lukesaunt

Hi, everyone! Below is my rome itinerary; I would love your feedback and any answers to the imbedded questions. A little background: My husband I work ridiculously long hours (he, for instance, is a surgical intern--BLECH), so while we enjoy "travel," we also really need for this to be a "vacation" as well-- by which I mean a fair amount of lounging around and not trying to pack in too many sights in one day. Also, my husband has limited attention when it comes to things like ancient religious relics or art-- though he enjoys other types of art-- so I want to see the "main stuff" in that regard (Sistine Chapel, etc) but I don't imagine him being thrilled about going in a TON of churches. Any thoughts on our itinerary?

Sunday, November 13
Arrive; check into hotel, around noon.
Eat something.
Bus tour (not usually into these, but maybe a good idea, since we know nothing about Rome and don’t speak Italian, to get our bearings? Thoughts?)
Starting after siesta (around 4 or so) do Dolce Vita Stroll from Rick Steves’ Book—sightseeing and shopping, starts on Piazza del Popolo, down Via del Corso, Via Condotti, ends up at Spanish steps.
Low key dinner; we’ll be tired—suggestions?
A drink or two?
Early to bed

November 14
Breakfast
Sightseeing: Nero’s House, Colosseum, Forum, Capitol Hill
Lunch: (between 1-3)
Dinner at Campo de Fiori area
Night walk across Rome from Rick Steves’ book (Starts at Campo de Fiori; ends at Spanish steps)

November 15
Vatican City/Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel
(Can we fit in St. Peter’s as well? We are not Catholic, know little about it, and my husband will have a limited attention span for spending too much time on this trip looking at religious art and relics.)
Lunch at one of the places in Rick Stevens’ book
Dinner (thoughts in the area?)

November 16
Brunch in bed
Massage
HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO DO ON MY HUSBAND’S 30TH BDAY! (Is wine tasting an option? Other ideas?)
Rent a moped and ride around town in the late afternoon/evening, if possible
Nice dinner; someplace hip and modern—would love to hear more opinions on Supperclub!

November 17
Piazza Navona
Pantheon—get gelato at Cremeria Monteforte (heavily recommended on several fronts)
Trevi Fountain
Stroll through Trastevere
Dinner in Trastevere: Ferrara on Via del Moro (wine bar w/ nice atmosphere recommended by friends; have hotel make reservations)

November 18
Villa Borghese (maybe rent bikes/rowboat?)
Museum -- Do we need to make reservations now or can we do it when we get there?

November 19
Day trip to Florence; return in evening

November 20
Fly out

Someone also recommended Arco Antico Restaurant. Are 2 dinners in the Trastevere area too much?

TobieT

After spending a day travelling and finally arriving in Rome, the last thing I would want to do is get on a bus. I'd suggest just wandering around the area near your hotel and enjoy being in Rome. You have several days to see all the sites. Depending on where you are staying in the city, there would be all sorts of areas to explore by foot and enjoy.

You can definitely see both the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica on the same day and I recommend taking the staircase to the top of the dome for absolutely stunning views of Rome. Just plan for about 2.5-3 hours at the Vatican if your husband has a limited tolerance for this type of activity.

You still have a good deal of free time, which is exactly what you want to fully enjoy the experience of Rome. Savour and enjoy it all.

I'm sure you'll come up with a wonderful idea for his birthday, though being in Rome seems enough to me. Perhaps make a reservation at a fabulous restaurant so that is looked after. We loved Ristorante Camponeschi for a romantic and utterly perfect dining experience. (risorantecamponeschi.it) Or have your hotel recommend a special place for the two of you.
Have a memorable time.

Dayle

Hi lukesaunt,

I think your plans sound just fine.

I would not recommend the Red Bus Tour. It can't go to many of the sites because, duh, it's a bus and doesn't fit on the smaller streets. I also felt it was overpriced and half of the earphone outlets did not work.

Rome is a very easy city to walk. Have a good map (not one of those the hotels hand out) and enjoy! I like the Streetwise series of city maps.

The nice thing about visiting the sights on your own, is that you can spend as long as you feel like. Even if your husband has enough before you do, he could go out, take a gellato or vino break and people watch while you finish....

Also recommend climbing St. Peter's Dome for great views. HIGHLY recommend Borghese Galleria. You should be able to get your reservations once you arrive in Rome. You need to be at the galleria 30 minutes before entrance time, or they give your reservations away.

Rome is fabulous! I'm jealous. Have a wonderful time.

Buon viaggio!

JSLee

Do not take your nap on your arrival day, keep active until bed time. Unless you are very comforatble riding mopeds is zigzag traffic, I would not recommend that activity. Reserve at every museum that you can.

November 13: I would recommend that instead of taking a bus tour on your arrival day that you do a self paced walking tour. This will get you limbered up after the long flight and relaxe you for dinner. On your arrival day, you can easliy see the Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Castle San Angelo, and maybe the Steps. Plan on bed earlier than usual.

Nov. 15: The Atlantic Star has a top floor restaraunt with a great view. It is fairly expensive, but very good.

On your trip to Florence, take a very early EuroStar to Florence and a very late EuroStar or Local back.

donco

I don't have any problem with the bus tour as a way to get a general sense of the city and give you some glimpses of places to explore later. That's what DH and I did on our first travels and it worked fine. Agree with TobieT also though-the area around your hotel may have some of the things on your list to check out on foot. See how you feel.
Suggest you go to Vatican Museum first and as early as possible-that way if line is awful, you can go to St. Peters and come back later-do try to see St. Peters-just the size boggles the mind.
Allow time to check your bags at Borghese also.
Also, double-check that your Monday and Tuesday places are actually open. I'm with you in spirit-enjoy enjoy enjoy and please report back!

dutyfree

Rethink your first day-way overplanned for an arrival day. Take a shower when you arrive and then lay down for ONLY 2 hours(longer you get into the dreaded REM sleep). Get up and out, have a coffee and start walking. Seriously-this is a proven way for flight crews on short layovers overseas and it really works.This will allow you to be able to stay awake till very late and then get into the sleep pattern for over there.The first half hour you will feel bad after getting up but have an expresso and a light bite to eat and you are really good to go. Alot of restaurants do not open up until 7-730pm and alot are still closed on Mondays. Also, DO NOT use Rick Steves as the gospel for Rome-walk around and if you see a place for gelato or a wine or even a cute place to eat-stop and enjoy. There are sooooo many neat places to eat in Rome and when you go where everyone else does it tends to be more of the tourist restaurant theme and isn't the real ROME. What hotel or area are you staying in ?

jules4je7

Whatever you do, don't miss St. Peter's Basilica. Take Rick Steves' advice (and use his guide for the quick tour) and arrive there at opening time. It only takes about an hour (or less) and when you're done, you go down into the crypt, see the Popes, and it kicks you out on the street near the line for the Cistine Chapel/Vatican Museum.

Also, the view from the top of St. Peter's is one of the best in Rome, and well worth the extra effort. You can pay a few bucks for the elevator ride that takes you most of the way.

Out of all of the major cathedrals I've seen in the world so far -- St. Peters has a wow factor that just can't be beat -- at least in my humble opinion. You don't have to be religious to enjoy it either. It's just plain huge and impressive.

Happy travels.

Jules

StephCar

Lukesaunt,

Of course I don't know your skill level or threshold for fear, but I found renting mopeds in Rome a very scary experience. There are no rules on the road and it is very conjested. I did rent mopeds in Florence and found that a little less scary. It was nice to experience the countryside and get lost, with beautiful sites of the Duomo at every turn.

motor_city_girl

Have your hotel make reservations for the Borghese for you.

donco

jules, am curious about why you suggest St. Peters first instead of Vatican Museum. We have encountered a long lines at the museum but never at Cathedral. Have things changed?? Or is it to get good light when viewing from dome??
I surely want to go back!

lukesaunt

Thank you all for your wonderful advice! My husband and I have used this board to plan so many trips (the largest among them a wonderful 2 week honeymoon to Hawaii and a trip to England and Scotland) and I have never found anything more helpful! My #1 travel tip is, I think, this board. To answer the question of where we are staying, we made reservations at the Exedra. I read some negative reviews but primarily very positive, and we got a great deal. If anyone has stayed there, I'd love advice. Thanks. Ciao!

jules4je7

Dunco -- It was a Rick Steves recommendation since St. Peter's opens an hour before the museum, and if you go to St. Peters first, you can see the basilica, then head down the back stairs near the St. Anthony statue (I think it's St. Anthony!) and see the crypt. By the time you're done, it dumps you out on the street just around the corner from the Vatican museum, which I think opened at 9.

It's one way to see the whole thing by Noon and still have some more time in the day to do other things.

Jules

StephCar

lukesaunt,

You are obviously well travelled and probably do not need any more general travel advice, so I hope I don't offend.. but last time I was in Rome, (on business) I was a victim of a taxi scam. And this was my 4th time there so I thought I knew the ropes. I just changed money like I always do, went out to the taxi line, jumped in a cab and told him where we were staying. My DH was with me. Our hotel was near the Colosseum (nice, 5 star Hotel Forum I think) and he said he could not drive me there because it was not accessible by car, and said we just had to walk a block. And the fare was over $100, which was insane. We argued, but jet lag got the best of us and my company was paying so we just left. When we got to the hotel they told us it was a typical scam where they pretend not to be able to drive near the hotel and then rip you off. Who knows. Now that I told you this it will never happen to you, or anyone else most likely. I actually have always felt safe in Rome, this was just one of those things I suppose.

jules4je7

The only rip-off scam we encountered in Rome was an eatery near the Vatican which completely overcharged us for lunch.

We didn't read ALL of the Rick Steves book, and found his warning in there after we were scammed.

When you eat food at a buffet/lunchroom ala carte type place, make them account for every item, every price.

Now that I've warned you about THAT -- it won't happen to you either. You're going to have a perfect trip at this rate!



Jules