Touring in the Mediterranean with small kids

We're going on a Mediterranean cruise in April with two small children - ages 4 and 6 - and I'm trying to research the ports of call to keep them interested and occupied. I'd really appreciate hearing any advice or experience you have to share, or if you have come across any little gems for small kids along the way!

Also if anyone could recommend books, tv shows, movies, games, websites that might grab their interest. Either featuring particular cities, or artists, or just nice stories set in those places.

I'd love to expose them gently to a little bit of Italian too without actively teaching them.

I'm very open to any and all suggestions - it doesn't have to be "cultural" - soft play centers, playgrounds, nice beaches are all fine too!

The ports of call on the trip are:

Genoa

Civitavecchia

Palermo

Tunis

Barcelona

Marseilles

For reasons, I won't go into, we're taking this trip a few years before the kids would appreciate it, and hopefully we'll get to see a few of these places again on a more adult-centred trip :-) The way, I'm looking at it, I'd rather the kids weren't put off the European culture trail at an early age by boring museums and tours so I won't be broken hearted to spend my few hours in Rome seeing the Colosseum at a distance from a local playground :-D

Just one proviso - my little boy is very empathetic and sensitive so I want to avoid anything remotely gruesome or upsetting. I'll probably skip on Pompeii for that reason but I'd really appreciate any heads up on any grim sights or things that we might encounter unexpectedly!

Wow! Tall order! I really do appreciate any and all ideas, stories or suggestions. Thanks in advance.

At that age they want to play or swim

Only tourist type things will be to see really unusual buildings and big structures

The rest won't interest them

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Civitivecchia is the port for Rome. It's at least 90 minutes from the port to the center of Rome. Most tours to Rome are 10 to 12 hours long, and to be honest, there's not much in the port area that would interest kids. And seeing you're cruising in April, no beach is going to be warm enough for swimming on this itinerary.

In Barcelona, go to Parque Guell, in central Barcelona. Then something for you would be to visit La Segrada Familia, also in central Barcelona. Again, April and beaches might not work as it will still be chilly.

I don't think there's anything child friendly in Tunis and you do NOT want to go anywhere off the beaten path there.

Genoa, again, not particularly child activity friendly.

Now, I'm going to be very honest, as a mother of 4 boys. Your kids aren't going to care a whole lot about any of the tours you'll do, and making this trip all about the kids, especially ones as young as yours, might not be the best idea. Why take a cruise like this if all you're going to do is hit playgrounds and do child-centric things? You could stay home and do all that. You need a mix of child friendly things and adult centric activities. Have you thought about leaving the kids in the supervised kids club while you go off and tour? We did that with our boys all the time. Children that young aren't going to be put off by European culture. Believe me, they're too young for that to happen. In reality, kids don't start becoming jaded by things until age 12 and older.

In all our cruises to the Med, and even Asia, with our boys, they didn't give a darn where we went, or what we toured, when they were younger. Seriously, without knowing your reasoning behind all this, I think you may putting too much emphasis on the kids, unless, of course, the reason IS because of something with the kids. But whatever, I wish you the best.

I would have to agree with the previous posters.

We loved our med cruise in 2012, and absolutely enjoyed 5 days in Rome prior to the cruise. But our daughter was 19 at the time, and had a great time.

At such a young age, your kids will not be remotely interested about the culture, And none of the ports really have nearby beaches, besides being quite chilly at that time of year. When in Rome, we did not see any playgrounds close to the sights to visit.

Sounds like a good age to take them on a Disney cruise, any Southern Carribean cruise (warmer waters)

Ah sorry - I can see how a bit of background might help you see where I'm coming from!

We're going on this cruise with extended family, all adults, and ours will be the only small kids. I can appreciate the sensible advice to stay home, cruise somewhere warm, leave them behind or take a Disney cruise but I have no control in any of that so I'm just trying to make the best of it.

Kids clubs; well I can hope! But so far they've shown no inclination. This could well be the time they will surprise me, but in the very likely event that they cling to my side I want to have my plans in place!

If I were travelling solo, with no one to consider but myself, I'd explore one or two key sights, sample the local delicacies, chat to the locals on park benches, soak up the ambience in road side cafes, and sit quietly and sketch. I get overwhelmed very easily and on those occasions where I've raced around trying to see everything I end up with no clear memories of anything but the pain in my feet :) So don't feel too sorry for me! An ideal day in Rome might be feeding the remains of our breakfast to the pigeons in the colosseum, taking a bus ride, throwing coins in a fountain, sampling pastries or ice cream, playing in a piazza, lunch in a road side cafe, exploring a quiet church or less-popular gallery and talking about the art, maybe sketching a little for ourselves, spending the afternoon relaxing in a park or a soft-play centre, then an early dinner and head back to the boat. (that's off the top of my head, but I have no idea how realistic that is - or what my plan would be if it was raining, etc). But really it's not a million miles away from what I would do left to my own devices.

Ideally I'd like to mix a bit of "culture" with a lot of play. And at this stage I'm just interested in hearing how others got on. I'm as interested in where not to go, and what can go wrong as in recommendations!

By the way - is Tunisia really all that bad? I don't think I've read one good thing about it in tour reviews yet?

You should post onn the family cruising board. You will hear a lot of "leave the kids at home" on the main boards.

I've taken my kids on Med cruises twice. We did private tours in several of the ports. Rome in Limo in particular has several tours that are kid friendly.

Having four kids, I would never advise you to stay home. But honestly, I think you're really obsessing over things that should not be that difficult. I'm guessing that maybe since you're the only one in the group that has young kids, you're feeling that maybe some in your group aren't all that happy that the youngsters are coming along? Or am I reading too much into this? But you don't mention doing any activities/tours with your family group, so I'm assuming that you have chosen not to join your family members? Believe me, traveling with family CAN make cruising much easier. And your kids do not have to hold the group back from enjoying their cruise. And I will repeat this, do not plan your holiday based on the kids, or your family members, and mix things up for both you and the children.

As for Tunis, here's something I found this morning on the UK Government site about travel to Tunis. To be honest, I can't believe that a cruise line would stop there, knowing the situation is not very good. Personally, I would stay on board the ship at this port, as we have done for other ports that we haven't felt safe.

""Tunisia is going through a period of political transition following the 2011 revolution. After months of political stalemate and heightened tensions, a new constitution was agreed in January 2014 and a new technocratic government was appointed. Parliamentary elections are now scheduled to take place on 26 October and Presidential elections on 23 November.

There have been a number of protests in the post revolutionary period. These are not normally aimed against foreigners, but international events can trigger anti-western demonstrations and further protests could occur.

There is a high threat from terrorism, including kidnapping. Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places visited by foreigners. The FCO advise against travel to some areas of southern Tunisia and near the border with Libya and Algeria due to the threat from terrorism.""

Another thing, it would help to know what ship, or at least, what cruise line you're sailing. That way, we'd know the amenities that are available for children.

Our family just came back from a Mediterranean and Greek Isles cruise and our 2 daughters (age 7 and 10) loved it.

On sea days they spend a few hours in the kids club, but after that we just relaxed by the pool while they swam.

On days when we were in port for touring, they would still be up for anything. I think the fact that they are seeing things that are not what they see at home keeps their interest.

Don't worry too much about having the kids with you. Just enjoy.

:)

Genoa has an aquarium and a replica Pirate galleon right in the old port (short walk from the cruise port).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptune_(galleon)

Besides Parque Guell, Barcelona has a zoo.

Marseilles has the little tourist trains or you could take a Calanque boat tour. Another idea would be to head to Cassis.

If you don't find something suitable in Tunisia, they used to have people dressed as Bedouins with camels meet the ships when they come into port - someone who has been there recently might be able to tell you if they still do that.

We enjoyed our short stop there, but I can't think of anything that might be kid specific. Sidi Bou Said is a pretty little town that might work for a short excursion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidi_Bou_Said

As for Rome...just google Rome with kids and you would probably come up with a number ideas.

Great advice from Buggins...

Google is great for anything you need to know & usually has reviews/feedback.

Civitavecchia has an aqua park; there's also an ancient fortress at the port gate. The nearest seaside resort is San Marinello, which is just one stop along the train to Rome. Although Civi is a working port town, there's outside cafes along the harbour.

If you head north in Barcelona, there's town beaches, where it would be fun to ask for an ice cream in Spanish; Las Ramblas often has street performers and other action going on.

UK travellers go to Tunisia in their thousands- I have emails from tour companies offering cheap package flights to me all the time. Over 400,000 UK holiday makers went last year, and I'm sure it's the same this year, from looking at the number of cheap flights from almost all regional airports. The Government warnings are about not going away from the normal tourist routes. If there's any trouble, the cruise line won't dock there.

Genoa has an aquarium and a replica Pirate galleon right in the old port (short walk from the cruise port).

 

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptune_(galleon)

 

 

 

Besides Parque Guell, Barcelona has a zoo.

 

 

 

Marseilles has the little tourist trains or you could take a Calanque boat tour. Another idea would be to head to Cassis.

 

 

 

If you don't find something suitable in Tunisia, they used to have people dressed as Bedouins with camels meet the ships when they come into port - someone who has been there recently might be able to tell you if they still do that.

 

 

 

We enjoyed our short stop there, but I can't think of anything that might be kid specific. Sidi Bou Said is a pretty little town that might work for a short excursion.

 

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidi_Bou_Said

 

 

 

As for Rome...just google Rome with kids and you would probably come up with a number ideas.

Great tips huggins! Thanks!

Get a guidebook from your library on your ports...that way, you can see first-hand everything that is in each place. You can decide what will interest you and the kids the most, and THEN you can decide HOW to do those things! Research is key to making the most of your time ashore!

Tunisia...study up on that one, too...see if there are any tourist warnings....it's not a very friendly place to Westeners nowadays.

Tunisia has beautiful beaches that should be warm enough at that time of the year.

Tunisia...study up on that one, too...see if there are any tourist warnings....it's not a very friendly place to Westeners nowadays.

What are you basing this on?

Tunisia is NOT Libya or Algeria. They are quite tourist-friendly and thousands of Europeans vacation there every year on their great beaches/resorts.

I was in Tunisia for two weeks at the very end of last year and never felt any sense of unease.

Do not be surprised if your kids do not enjoy what you want them to enjoy. When my kids were young their favorite European experiences were pigeon feeding, riding the tube, and skating in slippers in a Russian palace.

My advice it to split up at times. Have Mom watch the kids in a square while Dad visits a museum. Have Dad take the kids to a park while Mom tours a cathedral. One parent can take the children for gelato while the other visits an art gallery. There is more to talk about when you do not share all experience.

Offer the kids $.50 any time a stranger mentions how well behaved they are.

Here is some help for Rome - the Mosaic class may be ideal, otherwise, I'm sure this tour guide can come up with a great playground:

http://romekidstours.com

Alternatively, hire a private tour guide to take you from Civitavecchia to Parco di Monstri in Bomarzo. Here is information about it:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g815535-d242598-Reviews-Parco_dei_Mostri-Bomarzo_Province_of_Viterbo_Lazio.html

Parco di Monstri is not scary, but it is a beautiful garden with interesting statues. It is great to arrive there early in the morning and walk around while it is cool and there is still mist in the valley and hardly anyone else in the park. This is a great place for photography as well. Afterwards, have your tour guide take you to a local restaurant for lunch and then back to the ship. If you feel you can do more that day, than just 4 hours or so, then I would suggest going to Villa Lante which is another Rennaisance garden on several terraced levels. Another beautiful place with flowing fountains, but designed with the strict adherence to balance, where as Parco di Monstri was designed to excite the senses by not having any balance at all.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1472371-d246595-Reviews-Villa_Lante-Bagnaia_Viterbo_Province_of_Viterbo_Lazio.html

At both of these sites, be prepared for some steps. Villa Lante has an amazing staircase with fountains integrated into the railings! The view from Villa Lante is spectacular.

In Barcelona, I would suggest Las Ramblas as well as Parc Guell, but also Bouqueria Mercat - the oldest food market in Europe.

I am another one for Tunisia being pretty safe in its main areas, I went as a kid in the 90s and recently as a young woman. Tunis being the capital makes it a tourist haven and possibly even safer than some other resorts. If you and your children are blonde/redheaded you may get attention and 'I will buy you for 10,000' camels but its joking banter and harmless...as is the usual market haggling. I visited Carthage last time I was there and some parents were showing their children all the really pretty mosaics everywhere. Staying on the ship would be a waste.

Depending on what you define as 'cold' the Southern Med is very swimmable that time of year. Many of us Brits like that area when its slightly less hot and humid anyway but Floridian types may disagree.

There are beaches near/at those ports but it will take a separate trip from the harbour.

As for 'stuff before the trip' simply buy a globe and show them the Med sea and the places you are going to and where you live so they can get the basics of where they are travelling. Children love geography when you show the visuals such as maps, flags and globes and liven it up. Show them the flags of he countries you are going to so they can spot them when they are there or print them off to colour in. You could also cook some local food together so the can choose the real thing once in port. One thing I have done on boring school trips (no kids of my own yet) is given my 5 year olds a pictorial 'spot sheets' so when they see something on it they write it or tick it off....that may be an idea as well.

You could also teach them hello/thank you in Spanish, French, Arabic and Italian.