Hotels and daytrips from Rome

Two places I went quite near the city were my favorites.

The Via Appia or Appian Way. I took a city bus that runs approximately parallel to it, then got off and walked back into the city as the Roman soldiers would have done. It was a Sunday so little traffic and much of it closed to cars. It was a beautiful walk. And there are other walks too in the vicinity.
http://www.parcoappiaantica.it/en/default.asp

And Ostia Antica, ancient Rome's seaport, reachable by train. The day I was there it was leafy, quiet and beautiful, with several school classes and very few tourists. There's a restaurant and shop and I recommend it highly. I went instead of Pompeii which I'll do another time.
http://www.ostia-antica.org/

How many day do you have for the side strips? To the above I would add a day at TIvoli - Villa Adriana and Villa d'Este.

You don't say how many days you have altogether, so it's a little difficult to suggest how you should divide/allot your time.

If possible, fly into Naples and stay there for two nights. Visit Pompeii (30 mins. by train) and the Naples archeology museum. (Most of the Pompeii artifacts are housed in the museum.) Then head to Rome the afternoon/evening of the third day. If you can't fly into Naples, you could head there immediately upon arrival at the Rome airport. It would take about 2 hours by train.

I agree with the above suggestions for day trips out of Rome. If you have any more time, go to Orvieto and take the tour of caves under the city. About 1 hour by train each way. The caves tour itself is not very long, but there are many other sights in the town (Duomo, archeo museum, many ceramics shops, Pozzo di San Patrizio (St. Patrick's Well), good options for lunch.

Oh, I guess you also asked about hotels. What's your budget? When is your trip?

In Rome, besides the Colosseum and Roman Forum, your daughter would enjoy:

Palazzo Massimo alle Terme
Baths of Diocletian
Capitoline Museum
Palazzo Altemps

Another ancient site in Rome is Terme di Caracalla.

ayla,
This is such a wonderfully sweet gift - your daughter will be thrilled!

I know you're looking for hotel tips and I don't have any - we stayed in an apartment, then on trip 2, a hotel near the train station - the Termini area. Hotel was fine, but the location wasn't super convenient. You might consider looking for a hotel near the Pantheon, Piazza Navona or the Campo de Fiori on Trip Advisor. Those are wonderfully old areas of Rome. The area near the Coliseum always looked less appealing to me for hotels. Rome is smaller than you think it'll be so you don't need to be near the Forum and Coliseum to see it.

But we loved the tour under the Vatican - referred to as the Scavi tour. Since you have to book 90 days in advance, you might want to do that once you know when you'll be there. Try this site for reservations: http://saintpetersbasilica.org/Necropolis/ScaviTour.htm

Thanks for everyone's help...this is tough since, as I mentioned, I'm not telling her about the trip and I've never been to Italy. I was planning 2 days at Pompeii and then 5-6 days in and around Rome. As far as budget for hotels, probably up to 250 euros a night but wouldn't mind getting lower[of course] so that we have more money for other things. Thanks again!

hi ayla,

well, if you have €250 per night to spend the world is your oyster! there are several threads about hotels in Rome if you search this thread; we've only ever stayed in apartments there so can't help.

but I would 2nd the suggestion to stay near the Pantheon or Piazza Navona - you will be right in the heart of nearly everything you want to see, with loads of restaurants on your doorstep, and the buses make it easy to get to the Colloseum, and the Vatican/St. Peter's, as well as the other places mentioned above.

ideally you should fly into Naples, spend your 2 days there, and then get the train to Rome.

if you can only get return flights into Rome, i suggest getting the train to Naples immediately after you arrive in Rome [you would arrive and leave from the same station ie Termini, if you fly into Fiumicino and get the express train into Rome] so that you have all your nights in Rome grouped together, and are in the right place for your flight home at the end of the trip.

I'm not sure you should keep this a secret for long. Your daughter may have some ideas of things to see that's she has learned about in her studies.

Love that Ostia Antica! Easy connections from Rome on subway and train to get there and back. We stumbled upon it, decided to give it an hour and actually spent the better part of a day there. It is quiet and you can meander at your own pace -- not a lot of tourists! Returned with young teens a few years later and they loved it. Have fun.