Rome Anyone been?

NabyLadistheman

Thinking of whisking the misses away for her Birthday in September. Basically has anyone ever been? Where did you stay and what was it like? Also which airport is best to fly-in to as both Ryan Air & Aer Lingus are different?

Any advise greatly appreciated

Sowra

hi

I went with my bf last year, its a beautiful city and great for walking around.
Just be careful with where you eat cos lots of places are a rip off with terrible food- one place we went to looked decent but when we were waiting for our food we heard a microwave 'ping' sound then were brought out two plates of pasta that could have been weightwatchers meals!

we stayed in Orange hotel (near the vatican) its an art deco hotel, really nice and friendly staff
address 86 Via Crescenzio

Besides our bad experience with the food, it was great. We probably should have done some homework on where to eat beforehand!

niborm

Trastevere is a great area for food. Just don't eat in the restaurants in the main tourist hotspots, such as in front of the Pantheon, as they tend to be the rip-off places.

Personally I'd fly Aer Lingus, but that's because I dislike Ryanair.

funky.monkey

Ryanair fly to Ciampino Airport, and you can get a Terravision Bus from there to Termini Station in Rome. I think it was about 12 euros last year. You can buy the bus tickets on the plane, but there are other bus operators which do other routes and you can get their tickets at the airport.
Aer Lingus go to Leonardo Da Vinchi, and from there you can get a train to Termini for about 11 euros.

zemphis

I was on holiday in Rome nearly two years ago and it is a fantastic city. So much to see and do and the atmosphere is wonderful, I would love to go back there!

When we went we flew with Aerlingus into Leondardo DaVinci and got the train into Rome. It was very easy though I can't remember how much it was. Once in the city centre, you can use the metro to get around, which works very well.

We stayed in a very small 'hotel', Le Suite di Via Ottaviano , very close to St Peter's and The Vatican. It was a nice area, quiet. Two good places to look for hotels is Trip Advior (www.tripadvisor.ie) and venere (www.venere.com). Venere have a map function which makes it easy to see what area the hotel is in and what's near by. Again, if the hotel is near a metro station, it is very easy to get around.

As to things to do in Rome, the list is nearly endless. We spend five days there and still only got to see a fraction of the stuff on offer. A handy site for reference is http://wikitravel.org/en/Rome. It also gives some restaurants. Again, like other people said, for restaurants, try and avoid the touristy areas. They tend to be over-priced and not very good. One restaurant we did go to was Il Bacaro (it's on the wikitravel site) and it was fantastic. One of the most romantic restaurants I've been too and the food was just fantastic.

We went to all the usual sites, like St Peter's, The Vatican, the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Castel Sant'Angelo. A lot of these places can get very busy but there are ways to avoid some of the biggest queues. For example if you are going to the Vatican, go around 12/1pm-ish and the queue is alot shorter. If you want to go to the Colosseum, go to the Palatine Hill first (where there is a much shorter queue, if any at at all) and get a joint ticket, this way you can skip the queue at the Colosseum. Places like The Spanish Steps and The Trevi Fountain tend to be crowded and just overly toruisty and as such I didn't find that nice but that was just personal taste. I much prefer some of the quieter fountains and sites which were equally as beautiful and breathtaking.

And don't forget the gelato! It is absolutely fantastic! Especially the places that make it on-site. I'd almost go back just for the ice-cream!!

Lucas10101

Yeah, I was there last October...

I think the city is great, the history is unbelievable and there are so many sights. The Vatican is also good ( don't forget it was built upon the sales of indulgences ).

The Irish Bars are great as well...

However my friend got brutally and viciously attacked and my phone and wallet was stolen, this ruined what was a great city. So be careful at night...

I'd go back there anytime, loads to see and do...

findabreak.ie

Have been a couple of times, be careful with the standard of hotels i.e take a 3 star to be a 2 star here and 4 star to be what we would call a 3star etc..

Stayed in the forum hotel but no matter where you stay Rome , although a sprawling city , is easy enough to move around. Loads to see and I found the food to be fab.

As for the airports, I think this is one case where the Ryanair airport isn't any more difficult than the Aer Lingus one for getting into the city (went with Aer Lingus myself). Just add up what it would cost you with both taking into account taxes/baggage etc... and getting from the airport to the city and see what works out best for you.

Oh and pick up a map - Its easy to get lost (well if your me anyway)

NabyLadistheman

Thanks very much for all the advice regarding Rome. Really looking forward to it now, there is so much to do - sounds like an incredible place.

I was actually there before when I was 16 on a school tour. As ya can imagine Leonardo Da Vinchi and his likes were the last thing on my mind! ]

They are great websites regarding hotels. Will get something perfect from there