Things to do in Rome

littlemissteach

spear thrower wrote: »

Hello there i am sure a lot of you lovely Boards members are sick to death giving advice on Rome but just this one time could you please share a small bit of your Rome wisdom with the Spear Thrower.. i will be forever grateful..

Myself and my girlfriend have visited a lot of beautiful cities but its our first time visiting Rome.. We are heading over in a couple of weeks for 2 nights(3 full days) and my dilemma is that 3 days is far from enough(i think) to see this wonderful city(we are both mid 20s).. So what would you suggest is a must do in Rome? Sightseeing, Restaurants, Pubs/Bars etc..(cant really get a good judgement off Trip advisor)

We're staying in the Welrome hotel which i booked as it was recommended on Trip Advisor.. Has anyone stayed here that would like to give us a heads up how they rated it?..

Again thanks a million!!!:):D;)

Hey!
I'm just back from my First trip to Rome- we were there for 3 and a half days, brill city, here are a few things I'd recommend- get a travel pass so that you can hop on and off all the metros and busses etc, saying that we walked from the Colosseum to trevi onr day and from trevi to the VAtican another!
Book a guided tour for the Colosseum so that you can skip the q- we booked on line with mycolosseumtour,com-its a three hour tour for 49 euro-give you entry to the Colosseum , roman forum and palatine hill and full commentary by a guide , group of about 25 people.

fifib

littlemissteach wrote: »

Hey!
I'm just back from my First trip to Rome- we were there for 3 and a half days, brill city, here are a few things I'd recommend- get a travel pass so that you can hop on and off all the metros and busses etc, saying that we walked from the Colosseum to trevi onr day and from trevi to the VAtican another!
Book a guided tour for the Colosseum so that you can skip the q- we booked on line with mycolosseumtour,com-its a three hour tour for 49 euro-give you entry to the Colosseum , roman forum and palatine hill and full commentary by a guide , group of about 25 people.

+1 for the guided tour at Colosseum. we arrived there about 1pm and the queues were massive. we stayed in the Piazza Venezie area and so walked to the Colosseum. bit of advice...do not stop to have your pic taken with any gladiators on this street. one guy literally forced us to..we didnt wana as we were eating our breakfast (baguettes) while walking down to the colosseum but after realising he wasnt giving up me and my bf both had our pics taken, on my camera can i add, and then he put his hand out for money to my bf. he only had 20 and the guy pocketed it, turned to me with his hand out and i told him where to go! i was gobsmacked!

the price included guide at palatine hill and roman forums but wasnt til about 4pm...so we got the guided tour around there..only takes about 30/45 mins and let wander on your own after. though bout 10 minutes late we were chased out of the place by the security guards. this was in December so maybe opening times very on the seasons

also recommend guided tour for vatican. they will bring you to all the best bits otherwise you could spend all day wandering about same areas and miss half it! i wouldnt leave the vatican til last tho. day we were there was 2nd last day of holiday and tour guide told us how pope can close the sistine chapel anytime he likes and had in fact ordered it to be closed the day after we did it. this new pope is fond of doing this, the previous pope never once did it...bless him!!

also had another lil incident in spanish steps where this indian guy forced roses on me. i didnt want them at all cos we were leaving that day and had no where to put them! anyways he shoved them on me i said no politely and he said "from me, god bless you" so i walked off with them, looking for somewhere to dump them really and he followed us for ages! we looked back and he was doing same to another couple so we decided to leg it and he ran after us! i tried to hand him back the flowers but he wouldnt take them all he wanted was money!! we gave him a few euro just to get rid of him and cos i was getting quite scared of him now following us!

not to put a dampner on the city cos it really is a great place and i would go back there in a flash but just beware, they can make you feel really intimidated so just try to avoid them if you can!

tipperaryboy

Beware that there is a lot of people trying to force money from tourists in Rome avoid:
> Tour guides at the Vatican entrance queque they claim to have a way to skip the wait and go straight in and they will overcharge.Most of them are not genuine proper guides.Ignore them.
>People dressed up in gladitor costumes etc they will do there best to persuade you to take a photo with them and then demaned money.
>Street sellers shoving flowers and souvenirs.
>Waiters standing outside restraunts telling every tourist passing by that there restaurants are the best.

TIP
Avoid touristy restaurants typical signs are of lots of foreigners in the vincinty and a menu of typical italian style dishes that everyone everywhere knows.

DO0GLE

Planning on visiting Rome in the coming months. Looking for recommendations on how many nights would be sufficient to see all the sites?

Would appreciate suggestions on this before booking accommodation.

tipperaryboy

DO0GLE wrote: »

Planning on visiting Rome in the coming months. Looking for recommendations on how many nights would be sufficient to see all the sites?

Would appreciate suggestions on this before booking accommodation.

I would advise you to stay three nights minimum,taking account for time to get your bearings and visting the vatican would take up most of the day..and you also want time to fit in the other highlights.

TeenageKicks1

Hello

Can anyone give me the link where I can pre book tickets to the Vatican please. Going in June and do not want to queue in the hot weather,

Thanks in advance

TeenageKicks1

Hello

Heading to Rome soon, does anyone have a link to the website where I can pre book tickets to the Vatican

cheers

Mr. Presentable

http://www.rome-museum.com/vatican2ind.php

A good site for info is

www.roninrome.com

doctor evil

Heading there in July folks

What things are there to do? Is it an easy enough place to get around. Are there any good markets there and the like.

Cheers

PS I want to see loads of architecture/museums

stripysocks85

You'll see loads of architecture & museums - just wander around. They have a good metro system but it's really easy to walk around. We picked up a street map in the hotel and it had al the landmarks marked on it; collosseum, Trevi fountain, Spanish steps etc. Beautiful city. Got metro to see St. Peters Basilica & the Vatican. GO EARLY! Lots of people = lots of queues!

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