Things to do in Rome

dlofnep

Do as the romans do..

ncmc

Rome is one of the great walking cities in the world. We were there for 5 days and hardly took the metro at all. There are only two metro lines, so the metro is not as comprehensive as say Paris or London, but like I said, you don't really need it.

Rome in July will be hot and busy, so if you are going to the major sites, you need to get there early. If you can afford it, I would recommend a guided tour to the Colliseum and Vatican Museum. It actually doesn't cost that much more than regular entry and the big bonus is that you skip the lines. The Collieum one also includes a tour of the Forum which was amazing. Without the tour, I felt we would have just been looking at a load of ruins and not knowing what anything was! You can book the tour outside the Colliseum, there are loads of groups doing it.

My must sees would be:

-Colliseum
-Forum
-St Peters (climb to the top of the dome if you're fit and not claustrophobic)
-Vatican Museum
-Spanish Steps
-Trevi Fountain
-Pantheon
-Piazza Navona

I also like the open top bus tour, we did this our first day and found it gave us a nice overview of the city. It helps you place where everything is, and you can decide what you want to go and see in more detail.

As the previous poster said, there is magnificent architecture at every turn, so my best piece of advise would be to make sure you have plenty of time just to wander round and soak up the atmosphere of the city.

mickman

hi guys

im in rome for one day (off a cruise ship) on july 28th. i dont want to spend all day in the searing heat queueing for everything, what would you recommend to be the perfect one day in rome?

hayser

Can anyone tell me when it would be cold (or relatively cool) in Rome please? My friends and I would love to go but hate really warm weather so we were thinking perhaps after Christmas or maybe over St. Patrick's Day next year. Thanks in advance.

gebbel

I would have suggested the Vatican if you had more time but I won't now, unless of course it's a priority for you. As the metro in Rome is not very extensive, you will need to walk around a lot, but it is still possible to squeeze a lot into one day. Here is my recommendation:

1. No trip to Rome is complete without seeing the Colosseum. From Termini station, take the Metro Line B, direction Laurentina, and get off at Colosseo which is only 2 stops. When you exit the Metro station, the Colosseum will be right there in front of you in all it's magnificence and it really is a fantastic sight. Don't bother going in, just wander around it.

2. Go back to the Metro and head back to Termini (direction Rebibbia). Then take the Metro Line A to Spagna (direction Battistini). This is where the Spanish Steps and the Piazza di Spagna are located. These are some of the most famous places in Rome and it's really nice wandering around there.

3. Now for the walking bit. Your next port of call should be the Trevi Fountain. Get yourself a pocket map of Rome and hit the road. It should take about 15 minutes from the Spanish Steps, and enjoy the beauty of Rome as you walk.

4. Next you can walk to the Pantheon, my favourite Roman building..built as a temple to all the gods of ancient Rome and still standing today unscathed after 2000 years. Have a beer or a glass of wine in the Piazza della Rotonda facing the exterior facade of the Pantheon and just soak it all up.

5. You could then head to Piazza Navona which is only a short walk away and see the Fountain of the 4 Rivers. If you still have energy and time then head for the Campo Dei Fiori, another quaint Roman square with Restaurants and Cafes dotted around it.

The above is just a suggested itinerary but it worked for me!

Enjoy!

ncmc

hayser wrote: »

Can anyone tell me when it would be cold (or relatively cool) in Rome please? My friends and I would love to go but hate really warm weather so we were thinking perhaps after Christmas or maybe over St. Patrick's Day next year. Thanks in advance.

I was there at the start of March and we got days where it was T-shirt weather, but not roasting hot either, I would say most days were 16-18 degrees. We had maybe one day with rain and the nights were a bit cooler, but it certainly wasn't cold. My sister went in Feb the same year and she said it was very milld then too. Not sure about Christmas time, but if you check out www.weather.com or www.wunderground.com they have a facility where you can check out the historic temperatures of any given date, so that should be helpful to you.

rebel10

hayser wrote: »

Can anyone tell me when it would be cold (or relatively cool) in Rome please? My friends and I would love to go but hate really warm weather so we were thinking perhaps after Christmas or maybe over St. Patrick's Day next year. Thanks in advance.

Hey. I always think Rome is best seen around November/December time, especially when they put up their xmas decorations. Nothing like our cheap and tatty ones. They go with more natural forms of decoration. Lots and lots of little mangers everywhere. So lovely.
If you would prefer dryer days, April/may would be lovely too. Very much t-shirt weather but without the dead heat of July/Aug. My family lives there, heading over for a few wks in a few days. The dead heat only really started about 2 weeks ago, before that it was warm but still manageable.

event

was in rome last year, myself and the girlfriend. this was our itinary:

Day 1 – Head to the Coliseum first thing, take in this and Palatine hill. Should get this done in the morning time. In the afternoon, do the Forums and the Pantheon. Depending on time, do the Caracalla Baths/Circus maximus.

purchase a Roma Pass, you can get them in a lot of shops http://www.romapass.it/?l=en
this gives free entry to the first two museums/archaeological sites, reduced prices on the others. also gives free metro travel. we used this for free entry into the collessum. there is a line for roma pass holders, walk straight to the top to get in quicker. this also give a ticket to the forums/palatine hill. pantheon is free

day 2 – Go to the Borghese Gallery. On the same day, take in the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish steps. Go to the Trevi Fountain first, and also get food in L'Antico Forno di Piazza Trevi, a shop close by which sells sandwiches. Then in the afternoon, have a picnic in the Borghese Villa Park and use the boats. On the way home, go to the spanish steps.

For the borghese gallery, we booked tickets in advance on their site, it was amazing

Day 3 – This is the day for the Vatican. Tour of St Peters Necropolis booked for 09:00. Tour of Vatican Museums and Sistine chapel booked for 14:00.

we booked a tour of St Peters necropolis byt following these instructions:

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/institutions_connected/uffscavi/documents/rc_ic_uffscavi_doc_gen-information_20040112_en.html

you MUST do this, it was the best thing in Rome we did, you get to see the area where St Peters Bones were buried.

we booked tickets for the vatican museum using this

http://biglietteriamusei.vatican.va/musei/tickets/do?action=booking&codiceTipoVisita=26&step=2

any queries about this, sure drop me a PM