Child restraints: what to know and what to ask for
In Italy, carrying children in a car requires an approved restraint suited to the child travelling. The type of device — from an infant seat for the smallest to a booster for the older ones — depends on age, weight and height, not on a single rule that covers everyone. The provisions in force and the approval criteria change over time: before travelling it is worth checking them on the official sources, together with whoever is arranging the transport.
What concerns anyone booking a transfer is simpler: the child seat has to be requested along with everything else, giving each child’s age, weight and height. Those are the three details that allow the correct device to be prepared. Asking on the day, or taking it for granted, is the commonest way to end up with a vehicle that is not equipped.
If there are four or more of you
A vehicle’s stated capacity and the space actually usable with child seats are not the same thing: a seat takes up more room than an adult passenger and limits how the seats can be arranged. That is why, when there is more than one child, the category to use is generally the Minivan, which seats up to eight, even when the total number of people would fit a saloon. It is a point to settle in the request, not on arrival.
The pushchair
A pushchair should be declared the way a suitcase is declared, because it takes up boot space along with everything else. If it is a bulky model, or if two are travelling, it is worth saying so explicitly: together with hold suitcases and hand luggage it is what determines whether the category chosen is enough.
What to tell us when the journey is being arranged
The table sums up the information that genuinely matters and what it is for. It is not a bureaucratic list: every row corresponds to a decision somebody has to make before departure.
| Information | Why it is needed | If it is missing | How to give it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Children’s age, weight and height | They determine the type of restraint to prepare. | The right device cannot be made ready. | One set of details per child, not a general indication. |
| Total number of passengers | It determines the vehicle category: the Economy+ accommodates up to three passengers, Business and Electric up to four, the Minivan up to eight. | You risk booking a category that is not big enough. | Counting adults and children separately. |
| Pushchair and equipment | They take up boot space along with the suitcases. | There may not be enough room, even with the right number of seats. | Specifying the number and type, including bulky models. |
| Hold and hand luggage | Together with the pushchair they define the capacity needed. | The vehicle assigned may not have enough space. | Separating large suitcases from small bags. |
| Flight number, if you are arriving by air | It allows the pick-up time to be set against the actual landing. | The time stays tied to the scheduled landing. | Flight number and date, as they appear on your booking. |
Send us the number of children with their age, weight and height, the pushchair and the luggage: we reply with the right vehicle, availability and a price.
Check availability and request a quoteArrival day and the first journeys
Arrival day is the most delicate
It is the day when the flight, the tiredness, the luggage and an unfamiliar place all come together. It is also the day when routes with several changes weigh most: stairs, platforms, waits and a pushchair to fold and unfold. The comparison of all the options from the airports, with door-to-door times, is in the guides on getting from Fiumicino to Rome and on getting from Ciampino to Rome.
If the flight lands late
With children a night arrival changes in character: public services thin out, waits become harder work and the room to improvise shrinks. If your flight is due late in the evening, it is worth settling everything beforehand, including check-in with your accommodation: the picture is in the guide to night arrivals in Rome.
Getting around the city afterwards
The historic centre of Rome is good to walk, but the cobbles are awkward for pushchair wheels and the metro stations are not all equipped in the same way. In practice it works well to concentrate the visits by area, walk within each area and use a vehicle only to move from one area to the next: the comparison is in the guide to getting around Rome.
The pace of the day, with children
Fewer stops, better chosen
A day that would hold four stops for two adults holds two with children. It is not a sacrifice: it is the condition for those two to be genuinely enjoyed. The sites that work best are those with something moving to look at — the water of the fountains, open spaces — and those where it is possible to sit down. What needs booking and how long each site takes is summarised in the guide to the monuments of Rome.
The middle of the day
In summer the middle of the day is the hardest part, especially in the archaeological areas where there is little shade and the ground reflects the heat. The pace that works is to go out early, head back or stay indoors in the middle of the day and come out again in the late afternoon. In winter the problem is reversed: the days are short and the open-air stops belong early.
Days out of the city
A day trip with small children should be chosen by travel time, not by destination: three hours on the road each way is hard to sustain. Destinations within the hour work far better, and among them the villas at Tivoli have the advantage of water and open space. The options with real timings are in the guide to day trips from Rome and in the one on Tivoli and its villas.
Breaks during a transfer
On long routes a short break is arranged with the driver during the journey. If instead you need to call at a specific address before the destination, that is an intermediate stop: it has to be stated in the request and adds €25 each to the quote. The distinction, along with the rest of how the service works, is explained in the guide on how private hire works.