Hi All,
Looking for some advice from the experts here! We are a family of 4 : 2 adults + 2 kids age 15 and 11. First time to Europe! I have been reading the posts but I still have questions.

We are arriving in Rome (from Paris) about 9:00 am on Friday July 14th. We leave on the afternoon of Sunday July 16th to go to Venice.
Here is what we want to see in order of preference:
Colosseum / Forum
Vatican Museum / Sistine Chapel
St. Peters Basillica
Pantheon
Trevi Fountain
People watching/shopping
Borghese Gallery
++ lots of other stuff


I know my list is long and our time is short. Rome is short because we chose to spend 4 nights in Paris.

Here is my dilema: we can book a private Essence of Rome tour with Through Eternity. It would be all day Saturday and cover the main highlights - Vatican, Colosseum. Or we could book a tour seperately for the Colosseum and Vatican. That would be a larger group tour but it would only be part of each day. Also I was not sure if wanted a Vatican tour or go on our own.

Which tour would you recommend? Do you think a Vatican tour is necessary? If we go to the Vatican alone, would it be better to go Friday afternoon? I saw the posts that said the lines for the Vatican are shorter in the afternoon. Is that also true in July?

If we do the Essence of Rome tour, then what should we do Friday? Just do a self guided walking tour from the Fodors book? Also what is there to do on Sunday morning in Rome?

Thanks for any advice!
Sandy

Sandy, You need a reservation for the Borghese Gallery, and it is limited to a 2-hour visit. This would be a very good thing to do Sunday morning.

I think you'll get a lot more out of the visits to the Vatican and Ancient Rome with a guide, especially since your time is so limited. You will only get to some of "lots of other stuff"!

The Vatican museums close early on Sat, so I would do the that along with St. Peter's on Friday. Then later in the afternoon, you could come back over to the Pantheon and include Piazza Navona (they are very close). Then do the Colosseum and Forum on Saturday, and you could fit something in after that, there are dozens of possibilities depending on what is most important in your list of "lots of other stuff."

The Trevi Fountain would be a good thing to hit after dinner one of those evenings, and if you want to also go back to Piazza Navona after Trevi, you can enjoy a Tartufo at Tre Scalini and see the fountains at night along with the performers, people and artists.

Hope you have a great trip!

Thanks for the advice! I wasn't sure what was open on Sunday. Also I thought that a full day tour might be too much for the kids.
I will check into a afternoon Vatican tour for Friday and a Saturday tour for the Colosseum.
Looking forward to our first trip!
Sandy

Actually, I was at the Borghese Gallery last August on a Sunday, and although I had a reservation for the 2 hour time slot, there were plenty of people who didn't, and they got in just fine, just had to wait around a bit is all- so it's not absolutely necessary to have a reservation.

As far as the Borghese itself, I could take it or leave it, and would not personally recommend going there for a first trip to Rome, as it takes up too much time to get there, and the pay-off is not that interesting.

I think the kids would much prefer winding around the Trastevere area in the evening for the nightlife, the restaurants, etc., and the Campo dei Fiori area during the day, rather than taking the hike to get to the Borghese (where you'll probably end up taking a not inexpensive taxi one way or the other).

You could wait until you get there to decide whether you really want to go to the Borghese, and if you do, then just have your hotel call them up and put you on one of the two hour time slots. It's really not all that complicated.

I agree with Spygirl that a trip to the Borghese should not be included on this trip with basically only being there 2 days. The 15 and 11 year old would probably rather do the other things on your list first. I think that I would divide you time up as a half day visiting the"religious side of Rome"- Vatican/St. Peters on Friday with the rest of the afternoon free to stop off at the Pantheon;Trevi;gelato stops,etc. Saturday would be the "ancient side of Rome" doing the Colosseum,Forum,etc. with having the rest of the day as "fillers" ie.shopping,various other sightseeing,eating,etc.Rome is one of those cities that even if you plan everything down to the hour you will wish that you had some down time to wander the streets and absorb the sounds,smells and sights.
When I travel with my kids overseas, I have always had the Plan A's that everyone wants to see or do and then have a list of Plan B's grouped according to the various areas of the Plan A's.Then if there are gaps of time after seeing something we know that we can pop over to one of the Plan B's in the area.(Does that make any sense?) I just did this in Copenhagen with my daughter and it really did free up chunks of time and places that we wanted to see.Are you flying from the states to Paris and then to Rome? If so, then you must factor in jet lag especially if this is your first trip overseas.It hits some people very hard the first day so you don't want to overplan that first day.Its a shame that you are leaving Paris on the 14th as that is Bastille Day and quite fun with lots of fireworks! Have fun in Rome-one of my favorite cities!

Just returned from Rome with 19 and 21 yr olds. I wish I had had a tour of the forum because it was difficult to find some of the sites which are mostly in ruins. Just the enorimity of the history standing there. If you choose not to do a tour of the forum, I would have an explanation of the area and just sort of walk through. We spent much time in the hot sun searching for things instead of just enjoying being there. THe collesum we rented the recorders mostly to skip the entry line. It was worth it but we mostly listened to the 3 overall descriptions - history, games and I forget what else, rather than punch in individual location numbers. THe line at the vatican was very long - 3 blocks plus, but moved fairly quickly. We arrived around 1:00 pm. But standing in the hot sun is tiring and I would factor that into your plans. THe line to St. Peters was long but also moved quickly (11 am) and it was very short when we started for the vatican. We looked at some things of interest in the vatican museums, but mostly we just walked through to the sisting chapel. We, the kids too, especially enjoyed Piazza Navona - the 3 fountains, particularly the one depciting the 4 rivers as representative of roman conquest expansion. Street musicians, gelato. Had cold drinks and snacks and just watched people pass. This was after our St. Peters/Vatican time. Great respite. Everyone loved the Pantheon and if you are in a hurry it doesn't take a lot of time. We also all were particularly blown away by St. Peters and don't miss the grotto below the basillica. ANd yes on Trevi Fountain, it is a must. Rome is a crowded, exhausting city. ANd hot, so need to figure that in. I would also recommend you look into an open air bus - do a search open air bus rome, or something. I found references to different options many beginning at the termini. Some are cheaper than others and can pop on and off. For a short time in ROme it would give you a rest off your feet and also a feel of the whole city. We planned to do it every day and then never got to it. But I wish we had.

Just a suggestion for Saturday evening. About 7:30 by the Forum there is free(donations appreciated) entertainment in English dealing with some facet of Roman history put on by a professional troupe, presented in a humorous and entertaining way. Last year it was the history of the Roman monarchy ending with the spoof "SPQR" sung to the tune of "YMCA". It was attended by some groups of travelling teens and your children might enjoy it. The show only lasted about a half hour.

Jst back from Rome. With so much to see and so little time to see it could I suggest that you have a look at www.trambusopen.com
The fare to go on the bus is E13 and you can get on and off as often as you like during the day. It passes all the main venues and to see the route look at the above web. A bus comes along appox every 15 minutes.
Enjoy, I did.

Letsgothere: Our family (with 10 & 13 y/o) is in Rome at the same time! We'll be the hot and sweaty tourists standing in line! I'll save you a spot! Enjoy your trip.

I came across this website with a few ideas for things to do in Rome, aimed at teens...

http://www.initaly.com/regions/kids/kid2.htm

And here's more, elsewhere in Italy, from the same website...

http://www.initaly.com/regions/kids/kidintro.htm

Have a great trip!

Thanks for the great links and advice! I have been trying to prepare my kids for the change in culture. Can't wait to see Rome!