Verona is an ideal city to be visited by the entire family because its centre is small and above all is a pedestrian zone, which means that it is therefore very safe. Besides the main monuments and museums, such as Juliet’s House, Castelvecchio or the Fresco Museum, if you are wondering what to see in Verona with your children, don’t worry. Below we suggest a number of activities that will undoubtedly entertain not only the young ones but you too!

Treasure hunt

A fun way to visit the city and show your children the main monuments is through a treasure hunt. On the Verona tourism website you can download a map of the city where “treasures” have been marked for your little ones to find. The exploration starts from Piazza Bra, then continues through Via Mazzini, Piazza delle Erbe, Piazza dei Signori, Arche Scaligere, Portoni Borsari, Arco dei Gavi and Castelvecchio, ending in San Zeno.

If, instead, you prefer a more organised and interactive treasure hunt, there are various companies that organise them for a fee.

Natural History Museum

This is an essential destination during your visit to Verona with children. It is in fact an educational and fun museum, which is located inside Palazzo Pompei, one of the most important buildings in the city from an architectural point of view. It was built by the architect Michele Sanmicheli and became the property of the Pompei family, who later donated it to the Municipality of Verona. Here your children can visit rooms filled with botany, geology, paleontology and zoology. The section of zoology and paleontology  contains over 200,000 fossils, rocks and minerals, among which the most striking part is that originating from Bolca. The section dedicated to prehistory preserves a collection of finds dating back to a period ranging from the Ancient Paleolithic to the Iron Age. Among the most important discoveries are those deriving from the stilt house of Tombola di Cerea, which is part of the UNESCO “Prehistoric Palafitte of the Alpine Arc” site. Here are also preserved some of the oldest and most important human fossils in Italy, from Lake Garda, the Veronese plain and the Lessini Mountains. Finally, the section dedicated to zoology mainly focuses on invertebrates, including amphipods, Mediterranean beetles, spiders, echinoderms and tardigrades. These are preserved in alcohol in entomological boxes or jars . At the natural history museum it is possible to book guided tours for single visitors or groups of all ages. The cost of a ticket is € 4.50 for a full ticket and € 3 for concessions. Children up to 7 years old, persons with disabilities and their carers, adults over 65 residing in Verona and Verona Card holders are entitled to free admission.

Giardino Giusti Maze

Giardino Giusti is a hidden gem located an approximate 10-minute walk from the centre of Verona. It is an Italian garden where you can admire various species of flowers, Roman finds, a wonderful avenue of cypresses, fountains, caves and a hedge maze which is one of the oldest in Europe. The atmosphere is quite beautiful and the garden offers a viewing point from which to admire the panorama of the city and the park in its entirety. The maze is one of the most impressive elements of the park: have a go with your children; it will certainly be an unusual and fun experience.

The Children’s Museum

The children’s museum in Verona is divided into two areas: that of the museum itself, where various activities take place, and a laboratory area, the ThinkLab.

The museum is in turn divided into areas, each dedicated to a specific topic such as light, water, mechanics, sound and the human body, which are explored through experiments or interactive experiences. Here you will find tables for constructions and installations to be tested freely without necessarily having to follow a set path.

The ThinkLab instead is an interactive laboratory where workshops and didactic activities are organised, but above all it invites manual experimentation. Some of the activities that can be performed here are carpentry, mechanics, creative writing, robotics and coding.

The museum also contains an infinite number of areas that will help your children to learn while having fun, such as the imagination playground, where children can build whatever they want, “milk the cow”, where children can milk a full-sized cow and the light room, where phenomena such as refraction and reflection can be learned. The museum is located in via Santa Teresa, 13, 37135 and is open on Saturday and Sunday from 9:15 to 19:00. An entrance ticket costs € 8 for adults, € 9 for children aged 3 and € 5 for children aged from 12 to 36 months.

Rafting on the Adige

An original and fun way to see Verona from an unusual perspective is to visit it… from the river. This is not an extreme activity, as the river is fairly calm, but it will undoubtedly be an unforgettable experience for your children.

Usually we start with rubber boats in the Chievo area, and go down the river to the Boschetto, on the Lungadige Galtarossa. During the “crossing” the guides of Adige Rafting will provide some interesting facts about the city and river navigation relating to the present and the past. There will also be a short visit to the Museo dell’Adige.

The complete activity lasts 3 hours and costs € 25 for adults and € 18 for children under 12.

Events for children in Verona

During the year there are various public events designed for children, including the Tocatì and the Carnival.

Towards the end of September, Tocatì takes place, an international festival of street games, during which children are taught how to play the games of the past including the game of caps, the game of walnuts and morra, the latter similar to rock-paper-scissors, but also how to use toy classics such as slings, blowguns, spinning tops, kites and much more besides.

During the Christmas period, however, the city becomes a magical place, thanks to the Nuremberg Christmas markets. These are set up in the main squares and sell traditional foods, toys and Christmas decorations, to name just a few.

Finally, don’t miss the city during the Carnival. The Verona Carnival is characterised by a parade of symbolic floats and masks, and both adults and children dress up to take part in the celebration.