7 Days in Rome - Staying in Piazza Navona Area
Jul 16th, 2012, 12:59 AM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 103
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
7 Days in Rome - Staying in Piazza Navona Area
I'm going to use this thread as my trip report for our trip to Rome spanning Friday, July 13 through Thursday, July 19.
I'm typing these updates on my iPhone so I apologize in advance for any editing, spelling, or grammatical errors.
For those interested in the first ten days of our trip (London and some surrounding areas), please see this thread:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...rip-report.cfm
I will try to update as I can and will fill any gaps and answer any questions once I am home.
I'm typing these updates on my iPhone so I apologize in advance for any editing, spelling, or grammatical errors.
For those interested in the first ten days of our trip (London and some surrounding areas), please see this thread:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...rip-report.cfm
I will try to update as I can and will fill any gaps and answer any questions once I am home.
Jul 16th, 2012, 01:24 AM
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 103
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Day 1 - Friday, July 13 -
Flying in after ten days in London.
Quickly through Heathrow Security. For all of the horror stories, we navigated check in, customs, and security in under 30 minutes. This was much faster and easier than leaving Rochester or Chicago on th way to London.
The flight was quick and we had a great view of the Alps. The flight was, however, rowdy. It was a normal BA flight but it was the oddest flight I have ever been on. People constantly trading seats and moving throughout the cabin. People standing up in groups and leaning over seats. Flight attendants constantly up and down the aisles, squeezing past these congregated groups and not saying anything. Truly odd.
Landed in Rome, baggage was slow to arrive. Once through, the ATM would only work in Italian. This was stressful but I manage to get Euros. Our driver brought us into our apartment in Rome on record time. How many mph is 175 kph? .
Last night we ate dinner at a restaurant right below our apartment. Amazing and not too pricey. Al Braciere on Via Della Chiesa Nuova. We walked through Piazza Navona an I joked that we could accidentally bump into the Pantheon if we took a wrong turn. 5 minutes later, we rounded a corner and there was the Pantheon. Amazing view at night.
Wifi is spotty right now so I won't do Rome updates until that gets settled. Maybe once we are home if it doesn't work out well.
Flying in after ten days in London.
Quickly through Heathrow Security. For all of the horror stories, we navigated check in, customs, and security in under 30 minutes. This was much faster and easier than leaving Rochester or Chicago on th way to London.
The flight was quick and we had a great view of the Alps. The flight was, however, rowdy. It was a normal BA flight but it was the oddest flight I have ever been on. People constantly trading seats and moving throughout the cabin. People standing up in groups and leaning over seats. Flight attendants constantly up and down the aisles, squeezing past these congregated groups and not saying anything. Truly odd.
Landed in Rome, baggage was slow to arrive. Once through, the ATM would only work in Italian. This was stressful but I manage to get Euros. Our driver brought us into our apartment in Rome on record time. How many mph is 175 kph? .
Last night we ate dinner at a restaurant right below our apartment. Amazing and not too pricey. Al Braciere on Via Della Chiesa Nuova. We walked through Piazza Navona an I joked that we could accidentally bump into the Pantheon if we took a wrong turn. 5 minutes later, we rounded a corner and there was the Pantheon. Amazing view at night.
Wifi is spotty right now so I won't do Rome updates until that gets settled. Maybe once we are home if it doesn't work out well.
Jul 16th, 2012, 01:30 AM
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 103
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Day 2 - Saturday, July 14 -
Headed right out and walked to our meeting point for our Forum and Colosseum tour. Met up at a cafe near the lower forum and headed out.
Great tour though Roma Experiences. https://www.romaexperience.com/
Our guide was Paola and she has a PhD on archeology. Very knowledgable and yet able to entertain the children in our group. I can't recommend them high enough.
We walked towards the Basillica de San Clemente and stopped for lunch at one of the many places along the way. When we got to San Clemente it was closed for its afternoon break so we decided to head home and do the same.
We quickly rested and set out to stroll the local neighborhood.
Dinner was at the restaurant down stairs again:
http://www.ristorante-albraciere.it/il-ristorante/
Excellent and well priced
After a long dinner we headed to Trevo Fountain and people watched for a whole before crashing.
Headed right out and walked to our meeting point for our Forum and Colosseum tour. Met up at a cafe near the lower forum and headed out.
Great tour though Roma Experiences. https://www.romaexperience.com/
Our guide was Paola and she has a PhD on archeology. Very knowledgable and yet able to entertain the children in our group. I can't recommend them high enough.
We walked towards the Basillica de San Clemente and stopped for lunch at one of the many places along the way. When we got to San Clemente it was closed for its afternoon break so we decided to head home and do the same.
We quickly rested and set out to stroll the local neighborhood.
Dinner was at the restaurant down stairs again:
http://www.ristorante-albraciere.it/il-ristorante/
Excellent and well priced
After a long dinner we headed to Trevo Fountain and people watched for a whole before crashing.
Jul 16th, 2012, 01:41 AM
#4
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,557
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
"Our driver brought us into our apartment in Rome on record time. How many mph is 175 kph?"
Sounds like our driver. He accomplished this while carrying a conversation on his mobile phone. My main concern was that in the event of an accident how they could possibly find our insurance policy (for the kids) in what remained of the tangled car wreckage. We survived but I don't know how our 2 bottles of Johnny Walker Black remained intact in the boot. Shaken, not stirred thankyou bartender
Sounds like our driver. He accomplished this while carrying a conversation on his mobile phone. My main concern was that in the event of an accident how they could possibly find our insurance policy (for the kids) in what remained of the tangled car wreckage. We survived but I don't know how our 2 bottles of Johnny Walker Black remained intact in the boot. Shaken, not stirred thankyou bartender
Jul 16th, 2012, 01:47 AM
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 103
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Day 3 - Sunday, July 15 -
Woke up early as we had the 9 am slot for the Borghese Gallery. This is a log, uphill walk. A cab or the bus may have been wise. After a bit of a mob to get in once they opened the doors (as we had all lined up on the portico instead of at the door down below the portico where the entrance actually is) we were in and got our tickets.
We grabbed some coffee and food at the cafe in the gallery while everyone else was lining up to get in. We had 30 minutes to wait before 9. We checked our bags (all have to be checked in) and headed into the gallery. Very impressive. We didn't quite spend our whole 2 hours here and headed out to the Capitoline Museum.
After getting turned around in some of the Roman alleys, made it at around noon (an hour walk) only to be greated with a long line. We waited and headed for the one exhibit we came for, Lux Arcana. An exhibit of original Vatican Documents that have never before been seen. Simply amazing. Well worth the walk, wait in line, and admission price. Letters from Lincoln and Jefferson Davis were highlights for me.
We eased back towards the Campo di Fiori area and had a late (by our standards) lunch at Hostaria La Danesina. Again, cheap and amazing.
We rested in our apartment for a bit (I can't stress enough that this apartment was in the perfect location for easy quick resting whether coming from the Vatican, Historical Sites, or just strolling the Piazzas) and the headed out for a walk through Trasteveri. It was a bit further away than it appeared on the map but was a nice walk to see the other side of Rome.
We then went to get some Gelato at a well known place near us. Gelatetia del Teatro was great. Small servings but crazy flavors and very high quality.
Being the predictable folks that we are, we had dinner downstairs again. We did walk around and found a few of the places recommended by the food apps were closed on Sundays. So, we went with what we know. Again, amazed at the quality of the food and we haven't repeated a meal there yet.
We crashed shortly after dinner with a big day ahead of us.
Woke up early as we had the 9 am slot for the Borghese Gallery. This is a log, uphill walk. A cab or the bus may have been wise. After a bit of a mob to get in once they opened the doors (as we had all lined up on the portico instead of at the door down below the portico where the entrance actually is) we were in and got our tickets.
We grabbed some coffee and food at the cafe in the gallery while everyone else was lining up to get in. We had 30 minutes to wait before 9. We checked our bags (all have to be checked in) and headed into the gallery. Very impressive. We didn't quite spend our whole 2 hours here and headed out to the Capitoline Museum.
After getting turned around in some of the Roman alleys, made it at around noon (an hour walk) only to be greated with a long line. We waited and headed for the one exhibit we came for, Lux Arcana. An exhibit of original Vatican Documents that have never before been seen. Simply amazing. Well worth the walk, wait in line, and admission price. Letters from Lincoln and Jefferson Davis were highlights for me.
We eased back towards the Campo di Fiori area and had a late (by our standards) lunch at Hostaria La Danesina. Again, cheap and amazing.
We rested in our apartment for a bit (I can't stress enough that this apartment was in the perfect location for easy quick resting whether coming from the Vatican, Historical Sites, or just strolling the Piazzas) and the headed out for a walk through Trasteveri. It was a bit further away than it appeared on the map but was a nice walk to see the other side of Rome.
We then went to get some Gelato at a well known place near us. Gelatetia del Teatro was great. Small servings but crazy flavors and very high quality.
Being the predictable folks that we are, we had dinner downstairs again. We did walk around and found a few of the places recommended by the food apps were closed on Sundays. So, we went with what we know. Again, amazed at the quality of the food and we haven't repeated a meal there yet.
We crashed shortly after dinner with a big day ahead of us.
Jul 18th, 2012, 07:13 AM
#15
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 2,893
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
<i><font color=#555555>"I'm typing these updates on my iPhone"</font></i>
<i><font color=#555555>"I Landed in Rome, baggage was slow to arrive."</font></i>
Sometimes I forget how much fun this place can be.
<i><font color=#555555>"I Landed in Rome, baggage was slow to arrive."</font></i>
Sometimes I forget how much fun this place can be.
Jul 20th, 2012, 09:10 AM
#16
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 103
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Day 4 - Monday, July 16 -
Woke up early to get to our 9:15 AM Scavi Tour. The Swiss Guard wouldn't let us through until 9:00 AM and then we got to the Scavi Office without any issues and went on the tour. A woman on our tour continually tried to take photos and was stopped each time.
The let us out into the pathway area between the Sistine Chapel and the Basilica. We were able to stop into the Basilica (and probably could have walked up the ramp into the Sistine Chapel too).
We quickly rested before heading down to Pizzarium for Lunch. The best pizza, ever. Well worth a stop.
We then went on a Vatican Museum tour with RomaExperience. Our guide was not good and seemed distracted. However, RomaExperience refunded us the tour amount minus the cost of admission to the museums.
Did the museums, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peters and were beat.
We rested for a bit and then did dinner at a restaurant somewhere on Governo Vecchio.
Woke up early to get to our 9:15 AM Scavi Tour. The Swiss Guard wouldn't let us through until 9:00 AM and then we got to the Scavi Office without any issues and went on the tour. A woman on our tour continually tried to take photos and was stopped each time.
The let us out into the pathway area between the Sistine Chapel and the Basilica. We were able to stop into the Basilica (and probably could have walked up the ramp into the Sistine Chapel too).
We quickly rested before heading down to Pizzarium for Lunch. The best pizza, ever. Well worth a stop.
We then went on a Vatican Museum tour with RomaExperience. Our guide was not good and seemed distracted. However, RomaExperience refunded us the tour amount minus the cost of admission to the museums.
Did the museums, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peters and were beat.
We rested for a bit and then did dinner at a restaurant somewhere on Governo Vecchio.
Jul 20th, 2012, 09:14 AM
#17
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 103
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Day 5 - Tuesday, July 17 -
We woke up and walked through Campo Di Fiori in the morning. Lots of good fresh fruits and vegetables. Very well priced and very high quality.
Lunch in some restaurant in an Alley between Campo Di Fiori and the main road before heading towards TopBike Rental for our Appian Way Bike Tour.
We booked this tour through RomaExperience but they outsource all of their bike tours to TopBike. To save a few dollars, book directly through TopBike. I might still book through RomaExperience though as they have a 100% customer satisfaction guarantee and are very easy to deal with.
The Bike Tour of the Appian Way (http://www.topbikerental.com/Appian.php) was absolutely perfect. Definitely the highlight of our trip. I would recommend this to anyone who can ride a bike. It is a side of Rome you cannot otherwise see.
The bike tour goes until around 8:00 pm. We ate dinner and crashed. 40 km on a bike is tiring.
We woke up and walked through Campo Di Fiori in the morning. Lots of good fresh fruits and vegetables. Very well priced and very high quality.
Lunch in some restaurant in an Alley between Campo Di Fiori and the main road before heading towards TopBike Rental for our Appian Way Bike Tour.
We booked this tour through RomaExperience but they outsource all of their bike tours to TopBike. To save a few dollars, book directly through TopBike. I might still book through RomaExperience though as they have a 100% customer satisfaction guarantee and are very easy to deal with.
The Bike Tour of the Appian Way (http://www.topbikerental.com/Appian.php) was absolutely perfect. Definitely the highlight of our trip. I would recommend this to anyone who can ride a bike. It is a side of Rome you cannot otherwise see.
The bike tour goes until around 8:00 pm. We ate dinner and crashed. 40 km on a bike is tiring.
Jul 20th, 2012, 09:20 AM
#18
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 103
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Day 6 - Wednesday, July 18 -
We started off with the Eating Italy Food Tour - http://www.eatingitalyfoodtours.com/.
This tour was high quality. Our guide, Domenico, is from Jersey but has lived in Rome for 12 years. He did a great job. It was easily a full meal (or two) plus a fun tour with a lot of history and teaching mixed in. One of our favorite tours.
If you go on a warm day, be sure to bring lots of water though as there aren't many stops along the way.
After the tour (and the walk back to our apartment) we needed a quick rest before heading out for a walk through some Piazzas and some much needed Gelato. We tried a few places and all were good. My favorites were Frididarium and Gelateria del Treato (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...ome_Lazio.html). Some very unique flavors available at Treato.
We roamed a bit and found a knock off bag for the wife and some sunglasses for myself. Please be sure to barter. I saw a few folks paying the first price the street vendor suggested. Insane. The bag started at $50 and we got it for $15. The sunglasses started at $50/pair and it ended up being 2 for $20. I think I could have got the sunglasses down a bit more.
We started off with the Eating Italy Food Tour - http://www.eatingitalyfoodtours.com/.
This tour was high quality. Our guide, Domenico, is from Jersey but has lived in Rome for 12 years. He did a great job. It was easily a full meal (or two) plus a fun tour with a lot of history and teaching mixed in. One of our favorite tours.
If you go on a warm day, be sure to bring lots of water though as there aren't many stops along the way.
After the tour (and the walk back to our apartment) we needed a quick rest before heading out for a walk through some Piazzas and some much needed Gelato. We tried a few places and all were good. My favorites were Frididarium and Gelateria del Treato (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...ome_Lazio.html). Some very unique flavors available at Treato.
We roamed a bit and found a knock off bag for the wife and some sunglasses for myself. Please be sure to barter. I saw a few folks paying the first price the street vendor suggested. Insane. The bag started at $50 and we got it for $15. The sunglasses started at $50/pair and it ended up being 2 for $20. I think I could have got the sunglasses down a bit more.
Jul 20th, 2012, 09:24 AM
#19
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 103
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Day 7 - Thursday, July 19 -
We got up and packed up before walking over to Campo do Fiori to grab some snacks for the trip and have a quick breakfast.
Our driver was 15 minutes early and got us to the airport in record time.
I will say this again, this airport may function worse than any airport I have ever been in (including in Tanzania and Kazakhstan). They are slow and inefficient. The computers were not working at the British Air Kiosks and British Air would not check in anyone until the plane had departed London (it was delayed). Maybe this is a complaint against BA, not the airport, but it was ridiculous.
Once past BA, we navigated security and found our gate. Security here is a joke. The guard was reading something on his phone (some website on a smart phone), I handed him our passports and he just waved me off and passed me through.
24 hours (and lots of crying babies) later, we were home in Rochester.
We got up and packed up before walking over to Campo do Fiori to grab some snacks for the trip and have a quick breakfast.
Our driver was 15 minutes early and got us to the airport in record time.
I will say this again, this airport may function worse than any airport I have ever been in (including in Tanzania and Kazakhstan). They are slow and inefficient. The computers were not working at the British Air Kiosks and British Air would not check in anyone until the plane had departed London (it was delayed). Maybe this is a complaint against BA, not the airport, but it was ridiculous.
Once past BA, we navigated security and found our gate. Security here is a joke. The guard was reading something on his phone (some website on a smart phone), I handed him our passports and he just waved me off and passed me through.
24 hours (and lots of crying babies) later, we were home in Rochester.
Jul 20th, 2012, 09:27 AM
#20
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 103
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Apartment Review -
We rented this apartment: http://www.flipkey.com/rome-vacation-rentals/p286001/
The price was reasonable and the location was amazing. I would rent it again in a heartbeat. The owner, Olivia, is great. She arranged all transportation for us (at our cost, of course) and was very good at communicating. She recommended restaurants and lots of other options in the local area for us.
For us, it was a 15 minute walk to the Vatican, 20 to the Colosseum, and 5 to Piazza Navona.
Perfect area to be.
My only complaint is that the WIFI only worked in the closet. I'm not sure why (signal strength?) but, if I needed WIFI for work, I would probably bring a signal extender with me and stick that in the closet.
She says it sleeps 4 but it easily slept 2. She also owns the adjacent apartment (she clearly split this into 2 apartments) and both can be rented together for a larger family or two couples.
Questions?
We rented this apartment: http://www.flipkey.com/rome-vacation-rentals/p286001/
The price was reasonable and the location was amazing. I would rent it again in a heartbeat. The owner, Olivia, is great. She arranged all transportation for us (at our cost, of course) and was very good at communicating. She recommended restaurants and lots of other options in the local area for us.
For us, it was a 15 minute walk to the Vatican, 20 to the Colosseum, and 5 to Piazza Navona.
Perfect area to be.
My only complaint is that the WIFI only worked in the closet. I'm not sure why (signal strength?) but, if I needed WIFI for work, I would probably bring a signal extender with me and stick that in the closet.
She says it sleeps 4 but it easily slept 2. She also owns the adjacent apartment (she clearly split this into 2 apartments) and both can be rented together for a larger family or two couples.
Questions?
