Naples With Kids by Age Group

A three-year-old wants a funicular, a ten-year-old wants a planetarium and a fifteen-year-old wants Pompeii to be worth the train. Naples can serve all three if you plan by age instead of by monument.

Under 6: short, sweet and seaside

Little legs do best with a pizza a portafoglio (EUR2 to EUR3.50), a gelato and a ride on a funicular. The Montesanto funicular climbs to Vomero and takes a single ANM ticket of EUR1.30. The Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn aquarium, in the Villa Comunale gardens by the sea, opened in the 1870s and is one of Europe’s oldest public aquaria. Check its opening hours on the day.

Herculaneum is the one ruin that works at this age: it is compact, takes half a day and admits anyone under 18 free. The train from Napoli Garibaldi takes about 20 minutes. Tickets and hours are on the Herculaneum site . Vesuvius tickets are free under 6, but the Gran Cono path is loose cinder, so most families wait a few years.

Ages 6 to 12: hands-on days

Citta della Scienza, on Via Coroglio in Bagnoli, is an interactive science museum with a hands-on Corporea section and a planetarium that costs EUR3 extra. Opening hours change with the season, so confirm them at cittadellascienza.it before travelling.

Via San Gregorio Armeno is lined with workshops where craftspeople shape and paint terracotta nativity figures, and children can watch the work at the doorways. Sculpting classes with local artisans also exist. Pizza classes suit this age as well: family pizza-making classes on GetYourGuide usually run EUR45 to EUR85 per person, and the dough-slapping is the part children remember.

At Teatro di San Carlo, a family ticket exists for guided visits of the gilded auditorium, so ask on the theatre’s site .

Teenagers: the big names

MANN is free for under-18s and holds the Farnese Hercules, the Farnese Bull and original mosaics from Pompeii. Entry for adults is EUR20, and the museum closes on Tuesdays. Pompeii suits this age: 25 km out, about 35 minutes on the Circumvesuviana, with a named ticket from EUR20 and a daily cap of 20,000 visitors. For a guide who brings the streets to life, Pompeii family tours on Viator are one option.

Napoli Sotterranea takes a guided 90-minute walk through Roman cisterns, with a descent of 136 steps to 40 metres below Piazza San Gaetano. Tours leave hourly from 10:00 to 18:00 at about EUR12 to EUR15, and teens who like tunnels enjoy it. Vesuvius works from this age too, at EUR10 (EUR8 under 25), booked online for a named slot.

Logistics for parents

  • Keep young children close on the Circumvesuviana and at Piazza Garibaldi, where pickpockets work.
  • Dress for churches: covered shoulders and knees are required at the Duomo, Santa Chiara and Gesu Nuovo.
  • One Unico ticket covers buses, metro, trams and funiculars for 90 minutes.
  • Give each day a single anchor and a gelato at the end, since Naples tires everyone faster than expected.

More options sit on the activities page . Tip: do the science museum on the day you want a slow morning, and save the ruins for the coolest hours.