Rome April 1st ~ 5th

Pecker31

Hi All! So me and my other half have booked a holiday to Rome in April.

Can anyone recommond some nice hotels (and cheap) around the Piazza Navona area. Or is there a more central location to stay in.

Any recommendations about things to do etc would be great! Even tho I would imaging there are hundreds

BetsyEllen

Hi Pecker

I am booked to go in September, my first trip

I found all accommodation to be pricey (not surprising really) - I'm now booked into a hostel.

I know they might not be the most romantic places but you can get private, en suite rooms in most of them.
If you are on a budget it could save you loads.
And then more money for sight seeing and gelato!!

With regards to things to do, I am doing all the usual stuff such as Vatican, Colosseum etc...
One thing I was told about that I hadn't heard of was the Scavi Tour. It's basically an underground tour of the Vatican, where the tomb of St Peter is; only 200 people a day can go (there are 20,000+ visitors to the Vatican per day) so it's quite hard to get onto.
However as you aren't going until next year you are likely to get a place.
You have to email the Vatican office, tell them the dates you are going to be in Rome, what language you speak and they will then advise if you've been successful and give you your time and date for the visit. This is non negotiable, you get what you're given. You then pay just €13.00 each.

More details here: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/institutions_connected/uffscavi/documents/rc_ic_uffscavi_doc_gen-information_20090216_en.html

I was originally going to stay in a hotel and I had provisionally booked a room through Cassidy Travel. I booked well in advance and a single room was costing me around €560 for 7 nights, right near the Spanish Steps. I cancelled in the end anyway, but I did check the prices again recently and the same hotel is now €1200 so it's well worth booking now to get a great deal. You also only have to pay €1 to book and then pay the balance about 10 weeks before you go. So if you change your mind or see a better place, you only lose €1.

If you have time you may want to take the train out to Pompeii to see the ruins there, which I am hoping to do.
It's a full day though so it depends on if you want to spend day outside of Rome

Pecker31

BetsyEllen wrote: »

Hi Pecker


One thing I was told about that I hadn't heard of was the Scavi Tour. It's basically an underground tour of the Vatican, where the tomb of St Peter is; only 200 people a day can go (there are 20,000+ visitors to the Vatican per day) so it's quite hard to get onto.


Hi BetsyEllen,

Thank you so much! I just sent in my request, we actually booked a self catering/apart hotel in the end, a lot of them were booked so I said it would be better to do it now. Its €400 for four nights for the two of us inc breakfast (OJ and Scone!!) It's a little on the pricey side but its our only holiday so said we would book it.

We are going to do all the main attractions and hopefully the tour if the underground. Thanks again for telling me about it!

Hope you have a wonderful trip, any more suggestions feel free to send them on, I will to you also

Pecker

BetsyEllen

Pecker31 wrote: »

BetsyEllen wrote: »

Hi Pecker


One thing I was told about that I hadn't heard of was the Scavi Tour. It's basically an underground tour of the Vatican, where the tomb of St Peter is; only 200 people a day can go (there are 20,000+ visitors to the Vatican per day) so it's quite hard to get onto.


Hi BetsyEllen,

Thank you so much! I just sent in my request, we actually booked a self catering/apart hotel in the end, a lot of them were booked so I said it would be better to do it now. Its €400 for four nights for the two of us inc breakfast (OJ and Scone!!) It's a little on the pricey side but its our only holiday so said we would book it.

We are going to do all the main attractions and hopefully the tour if the underground. Thanks again for telling me about it!

Hope you have a wonderful trip, any more suggestions feel free to send them on, I will to you also

Pecker

Great, I hope you get a place on the tour - I'll report back when I've done it and let you know how it goes!

I also came across a free walking tour that I'm going to book for my first night there, just to help me get my bearings of where everything is:
www.newromefreetour.com - you can only book a month in advance though so maybe pop a reminder on your phone.

A couple of other items on my itinerary are:
Campo de Fiori market - open 8-1.30pm every day apart from Sunday
Capuchin Crypt - Open every day 9am-7pm, €8 entrance

I'll update you with anything else I find that sounds interesting

Mars Bar

I'm also going in September with my sister. We are going for 4 days and 4 nights (we are flying home early Sunday so that doesn't count as a day.)

I'm trying to figure out an itinerary and prices for seeing the sights!