Would anyone agree that camsic can skip the Scavi tour on day one and Circus Maximus, Piazza Venezia and Via dei Fori Imperiali on day 2? Choose your favorite thing and do it first (and as early as poss) on each day...then see how much time you have for the other spots.

As for Venice, I'd look at guided tours because all the schlepping will be done for you. You'd need only a cab to the Rome train station. Despite crowds and heat, with a tour you will not wait in line. You can sleep on the train! Normally, you CAN DIY but with your time constraints, I strongly recco a tour to Venice.

Yes, please report back about how it went.

When you look at pictures, what do you really want to see? If you could close your eyes and open them, would you be in front of the Coliseum/Roman fountain or the Grand Canal of Venice?

If you still want to include Venice, I would leave for Venice right away, as soon as your husband is free from his obligations. Spend the night in Venice, enjoy the empty streets and magical atmosphere. Get up early the next day, walk more in Venice and then take an afternoon train to Rome. Your next day is in Rome. Do a Context tour, or other. Fly out the next day. Rushed? yes. Doing justice to Rome? no. Fulfilling your desire to see both? yes. I have had both quick trips and leisurely trips before. Both have been fun.

Great idea, ToujoursVoyager.

If going to Venice yes stay overnight when the city IME takes on a very romantic atmosphere with most day tripping and bus tour tourists gone. But book those trains well in advance to score nice discounts over full fare - Acquista il biglietto con le nostre offerte - Trenitalia or www.trenoitalo.it/en - two competing railway companies using same tracks and stations and similar trains - www.seat61.com has loads on doing that yourselves - general info trains like what to expect 1st v 2nd class, etc also BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com. Not saying I would do all that but I guess if you may never return to Italy again could be worth it just seeing Venice - to me the world's most surrealistically gorgeous city. Tours would be fine too.

camsic: Another vote for Context Tours. Knowledgeable guides and small groups. We took the Colosseum/Palatine Hill/Forum tour. I am usually a loner, but our docent helped us make sense of what we were seeing, which is difficult unless you have studied pretty intensely. We also took the Vatican tour and were able to stand in the Sistine Chapel for 15 minutes with only a few other people. On our way back, we went through again and it was shoulder to shoulder. The Vatican is so big, you could spend years and only see a bit.

Your day one is good, but I would split up your day two since you are staying a second day. IMHO, of course.;)

Wow! Y'all are awesome! We're definitely skipping Venice and the Scavi Tour. Thanks @TDudette for suggestions on other things we may wish to skip. That helps a lot! @whitehall, we bought our tickets through the Vatican. @annabelle2, we'll definitely check out Rick Steves' guidebook.

Next up, is finding places to eat. We're foodies who don't want the touristy places, even though we're clearly tourists. lol! If you have any favs or must haves, please do share.

Thanks again for all the help!!

The OP already said several posts back, they are skipping Venice this trip! Now, they need advice only on Rome.

My advice.
Pick three major things. Make sure you see those. Fit other things as you have time.
You will see a lot of things, like piazza Navona and fountains, on an evening walk. No need to make those a focus.
If you have any interest in sculpture, then the Borghese Gallery is fabulous. A good thing they do is timed tickets, so you buy ahead and have no waiting in line.

I have one question for you regarding your third day. Yes, there is so MUCH to see in Rome, I have been a month there and have not seen everything. But what do you enjoy as a couple?
Some examples that it would help to know: Do you love urban, city vacations? Are you... Art people? Museum people? Would you prefer a picnic and watch a concert outdoors? Were you interested in the Scavi tour for its spiritual aspect (because there are other great options)? Also, how do you feel about the heat in the city?

Another option for a tour guide in Rome: Daniella Hunt and Mirabilia Urbis Tours. Mirabilia Urbis Tours She is excellent. It would be a private tour and could be tailored to what you want. She has several options on her site.

Do any of these options sound interesting?

• Watch an opera at outdoor ruins (if it matches your schedule dates).
• The Cat sanctuary (if you love cats)
• Very old simple churches (mostly we focus on the Renaissance/baroque but there are some of these)
• St Giovanni Laterano, the Scala Sancta (Holy Stairs)

Take a much shorter trip right near Rome, ie:

• The Catacombs near Rome (need either a guided tour or private driver about 45 min-1 hour from Rome. Could add St. Giovanni Laterano on this trip.)
• Bracciano--the lake and the castle overlooking it (local suburban train, one hour ride from near St Peter's)
• Ostia Antica--already mentioned above. About 45 minutes by local train from Rome. Could also go over to the beach nearby.
• The Roman Hill Towns. Daniella has a good summary of these even if you don't want to take her tour. There are others or you could get a driver.

Agree with Sassafrass- decide what your 3 must sees are, and make sure to see them. One of my musts in Rome (if you love art and art history!) is hopping into churches that house pieces like Michelangelo's Moses and Bernini's Ecstacy of Saint Theresa - this has to be planned very carefully because the churches (there are many!) all are open at different times and it can get tricky with locations/times.

I'd also say, see the Colosseum as you're walking around on an evening walk, but don't actually go inside (it can eat up a lot of your time and the crowds are huge)- it's just not worth it on this 3 day trip. I'd save going inside for next time.

Recommend not booking tour groups- it's much more fun to go around yourself, stopping spontaneously when/if you want. You can't really feel like you're mingling into local life a bit when you're on a tour- there's this buffer between you and the city like cellophane wrap and it's not as enjoyable.

Don't try to see every ancient stone in Rome but also leave time for lingering at outdoor caffes- stopping for gelatos - I love walking between major sights as often what I see when perambulating between those sights is often as interesting as the sights themselves- yes miss all this on a guided tour bus.

interspersed with shoulder-to-shoulder crowds in Venice and the inevitable getting lost and probably panicking about how to get back to your train would be far from my idea of a fun daytrip

Well when you put it like that !!! you don't make it sound fun at all :-)

But I'm not sure why they would be in "shoulder-to-shoulder" crowds or why they couldn't find their way back to the train station? I've been to Venice (in August no less) and neither of those things happened to me. But yes the length of the train ride makes it less than ideal for a quicky from Rome.

>>But I'm not sure why they would be in "shoulder-to-shoulder" crowds or why they couldn't find their way back to the train station? I've been to Venice (in August no less) and neither of those things happened to me.<<

Unless you have been there semi-recently you probably haven't experience the current situation. The number of visitors to Venice has exploded in the last decade and is now over 30,000,000 per year. The majority are day trippers, and 'shoulder to shoulder' is definitely not an exaggeration.

AND a person can't find their way to the train station? You're right, that IS amazing.

I was in Venice thrice in July and August long ago when I could only travel those months and even then it on main throughfares was super super elbow-elbow crowded - now much of Venice is calm but the relatively few places tourists go to a real sardine city.

Anyway OP has ditched idea of Venice...

>>AND a person can't find their way to the train station? You're right, that IS amazing.<<

If all the vaporetti are running full -- which they often were last time I was there (in October 2014), finding one's way to the station as a first timer could be difficult - and definitely slow. The OP has given up the day trip idea (good decision) but honestly -- the situation in Venice is MUCH different than it was even just a decade ago.

Thanks again for all the advice! Looking forward to a future visit to Venice!

<<Unless you have been there semi-recently you probably haven't experience the current situation. The number of visitors to Venice has exploded in the last decade and is now over 30,000,000 per year. The majority are day trippers, and 'shoulder to shoulder' is definitely not an exaggeration.>>

lol, jj, I was there for a week a month ago and I was never shoulder to shoulder with anyone except once of twice on a vaporetto. But I would never go anywhere near San Marco or the main drag between there and the Station, which was very very crowded back in February when I tried to cross it once or twice.

Camsic - you have made entirely the right decision not to go to Venice. Leave it until you can go at a reasonable time of year and have a decent amount of time there. One of the best things to do is to wander around late at night or in the early morning when the only people around are delivering goods or taking things away by boat. Then it's magical.

As for Rome, if you can afford it consider a private guide for the Forum - so difficult to understand otherwise IMHO - and that will probably include the Colosseum as well. In the evening, you can do a lovely walk around the centro storico [old centre] starting at the Pantheon [it closes at 7pm hence why you are starting there] then east to the Trevi Fountain, onto the Spanish steps, and finally back to the Piazza Navona. Google maps says this will take you 30 mins or so but it'll probably take quite a lot longer by the time you've taken photos and stopped for a drink or two. Fun to do anyway and completely free.

if you want to see some art and enjoy a lack of crowds I suggest spending an hour or more at the Galleria Doria Pamphiji which is jam packed with lovely pictures and sculpture but rarely has many people there:

Palazzo Doria Pamphilj, Roma ? Doria Pamphilj » Caravaggio, Repentant Mary Magdalene (Fc 357)

Also there is a lovely cafe at ground level.

Whatever you decide to do, enjoy!

Proximity
 

Greetings! I am visiting Rome now. One is the things that surprised me is how close things actually are to one another. You can easily do the Spanish Steps, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and more, in half a day. While there are major sites, of course, you will also find something amazing and picture worthy every time you turn a corner. It’s an amazing city!

good point, onthego. It is remarkable how close many of the sites in Rome are to each other, and indeed how many other things there are to see there. A delight on every corner!