Hello Everyone: First of all I would like to generously thank all of you who helped me with my accommodations. We changed locations to the Campo area and are renting an apartment.

We are going to be in Rome for 5 full days not including arrival day and the day we are leaving. It is my husband's 50th birthday and he wants to see the normal touristy things but also wants it to be a leisurely trip. He is afraid of the tours because he wants to be able to take his time but I think for our first trip a tour guide would be helpful (but what do I know?). We have applied for tickets to the Scavi tour at the Vatican but have not heard back yet. He really wants to go to the Borghese Museum and I know we need reservations for that. Can we wait on those reservations to see which date and time we would get for the Scavi tour if we get it?

We thought the first afternoon we're there we would do a walking tour of the Campo area on our own. (We arrive at the airport around 10:30 am.)

The more I research, the more confused I get. Please help me .
Thanks in advance for everything.

I happen to like walking tours in cities. They are usually 2 to 3 hours long and you get a tour guide telling you some history and about the sights. You normally do not enter buildings on walking tours but get a flavor of an area without spending the entire day on a tour.

Rome has several walking tour companies. For a budget tour I've done the Enjoy Rome Vatican tour. I've also done 3 Context Tours but they are now very expensive. Here are some links to browse.

For the Borghese reservations, I would suggest looking at what's available for the time you'll be in Rome and then making a decision to book now or wait for your Scavi reservations. It is a great museum and you don't want to miss it.

Can you be more specific about your confusion? Is it about what sights to see or what?

I find what helps me is to make a per day list of everything that looks interesting (noting the days that sights are closed) and then prioritize based on your interests. Then get a map of Rome (recommend Streetwise) and put little flags or stickies on the map so you can see what places fall into natural geographic patters. That way you're not criss-crossing the city needlessly.

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

http://www.romanodyssey.com/

http://www.contexttravel.com/rome/

http://www.romewalks.com/

http://www.icontours.com/

What kind of tour are you referring to? On-the-spot tours of individual places? A private tour guide? A complete package tour?

IMO you don't need either of the last two for Rome, which is a simple city to research and plan for. Maybe join a tour group for a visit to this place or that while there, but you can certainly plan Rome entirely on your own.

We've travelled a lot in Italy (me and my husband), and rarely take tours. Partly because we prefer having more flexibility in our schedules, and partly because we like moving at our own pace, and I can usually get enough information from my (overly) extensive detailed guidebook collection. You may find that getting your information from books is worth the extra flexibility.

If you want to do the normal touristy things, including the Borghese (one of my favorite museums), then you'll definitely need to make reservations in advance for the Borghese and the Vatican Museums, in addition to the Scavi. So that's already several chunks of time (basically, a morning or an afternoon) already spoken for. If you want a leisurely trip, then maybe consider one other tour-type thing, and then that's it. Or, if it was me, 3 scheduled activities would be enough.

One of the few guided tours we've taken was ContextRome's Roma Antica tour of the Palatine Hill; it also visits the Colosseum and the Forum, but I felt we spent the most time on the Palatine Hill. Their tours are very detailed, a maximum of 6 guests per tour, and the guides are very knowledgeable. I'm a big history buff, and have read a lot, but my husband has not, and he enjoyed the tour too. I would highly recommend ContextRome, but they are expensive.

I found the Rick Steves book to be the most helpful in terms of organizing my days (I was there most recently for four days in Nov. on my own). For instance, I did his "Pilgrim Walk" and it was magical. I was also celebrating my 50th and I walked a ton every day. I hope you get the Scavi, it is wonderful, and then you can just cut the security line and tell the Swiss Guard you are going into St. Peter's. Definitely book the Borghese Tour - what are the chances they'll both happen at the same time? Although I did hear back very quickly on the Scavi but I was going in Nov when it is quieter.

When my husband and I went to Rome our first time we got a tour guide. In fact, we hired her twice during that trip. Her name is Giulia Bernardini. Her knowledge really made Rome come alive for us. She lives here in the States but will be in Rome through the end of July.

She has a Master's degree in Art History from the University of Colorado at Boulder and is really knowledgeable. You can reach her at ([email protected]).

Our favorite museum is the Borghese. Our last trip we went twice because you limited on the time allowed inside. Take the tour if you can. Enjoy your time in Rome!

If your husband feels comfortable sightseeing without a tour guide I would follow his instincts. With a good guide book you can easily explore the city at your own speed.
Reading books like Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling (Ross King) and/or The Genius in the Design: Bernini, Borromini, and the Rivalry That Transformed Rome (Jake Morrissey) would provide lots of helpful background information.

We used the DK Eyewitness Guide to Rome on our last trip, supplemented by a Blue Guide. The first has beautiful illustrations and good basic information and the latter has much more detail. I would look at a range of guides including the Michelin green

I predict you will find that your walking tour near your apartment on day #1 will merely whet your appetite for all the wonderful sights in that part of the city.

Our family liked breaking up some of the ancient Roman sites into two days, the Forum, Colosseum and Arch of Constantine on the first day and the Palatine on the second.

5 full days is a good amount of time to enjoy Rome, although you could easily spend much longer. I hope you have a wonderful trip.

We hired a private guide for "ancient" Rome. Found we could cover the Pantheon, Pza Navonna, churches and other places on our own. But we really treasure the time we had with the guide.

We started at the Basilica of San Clemente where one can walk down through layers, each representing several hundred years of history. Fascinating! Then on to the Colosseum and Forum, across the Compodiglio and up to Pza Navonna. Cost was 50 euro/hour. We used Sonia Tavoletta, a charming Roman with excellent English. mailto[email protected]

Our other favorite was riding the full circle on the red bus one night to see the illuminated monuments. We brought along a bottle of cold prosecco and some tiny glasses that fit in my purse. Perfetto!