Naples works well with children, on one condition: build the day around a single demanding thing and fill the rest with short stops. The old centre has narrow pavements and a lot of stairs, summer is hot and the archaeological sites have no shade. With that rule in place, the rest comes easily.
The prices below are the museums’ official ones (quoted with their source) and our partners’ tour prices, verified regularly. Two figures to keep in mind: Città della Scienza costs €8 for ages 3 to 17, the Aquarium €7 for ages 4 to 12, and under-6s travel free on public transport.
Ages 2–5: flat, short, with a toilet nearby
At this age the seafront wins: via Partenope and via Caracciolo are pedestrian for a long stretch, a pushchair rolls and there is room to run. The Villa Comunale, on the same promenade, houses the Acquario di Napoli run by the Dohrn Foundation: an hour-long visit, €10 from 12 years, €7 for ages 4 to 12, free under 3, open 9am–5pm Tuesday to Sunday and closed Mondays (official okticket ticket office).
The funiculars are an attraction for the price of a ticket: they climb to the Vomero in five minutes and children like them more than most museums. Remember that the Montesanto funicular is closed for overhaul until further notice, so use the Centrale from piazza Augusteo or the Chiaia.
What to avoid under 5: Pompeii in the middle of the day, underground routes with steep stairs, minivan trips along the coast. The paving at Pompeii and the stairways of the underground routes are not built for pushchair wheels.
Ages 6–11: the golden years
This is where Naples is at its best. Città della Scienza, in Bagnoli, is an interactive museum where you handle the exhibits, with the human body in Corporea and the Planetarium: €10 full and €8 for ages 3 to 17, current hours 9am–5pm, closed Mondays. Planetarium shows are split by band (7–10 years, 11–13, young people and adults): check the day’s schedule before picking your time.
Same product, platforms compared
Prices refreshed from the GetYourGuide, Tiqets and Headout feeds.
| Platform | Price | Rating | Duration | Cancellation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GetYourGuideNaples: Città della Scienza Interactive Museum Entry Ticket | €8 Lowest price | ★ 3.9 (39) | — | Free | Book on GetYourGuide |
| TiqetsScience Museum Città della Scienza | €10 | ★ 4.5 (216) | — | — | Book on Tiqets |
The MAV in Ercolano is the perfect complement to the excavations: digital reconstructions of Pompeii and Herculaneum before the eruption of 79 AD, €11 full, €9 up to 13 years, free under 5, a 2+2 family ticket at €34, hours 10am–6pm (museomav.it). Half an hour on foot from the site, an hour of visit: it is the right thing to do once children have run out of patience for ruins.
For the real excavations, at this age the choice is Herculaneum: about two hours of visit, a compact route, free left luggage and no cafe inside, so bring water (ercolano.cultura.gov.it). The full comparison is in Herculaneum in a day.
From 12 up: everything is possible
From 12 they can handle the two hours of walking that Pompeii and the Gran Cono of Vesuvius demand. Pompeii has named tickets and summer time bands, with hours 9am–7pm and last entry 5:30pm from 16 March to 14 October, 9am–5pm and last entry 3:30pm the rest of the year (pompeiisites.org). On the first Sunday of the month entry is free, but it is also the busiest day of the year.
On Vesuvius the Gran Cono path is booked online only at vesuviopark.vivaticket.it for €11.68 including booking fees, €9.55 reduced, free under 6; the walk lasts a maximum of two hours there and back and places run in ten-minute bands. With teenagers it is the trip they remember: read Vesuvius in a day for the shuttle logistics.
The underground routes become possible too. At Napoli Sotterranea, on piazza San Gaetano, the online rate is €10 for children aged 5 to 10 and €15 for students aged 11 to 24; the LAES route in the Quartieri Spagnoli, by contrast, does not admit children under 6 and asks €7 for ages 7 to 12. The comparison of all four routes is in Naples Underground.
Who should pick what
The day trips that work and the ones that do not
| Day trip | With children | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Herculaneum | Yes, from 5 | Two hours, compact, station close to the entrance |
| Reggia di Caserta | Yes, any age | Enormous park with shuttle and bikes, room to run free |
| Procida | Yes, any age | Short crossing, beaches reachable on foot |
| Pompeii | From 8–10 | Big, shadeless, uneven paving |
| Vesuvius | From 7–8 | An hour uphill on gravel, no pushchairs |
| Amalfi Coast by minivan | No under 10 | Endless bends on the SS163, long stretches in the vehicle |
| Capri in a day | It depends | Lovely but long: nine hours with two crossings |
The Reggia di Caserta is the most underrated trip with children: the ticket costs €18 (+€1 online) and you cross the park on the electric shuttle at €3 return, bikes at €5 an hour (€6 electric) or a chauffeured golf cart from €10 (reggiadicaserta.cultura.gov.it). Closed Tuesdays. The timed plan is in Reggia di Caserta in a day.
Transport, pushchairs and distances
Under-6s travel free on regional trains and buses if accompanied by an adult with a ticket, without taking up a seat and with one child per adult; from 6 upwards the full fare applies. City fares stay at €1.30 per ANM ride and €4.50 for the day pass.
With a pushchair, metro Line 1 is the best option: deep stations but served by lifts. The Circumvesuviana to Pompeii and Herculaneum is the opposite: crowded trains, high steps, and you often stand for 35–40 minutes. If you have two small children, consider a shuttle or a tour with transport included.
On foot in the centre, count the climbs: from piazza del Plebiscito to piazza Bellini is twenty minutes on a gentle slope, from the Duomo to the MANN another twenty. Break them up with a stop: a sfogliatella riccia and a pause in the shade buy you an extra half hour of museum.
Two ready-made days
City day, ages 6–11. Breakfast near your place, metro Line 1 to Museo and the MANN from 9:30 to 11am (free under 18). Pizza a portafoglio on via dei Tribunali around midday, then the Centrale funicular up to the Vomero and an hour in the Floridiana park, free and flat. Back by 5pm, before the centre fills up.
Day-trip day, from 5 years. Circumvesuviana from Porta Nolana around 8:30am, Ercolano Scavi at 9:10, the excavations until 11:30 with free left luggage at the entrance. Lunch outside the park, the MAV at 1pm for an hour of digital reconstructions, back in Naples by 4pm. One big thing, one small thing, no third stop.
If you have only one day and the children are small, save Pompeii for another trip: the site is enormous and heat is the real enemy. The full plan, with train times, is in Pompeii in a day.
Where to let children run
Three open spaces solve the unplanned afternoons. The Parco Virgiliano at Posillipo has terraces over the gulf, flat paths and benches in the shade; you get there on the ANM 140 bus from the seafront, which runs until 10:50pm on weekdays (anm.it).
The Floridiana park, on the Vomero, is reached on the Centrale funicular and combines lawn, avenues and a view. The Villa Comunale, on the seafront, is the pushchair choice because it sits next to the Aquarium and has no slopes.
In all three: toilets are few and not always open, so use the ones at the museum or the cafe before you go in. Water from the public fountains, nothing to buy.
Rainy days and food
The MANN is the best fallback plan: free entry under 18, closed Tuesdays, hours 9am–7:30pm (museoarcheologiconapoli.it). The mosaics and the Farnese Bull hall hold the attention even of a nine-year-old, and the museum pairs well with an afternoon in the centre, as described in the MANN, the museum to see before Pompeii.
The other card to play is cooking: a pizza class from €25 puts children’s hands in the dough for three hours and ends at the table. It works from 6 years up and settles lunch and entertainment together; the full formats are in food and pizza tours.
For street food, the rule with children is simple: one fried thing a day and water always in the bag. Pizza a portafoglio is the quickest and cheapest lunch in the centre, and you do not have to sit down for it.
In short
Naples with children is organised by age: seafront and Aquarium under five, Città della Scienza and the MAV between six and eleven, Pompeii and Vesuvius from twelve. Add one day trip per day, book the named tickets in advance and keep an indoor plan ready.
The rest is measure: leave early, get back before the tiredness hits and never stack two archaeological sites into the same afternoon. If you need the picture of lines and timetables, see getting around Naples.
Questions people ask
Do children pay for tickets at Pompeii and Herculaneum?
Both parks state free entry “as provided by law”, which covers under-18s: check the list of exemptions on the site and still issue the free ticket, online or at the desk. At Herculaneum, visitors under 12 must be accompanied (ercolano.cultura.gov.it).
Can you take a pushchair into Pompeii?
On the ancient paving a pushchair works badly: the streets are laid with uneven blocks and cut by cart ruts. With small children a sling or a child carrier backpack is better, or choose Herculaneum, which is more compact.
How much does Città della Scienza cost?
According to cittadellascienza.it the ticket is €10 full and €8 for ages 3 to 17, with current hours 9am–5pm and closure on Mondays. The Planetarium has shows split by age, from 7 upwards.
Do children pay on public transport?
Under-6s travel free if accompanied by an adult with a ticket, without taking up a seat and with one child per adult. From 6 upwards the full fare applies.
Can you do Vesuvius with children?
The Gran Cono path is an uphill gravel track of about an hour there and back: from 7 or 8 years old it is doable, below that it is hard work. The ticket is free under 6 and sold only online at vesuviopark.vivaticket.it.
Which underground routes accept children?
At Napoli Sotterranea on piazza San Gaetano there is a children’s rate for ages 5–10 at €10 online; the LAES route in the Quartieri Spagnoli does not admit under-6s and asks €7 for ages 7 to 12.
What is there to do in Naples with children if it rains?
The MANN (free under 18), Corporea and Città della Scienza in Bagnoli, the MAV in Ercolano, the Aquarium in the Villa Comunale and a pizza class from €25: five indoor plans of three hours each.
Official sources
- Città della Scienza
- Acquario di Napoli – tickets and hours
- MAV Ercolano – visit and prices
- Parco Archeologico di Ercolano – tickets
- Parco Archeologico di Pompei – hours and prices
- Parco Nazionale del Vesuvio – Gran Cono
- MANN – hours and tickets
- Reggia di Caserta – services in the park
- Campania fare integration – children under 6
Read next
- HerculaneumHerculaneum in half a day: 20-minute train, €16 ticket, 4 hours door to door. The table for choosing Pompeii or Herculaneum, and the tours worth it.
- PompeiiPompeii from Naples: €26.60 on your own or a tour from €45.50. Train, time bands, named ticket and the hour-by-hour plan. Check availability.
- CasertaCaserta from Naples: €4 train and 45 minutes, €18 ticket, €3 shuttle inside the park. Hours, the Tuesday closure and the half-day plan.
- MANNOfficial ticket €20, closed Tuesday: a room-by-room route through the Archaeological Museum of Naples and what is open now. Check tours and tickets.
- Getting aroundMetro, Circumvesuviana, ferries, Alibus and high-speed rail: lines, stations, minutes, fares and last useful services. Check tickets and transfers.