Inspired Itinerary: 8 Days in Italy and Spain, for Families

We don't like to play favorites, but one part of our job that never fails to delight is designing custom itineraries suited to the particular (and sometimes peculiar) curiosities and schedules of our travelers. In fact, we have a staff of full-time travel planners—all travelers and regional experts in their own right—who geek out on solving travel riddles like: your family, in Istanbul, with a bent for Byzantine history (hopefully you're leaving the candlesticks and lead pipes at home with Colonel Mustard).

Occasionally, we like to share a few of our favorite "riddles", with an eye towards inspiring your future travels (which you can start planning with us at info@contexttravel.com). Below is a recent trip designed for a family of voraciously curious city-hoppers with little ones in tow, who were looking to give the kids an art history primer with eight days across Italy and Spain. With just one tour a day, we left plenty of room for unplanned exploration as well as structured learning.  

Italian and Spanish Art History Primer for Families

The Marvels of Rome (3 Days) 

Day 1: Breakfast at the Vatican

Duration: 4 hours

Fill up—on food and history—before taking on the Vatican. In our Breakfast with an Expert Vatican Tour, we’ll meet up with an art historian like Cecilia before the Vatican opens to enjoy a morning meal and introductory chat. When the gallery doors open at 8am, we’ll head straight to the main galleries and then continue on to the Raphael Rooms and to the Sistine Chapel before entering St. Peter’s Basilica. 

Day 2: Ancient Rome Tour for Kids: Discovering the Colosseum and Roman Forum

Duration: 2.5 hours

We’ll visit the Colosseum and archaeological areas nearby, using hands-on activities to engage young people in the group and make history come alive. Our specially trained guide will help us explore the construction and history of this spectacular monument and paint a vivid picture of its history by using inquiry-based learning techniques to stimulate a lively discussion. 

Day 3: Borghese Gallery Tour for Kids

Duration: 2.5 hours

Although small and manageable, the private collection of Cardinal Scipione Borghese is impressively filled with masterpieces of Renaissance and Baroque art, making the Galleria Borghese one of the best opportunities for children—and their parents—to learn about art and history in Rome. With our family-trained guides, this Borghese Gallery for Kids tour provides an exciting environment to stimulate discussion between children and adults. Using inquiry-based learning techniques, our scholars will create a narrative based on the individual stories of the artists, how they lived, and how they created their masterpieces.

The Florentine Renaissance (2 Days) 

Day 4: Florence Tour for Kids: Exploring Symbols and Legends

Duration: 2 hours

Florence is a like cultural playground for kids, embedded with cherished symbols that pop up all over town, sometimes when least expected. During this 2-hour tour of Florence for kids we join a local historian specially trained in visual thinking strategies for an interactive scavenger hunt for the great symbols of Florence. During the walk we'll use these symbols—lilies, the Strozzi's moons, and many others—to understand the Renaissance and how art and imagery inscribed the city with meaning.

Day 5: Uffizi Tour for Kids: Crash Course

Duration: 2.5 hours 

Accompanied by an art historian, this interactive exploration of the Uffizi Gallery is designed to bring this world-famous collection of Renaissance art to life for budding art enthusiasts and introduce them to the great masters of Italy. We’ll start our time together with a short introduction in Piazza della Signoria, discussing the Uffizi's structure and its relation to Palazzo Vecchio, Florence's town hall, as well as the importance of the Medici family. After spending some time outside, we'll then continue on to the museum, where we'll spend roughly two hours exploring the collection. The aim of this tour is to engage the children in a dialogue about art, creating an atmosphere of exploration and participation by focusing on the recurring subjects, themes, and symbols found throughout various works. By the end of the walk, the children will have a very clear idea of how and why art is created and will be able to better appreciate the artwork they will encounter throughout their trip.

From Barcelona Gothic to Modernism (3 Days) 

Day 6: Barcelona Tour for Kids 

Duration: 2 hours

Hidden in dark corners of the Gothic Quarter, or sleeping in the upscale apartments of the Eixample, Barcelona’s most illustrious inhabitants watch silently as tourists and natives walk the city’s streets. But of whom do we speak, exactly? Dragons of course! Barcelona is home to the largest population of dragons in Europe. Carved out of stone, pieced together with bright tiles, or forged in a hot fire and beaten into shape on an anvil, these creatures guard ancient and modern façades all over the city. Our Barcelona for kids tour provides an orientation to the Gothic Quarter through an interactive "hunt" for the city's most iconic symbol, along the way revealing the history—both legendary and real—of the Catalan capital.

Day 7: Sagrada Familia Tour 

Duration: 3 hours 

We will visit Gaudí’s extraordinary masterpiece the Sagrada Família, and also take in the Hospital de Sant Pau, a nearby modernista complex that's also the largest Art Nouveau site in the world. Accompanied by a local expert, this tour will help us gain a deeper understanding of Barcelona’s world-renowned and once controversial Art Nouveau architecture—or as its referred to in Catalonia, Modernisme.

Day 8: Private Girona Day Trip from Barcelona 

Duration: 6 hours

The medieval city of Girona bears historical roots in Christian, Jewish, and Muslim cultures. Only 30 minutes by high-speed train from the Catalonian capital, this historical hub is a true crossroads of religion and culture. Our Girona day trip from Barcelona, designed as an excursion from the city and led by a historian, will reveal the secrets of this historically rich place and help to better understand why it makes such an impressive cultural impact.

Our tour will start on the train, where the guide will put the social and cultural history of the city into context and explore the pivotal role this city has played in the story of Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Upon arrival, we'll enter the city with a stunning view of Girona's colorful apartment blocks that line its river and overlook Gustav Eiffel's (yes, that Eiffel) famous bridge. Passing through the city gate and into the historic center, we'll trace the religious roots planted in Girona's enchanting, narrow cobble-stoned streets, weaving together the various threads that contributed to the eclectic art and architecture of Spain as a whole.

Have we piqued your curiosity? Any of the tours above can be swapped, stitched, or substituted to build an itinerary that's exactly suited to your family's interests, ages, and schedule—all you need to do to start planning is get in touch with us at info@contexttravel.com.

- by Brenna Fleener. Brenna is Context's Marketing Director. Originally from California, she lived in Paris and Rome before landing in New York, where she's eating her way through the city one cacio e pepe dish at a time.