dutyfree

The hubs and I are flying from our family Christmas vacation in Crete to Rome for a couple days January 4th through the 6th. My problem is that I have been to Rome numerous times both on vacation and as a flight attendant but my husband has never been. I feel that because we aren't going to be there that long I should put him on some type of tour or on/off bus tour of the city. He has walking problems so feel as though a bus tour might be the best thing?
Does anyone recommend any of the various tours of the city of Rome that he could enjoy from a bus view? Thanks for any suggestions-we are staying over in the Campo Di Fiori area.

bvlenci

I don't think a bus tour is the solution to your problem. All of the tour buses in Rome are required to make a limited number of stops in the historic center, because of traffic and air quality problems. And because of the narrow streets, they can't get very close to many of the tourist sights. A bus tour might be an interesting first glimpse at the city for people who are going to be there for a while, but for people on a very short visit, they involve a lot of walking and certainly don't save time.

Given that you have a very limited amount of time (assuming you arrive on the 4th and leave on the 6th), you'll have to be very selective about what you want to see. Once you've decided which places you want to see, you can think about how to get about without much walking.

There are two little electric bus lines, with buses small enough to go into the narrow streets in the center. They will get you close to many of the places you might like to visit. Here is their route map:

http://www.atac.roma.it/files/doc.asp?r=9

The text is in Italian and English, except for some of the explanation of the little inset map at the lower left. The dotted lines on that map indicate sections of the route that are not run on Sundays and holidays because of street closures, beginning at 3PM the day before.

Single tickets cost €1.50 and are good for multiple trips for 100 minutes. You have to stamp the ticket on the bus the first time you use it. If you think you'll make at least four 100-minute trips in a calendar day, you should buy the all-day ticket for €6. You can buy the tickets in tobacco shops, at many newsstands, and in metro stations.

Taxis are relatively inexpensive in Rome and can get you to places where no bus goes.

kybourbon

The Archeobus and 110 Open are history as of the end of Dec. so don't count on them.

I guess this one is still running.

http://www.operaromanapellegrinaggi....php?page_id=36

Maybe one of these will work.

http://www.enjoyrome.com/vastours/index.html

http://www.grayline.com/tours/rome/c...-tour-5879_12/

kybourbon

The electric 116 and 117 pretty much cover everything. If he doesn't want hop on, hop off and tour info. If he has a day pass, he can just ride the entire routes. He might consider a few of the trams too.

http://www.atac.roma.it/files/doc.asp?r=5

Appia

The weather could play a part in this. It's a bit far out for really accurate forecasts but "www.ilmeteo.it" is expecting it to be very chilly (by Rome standards) with possibly some rain. So as the others have said, the answer is probably a mix of taxis and the electric buses depending on the weather and convenience to your accomodation.

bvlenci

According to their website, the Open 110 has already stopped running, as of the 17th of December:

http://www.trambusopen.com/it/news.cfm?leggi=290

I'm curious as to why they stopped. They were operated by the ATAC, Rome's public transportation authority, and I would have thought they would have been a moneymaker. They also operated the Archeobus, which has been in a long decline.

There are many other tour bus companies in Rome, but most of them get pretty bad reviews. I haven't seen many complaints about Opera Roman Pelleginaggio, the first link mentioned by KYBourbon. It's operated by a religious organization, and focuses on some of the religious landmarks, although it also stops at other sites in the center of Rome. I have seen a lot of complaints about the Gray Line Tours; I don't remember seeing anything about Enjoy Rome, although I've seen their buses on the street, along with Ciao Roma and several others.

The main problem is the strict limits on where the buses can stop. They can no longer stop anywhere near the Pantheon, or Piazza Navona, so to get to those you have to walk from Piazza Venezia. They also have no stops near Campo dei Fiori, where dutyfree is staying.

The number 38 tram has a particularly interesting route, passing through Trastevere (this part is currently substituted by a bus), Testaccio, passing the Circus Maximus, the Colosseum, the Nomentana neighborhood, near the Coppedè neighborhood, the Modern Art Gallery, and ending up at the Etruscan Museum in Villa Giulia.

bvlenci

Actually, with a day pass, the electric buses, and all the other buses and trams in Rome, are effectively hop-on, hop-off buses, without the tourist spiel.

dutyfree

I would definitely recommend NOT wasting the money on the on/off bus.There are quite a few of these buses running but they don't have stops near where you want to be and they are ridiculously overpriced for what you get!
Buy a bus schedule map at any bookstore and buy a pack of tram/bus/metro tickets at any TABAC shop to see and go where you want!