Rome Tips

the goon

Hi, heading to Rome on Friday for a couple of days and am really looking forward to it. I was just looking for any tips or advice people might have on eating, shopping etc. In particular I was wondering about:

A good website for prebooking tickets for Coloseum etc.

Good cheap places to eat

Good places for shopping

All advice appreciated!

Lapin

For a bite to eat I strongly recommend L'archetto di Cavour.

A lovely little restaurant, right opposite Cavour metro and a few minutes walk from the Colosseum. The food is great and the service is excellent.

naughtysmurf

Maybe not exactly what you are looking for but beware of super slick pickpockets expecially on the buses & the metro

roundymac

No need to prebook the coloseum at this time of year, as for eating plenty of reasonable(cheap) restraunts to be found, don't eat on the major streets, generally down the side streets is where you will get the best value. Look to see if it is locals eating in there, if so thats the place to go. Locals will only eat where they get the best food/value.

van_beano

If you're up by the Colosseum and people dressed as Centurions ask you do you want a picture taken with them, say no and keep walking, they'll demand about €20 per person for the picture after it's taken using your own camera!

mikedragon32

Luckily for us, they accept Irish Euros still!

OP: Re the colloseum, there's no need to pre-book. This time of year it's reasonably quiet and you certainly won't be queueing for long. You can buy a combined ticket for the Colloseum and Forum enabling you to save a couple of quid and miss out on queueing for tickets there too. Go early.

You do need to have your wits about you. Plenty of people only too willing to separate you from your money and/or stuff. But that applies everywhere anyway. Bring a warm coat, it gets mighty chilly at night.

It's worth having a good walk around in the evening. The Colloseum looks fantastic when it's all lit up.

mum2be

Don't know what the queues will be like at this time of year but they were very very long to get into the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel when I was there in March so if you're thinking of going you can pre book the tickets. We did and it felt great to skip the queue:)

Ardennes1944

it will be much better going this time of year. the heat when we went kinda spoiled it for us. walking around rome at night is one of the nicest experiences ive had. theres always people down every side street no matter how small and we never felt unsafe. dont buy bottled water, there are loads of fountains from which to fill up from

Honey-ec

As others have said; keep your wits about you. Rome is the worst city I've ever been to for pick-pockets, and I've travelled quite a bit.

Avoid taxis unless you are absolutely 100% stranded somewhere and even then, agree a price before you set foot in the car. The taxi drivers that hang around Termini are particularly aggressive - they'll ask you where you're going, tell you a taxi is the only way to get there, and quote you €25 to a destination that's two bus stops down the road. Ignore them completely.

adocholiday

I was there 2 summers ago with the OH. We had a lot of trouble with the accommodation (not relative to the city ) but the city itself is great. We went in May and the only thing I prebooked was the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel tour. Being with a tour gets you past the queues at the Vatican but the tour was unnecessarily long. Going into minute detail about almost every single thing in the place. Was a bit of overkill IMO.

The older area such as the Colosseum, Palatine Hill etc are great no need for prebooking.

We stayed in the Trastevere area of Rome, south of the river. It was grand, lots of little bars and restaurants but the nightlife in Rome isn't great. For eating and drinking, check every menu before you go into a place. They charge for the little baskets of bread that are left on the table, they also charge extra for sitting outside in places and the prices in some places near the attractions are shocking. We met a couple who got charged almost €70 for 4 beers and 4 paninis sitting outside a restaurant beside the colosseum. Be sure to check all of that.

Oh and pay no heed to the graffiti. It's everywhere in Rome and looks terrible but its no reflection on the place. It's a cultural thing apparently.

Think I covered everything there lol. If you have any questions send me a PM be happy to help.

mikemac1

Comfortable shoes. The cobble stones and concrete will have your feet in bits

Get a water bottle and carry it around with you, you can refill from many of the fountains

Termini is ok but not realy a place to hang around later on. Tiburtina is not the best either.

Roma beggers everywhere and watch for pickpockets. I thought Dublin has a problem with the Roma but it's nothing compared to Rome

I'm not sure about the taxis, I got one from Termini and the fare was ok but then he gave me a list and demanded a surcharge as I got him from a rank. Looked official, I don't think I was ripped off but I'm still not sure

When you arrive, do a lap of the city on the tour bus, you'll get a headset so you can see everything and get your bearings. Then you can go again and get off where you want. The ticket lasts two days so just hop on and hop off.

The Irish pubs are very expensive. I was there during the World Cup, lots of international people to chat but when in Rome...... Go find somewhere local

Be nervous crossing the road. The car drivers and moped riders are lunatics, every one of them :eek:

Avoid the obvious tourist traps. If you're buying icrecream or coffee beside an attraction well check the price first

Now is actually a good time of year to go. Not so crowded and the heat won't be oppressive

The express train from the airport to Termini is robbery, pure price gouging at fourteen euro
Get the local train to Tiburtina, it costs under three euro and it doesn't take that much longer.
Once you're in Tiburtina, well you have the Metro and can go wherever you want

On your way back to the airport, just buy a ticket for Roma de Fiero and stay on until the airport which is just two stops further down.
Yeah it's fare dodging but that manner of rip off should not be paid. Eleven extra euro to go two stops, getuptheyard

the goon

Wow! Thanks eveyone, this thread has been very informative so far! Looking forward to the trip now and feel better informed. Keep it coming please!