Water parks, zoo and theme parks in Rome: where to take the kids and what it costs

What the tickets get you: the seven parks at a glance

Rome’s family parks split into one in the city and six outside it. The table is the short version; the sections below say what each is actually like.

Bioparco di Roma

The Bioparco is the one you can do in a morning without a car. It opened in 1911 at the north end of Villa Borghese and now holds about 1,100 animals of 150 species on 17 hectares: elephants, giraffes, hippos, tigers, brown bears, lemurs on their own island, a reptile house and a walk-through aviary. The layout is a loop of shaded avenues; a full circuit with the feedings takes two to three hours.

Official prices at our last check are €19 for adults, €14 for children over 1 m up to age 10 and for over-65s, free under 1 m; a €9 last-minute ticket is sold at the counter in the last two hours. The Bioparco open ticket on Tiqets is from €26 (checked , rated 4.6 from about 1,700 reviews, valid six months from purchase; there is a €22 version with a tramezzino, and a €29.50 combo with the hop-on hop-off bus. The Tiqets ticket costs more than the gate; pay it for the flexibility or the bus combo, not for the entry itself.

Zoomarine

Zoomarine at Torvaianica, on the coast south of Ostia, is the nearest thing Rome has to a marine park and a water park in one: dolphin and sea-lion presentations, penguins, birds of prey, a tropical aquarium section, then a beach-style pool, water slides and a handful of dry rides. It suits ages 4 to 14 best. Prices start around €30 online with height-based child rates; the season runs from about April to late October with daily opening in summer. It is not on Tiqets; see the water parks on GetYourGuide for tickets and shuttle combinations.

Aqua World, Cinecittà World and Roma World

These three share one site at Castel Romano, off the Via Pontina next to the designer outlet, and one parent company. Cinecittà World is the ride park (Altair with 10 inversions, the Inferno indoor coaster, the Volarium flying cinema, shows all day). Aqua World is the summer water park beside it, with the 1,700 m² Cinepiscina wave pool, the 300-m Paradise River, the Vortex and Boomerang slides and a lounger beach. Roma World is the quiet option in the cork woods: a legionary camp, a gladiator arena with lessons, Roman food and market stalls, best for children under 12.

The Cinecittà World ticket includes both other parks. If you only want the water, Aqua World is from €22 on Tiqets; if you only want the Romans, Roma World is from €19. The full comparison of the studio visit and the park is on the Cinecittà page.

MagicLand

MagicLand at Valmontone, 45 km south-east on the A1, is the biggest thrill park in the region: the Shock launch coaster (0 to 100 km/h in two seconds), the Wild Rodeo giant frisbee, the Cagliostro indoor spinning coaster, the Yucatan splash ride and Mystika, the 72-m tower. There is a large children’s area, daily shows and a Christmas season with an ice rink and a market. MagicLand open-date tickets are from €19.90 on Tiqets (checked , rated 4.5 from about 400 reviews, with free cancellation up to 24 hours before; that price is below the usual gate rate, so book it rather than paying on the day.

Luneur Park

Luneur is the old Rome funfair, founded in 1953 and rebuilt as a garden park for ages 0 to 12 at Via delle Tre Fontane 100 in EUR. Twenty-plus gentle rides, a maze, a mini-farm and seasonal shows; nothing for teenagers. Tickets are from €26 on Tiqets (checked as an unlimited-rides pass, with reduced prices for adults who accompany but do not ride; it sits next to Metro B, which makes it the only park in this guide besides the Bioparco you can reach in 20 minutes from the centre.

Timing is everything

• Bioparco. Open every day of the year except 25 December: 9:30–17:00 in winter, 9:30–18:00 from late March to late October, until 19:00 at weekends in summer. Go at opening or after 15:30 when Roman families leave; the big cats are active early and late. Wednesday is cheaper for seniors.
• Water parks. Aqua World and the Zoomarine pools open from about June to mid-September. Weekdays in June and early July are the sweet spot: warm water, no queues. August weekends are full by noon.
• Theme parks. Cinecittà World and MagicLand run daily in July and August and weekends in spring and autumn, with closed days in November and January and special Halloween and Christmas hours. Always check the calendar: driving 45 km to a closed gate is the classic mistake.
• Heat. Castel Romano and Valmontone are hotter than the coast; from mid-July, plan the coasters before 12:30, the pools after.
• Rain. Only the Bioparco and Luneur work on a wet day; the rest sell open-date tickets for exactly this reason.
• Feeding times. The Bioparco posts the day’s feedings and keeper talks at the entrance; the elephants and the big cats draw the largest crowds, so see the reptile house or the lemur island while everyone else is at the lions.

How to save

• Height, not age, sets child prices at Zoomarine, Cinecittà World and MagicLand; measure before booking. Under 100 cm is usually free.
• Bioparco gate price beats Tiqets for a fixed day (€19 versus €26); buy Tiqets only for the open date or the bus combo. The €9 last-minute ticket is real: arrive two hours before closing.
• One ticket, three parks at Castel Romano: never buy Aqua World separately if you already hold the Cinecittà World ticket.
• Season passes (€69 at Cinecittà World) pay off from the third visit; irrelevant for a week’s holiday.
• No city pass includes any of these. Roma Pass and Omnia are for museums; see City passes.
• Family bundles with transport on the theme-parks category on GetYourGuide can be cheaper than a taxi for four.

How to get there

• Bioparco: tram 3 or 19 to Bioparco; bus 910 from Termini to Piazza Thorvaldsen (the Museum of Modern Art stop) and a 5-minute walk; or Metro A Flaminio and 15 minutes uphill through Villa Borghese. Parking under Villa Borghese (Viale del Galoppatoio).
• Luneur Park: Metro B to EUR Magliana or EUR Palasport, then 8 minutes on foot.
• Castel Romano (Aqua World, Cinecittà World, Roma World): Via Pontina, exit Castel Romano, free parking; or a paid shuttle from central Rome booked on the park site; or Metro B to EUR Magliana and a 20-minute taxi.
• Zoomarine: Via Pontina to Pomezia, then Torvaianica; about 45 minutes by car. Seasonal shuttle from Rome on GetYourGuide products; local bus from the Roma–Lido line at Cristoforo Colombo is slow.
• MagicLand: A1 exit Valmontone, 45 minutes; or a regional train from Termini to Valmontone (about 40 minutes) and the park shuttle on opening days.

ATAC fares, day passes and car-hire notes are in Transport & transfers.

What is nearby

• Borghese Gallery is a 10-minute walk from the Bioparco; the timed ticket books out days ahead, so plan the zoo around the Borghese slot.
• Beaches: Torvaianica beach is beside Zoomarine, and Ostia is 20 minutes from Castel Romano.
• Gladiator School on the Appian Way is the other physical family activity in Rome, two hours with wooden swords.
• The full family planning page is Rome with kids.

Booking checklist

1. Check the park calendar for the exact day; most parks outside the city close on some weekdays.
2. Measure the children: 100 cm and 140 cm are the usual price and ride thresholds.
3. Bioparco: fixed day, pay at the gate; flexible, book the open-date ticket on Tiqets (link above).
4. Water parks: swimwear, towels, sunscreen, water shoes for hot concrete; lockers cost extra.
5. Transport: book the shuttle or the train the day before; taxis back from Castel Romano at closing are scarce.
6. Bring ID for senior and reduced tickets; child tickets may be checked against height at the gate.
7. Mobile tickets work everywhere; screenshots are fine if the signal drops outside the city.

Water parks in Rome mean a day trip to the coast or the Pontina, while the zoo means two shaded hours in Villa Borghese; book the Bioparco for any day of the year and the water and theme parks only for a summer date you have checked against the calendar.