First trip to Rome...
 

A friend is considering taking her first trip to Rome...does anyone have suggestions on where to stay (not too expensive and not too loud), and what to see. Also, how much Italian will she need to understand to get by?
Thanks for any suggestions!

Hi DaveBrad, here are a couple of pointers: for a first-time visit, Piazza Navona and the Pantheon are nice centrally-located, pedestrian-friendly areas with lots of restaurants to choose from. You can walk to all the major sights (the furthest would be the Vatican at about 25 minutes). She should try Tripadvisor to look for hotels in her price range.

Some of the "must-sees" include:
- Roman Forum
- Colosseum
- Palantine Hill
- St. Peter's Basilica
- Vatican museums
- Castel St. Angelo
- Trevi Fountain (esp. at night!)
- Spanish Steps (good shopping area)
I'll stop there, but this list could easily fill 4 days or so, with time for lounging, eating, and shopping.

The great thing about Rome is that you don't need to know ANY Italian, but it is always nice to know a few words - hello, please, thank you, etc. - a little effort goes a long way.

Rome is an incredible city - if this is her first trip to Europe and/or Italy, it is a great choice!

Hallo,

Since is the 1st time for your friend, I suggest her to look at the following website: www.italyvip.com.

There she can find useful infos about what to see in Rome and where to stay (not too expensive, not too loud).

Buon viaggio

Hi

Maybe your friend can take a look at my trip report with pictures and links on my homepage http://gardkarlsen.com/rome_italy.htm to get an idea. My wife and I went there a couple of years back and we stayed at a hotel near Termini. You will find the details in the trip report. You can also check out the interactive map that I have made: http://gardkarlsen.com/rome_italy_map.htm . The yellow marker shows the location of the hotel we used. You can click on the markers for more info. We did not know any Italian and we didn't have any problem getting around :d

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

I agree with hausfrau that Piazza Navona/Pantheon is the best area. How much does she want to spend per night? (Not too expensive can mean a lot of different things to different people).

He has also given some of the things most people want to see. But...what makes her want to go to Rome? Is she interested in ancient history, museums, churches, shopping? She needs to give more input to get better advice. Why doesn't she just come here herself?