My wife and I will be spending 10 days in Rome in late March. I need information on reasonably priced accomodations and restaurants. I'd also like to know about "must see" sites, public transportation, and excursions from Rome to the surrounding countryside. Also, what about weather in late March?

Rome is a good city and lots to see. The Vatican, St. Peters (make sure you attend mass in the evening, what a feeling) and the Colosseum. However, 10 days in Rome seems too much since the rest of Italy is so beautiful. Going to Italy and only staying in Rome is like visiting the US and only staying in New York. Send me an email if you would like more info.

My wife and I will be in France in early April. We will have a few days (4 - 5)to explore Italy. There are so many choices; Rome, Vatican City, Florence, Venice, and many I am not aware of.

What would you recommend for the first time visitor? We were planning to travel by rail via Nice.

Thanks,

LAW II

10 days is not enough to see all of rome! hubby&i spent 10 days there last april and loved it so much we are going back to italy this april. buy aweek long pass on the metro,you will be doing lots of walking, and the ride will feel good . also you can go out to the end of the line, all the way to ostia atica, avery pleasnt little"pompie". we also took the metro as far as we could towards tivoli, another "must", and then took the bus the rest of the way. the ride up the mt. was worth the price. the tickets are good on all forms of transport. BEWARE PICKPOCKETS ON TRAIN &BUSES!!!!!!!ESPECIALLY COMING AND GOING TO THE VATICAN!!!!! we ate at resturants
that fodors recommended & were not disappointed.
also "cheap eats" was helpful. without knowing where you will stay it is hard to suggest. rome eats very late, gelatto to die for. spanish steps are not worth the time. best to get great map &plan your own tour or arrange with hotel for bus tourhalf day to get acclamated. we have been to many places in europe but rome was by far the mmost wonderful city we have seen.

There is a progression of attitudes as you visit Rome. During the first three days you are overwhelmed by how much there is (Stendahl effect). By 6-7 days you figure you have seen nearly everything and if you had a couple of more days you could finish it off. By 10 days, you have realized there is too much to ever see in a lifetime: two lifetimes possibly, but not just one. A method that would be useful to you is to see Rome by areas: Vatican, P. Navonna-Pantheon, Trastevere, Forum, Shopping, Qurinal/V. Borgehse, etc... Pick one or two 'must see' sites per day and go to a few 'wanna see' sites as well. (If you want a selection of 'must sees' email me and I will give you one as long as you arm) I would however agree to some extent that there is more to Italy than just Rome, but would add that there is more to Rome than just in the city, in particular Tivoli and Ostia. You can get to Tivoli easily by bus to see the Villas d'Este and Adriano. You can go to Ostia by interurban train to see the excavations.