Rome

Muppet Man

Need some quick advice - I will have 2 full days and 2 nights in Rome.

I know there is a lot to see... whats are the best bits and what to avoid? I know i've left this really late... I will be landing on Friday morning. :eek:

I'm going to start googling know, but I guess the vatican, the Pope's gaff, the fountain...

Four adults on the trip - no kids - and clearly not organized.

Any advice welcome.

Muppet Man

Sonnenblumen

MM -sorry for jumping in here but also looking for some advice/tips.

Forthcoming weekend trip later in Sept, but finding it difficult to identify a nice hotel. Just mindboggling the range of hotels, but the Italian star rating system seems much different to Ireland?

Anyways, would like any tips on a real 3 or 4 **** hotel (ie one catering for leisure not business travellers, offering breakfast/restaurant/bar facilities), in good central Rome location and no climbing stairwells etc. Ideally located within walking distance of sites, restaurants and shops.

Via Veneto and Spanish Steps appear to be central?

Would prefer to avoid any travel (tubes/buses/taxis) and max out time on roaming fun etc.

Tks

Womble25

I am Rome-bound this coming Thursday so Im afriad I can't help on tips for what to see cos Im currently trying to decide what we're going to see but my list includes the Colosseum, Spanish Steps, Sistine Chapel, Pantheon, Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain.

But as regards accomodation I know what you mean Sonnenblumen I found the hotel search overwhelming and expensive. In the end we went for an apartment really close to the Trevi fountain which has worked out way cheaper! I got it on www.holidayrentals.co.uk or www.homeaway.com which have a great range.

fifib

just booked a hotel for my parents last night. Hotel Fenix 4* located close to Bologna Metro stop
would recommend booking.com or alphrooms.com - find these to have the best prices

wintear

OP I have found that Wiki travel (ROME)always has a few interesting tips. Like the one everyone knows now of buying the coliseum ticket at the Capitoline hill to avoid the queue.
Things to Do: Day 1 Imperial Rome; Coliseum, Capitoline hill then walk up through the Forum. Even though it is in ruins the walkthrough it with the Basilicas and temple ruins is stunning. That way you end up near the Museum and you can also go on top of the tomb of the unknown soldier and look over the city and see Trajan's market. Then go to the Pantheon which is my favourite bit of old Rome.

Day 2 The Vatican and St Peters. Have a wander around Saint Peters there is a fair bit to see. Go to the Vatican museum in the afternoon when there is less of a queue, you tend to get Tour groups in the morning. The SISTINE chapel is not even the best bit in my opinion. While you are over there have a look at Castle St Angelo an awesome looking 1500 year old fort on the Tiber again with great views.

If you are near the Vatican St Peters looks beautiful lit up at night especially when the fountains are on.

fifib

wintear wrote: »

OP I have found that Wiki travel (ROME)always has a few interesting tips. Like the one everyone knows now of buying the coliseum ticket at the Capitoline hill to avoid the queue.
Things to Do: Day 1 Imperial Rome; Coliseum, Capitoline hill then walk up through the Forum. Even though it is in ruins the walkthrough it with the Basilicas and temple ruins is stunning. That way you end up near the Museum and you can also go on top of the tomb of the unknown soldier and look over the city and see Trajan's market. Then go to the Pantheon which is my favourite bit of old Rome.

Day 2 The Vatican and St Peters. Have a wander around Saint Peters there is a fair bit to see. Go to the Vatican museum in the afternoon when there is less of a queue, you tend to get Tour groups in the morning. The SISTINE chapel is not even the best bit in my opinion. While you are over there have a look at Castle St Angelo an awesome looking 1500 year old fort on the Tiber again with great views.

If you are near the Vatican St Peters looks beautiful lit up at night especially when the fountains are on.

Thanks for this very helpful

Booked a hotel in what ive read to be a quiet enough area for my parents but now myself and bf have decided to go in December for long weekend.
were looking for a lively enough area, somewhere we can sit in the pub til late but i know the metro stops at 11.30 so we would want to be staying in the area.
Anyone know what area we should be looking at? I see Termini has been regarded as a lively area but also a bit dodgy which would put me off staying there.

c - 13

fifib wrote: »

Anyone know what area we should be looking at? I see Termini has been regarded as a lively area but also a bit dodgy which would put me off staying there.

Stayed in the Termini area back in April for about 4 nights with the g/f. We were a bit wary about it at first as there were a lot of groups of dodgy looking folks sitting at street corners. We didnt have an ounce of trouble over the course of the stay - even walking back late at night a bit tipsy. Theres quite a few street corner hookers come out at night around there too.

If you do stay there try get a room not facing the road as the noise can be a bit much at night.

Going for 3 days in a few weeks.

Apart from the standard tourist sights, anything slightly out of the ordinary to do there? Prob will take in a Lazio game to see some Serie A and the notorious Lazio fans. Heard the catacombs good. Anything else?

SL10

Hi All,

Looking for some advice on visiting Rome. Planning on visiting Rome next Sunday eve/Monday and due to work have had to cut the trip short so will only have max Sunday evening and Monday day to see everything.

Just wondering is it crazy to try and fit in the colloseum and the vatican in one day? Is this at all possible or are they very spread out? I'm wondering if there is any hop on hop off tours that would be worthwhile doing to try and see as much of Rome as possible? We are staying in a hotel which is on Via Filippo Turati,(not sure what area this is but am hoping it is pretty central?!).

Any advice on what is the best way to maximise our short time in Rome would be much appreciated...also any good restaurants people would recommend??
Thanks

ihsb

We did the Colosseum and the Vatican museum on the one day. Pre-book the Colosseum and the Vatican should have shorter queues by the afternoon. We didn't manage to go to the square though. Not enough time. Also the metro runs between the two place.

jt_dublin

You are staying just alongside Termini, the main train station. Just outside the station is where the hop-on hop-off bus leaves from. I believe the ticket is valid for 2 consecutive days, so you could use it for both sunday evening and monday. It is a great way to see the main sights. Just beware.. when I took it a few years ago, the buses can both in a clockwise & anti-clockwise route. We started on the anti-clockwise route, got off at the vatican and then when taking the next bus, soon realised that we were going back the way we had come from.

Some of the other main sights are the Roman Forum (across from the Colosseum), Trevi fountain (which you wont see from the bus as it is in a pedestrian area), Spanish steps, Piazza Navona and the Pantheon.

The vatican museums are enourmous and would warrant a day in themselves, so I would give that a miss. Maybe just getting as far as St. Peters Square and St. Peters Cathedral would be enough, and you can go downstairs in the cathedral to where the popes are buried. Also, there used to be strict on dress code, so no short shorts or short skirts, shoulders to be covered etc.. Dont know if it is still as strict. Also they scan you bags, so be careful with what you are carrying.

Here is my recommendation for a restaurant, just to the side of the Spanish Steps. Good food & well priced.

http://www.allarampa.it/home.php?language=English

Daisy03

I've been on two hop on hop off tours there. The first was Green Line Tours which was okay but I would recommend Rome Open Bus Tour. Their route takes in more and their commentary is better. They also run for longer. If I remember correctly, the last stop is at the Vatican at 10.15 but dont make the mistake we did of thinking that it would go back to Termini afterwards... It doesn't and its a long walk! Their tickets last for 24 hours so if you got one Sunday evening it would last almost the length of your stay.

The Vatican and the Colesseum on one day would be a tight fit but with a tour might be manageable. We used these guys for the Vatican. They were well worth it. We had a guy named Grant who made it really interesting and funny as well!
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g187791-d1063003-Reviews-Italy_With_Us-Rome_Lazio.html

If you have time you should climb to the top of St Peters Basilica. The view is something! Also, they are still quite strict on shoulders and knees being on show... But it probably depends on the security guy on the day! Try and visit Trevi if you can aswell... Its lovely particularly at night!

nudger

Sorry for bumping an old thread but I'm heading over for a few days in about a month, has anyone got any recommendations for restaurants or any helpful tips.
I'm staying in the modern center not far from the train station.

jacko

Hi nudger,

did you go to rome yet?

nudger

Yhea, had a great time.

bigmc88

Any tips on decent bars/restaurants in Rome nudger? Going for a long weekend on Friday with the gf.

Guffy

bigmc88 wrote: »

Any tips on decent bars/restaurants in Rome nudger? Going for a long weekend on Friday with the gf.

Really depends on where your staying like

bigmc88

Beside the Pantheon. I've seen the Trinity Bar is close enough to watch the United match on Sunday if I'm allowed!

nudger

Are you going over to try and do all the sights or is a bit more a relaxed break?

We went over with the list of all the place we wanted to see but it started to become a bit of a hard slog, maybe the roman attitude won us over, take it as you find it.

Not a lot of bars in Rome, hence the Irish bar was born.

It wasn't in my plans to go to one but as our hotel had no bar and the first place outside was an Irish bar it became the stop off place on our days out.

I was down in Termini about 20-30 minutes walk from where you are staying, there is a nice Irish bar at the back of the Basilica de Santa Maria Maggiore called The Fiddler's Elbow, check out the Basilica it's some spot.

Just as an idea of prices, there were 5 of us and 3 nights we out we had say 3 starters, 5 mains, 2 bottles of wine and that was coming in between €130- €160.

1 night we splashed out a bit, went up market a bit, starters €10-€15, mains €30-€40 around the Trevi Fountain.

On the other hand small restaurants at lunch time can offer a large pizza and a beer for €10 but read the menu's carefully you can get hit on pricing, 3 €12 pizza's, fine but 2 coke's each at €6.50 each (didn't spot the price) + €3 each cover charge = €84 and was looking for a tip.

We stopped off in a lot of places for food drinks and were not let down or so impressed as to name a stand out.

Stay out of the restaurants down by the Colosseum, we stopped in for a beer and a loo break, €7 a coke, €11 a 33cl beer, ran out of the place.

bigmc88

Yea hoping it's going to be nice and relaxed. Take in a few sights but we’re not going to be rushing around trying to fit everything in. Will try get to the Basilica.

Thanks for that! Will just take it as it comes. Cheers

nudger

Other useful thread here.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057066350

5p9arw38djv2b4

Vatican museums is seriously huge, OH had been before, I hadn't so we booked. Tour (after dark tours) and it was amazing, was about 3/4 hours in total but they gave us all headsets so you could hear the guide all the way around, and got way more from seeing everything by doing the tour - all through the museums, through st peters etc. And it wasn't very expensive. Plus we got to skip the giant queues.

The forum was fabulous. Collesum was great (got the headset tour and was well worth it). Fun to get ice-cream and hang out by Trevi Fountain in the evenings

Great city, so many places to eat and completely walkable, we have 4 days and saw everything we felt we wanted to, all on foot, no public transport.

Guffy

Was shocked at bow easy it was to walk. There is another irish bar not far from trinity called the scholars lounge I think. Was there for the Germany game was a good spot and showed about 5 or 6 games at once.

There is an ice cream shop close to the trevi that is touted as the best in rome and ergo the world. Can't remember the name right now but it was unreal. Main reason I'd go back. Tbh I was disappointed with the food in general but there was one pizza place in particular on the way to the vatican I would highly recommended.

We stayed by the coliseum so I can't really say much about the night life around the pantheon other than it was fairly flat until 10 anyway. Across the river to trestever is the place to go apparently but was more of a family holiday so didn't bother myself.

The tour of the vatican was great but there is a long walk from the front of st peters to the back, where we entered the museum. You don't need to pre book as there are agents on road up to basilica. Also don't let them bull ya into thinking that if you don't get the tour you have to walk all the way back again, you don't. You will come out at the basilica.