3 Days in Rome

Old Feb 18th, 2008, 06:56 PM
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3 Days in Rome

I am a first time visitor to Europe, my husband and I will be going on our 5th anniversary to Italy for 8 days- 3 Rome, 2 Florence, 2 Venice + travel in late March. We are a young couple (29 and 25) and cant wait! We are planning the first 3 days, the Rome portion of our trip. Any advice on the following?

Day 1- Leave 5:30 pm

Day 2- Arrive 6:50 AM (Stay at the Inn at the Spanish Steps)
Pantheon
Palazzo Galleria Doria Pamphilj
Piazza Campo Di Fiori
Museuo Capitoloni
Foro Romano
Colliseum
Ancient Ruins
Santa Maria in Campitelli
Imperial Forums
Piazza Navona
Janiculum Hill

Day 3
Castle Sant Angelo
Vatican Muesum
Sistine Chapel
Bascilica Di San Pietro
Vatican City
Villa Farnesini
Santa Maria in Trastevere
Jewish Ghetto
Jewish Museum/Synagogue
Via Vanetto

Day 4
Spanish Steps
Fountana di Trevi
Palazzo Barbarini
Palazzo Massimo alle terme
Museo e Galleria Borghese
Santa Maria del Popollo
Pincio
Piazza Venezia

Day 5- Train to Florence AM

Did I put the days in the right order? What am I missing? What is not necessary? Which of these things cost money and which are free? Any restuarant suggestions?
THANK YOU!!!
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Old Feb 18th, 2008, 07:08 PM
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Any advice?

Be prepared to actually see half of this list.

While you may be young and energetic, I recommend you slow down and enjoy "il dolce far niente"--the Italian concept of "the sweetness of doing nothing."

I've been to Rome eight times and I still haven;t seen some of the sights on your list.

T answer your real question, Day 3 seems unrealistic. I think you can manage the Vaican and Castel Sant' Angelo and perhaps Trastevere, but to cram in the Jewish ghetto sights and Via Veneto seems far afield and impossible in one day if you want to spend any time visiting inside these sights.

Also, Piazza Venezia (Day 4) is right next to the Fora--you will pass it on your way from the Pantheon on Day 2.
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Old Feb 18th, 2008, 07:12 PM
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Okay - I think you need to re-think this. You are going to be exhausted! First, you get in at 6:50 am and have a FULL day planned. I assume you are coming from the US - you need to figure in some "jet lag" time.

I am not an expert on Rome, but we were there for 6 days in December and only did a fraction of what you have listed. Of course, we were there over Xmas and purposely did a very leisurely pace - but I really think you've got too much packed in.

It's hard for me to tell you what to skip - but assuming you have a guidebook, I would take a hard look at your list and narrow it down based on your priorities.
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Old Feb 18th, 2008, 07:12 PM
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Thank you. As New Yorkers, we wont do too well with "slowing down" but we will try!
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Old Feb 18th, 2008, 07:19 PM
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do you have Rick Steve's Rome 2008?
I am using that book to plan my trip to Rome. He gives very good comprehensive itineraries and "walking tours" to follow. He has suggested itineraries for Rome in one day, 3 days or 7. I am going to try to see as much as I can in the 4 - 5 days I have there. I used Rick Steve's books for my June 2006 Honeymoon to Italy and couldn't have planned such a wonderful trip without his books! my husband and I are around your age (28) and I am originally a New Yorker (we now live in Boston) so I totally understand not being able to slow down. we did more sightseeing than relaxing on our Italian Honeymoon and wouldn't have changed a thing! I've haven't been to Rome yet so I can't comment on your plans as I have no idea if they would work. have fun!!!
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Old Feb 18th, 2008, 07:21 PM
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Wow, at first glance it looks like a lot, although some of the things on your list are walk-bys and may be doable. Day 4 looks ok, otherwise, cut it in half and enjoy yourself! There are some great 3 day itineraries on this site and on travel sites, maybe visititaly.com? Take a list of where you want to go and where they are located and hit what you can. You can always go back! Make resv for the major sites and fit in other stops as the day goes and I think you will really enjoy Rome!
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Old Feb 18th, 2008, 07:24 PM
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If I cant see them all, please tell me which I WANT to see!
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Old Feb 18th, 2008, 07:31 PM
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ida,

I'm a New Yorker and encourage you to slow down. It will take time to get to and from these places, actually visit them, get in and out. Part of the joy of visiting will be wandering the street between the sights you list.

If you are arriving at 6:50AM, I assume at FCO, you may get to your Rome hotel by 9:30AM if all goes well. Chances are you will not be able to check in because the room will still be occupied.

You have never been to Europe before so you have no idea how the overnight flight will affect you, but chances are one of you may be tired and cranky. I wouldn't plan anything this day that might take too much thought or concentration. Wandering the Imperial Fora and other sights of Ancient Rome as you suggest is a good idea. Be prepared to need a nap in the late afternoon.

Via Veneta fits in more with Day 4 than Day 3 since it is right at Piazza Barberini.
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Old Feb 18th, 2008, 07:36 PM
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Via Veneto, excuse me

We can't tell you what you want to see, since we don't know your interests and why you put these places on the list to begin with.

Which items are your personal "must sees"? Start with there and then build around it. With three days, I usually think of one day and Vatican Day, one day as Ancient Rome Day, and one day as Wandering the Center Day. You have done that somewhat already.
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Old Feb 18th, 2008, 07:37 PM
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one day as Vatican Day
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Old Feb 18th, 2008, 07:45 PM
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Ok, I'll try.

Maybe head over to the Campo di Fiore early, take in the market, have coffee and whatever.

Then walk up to Piazza Navona, from there to the Pantheon, possily hitting a good church like San Agostino, San Luigi Francese, or Saint Ignatius Loyola as you turn south and head for the Piazza Venezia.

Walk past the Vittorio Emanuale monument, keeping it on your left as you face it, then up the steps to the top of the Capitoline Hill. I don't think you need to do the museum on your first trip, but if you must, there is a fee to enter.

Then down the opposite steps into the Roman Forum. Free.

At the opposite end of the forum, you will find the Palantine ticket office. Buy a combo ticket for the Palantine and Colosseum, which will allow you to pass up the line at the Colosseum. See the Palantine, then go to the Colosseum.

If you aren't dead yet, go to the Galleria Doria Pamphilj. Admission charge, and check for opening times for everything.

Now, I really think that with eating, resting, walking, looking, you ought to be done for the day. If you aren't, maybe squeeze in the other church you mentioned on this day. I don't know it.

On day 2, try to get a really early start. Try to have reservations for the tour of the Vatican Museums, so that you can bypass the lines. Figure two hours for that, and an hour for St Peter's. St Peter's is free. Now would be the time to go to Castel St Angelo, but unless you are dying to go inside, I see no reason to pay the admission charge.

You could do the Ghetto and Trastevere this day, but since you aren't in the neighborhood, why not head over to the Pincio and St Maria del Popolo? You could see the Ara Pacis on your way. No charge for any of that, I think.

If you aren't too pooped, you will naturally be heading toward the Spanish Steps and, if you can, the Trevi fountain. Both completely free, unless you count the coins you must throw in the fountain.

It makes more sense to try to the Ghetto and Trastevere on a separate day. If you must do the Janiculum, that would be the day to do it. So: on your final sightseeing day, make reservations for a morning visit to the Galleria Borghese, then figure out how you can get from there to the Ghetto area.

I have pleasantly spent half day walking from the Galleria Borghese back to the centro storico, so that is why I advise figuring your transport ahead of time.

I hope this is helpful. I didn't mention everything on your list, because it seems that there is just too much. Plus you will see so many interesting things as you go along that you must have a little time for gazing, eating, resting, and window shopping.
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Old Feb 18th, 2008, 07:48 PM
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If I had to make cuts, they would include the via Veneto and Piazza Barberini. P. Barbarini has some interest to look upon, but you can life without seeing it. And the via Veneto is a large, urban street, without much historical interest. I say skip it.
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Old Feb 18th, 2008, 08:15 PM
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Revise day 2; Cappucino (maybe 2) at Tassa D'Oro before Pantheon. If you're in front of the Pantheon face away from it and head to the far corner on the right. This will get you started right and give you a jolt of energy to get through the morning.
You can see everything on your list but like others have said you may rushed a little bit.
Some places you can see late at night or early in the morning. Last year my wife and I would usually get up at 6 or 7am and have a full day before heading back to the hotel around 6pm to take a quick nap and clean up/change for dinner. We would then stay up until midnight or later wondering the streets and visiting some of the sites when the crowds were gone; Fountain Trevi, Spanish Steps, Piazza Novano, etc. So many of the places you listed are close together it looks like you've grouped them well.
Actually on day 2 you might want to start around the Colloseum area and then end up around the Pantheon/Piazza Novanno. I think the Forum and Colloseum close an hour before sunset but the Pantheon is open until at least 7pm and you could see it and then take a 10 minute walk to Piazzo Novano for dinner around 8.

We went on our 5th anniversary last March and we're going back again this June.

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Old Feb 18th, 2008, 11:38 PM
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I can't believe a New Yorker left out a stroll (or in your case a quick sprint!!) down Via Condotti. I hope that when you get there you will be captivated by the atmosphere and that you do slow down and just wander a little. It is distressing to imagine you both freaking out because you have to wait in a queue that you didn't plan for ie Vatican City.


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Old Feb 19th, 2008, 12:10 AM
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Most people flying from the US to Rome arrive feeling like $#&^#-I work the trip everyweek in the summertime. You have your first day overplanned and as others have said-slow down. Rome is very different than other European cities as it is like an artichoke that you have to keep peeling to get to all of the parts of this great city.

I hope that you have your tickets and hotels as things get rather crowded all over Italy starting in March especially with Easter so early this year!
Pick up EyeWitness Guide, Lonely Planet and even Rick Steves for your main guidebooks .Unfortunately you have picked a time when all of Rome will be full with the Easter crowd and all the spring breakers so be prepared for lots of lines especially for the Vatican. The colliseum can have long lines so be sure to buy a Rome museum pass at Palantine Hill to bypass the crowded lines to buy tickets.

If you can get into your hotel when you arrive,take a shower and lay down for 2-3 hours (no more or you will get into too deep of REM sleep). Then get up and out into the sunshine and get a coffee to jumpstart you. If you do this, I think that you will be able to make it way pass dinner that night.

Have fun and yes, you have to slow down as dinner in Rome sitting outside is meant to linger and people watch. Enjoy!
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Old Feb 19th, 2008, 03:59 AM
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Happy Anniversary!

I agree with others you are trying to fit in too much to be enjoyable
I suggest trying to do fewer sites more thoroughly. I would consider even the following scaled down itinerary very ambitious.

Day 2

Spanish Steps area near hotel
Trevi fountain
Campo de Fiori (market is in the morning so if you want to see that you may want to go there first bypassing Piazza Navonna and Pantheon)
cross over (east) to Jewish ghetto area
Piazza Navonna and Pantheon (these are close together and it makes sense to see them at the same time)

Jewish ghetto area would fit in well before the P.Navonna and Pantheon. You can see the main street, Via Porta d'Otavia and Synagogue then walk up Via della Reginella to Piazza Mattei, then past Area Sacra della Argentina (temples, cat sanctuary) then up Via de Cestari past Bernini's elephant obelisk, to Piazza della Rotunda (Pantheon)

You could try to add in a few other churches/museums depending on jet lag or you could do the Campidolglio with view over Forum (and maybe Forum) from Day 3 this day

Day 3

Walk to Forum area entering first via Piazza Campidoglio. Capitoline museums are here
Forum
Palatine (included with Colosseum entrance fee--best to buy your ticket at Forum entrance to the Palatine, near the Arch of Titus)
Colosseum
Other major Roman monuments like Arch of Constantine near Colosseum and Trajan's column

Day 4
Vatican museums (Sistine chapel is part of this complex)
St Peter's
Janiculum hill--take a bus #870 or cab to the top, Piazzale Garibaldi, and walk down through Trastevere (can see Santa Maria in T then)

Piazza del Popolo and Pincio (overlooking it) are in opposite direction from the Spanish Steps area from other sights so didn't fit logically with other suggestions but should not be hard to see from your hotel

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Old Feb 19th, 2008, 04:05 AM
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The lines to some of those places will last you at least an hour before you even get in. For any museum or major site, figure at least 2 hours to even 'walk through'. The Vatican is a minimum half-day, and you can't enter until 10am w/o an organized tour (or so I recall from other posts).

Be sure to plot out your 'path' for the day on a map - it seems you are crossing back/forth in some places (day 4 - Pincio is north of Spanish Steps), and also there could be some improvement in the geographic organization between days (Via Veneto is off Barberini, not the J. Ghetto area)...
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Old Feb 20th, 2008, 02:16 AM
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I forgot to mention that Santa Maria in Campetelli is near to the ghetto area, north of the synagogue, Portico d'Ottavia and Teatro di Marcello. You could see it when you tour the ghetto area or on the way to/from the Piazza del Campidoglio

Most churches including that one are closed mid-day for several hours, so if you want to see the interior you have to work around that.

Since you ask which things on the list could be eliminated, I would say Santa Maria in Campitelli is not a "must see" unless it has some special personal meaning for you.

As far as handling jet lag on the first day, some people will tell you to take a nap in the afternoon. Others find it works better to stay up all day as late as possible to try to adjust to the new time. I favor the second approach and find that the adrenalin rush of being in Europe helps keep me awake.
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Old Feb 20th, 2008, 04:08 AM
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Don't forget to check in advance whether the places you want to go are open on the days you plan to go to them.

When I was planning on trip to Rome, I had a certain day set for the Vatican City, but upon checking, found out that it was a holy day and everything would be closed. No problem when finding out in advance--I just rearranged the schedule so we could do everything we wanted to.

Also, for outdoor things that may be flexible: check on the weather before you go, so you can maybe do "inside" things if it's rainy or inclement weather, and "outside" things on nicer days. Yes, you can do outside things in the rain, but it's really more pleasant if it's not raining.
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Old Feb 20th, 2008, 04:59 AM
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Drink plenty of Italian coffee...
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