Rome in a day....what do u recommend?

Cateym

I have never been to Rome but will be there as part of a trip for about 9-10 hours. For those of you who have been, what should I concentrate on seeing?

mikedragon32

On foot you could do Collosseum, Forum, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and Spanish steps comfortably in 9 hours (depending of course how early you start!) and probably take in a bit more too.

You could do a hop-on hop-off bus tour to get around the major attractions instead.

The major problem you will face is that if you want to get into anything you'll be spending quite a bit of time queueing. The queue for the Collosseum and St Peter's Basilica in particular can be extremely long.

What you concentrate on depends on your tastes, but my preference would be for ancient Rome.

Bogger77

Get Early to the places with q's, as mentioned above.

U can quite easily stroll from Collloseum to the popolla, stopping at Forum, piazza Navonne, Pantheon, Trevi, Spanish Steps and the Popolla itself, in less than 3.5 hours.

Bus tour can be a waste, tbh, I wasnt impressed one i went on last year, I saw more from random strolling around.

jonny68

Colosseum is stunning definitely worth a visit, we didn't have time to visit the Vatican but will go again.

Here are one or two photos i took of the Colosseum.

Lil' Smiler

Oh god, so much to see!!

Yeah skip bus tours you will get around quicker and see more on foot.

Go for the Colosseum definitely, the Arc of Constantine is right beside it as is the Roman Forum. From here you are in walking distance of Trajens Column, most Piazza's, The Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain.

The walk up to the Vatican is lovely along the riverbank if the day is lovely. We had a spectacular day that day. I'm not so sure how long it took us to get up there but it was a while, I'm sure you can easily grab a taxi or bus up there. If you only have 9 - 10 hours and want to fit everything in then maybe don't go into the Vatican Museums although it is great to say you've been in there. St Peter's Square is fab as is St Peter's Basilica. And if you're lucky you might catch a bit of mass on the screens when sitting outside in St P's square! We actually went in Holy Week, I thought there was a nice atmosphere about the place!!

http://www.italyguides.it/us/roma/rome_italy_travel.htm

I'm so jealous of you going!! I'd love to go back there. I've been there twice, the second time was with my boyfriend which made everything just perfect, was a great holiday!! Pity you're only there for a little while though!! Enjoy!!

kerry4sam

a little tip re:trevi fountain...leave it until around noon or afterward. The lasttime i was there we went there at about 10am and the council workers were there draining the coins. It completely took away from the magical experience i had the first few times i was there being honest. We still waited around though and through our coins in(some things just have to be done)

kerry4sam

now the odds are long i know of it happening again but if its your first time going there do leave it until around noon and guarantee you get the full experience. It really is sensational

FrCrilly

mikedragon32 wrote: »

The major problem you will face is that if you want to get into anything you'll be spending quite a bit of time queueing. The queue for the Collosseum and St Peter's Basilica in particular can be extremely long.

To avoid queuing to buy a ticket for the collosseum, there is an alternative ticket office outside the grounds. Near the colloseum, there is that distinctive area full of incomplete Roman ruins called the Roman Forum. As you walk into this area from the colloseum, go left of the (first) white marble arch and you'll find a ticket office down the end of a walkway (there's a ticket hut along the way but it's not that one. This ticket office is part of one of the ruin buildings).

Once you've bought your ticket there, you can then walk past the entire queue for the colloseum who are waiting to pay. The day I did this (2 months ago), I walked straight through non stop.

nerdysal

I was in Rome last year for my holidays. You have to go to the Colosseum. I'd recommend the Vatican museum only if you would be queueing all day. We got up at 6am to go on a tour of it!!! Trevi fountain, St. Peter's Basillica... there's just so much

And you HAVE to try the ice cream!!!! Gelati... yummy!!!

Esmereldina

nerdysal wrote: »

I was in Rome last year for my holidays. You have to go to the Colosseum. I'd recommend the Vatican museum only if you would be queueing all day. We got up at 6am to go on a tour of it!!! Trevi fountain, St. Peter's Basillica... there's just so much

And you HAVE to try the ice cream!!!! Gelati... yummy!!!

Rome is a fabulous city... I love it even more every time I visit! I would have a look at the colosseum from the outside and skip the tour inside... but that's just me. For the ice cream you should go to Giolitti, in Campo de' Fiori (it's a small but really famous piazza in the middle of the historic centre, near enough to Piazza Navona. The guide books will tell ya anyway!) The pasticcerie are really good too... one of my favourite Italian things to do is getting coffee and tiny pastry cake things in one of these.
If you've only got a day, it might be better to decide to see either the historic centre (where all the main touristy places like Trevi fountain, Piazza di Spagna, colossuem and roman forum etc are) or the vatican, as they are in quite different areas, on opposite sides of the river. Vatican also generally involves a lot of queuing too, especially in summer. It might be an idea either to go to St. Peter's square and go into the Basilica (where you should be queuing too long... depending on time of day and year). I'd definitely save the museums till you have more time though as you might have to queue for hours (definitely will in summer months) and then it takes about 2/3 hours to get through them once you're there. Though they are brilliant, especially the Sistine Chapel at the end.

One of my favourite things about Rome too is just walking around the narrow cobbled streets of the historic centre and soaking up the atmosphere... you never know what you'll find... a tiny hidden cafe, an antiques shop... or a hidden ice cream place!!

So don't try to see everything in one day... maybe choose a few things and then plan to visit again to see the rest!

kerry4sam

defo do not take a bus trip for such a short space of time in Rome...you just wont soak up any of the cities character or atmosphere..walk everywhere.
I agree about the colosseum, just view from the outside(real let-down inside); panthoen just beside it and the uderground railway stops just opposite both...if you're stuck for time dont go looking for the Spanish steps(although real near Trevi fountain)...
walk the cobbled streets and dont forget your camera. you wont believe half of what you see and only fully appreciate it when its over.
:rolleyes: i have to go back :rolleyes:

ozchick

There are walking tours, some are ok. We wanted to do a night one, but it wasn't on the days we were there. Are you fit? Google SightJogging, you can run and see more that way!!

Esmereldina

kerry4sam wrote: »

I agree about the colosseum, just view from the outside(real let-down inside); panthoen just beside it and the uderground railway stops just opposite both...if you're stuck for time dont go looking for the Spanish steps(although real near Trevi fountain)...

Oooh yes, I forgot the Pantheon, my favourite place in Rome and definitely much more beautiful and impressive than St. Peter's Basilica... definitely don't miss it. It's right in the middle of the old city anyway so you'll also get to do some of the obligatory wandering around narrow cobbled streets to get there

coleen

we went on a walking tour of ancient rome with enjoyrome.com It was at 2pm and she gave us a great 3 hours of history so if you booked that and in the morning you could do a tour called the scavi tour which you book directly with the vatican on their web site called vatican.va Read up about this tour which is excelent you can read up on it in tripadvisor. The best thing about it for you that if you give them your date and say you are only available in the morning you will not have to queue to get in to st peters the tour lasts 1.5 hours and you end up in the bassicila. so if you got this tour for 9am or 10.30 am you could then do the walking tour at 2pm you could get a lot seen that way

quickstitch.ie

I recommend comfortable shoes or runners!

The Pantheon certainly sent a tingle up my spine, very impressive... In Rome most of the things worth seeing are only a few hundred metres on from the last.. but don't try and rush seeing things or you won't enjoy it... well worth spending a few days another time to take in all the sights and to soak up the atmos. I didn't really like the place at first, but it really grew on me, can't wait to go back again..

Pick up a tourist sightseeing map and work your way along the sights closest to you wherever you're dropped, I don't think it's worth skipping from one side of the city to the other and missing little gems in between..

cailinoBAC

I'm going to Rome for the Easter weekend. Great to read all the tips here. Anyone any idea what things are like over Easter (like things being closed, or places being impossibly crowded etc.)?

Esmereldina

cailinoBAC wrote: »

I'm going to Rome for the Easter weekend. Great to read all the tips here. Anyone any idea what things are like over Easter (like things being closed, or places being impossibly crowded etc.)?

Hmmm I'd say the Vatican will be pretty crowded anyway... that's their big time of year

Also, Italians reeeeaaaaally like their public holidays, so I'd say eveything will be closed at least on good Friday (possibly, know its techically not a holiday here, not sure about there), Easter Sunday and Monday. Well, shops will be closed, and maybe if you ask where you are staying to check what restaurants are open etc. I'm sure something will be open but it might require a bit of planning. Enjoy the weekend! I love Rome so I'm so envious!!

Lil' Smiler

We were in Rome last year for the lead up to Easter Week, we left on Easter Saturday.

Things were still open on Good Friday as long as i can remember, i think we went to the Pantheon etc and walked around that day but it did close early.

On Good Friday, the Pope does a candle light vigil up in the Colosseum, we didn't actually make it up but went up to look around after the crowds had gone. there's a big cross put up with candles all over it and then candles and flames burning in the Colosseum itself.. you can see in the pic here..

CAT NAP

Don't miss the Trevi Fountain, its fab I could sit and look at it all day.
The Vatican is really worth a visit too... but unless you are going to be in the queue for 7am i wouldnt bother as you have such a short time there - the colesseum is really interesting and shouldn't be missed.

If you don't have time to go everywhere i would skip the Spanish steps and the Pantheon.. i didn't find either too impressive...

Milktrolley

mikedragon32 wrote: »

The queue for the Collosseum and St Peter's Basilica in particular can be extremely long.

Advice on skipping the queue at the Collosseum from Wikitravel - worked like a treat for me
"If you walk across the street to the Roman Forum, you can buy a day-long pass for €10,or a standard Colosseum + Palatine ticket at €11, better still, a 7-day pass for €22. This pass gets you in to the Colosseum (Colosseo), Palatine Hill (Palatino Hill), the Baths of Caracalla (Terme di Caracalla), and the catacombs as well as the Terme di Diocleziano, Palazza Massimo alle Terme, Crypta Balbi, Palazzo Altemps, Villa dei Quintili, Tomba di Cecilia Metella."

In a nutshell, you'll see an entrance to the Forum within the little area where the Collosseum queues are - walk a short distance up through the Forum, on the left there's a ticket station and you can get your ticket there. There were three people ahead of us, versus dozens at the Collosseum itself.