PAWrona

We are thinking of staying near Campo di Fiori in Rome, which I understand is very popular, but I can't understand why, given its location far away from all the Metro stops. When in big cities (London, Paris) I always rely heavily on the subway systems, but from what I can see, that is no option if you stay in the Campo di Fiori area. What do you do, take buses to the Vatican, or to the Spanish Steps? These look like at least two mile treks to me from the maps, and while I love to walk, I don't want to be exhausted just getting to the day's sights. And I don't want to be cabbing it all over either. Any thoughts would be appreciated. <BR>

Walter

Yes it looks deceiving on a map but actually "as the crow flies" St. Peter's Sq. and the Spanish Steps are just *alittle* over 1 mile from the center of the Campo di Fiori. And it's only *alittle* more than 2.5mi from Termini (train station) to St. Peter's Sq. HTH Regards, Walter <BR>

Adrienne

<BR>Hi Pawrona, <BR> <BR>Just returned from Rome (also Sorrento and Florence) last week. The Campo de Fiori area is just wonderful. There's a market in the square every morning (except Sundays) and there are many small restaurants and bars to grab a quick sandwich or sit down for a meal. There's so much you can walk to from this area without exausting yourself. <BR> <BR>I particularly enjoyed going to the small squares to get away from the noise of Rome. <BR> <BR>For longer range sight seeing I would suggest cabs. Grabbing a cab is not something I normally do on vacation but one of my travel companions hurt her foot a few weeks before the trip and she was using a cane and had to walk slowly and couldn't walk very far and one time. So, we took cabs to different areas to begin our day and worked back to our hotel, walking and sight seeing as we went. The Roman cabs are very reasonable (usually 12,000 Lire plus about a 10% tip). This split three ways meant only a few dollars a day. Hope this helps. <BR> <BR>By the way...we signed up for walking tours through Scala Reale (which I learned about on this Forum) and felt they were the best sight seeing investment I could make, especially the 1/2 day tour of the Vatican. <BR> <BR>Enjoy your trip. <BR> <BR>Adrienne <BR>

Carol

I took the Scala Reale tour of ancient Rome and loved it. Www.scalareale.org is their website and you can book through it. Campo dei Fiori, Piazza Navona, Spanish Steps, Piazza del Popolo, Fontana di Trevi, Pantheom are all within easy and delightful walking distance of each other. You can take a longer walk (30 minutes) to the forum and colosseum, or the Vatican, or easily catch a bus to either. Rome is much smaller than either Paris or London in terms of the proximity of major tourist sites to each other. It's a fantastic city for strolling. All the Romans do it all the time.

Karen

I agree with the posters above that walking, combined with cabs when you are just too tired, is the best option in Rome. However, there are also several different buses on the Lungotevere or the Corso Vittorio Emanuele, either of which is just a short walk from Campo dei Fiori.

Bill Fleites

I spent five days in Rome two years ago, and found it very easy to get around by walking and using the buses. Like most ancient towns, the historic center of Rome is not really that large. The bus service in Rome is very good, and I always purchased a day pass which you can get at the tabacco stores. I highly recommend the day pass because it forgives any mistakes you make in taking the wrong bus. A couple of times I took the wrong bus and once I realized my mistake I simply got off and took one going the opposite direction.

Elsa

We also just got back from Rome and I agree, it is a very walkable city. For us the Vatican/St.Peter's was too far to walk from our hotel, so we took a taxi in both directions. Our hotel was located near the Pantheon, so just about everything else was within walking distance. If it was somewhat of a long walk back, we'd stop for coffee or gelato. At night we usually took a taxi to dinner, and then walked back to the hotel. There were usually enough people walking around at night so we felt safe enough. <BR> <BR>Elsa

joe

We stayed just off the Campo last June on our honeymoon and absolutely loved it. Can't think of staying anywhere else. We woke in the morning and had our coffee in the market, buying cheese, bread, and meat for munching throughout the day. Rome is very deceiving and we walked all over the city. When we were tired we would hail a cab and were always surprised at how inexpensive and fast it was to get around. Also, the best gelato we had the entire two weeks in Italy was just off the Campo. Enjoy !!