Rome for Kids: Scavenger Hunts from the Spanish Steps to Navona

Two and a half hours through the back streets of Rome with a guide who works with children rather than around them. Quizzes, trivia and scavenger hunts run through the whole walk, and the group is shared with other families, which for most children is an improvement. The route starts on Via dei Condotti in front of Caffè Greco, the oldest café in the city, then goes up to the Spanish Steps for the first hunt. From there: the column in Piazza di Spagna, which the fire brigade climbs every 8 December to leave a fresh wreath of flowers; Sant'Andrea delle Fratte, where two of Bernini's angels carved for the Ponte Sant'Angelo ended up; the Trevi Fountain and its coin; the Column of Marcus Aurelius, two thousand years old, in front of the Italian parliament; and Sant'Ignazio, where the games carry on. Inside the Pantheon: the largest unreinforced concrete dome ever built, and the tombs of kings and of Raphael. The walk ends in Piazza Navona, over an ancient Roman stadium, where the marble animals on the big fountain are usually the thing children remember.