Family Luxury Breaks: Florence with Young Kids

by Rhonda Carrier

Florence with Young Kids - Hotel Savoy on Piazza della Repubblica

The Italians may be friendly, but the capital of Tuscany itself can be a notoriously unfriendly place for kids, especially in the wilting heat of August. All that art, all that history, all that beauty…. Would my young sons – six, five and one and a half – appreciate any of that? Still, we were passing through on our way home from a gastronomic tour of the Garfagnana region with Sapori e Saperi, and it seemed a shame not to have at least a short break in what is said to be one of the greatest cities in all Italy. 

Of course, there’s plenty to see and do in Florence – almost too much, in fact. It’s difficult to know where to start, or to know in advance what might appeal to kids of various age, or how to fit it all into a two-day stay. For that reason, and also because my husband and I are cultural ignoramuses when it comes to Italian history and knew that we wouldn’t be the best guides to the city for our children, we decided to take a special family tour with Context. This awardwinning firm offers a choice of four walks especially devised for those with children, costing €220-275 per family or group (with a maximum of 6 per group). Based on my oldest boys’ ages, we were recommended the ‘Family Orientation’ walk themed ‘Symbols & Legends of Florence’.

We took the tour on our second and last day in Florence, before catching our train back to Paris in the evening. Our guide, Elizabeth, a smiling and endlessly patient young American art historian, met us outside a landmark gelateria. She told us the walk would be improvised as we went along, depending on what we were interested in. However, the heat being fierce even at 3pm (Florence was experiencing a heatwave – had we known it would be so hot, we’d have booked our tour for later in the day), we stuck largely to the compact, pedestrianised city centre. Although this meant that we ended up revisiting many of the obvious tourist sites that we’d looked at the previous day, Elizabeth's superior knowledge meant that the kids (and I) could find out much more about them without my having to parrot from a guidebook.

For instance, though we’d already been to see the city’s famous mascot, Il Porcellino (‘the piglet’ – actually a bronze statue of a boar), we hadn’t known its history, nor that if you place a coin in its mouth and it falls into the slot below, you are guaranteed to return to Florence. (To the boys’ – and my – contentment, the answer came out affirmative). Similarly, although we saw the Duomo for a second time, Elizabeth was able to explain to us the story behind Brunelleschi’s famous dome itself – an engineering masterpiece.

The Symbols & Legends walk is described on Context’s website as a ‘treasure hunt’, which perhaps makes it sound a bit more interactive and fun that it is in reality. We began in a very hands-on way, in Piazza della Repubblica, where Elisabeth dispensed drawing materials and asked the boys to draw what they could see. This included a statue and a triumphal arch – and also a traditional carousel that they had ridden the day before and were itching to go on again. (By now, baby Zac in his buggy was pointing and shouting ‘Hore-hee, hor-hee!, and at this point it was decided he wouldn’t make it through the walk and was taken off by his dad for more toddler-friendly adventures such as chasing pigeons and eating ice cream).

The boys got quite into the drawing exercise, which Elizabeth used as an introduction to the theme of the city’s Roman origins (the Piazza was the site of the Roman forum). The boys listened dutifully, but I did wonder if much of what was said wasn’t a little above their heads – they’ve heard of the Romans but have only the vaguest idea about them. These concerns were to continue through the walk, when quite advanced topics such as ‘democracy’ were raised. Elizabeth did her best, but I often found myself ‘translating’ what she said to make it accessible, and the boys began to glaze over a bit, seeming more interested in the lemon granita I bought to perk them up than in the albeit grimly fascinating, ultra-gory history of the Palazzo Vecchio (which included the disembowelling and hanging from the windows of the murderers of Guiliano de Medici).

In the end, I think the walk was more beneficial to me than the boys, and though I would recommend it to other families, I’d advise a minimum age of eight unless your children are extraordinarily precocious when it comes to world history and culture, and I would definitely have liked there to be more interactive elements. Other Context family walks in Florence, also bested suited to slightly older kids, are Renaissance Life and Arte Firenze (including entry to the Uffizi Gallery). The firm also leads family excursions to see the Palio horse race in Siena.

Another option for those bewildered by choice and stymied by their own lack of knowledge, historical or otherwise, is to use a firm such as Insider’s Italy, which offers fee-based, personalised travel planning to families and other visitors, together with other concierge services. Its owner, Marjorie, was able to advise us on matters such as sights of interest to adults that are close to ones of interest to kids, and things that might appeal even to an 18-month-old, including a shop selling toddler-friendly Tuscan treats.

The real hits of Florence, for my kids, were the carousel, the ice cream, and the Porcellino, which my oldest son insisted on returning to for a third time after the walk was finished, having learnt that it was good luck to rub its snout. We also discovered some great family hotels and restaurants. Our choice of hotel was the super-stylish Savoy, sister to the family-friendly Brown’s in London’s Mayfair, another favourite of ours. Very central (we could see the beloved carousel from our windows onto Piazza della Repubblica), it offers a family package including a second double room at half-price, breakfast, welcome treats for the kids, and children’s themed bedlinen, toiletries and so on. Best of all, under-12s eat for half-price and under-3s for free in the hotel’s chic but very welcoming restaurant, L’Incontro, serving superb Tuscan food. As we were in Florence out of the high season, we were lucky enough to be upgraded to a suite with a living room as well as a connecting double for the kids. The rooms were large, light and airy, with muted, restful colours. It was the kind of place where you really rather regretted having such a beautiful city on your doorstep, when it would be so wonderful just to collapse onto the chaise-longue and listen to Joni Mitchell waft from the iPod dock over a glass or three of Tuscan red.…

Another hotel we might have opted for is the Westin Excelsior, which feels slightly more old-fashioned and American in its opulence. Rooms and suites, the majority of which interconnect, are vast, many offering views right onto the Arno running alongside. The ‘Westin Kids Club’ isn’t, as the name suggests, a crèche or childcare/activities (although these are available in some of its hotels round the globe) – in the Excelsior’s case, you get a welcome bag of goodies tailored to the children’s ages. Although we didn’t stay here, we did have a meal in its ground-floor ORVM restaurant, which offers a Kids Club menu featuring everything from toasted ham and cheese sandwiches to spaghetti with fresh tomato and basil sauce, or veal escalope. Kids’ mains weigh in at around €11. If you come for lunch, parents can take advantage of an Express menu for €18 or €25 for one or two courses with water, wine and coffee – the likes of sliced charcoal-grilled beef with rucola and tomatoes, and swordfish carpaccio with fennel salad. A second restaurant, SE STO, was shortly to open on the Westin’s roof garden at the time of our visit.

But the culinary apotheosis of our stay in Florence was a meal in the alfresco poolside restaurant of the Four Seasons. This hotel, which has only been open a year or so, is within a 10-minute stroll of the centre but seems more like a swish seaside resort, with its four hectares of lovely gardens (a play area was in the pipeline when we visited), its spa and its outdoor pool. The divine food on offer by the pool in the summer months includes gazpacho with avocado and lots of spanking-fresh seafood – spaghetti with fresh ricotta, cherry tomatoes and mint leaves, linguine with seafood, garlic, olive oil and chili, and Sicilian grilled scampi with fried courgettes (sorry, zucchini). The children’s menu (which come in its own beautifully designed booklet with quirky sketches and drawing activities) has been thoughtfully conceived to offer something to suit every kid's preferences or whims, featuring everything from peanut butter and jam sandwiches to saffron risotto, chicken consommé with vegetable ‘confetti’ and noodles, and steamed sole with broccoli and carrots. I was a bit disappointed that our boys, in an uncharacteristically unadventurous mood, opted for pizza margharita, but it was an outstanding version of the classic. Kids’ dishes range from €7.50 to €16, making the Four Seasons a definite splurge, but it's one you won’t regret. There’s a second, quite formal restaurant inside the hotel itself, as well as a bar/salon where more relaxed breakfasts and snacks can be taken. The hotel – part of a famously family-friendly global chain – has lots of interconnecting accommodation for families, plus some simply breathtaking suites with restored frescoes embellishing their super-high ceilings. This is a historical building, so the feel is of necessity old-fashioned.

Our last foodie find in Florence was Chiaroscuro  (Via del Corso 13R), a charming little bar and café specialising in hot chocolate (my spicy Mexican version was so thick I had to eat it with a spoon). On the first night we visited, a holiday buffet was laid out on the bar and the kids were invited to choose plates of simple pasta and tapas for a modest fee (€6). (We weren’t hungry and indulged in some of the excellent cocktails instead). It was so cosy and welcoming, with its jazzy soundrack and boho décor (including a tiled floor and modern chandeliers), that we returned for a breakfast of pastries and hot chocolates the next day.      

But of course, the most important thing to do in Florence is to sample as many wonderful flavours of ice cream as you can find time for. Even more than in other Italian cities, opinion is hotly divided about the place to find the thickest, creamiest, richest and altogether most delicious gelato in town. Elizabeth our Context guide recommended Grom (corner of Via del Campanile and Via delle Oche), where many of the ingredients used in the ice creams and sorbets are organic and where the Slow Food ethos prevails. But everyone has their favourite – our family haunt quickly became the Festival del Gelato (Via del Corso 75R), which felt a bit more down to earth and less ‘designery’, with its garish neon façade and tiled walls. Of the 50 or so flavours on offer, the rose met my approval, while the boys just couldn’t decide on the best – all the more reason to keep going back for more.

Other feature articles by Rhonda