MartaD

DH and I lucked into two very inexpensive plane tickets to Rome end of September and couldn't resist buying them even though most of next year's travel budget is committed to a 25th anniversay trip to Spain and Morroco. We bought the tickets, rented an apartment in Trastevere and are set to go. We will probably break down and take a couple of day trips (recommendations?) but will largely just be staying in Rome. So, with the better part of two weeks in Rome, fodorites, what would you do?

LoveItaly

Personally MartaD I would go to your local library and check out some travel books regarding Rome. I would also search the internet including here on Fodor's.

One day trip I would highly recommend is the one hour train trip to Orvieto.

There is a wealth of information here on Fodor's that should give you some very good ideas as to how to enjoy your time in Rome depending on your interests. Enjoy planning your time in vibrant and exciting Rome!

tuscanlifeedit

Whoa, there are so many good day trips.

The Castelli Romani, Frascati and Castel Gandolfo

Viterbo (maybe)

Orvieto

Ostia Antica for abslutely sure

Tivoli and Hadrian's Villa

I would pick a different major museum every day. There are just too many count.

I would spend a day in the Borghese gardens/park

I would visit the catacombs and Appian Way

An absolute definite would be a day trip to Arrezo if your time in Rome happened to fall on the first Sunday or preceding Saturday of the month. Best antiques fair, IMO, in Italy.

tuscanlifeedit

sorry for the sloppy typing; I should be asleep

sheri_lp

I would take my time. I wouldn't feel the need to race off to the next thing. I'd read about all the museums and see all the best stuff. Think of all the gelato flavors you could try in two weeks!

MartaD

We have been to Rome before, but our time was always so limited we were moving quickly to try to see everything.

I have many travel books. A new one I picked up for this trip is Rome in Detail. I am enjoying it. I do tend to do a lot of preparing and planning before any of our trips. We have, in the past, spent up to one week in one location, but never two whole weeks. I am very excited about the prospect of a slower pace. Tuscanlifeedit, thank you very much for all the ideas. We will definitely spend time in the Borghese gardens and seeing the Borghese Galleria again will also be on our "must do" list. We have never been to Arrezo or most of the places you suggest for day trips. Would Ostia Antica still be high on your list for someone who has been to Pompeii?

Thanks so much for everyone's ideas.

Lexma90

If I could have two weeks in Rome, I would visit every place in Rome that has a Caravaggio. You could make a similar quest for any artist's work. Also I would visit (or re-visit) every place that has mosaics, which I love.

We visited Pompeii in the past and Ostia Antica more recently. While Ostia Antica is not as big or impressive as Pompeii, if you like ancient history and ruins, then it's definitely worth spending 1/2 day visiting Ostia Antica.

I would also take a cooking/market tour.

I envy you!

suze

I wouldn't "do" anything, but that's just me. I'd love to rent an apartment and wander around every day. I would pack one guidebook for Rome along with me, and pick up other tourist information after I arrived.

Leely2

I think you'll really enjoy two weeks in Rome. Like you, I've been several times and now I just like to hang out, visit all the non-big sights as well as a couple biggies each time. Enjoy lunch, stay up a bit later and walk, sleep a little later in the morning, go food shopping, pop into churches new to you, do walking tours, etc.

Have you been to San Clemente? Gesu? Santa Maria Maggiore? Santa Cecilia? San Salvatore in Lauro? The National Museum? Capitoline Museums? Palazzo Barberini? Palazzo Venezia? Galleria Doria Pamphilj? Ara Pacis? The Bramante Chiostro?

I don't think you'll run out of things to do even without day trips. But the day trips mentioned here sound pretty alluring as well!

Have fun.

hanabilly

MartaD- your trip sounds so fantastic! I'm sure you will not run out of things to do, especially since you look forward to savoring the moments! I am currently planning a one week stay in Rome, and realize more everyday that one week will just be the appetizer (for two or more weeks sometime in the not to distant future, I hope!) Do you like to cook? I would love to take a one day cooking class, but will wait for a longer stay to do so. We've only been in Rome one day while enroute to a cruise, so this time we will be going to many of the "biggies" but also want to allow much time for just wandering around. We'll spend a day at the Borghese Villa after visiting the Gallery, a day trip out to Tivoli...so much to look forward to! Enjoy.

LoveItaly

Having been fortunate enough to have more than one trip where we spent two weeks in Rome..suze's comment made me smile as that is exactly how we always enjoyed Rome. We did stay in hotels versus apartments however. Rome is to be savored and enjoyed.

If it is still hot in Rome when you arrive in Rome MartaD I would suggest you get up early, go to a cafe for espresso and watch Rome wake up. Do sightseeing in the morning an at some point stop for lunch. Take an afternoon rest at your hotel or apartment, perhaps another shower and go outside again late afternoon to discover more of Rome. Have a late leisurely dinner and take a stroll after dinner while enjoying the night life that is so much part of Rome.

Sundays at the Borgehese Garden is serene and relaxing. Walk away from the historical and cultural central and meander through residential neighborhoods. Stop and have a drink at a small cafe. Check out small shops in out of the way neighborhoods. With two weeks you can get so familar with Rome and not just the historical and culture center.

Cindy1016

The highlights of my trip to Rome were the Colesseum, an absolute must, and the catacombs. I would highly recommend a day trip to Tivoli and Pompeii. When in Tivoli we went to a small restaurant that was discovered to be the original bath of the goddess Diana. I don't remember the name, but they make their own Amaretto and it is the best I've ever had, EVER! They also make olive oil and I highly recommend you bring back as much as you can of both.

MartaD

Thanks so much for all your ideas and enthusiasm! We have been to Europe many times, but 2 weeks in one place (especially Rome which is my personal favorite place) is something we have never experienced. I know it will be different.

DH has a list of numerous churches he wishes to explore. He is not at all a religious man, but does love architecture and history, so I know we will be spending some time in churches. On my "church" list there are three which contain Caravaggio's work, as a matter of fact!

The last time we were in Italy, our last day was in Rome and it was Mother's Day. We put together a picnic and spent most of the day in the Borsghese gardens, watching families having fun and just sitting and enjoying a restful and beautiful location. We will definitely go back to the Borghese Gardens for another picnic.

Once, the first time we were in Italy, we spent about 3 hours in Orvieto. Other than that, we have had no experience with any of the day trips suggested.

DH loves to rise early and is an excellent amateur photographer. I am sincere when I say he loves to rise EARLY. Arising at 5:30 a.m. is sleeping in for him. But he sees many, many places when the day is just beginning to start. And SOMETIMES I join him. So Loveitaly, your suggestion is something we (or atleast he) will doubtless be doing.

We have never seen the catacombs. So that is another possibility. The problem is that there are truly so many things from which to choose. I know that even with 2 weeks, we will still probably be struggling with trying not to cram in too much.

danon

If you get up early, a day trip trip Florence could be possible.

Apres_Londee

If you're interested in details about history and art, you might want to check out the Blue Guide to Rome.

It may be the heaviest guidebook ever published, but it's got excellent information on just about every museum, church, archeological site, catacomb, historical building or place of interest in Rome- not only the major sites but the lesser known ones too.

Hagan

Do you HAVE to spend the entire 2 weeks in Rome? If you haven't spent much time in Tuscany, I'd recommend spending one of your weeks in a hilltown and travel the countryside. That way you could have the best of both worlds. Just a thought.

MartaD

I will certainly check out the Blue Guide, Apres-Londee. We consider this trip to be a real opportunity to delve into the history and art. While we have been to Rome a few times, it's always been for a day or two, so this will give us a lot more time to really focus on all the incredible art and architecture in Rome.

Hagan, we have been to Tuscany and really did love it. We are electing to spend the entire two weeks (day trips excepted) in Rome, mainly to save money (ground transporation and lodging since we have found a very appealing looking apartment in Trastevere), but also because we want to really focus on Rome and we also want to just BE in a place for long enough to really feel like we are there in some sense rather than a tourist with a quick check list of things we really want to see.

Thanks for all your ideas.

giannetta

I agree that staying in Rome and taking it easy but also seeing what there to see there would be my choice as it is a great ci:ty and there is a LOT to see. My short list is:

1) Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano -

Grab a bargain at San Giovanni’s market.
A must-visit. The basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano (Basilica of St. John Lateran) is Rome’s only official cathedral, and thus could be considered the “big daddy” of all basilicas. The bishop of Rome (the Pope) counts this as his church, and as a result it ranks higher than other churches in the Roman Catholic Church. The church was originally constructed by Constantine the Great in the fourth century.

2)Castel St Angelo at sunset
3)Domus Aurea - this is Nero's house that was buried by the citizen of Rome after he died as they hated him...it is now being excavated and is pretty amazing - it's near the Colloseum.
4)There is also a VERY old church..can't remember the name but someone in the forum will...the church goes down three levels under ground, each one a different century and the bottom floor gives one a sense of very early Roman history..it's great! Also in neighborhood of Colloseum.

Husband and I will be in Castel Gondolfo for a month next FEb so we'll go back to all our favorite Roman sites.

sarge56

Marta, the express train to Florence is only 1-1/2 hrs. I'd take the first train out and the last one back. Florence, if you have never been, would be an excellent day trip.

Buon viaggio! I cannot wait to return to my beloved Rome next April.

Vttraveler

Your idea of staying in Rome for two weeks and really having time to enjoy the city is a good one. My husband, son and I rented an apartment for a week two years ago and left with a long to-do list.

Early morning is a great time to explore/walk. We especially enjoyed wandering around the Campo de' Fiori market/Via Giulia and Trastevere at that time of day.

We used the DK Eyewitness guide to Rome which had some good suggested walking tours, some of different neighborhoods, some focusing on a particular artist or type of artwork (e.g. mosaics) I didn't think the book had enough detail but we supplemented it with a Blue Guide.

We had been to Pompeii and Herculaneum before and I do think that Ostia Antica was well worth the day trip we took. It was a port city, so has a different and fascinating social history.

In the Vatican museums I highly recommend the Pinacoteca.

Our son was primarily interested in ancient Roman sites so we spent most of one day visiting the catacombs, the Appian Way and the aqueducts on Viale Appio Claudio. We took the archeobus (one of the official city hop on/hop off routes) which was an easy way to visit all of these. It was not crowded when we took it but I have read other reports saying it can get very crowded a times. On Sundays the upper stretch of the Appian Way is closed to traffic and many families go out to the park area for picnics.

We also really enjoyed spending time on the Palatine which we had not managed to see on other, shorter trips and visiting the spectcular Baths of Caracalla

You should take some time to explore the Jewish Ghetto neighborhood right across the Tiber from Trastevere via the pedestrian Isola Tiberina. There are lots of good restaurants.

One afternoon after visiting the Vatican museums we took a bus to the top of the Gianicolo which has a spectacular view of the city, then walked downhill, stopping at San Pietro in Montorio to see Bramante's Tempietto, to Trastevere.

Here is a list of some of the things we would like to do on a future trip:
*Sant' Ivo alla Sapienza (only open limited hours
Saturdays and sundays)
*Santa Prassede
* Villa Farnesina for Raphael frescoes
*Day trip to Tarquinia for Etruscan necropolis and
museum
*tour of the ghetto/Synagogue
*Gregorian chant at Sant'Anselmo in Piazza dei Cavalieri
tour of Testaccio
*Scavi tour and tour of Vatican gardens
*Museum of the Crypts of Balto
*Palazzo Massimo
*a soccer game