hi, indecisive,

yes there are "cheap" things in Rome - apart from football tickets and vatican private tours!

gelato is the cheapest [and best IMO] that we found last year - 70c per ball, whereas in Florence it was 2E!

meals are some of the cheapest and best,

sightseeing is cheap, buses are cheap,

wine/beer is cheap [unless you try to get one within sight of St. peter's in which case it's expensive].

try to group your sightseeing ie colosseum and forum together, pantheon and piazza navonna, St. Peters and the scavi tour.

please, please do not try to cram it all in - in 2 1/2 days you just don't have time. IMo you just haven't got time for the vatican museums, so leave that until you can come back - and you don't want to spend your valuable time in a queue!

pace yourselves, and you'll enjoy what you can see far more than if you race round getting frazzled.

good luck!

regards, ann

Thanks so much for all your help
I really want to see the sistine chapel

Is there any entry in teh afternoon or does everythgin stop at lunch time . I've looked up other tour operators and htey all start before 12 noon??

By the way I checked the price of €35 from the airport to our hotel and it is for both of us not each ! So a handy tip - Rome Limousine service - very polite and prompt service!

You can go into the Sistine in the afternoon as long as you can enter the Museum before it closes at 1:30. You don't need a tour so if your heart is set on seeing the chapel and that's the only time you can do it, then get over there as fast as you can after the Scavi tour. And you can't leave the Scavi tour early as someone suggested. The guide keeps everyone together as a group. The Forum and Colosseum are open everyday until one hour before sunset.