view during your visit, it remains one of Venice's defining landmarks.
Explore Venice on foot
Our number-one Venice activity was simply walking. Venice is such a visual city that wandering through its laneways and across its bridges never felt like time between attractions, it was the attraction.
Leave some space in your itinerary to get slightly lost. Look at the masks, watch boats navigating the smaller canals and stop for gelato when everyone needs a break.
Visit Piazza San Marco
Piazza San Marco, or St Mark's Square, is Venice's most famous public space and one of the essential places to experience. It is surrounded by some of the city's best-known buildings and is an excellent place to pause and take in the scale and detail of Venice.
Take a gondola ride
A gondola ride is touristy, but this is Venice—and for us, it was worth doing. It offers a different perspective as you glide along the smaller canals and beneath the bridges.
Ride a vaporetto along the Grand Canal
The Grand Canal is constantly alive with movement. Riding a vaporetto lets you watch water taxis, delivery boats and gondolas travel between grand palaces and busy stops. Even when we were not on the water, we found watching it all fascinating.
Visit Rialto Bridge and Rialto Market
The Rialto area is busy, colourful and a natural stop while exploring Venice. Cross the famous bridge for views over the Grand Canal and visit the market if its opening days and times fit your itinerary.
Visit Doge's Palace and see the Bridge of Sighs
Beside the basilica is Doge's Palace, once the centre of Venetian government. The famous Bridge of Sighs connects the palace with the former prison. Families can admire both from outside, or tour the palace if their children are interested in Venice's political history and grand interiors.
What to eat in Venice
My food highlight was nero di seppia, pasta coloured and flavoured with cuttlefish ink. It was rich, distinctive and one of the most memorable dishes of our entire Italian trip. I have tried to recreate it at home several times without complete success. Honestly, I would return to Venice for that pasta alone.
Rory's highlight was the pizza. He even found a bacon-and-egg pizza, which may not sound traditionally Venetian but was surprisingly good. What also felt different from home was seeing pizza eaten with a knife and fork. It seemed unusual at first, but when an Italian pizza arrives whole and unsliced, it makes perfect sense.
Then there was the gelato. We ate a lot of gelato in Venice, and wandering the laneways with an ice cream became part of the experience.
Adults may also want to try a Bellini. Harry's Bar opened in Venice in 1931, and founder Giuseppe Cipriani created the Bellini there in 1948 using white-peach purée and Prosecco. It was named after the Venetian painter Giovanni Bellini.
Final thoughts on visiting Venice with kids
Venice worked beautifully for us as a family. We came for Piazza San Marco, St Mark’s Basilica, Doge’s Palace, the Bridge of Sighs and a gondola ride, but some of our favourite moments were spent simply walking, eating and watching life unfold on the canals.
Two full days felt right for our first visit. We saw the landmarks that mattered to us without turning Venice into a checklist or overloading our days.
Venice feels like a city that should not quite exist, yet somehow does. Keep the plan light, let the city set the pace and leave time to absorb its unmistakable atmosphere.
If Venice is part of a longer European holiday, explore our Classic 3-Week Europe Itinerary for Australian Families for the complete route and practical planning advice.
Comments