Seamus

My first time in Rome was in July, tacked on opportunistically to another trip. It was so crowded and hellishly hot that I left after one day, went to Venice.
Next visit was in October. The weather was delightful, crowds far smaller and I had done a little research to assemble a list of sites/activities with lots of time for wandering. This was an entirely different experience, and while Paris remains my favorite European city, I enjoyed Rome on this trip and would not hesitate to return.

opaldog

Our first trip to Rome didn't really do it for me. We were on a 2 city trip; Paris and Rome. Paris is my favorite city and I was kind of looking forward to Paris the whole time that I was in Rome. I had a so-so experience in Rome. I gave it another chance the following spring due to a fantastic airfare on Eurofly and really enjoyed the visit the second time.

Both times we stayed in an apartment in Trastevere. I liked the location and apartment better the second trip, that helped. I had a better idea of how to get around. We mostly walked but used buses and trams when necessary. We involved ourselves by running in the fun run portion of the Rome marathon; it was great "fun". We took a half day trip to Ostia Antica which I recommend. We did walks recommended from the Lonely Planet guidebook (any guidebook would have done). We just relaxed more as we didn't have any other destination the second trip. I came away really enjoying Rome and understanding why people love the city. Paris is still number 1 on my list of cities, but someday I would like to return to Rome.

suze

I'm curious why you're going back on your nextx trip if you didn't enjoy the city. Not every place suits every one. Why not pick somewhere different?

chevre

I had been to Rome 2 times and on the third loved it. I know that one key reason I didn't like it was because the two previous visits were during incredibly hot weather and among large crowds. I hate both.

Last year I went to Rome for New Years and spent 8 wonderful days there. The city was surprisingly crowded but certainly it wasn't hot. We had cold but clear weather every day. In Rome I really enjoyed walking in the historical district around and among Piazza Navonna, Campo Fiori and the Pantheon. All areas are close together. The Trestevere area is somethng like the Latin Quarter and very lively at night.

For the record I've never been a huge fan of Florence and I thought that might also be because of the heat when I visited. Well I went on this trip too and it still doesn't thrill me. Rome just may not be your town!

loves2sing

It’s good to hear that plenty of people didn’t “get” Rome on their first trip either. To those who asked, I am going to Rome again because I am going with my two friends who have never been before and they want to go, and I am a good friend We will likely fly into Rome (from Los Angeles) and we will probably spend a few days there before going onto Tuscany. I’m hopeful that Rome will be more enjoyable this time. In the past I went in late May and the weather was wonderful and this time will likely be late May as well.

As to ‘why’ I didn’t like Rome, I think our hotel location had much to do with it, which is why I posted with questions about the best locations. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t in one of those listed. I do enjoy a more leisurely style of travel and I also think we spent so much time rushing around to see the sites that I never got to just sit and enjoy the flavor of Rome. I think the Piazza Navonna, Campo Fiori or Trestevere areas might be the ticket this time.

Thanks for all the empathetic responses and all the wonderful suggestions.

sheila

I have only been to Rome once for 3 days, but I did like it a lot. We stayed just outside the centre, within 2 minutes walk of the Piazza del Popolo. The hotel was nothing and the street wasn't great, but to be within seconds of that great square and Villa Borghese was wonderful.

One thing we didn't was "too much". We wandered at a pace that suited us, knowing we could always go back

tuscanlifeedit

Someone mentioned here that Rome's city planners forgot to add little parks. I am hoping the poster was joking.

I also suggest staying in the Piazza Navona/Pantheon area. A good hotel with balconies (but I don't know about triples) is the Due Torri. You would have to ask for a balcony room.

I like the Hotel Portoghesi for location. I don't think there are any balconies.

One thing about Rome's balconies is that they are more likely to NOT look out on passers by or a street scene. Streets are generally narrow and buildings are ancient.

(Doesn't the del Senato have some balconies? People here love that hotel, although it is expensive.)

Outdoor cafes are, at least in Rome, a better fit for sitting and watching the world go by.


Rome is ancient, dirty, noisy, crowded and at the same time glorious.

I have never been there when I didn't walk more than in almost any other place. Public transportation is limited. Most of the city's treasures are uncovered on foot, in tiny piazzas and streets barely wide enough for a motor scooter.

Rome is cool, but it is also a challenge.

Have you been to the Borghese? Ostia Antica? On the Scavi tour? Done the Caravaggio churches?

I ask because those are some of the things that I love in Rome. Which sights did you see?

loves2sing

The del Senato is probably a little out of our price range, and with 3 of us we’ll probably opt for an apartment. And we don’t have to have a balcony if, as you say, sitting in café is a better way to enjoy the ambiance of Rome. I do enjoy that too. To be honest, I can’t recall all what we saw, it’s a bit of a blur, and it was also about 8 years ago. I’m sure we saw all the standard places, coliseum, forum, pantheon, Vatican, etc. Unfortunately my friends will likely want to see all those places as well. I’ve already questioned them about what their top priorities are so we aren’t rushing to see everything this time. But I will definitely take note of the places you suggested and add them to my own personal list.

Luhimari

loves2sing:
After any length of time in the French countryside and Tuscany any big city will come as a shock, specially Rome with all its hustle and bustle. It has happened to us every time we have come into Rome from a peaceful, relaxing place like Tuscany, and we love Rome. After a couple of hours, we are in Rome mood and ready to go.

We always stay in an apartment in the Piazza Navona area. Of course, we do a lot of walking but we do use the bus system very often. We have always gone in the Spring except once during a heat wave in June and weather does make a difference in the way you view a place.

Do give Rome another try.

DeborahAnn

tuscanlife, actually I was not kidding and to refresh my first impression I again looked at my "Streetwise Rome" map.

It would appear from the map and as I remembered, the parks in Rome are outside the area most tourists would be spending during a first visit. Between Villa Borghese and Giardino del Quirnale on the north and northeast of Rome center there are not any notable greenspaces until you arrive across the river to Gianicolo and the Vatican and then again not until the south at the Palatine area near the Colosseo.

My husband and I spent over a week in Rome during some beautiful late fall weather and we walked between all of these locations. I generally love large cities but I also enjoy finding those little neighborhood parks to relax and people watch within a city.

Just my opinion, s'il vous plait Deborah

socialworker

Sorry if I am repeating, as I did not read the answers...I love Rome but Madrid and Berlin hold no interest to me. (And I used to be a Spanish teacher in another life...)

Everyone cannot love every place. Someone could tell me of their love for a place and it may help me to *intellectually* appreciate it, but that is not the same as having a feeling for it.

I heartily concur with the Navona recs....Guess I did read some replies, but maybe Rome is just not your cup of espresso.

Tiff

hi loves2song, you have received many replies and I am not sure if you will have time to click onto my report, but I wanted to tell you that my second trip to Rome was VERY different than my first. I enjoyed it so much more. Here is the link if you have a second:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35104443

And please do enjoy, I sure did.
Best wishes, Tiff

Tiff

p.s. Here is a little snipit, just in case you do not have time:

<i> I feel very indebted to our Fodorites, Statia, gracie04, and tcreath. When I did a text search for charming and quaint areas in the city center, I found a thread they all posted on. I had this vision and their description of the Via dei Coronari area of Piazza Navona was like a symphony to my ears. It was exactly what we wanted. So thank you precious Statia, gracie04, and tcreath. DH and I feel very grateful.

Staying in the city center as opposed to the outskirts provided me with an entirely different picture of Rome. While last time I liked Rome, very much in fact, this time I just fell in love with it.</i>

Apres_Londee

I just returned from my first visit to Rome and I loved it. I spent a week in an apartment in the old Jewish Ghetto, which is a very old part of the city that still retains a medieval feel.

I think the Ghetto is a great area to stay in- trendy but not flashy, all very hole-in-the-wall with no gelato or souvenir shops. There are some restuarants, a popular bakery, some little bars and art galleries in the side alleys. It's lively during the day (with more Romans than tourists) but relatively quiet at night.

The Coliseum, Forum, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Campo di Fiori, and Trevi Fountain are all within very easy walking distance and there are plenty of bus stops nearby as well.

For background I love Paris too, although I can't say I like St Germain de Pres all that much. Rome is actually a pretty small city and very compact with lots of pedestrian areas. I found it quite relaxing and slow-paced although the timing of my visit (the week after xmas) may have something to do with that.

If you're going with two girlfriends I know I would definitely want to rent an apartment. I'd also recommend a slow paced itinerary, maybe plan one main site or museum a day with the rest of the day and night free to allow for some spontaneity. And maybe think about splitting up from your friends for a day or two to do your own thing. You won't have much fun if all your sightseeing feels like an obligation.

MomDDTravel

love2sing - Rome did not enchant me... I have only been once and have no &quot;draw&quot; to return. I fell in love with Italy though; so it was not that.

I did not care for the area I stayed in - the Spanish Steps so perhaps stay away from that area?

I will say, I went to Rome at the end of a long two week trip with my two daughters and dh. We had an apartment (which I love &lt;apartments&gt and we had wonderful experiences with Context Tours. I just did not &quot;love&quot; it. I was tired though and ready to be done. ? I also did not love Paris on my first trip ( we were there a short time, after huge travel delays cutting our time there to 1.5 days) - I just returned from 10 nights in Paris and am IN LOVE with the city.

Did you go last to Rome? (Just curious) -

Sorry not to be of more help. I loved Florence and know it is not a favorite on this board.

Leely2

Well I love Rome and have always loved Rome, so I'm probably not the best person to answer your question. It feels nothing like any other place to me--except, strangely, Mexico City in some ways.

In any case, I just returned this afternoon from another nine thrilling days in the Eternal City. On this trip I was with my mother and aunt, both in their 60s. Taxis are a great option if trying to see everything is stressing you out/overtiring your group. When &quot;The Moms&quot; were getting kinda exhausted, I put them in a cab, sent them back to our apartment, which I had stocked well with wine, cheese, salamis, bread, etc., and let them relax on the terrace while I tackled more sights.

Also, Rome, to me, is a street-by-street city. Some people do not appreciate the grotty little medieval vicolos (I do) because, well, they're grotty. In the center, you might prefer an apartment on Banchi Vecchi, via Monserrato, via de Coronari, via Giulia, etc. All are quite beautiful. Has any Fodorite stayed by Piazza Colonna? I love that square. And the Minerva has a fantastic location too. If you come up with some possibilities, people here can better advise you.

In Rome I feel sometimes I've got to be tough. In fact I think one of the reasons I love it so is because it makes me strong. But for those who don't enjoy that, hop in a cab and take a load off occasionally.

And to repeat what others have said, maybe Rome just isn't your thing. I'm not all that wild about Florence and I love Ren art. Weird!

Vttraveler

loves2sing--I see from your other post on Tuscany that you are thinking of going to Rome for a few days, then to Tuscany for the rest of a week-long trip to Italy with your friends.

I think you are more likely to be disappointed in Rome again if you only spend a short time there. There is just so much to see and do that the city tends to be overwhelming if you only have a few days. However, if you limit your sightseeing it could still be a relaxing time.

Apres_Londee--I was very glad to see you had a good time in Rome despite the last-minute complications. As you know, I also think the ghetto neighborhood is a wonderful area of the city

flanneruk

There's no law of nature saying you have to love Rome - or that if it's not for you, you ever will love it.

I've never desperately warmed to the place: apart from anything else neither the classical Romans nor the Counter-Reformation Catholic church used particularly sensitive architects, and Rome has the misfortune to have a wholly disproportionate amount of their overwrought creations on display still. But here are a few things I've done over the years that have got me especially loathing it. Avoid them, and you might enjoy the place a bit more.

1, 2 and 3. Visit it in the summer. Don't, ever. Its mediocre public transport means that without careful planning you're bound to be walking a lot - and a lot of Rome just isn't a joy to walk in.

4. Visit the Big Attractions, at any rate without careful planning. St Peter's is dull, oversized and bombastic, a full-scale Papal Audience just a bunch of people coming dangerously close to idolatry, the Vatican Museums a crowded nightmare, the Foro Romano a dull expanse of unshaded, boring ruins and the Colosseum just a big sports stadium without a decent game to watch.

On the other hand, St Peter's during the right kind of service (we sang First Vespers of Advent, presided over by the Pope), the St Peter's excavations and a carefully rationed two-three hours in the Museums after buying tickets online were all tremendously rewarding.

But Rome's great dirty secret is that it has some of the dullest remains of classical Rome anywhere on the planet. There are hundreds of more rewarding classical ruins elsewhere in Europe (and the Greeks built so much more pleasingly than the barbaric Romans): practically nothing can make the Foro Romano interesting if it's not your glass of liquamen.

5. Get taken round as part of a group

6. See things because you've been told you ought to, rather than because you really, really, want to. If you're iffy about the Baroque for example, Catholics' vandalistic destruction of decent Romanesque churches in the 17th century will horrify you

Is there a solution? Partly:

A. Winter's great, spring not so good (because the closer to Easter the denser the crowds), though March and October weather can be fantastic. Avoid the city from the fourth Sunday of Lent until mid-October.

B. Get a really, really good guidebook (the Blue Guide to Rome: not the rather vaguer one to Central Italy) and choose a limited number of things you really want to see. Use your dismal experience to define stuff you don't want to go within a million miles of ever again. Broad-brush guide books (like Fodors) mostly just give lists of must-sees. In Rome, these are almost all must-avoids.

C. Carefully plan your wanderings so you can, if necess, go back to your hotel or flat in the middle of the day and lie down for a while. There's a reason Romans had a siesta for so long.

D. My list: Santa Maria Maggiore, Santa Sabina and the keyhole of the Knights of Malta Embassy (both on the Aventine) and San Clemente in Via S Giovanni in Laterano. And check current exhibitions at www.pierreci.it/en.aspx

Venezuela

Following this thread with interest. DH and I leave in a couple of days for 7 nights in Rome. Or--5 nights in Rome and 2 in Tuscany. Still debating.
I have already visited some &quot;big sights&quot; so I hope to do lots of wandering around.
The first time we only had one day and it was 102 F. We were all exhausted and cranky but we made the best of it.
This time we are hoping for less crowds, much better weather, and we are taking Rick Steve's book and doing his walks or not doing them. We'll see...

loves2sing

Thank you everyone for your thoughtful posts! I'm actually starting to look forward to Rome because of all the wonderful suggestions. I am definitely going to take it slower and just wander around more this time. Also, I'm hoping that since it’s at the first part of the trip (rather than at the end of a much longer trip), along with my friends wide-eyed wonder of it all, their enthusiasm just might rub off on me.


flanneruk: “<i>….a full-scale Papal Audience just a bunch of people coming dangerously close to idolatry…</i>” This comment made me laugh. So true!!