Catacombs, Capitoline museum, S'Angelo castle or perhaps some of the early morning markets.

I thought Castel Sant'Angelo was much more interesting than I expected it to be. If you're looking for something to do, it might be worth a stop. I believe it was 8E per person (in early May of this year).

When we were there, we were suprised to find a display of modern art on one of the upper floors...they had a Warhol, a Miro, and a few others. It was unexpected, but pleasant, surprise.

If you plan to use your free admission from your Roma Pass on the Borghese, you won't be able to use it at S'Angelo. They give the free admission (assuming you used the other free admission at Colosseum) to the first two even if you would rather just use the discount at one of them and save the free admission for Borghese.

Before I forget -- some tips for people who may be checking this in the future -- bring cash. For the Palatine entrance where we bought the Roma pass, they wanted cash as well.

Also, regarding admission for the Forum, we went there after visiting the Palatine. There was no one who checked our tickets again. The Palatine-Colosseum admission counts as one admission for Roma Pass, which I think is 11 euros regularly.

Yeah, I prefer to save the second admission for Borghese because I save a few euros that way, I think (I think regular admission is 9.50 or something, but there must be a supplement for the Correggio exhibition).

How about a Tivoli day trip? If I were traveling by myself, I'd probably seriously consider this at this stage, but with my parents, it's probably not such a good idea. But still, how well preserved are the buildings? Maybe I should do a web search for some photos. Thanks!

when you say you waited 20 minutes in line at the Palatine entrance do you mean the one on Via di San Gregorio? There were very few people who were even at that part of the Palatine let alone waiting in line when we visited last year.

If you are looking for well preserved ancient Roman buildings you might consider Ostia Antica instead of Tivoli for a day trip. Either destination would involve a lot of walking
In Rome the Baths of Caracalla are very impressive (obviously very different than the villas in Tivoli; I thought the description of these large baths as part of Roman life was fascinating)

Hi, yes, it's the entrance on via di San Gregorio. I was surprised myself, considering that we waited there (much) longer than at the Vatican Museums. Just to be sure, this entrance is not far from the Colosseum or the Arch of Constantine.

It's our last day and it's 9 am and we just got up, so I guess no day trip this time. :-)

111op --yes the entrance I meant on Via di San Gregorio is on the road running between the Circus Maximus (southern end) and the Colosseum/Arch of Constantine. In the past this would have been a safe place to avoid ticket lines but it certainly never had a lot of ticket agents.

I hope you had a wonderful last day in Rome

I understand that the best place now for fast lines for the combo ticket is at the entrance to the Forum, just off Via dei Fori Imperiali. Everyone with a Rick Steves guidebook goes to the Palatine entrance, and the entrance to the Forum not yet in the RS guidebook.

I have a question, does the ticket for the Colloseaum and Palatine Hill include the Roman Forum too?
Please let me know, my guidebook is a 2007 editiion which states that the Forum is free (I understand this has now changed) and the Colosseum ticket is also good for Palatine Hill. I was planning on buying the Rome Pass and use it at the Colloseum (and Palatine Hill) and the Borghese Galleria.

Will I be able to go to the Forum with the Rome pass as part of the admission price to the Colloseum and Palatine Hill.

Thanks.

I can see how a tip from Rick Steves would affect ticket-buying patterns. I hope many of the people who go to the Palatine entrance to buy the combination tickets actually enter and see that part of the hill rather than heading straight for the Colosseum. I thought the Palatine was fascinating.

sammy123,
From your recent experience, do you think a person is better off not to get the Vatican Museum reservation since you didn't get an afternoon time as requested?

I don't know about the Roman forum entrance, but as I said, we went to the Roman forum after the Palatine and they didn't check our tickets again.

Most likely if you use the Forum entrance as suggested by Zerlina, you can probably go to Palatine without a separate ticket check, and then the Colosseum will require another ticket check, but this should count as one admission. However this wasn't the route I used, as I said, so I can't confirm this for you.

We used our two free entrances for Roma Pass for Palatine-Colosseum and then Borghese Gallery. As an added bonus, there was no supplement for the Correggio show (it ends in September). Since that ticket is currently at 13.50 euros and the other admission is 11 euros full price, and we stopped taking taxis after we bought the Roma pass, we more than broke even (the pass costs 20 euros).

The last day was nice, thanks. We went to Doria Pamphilj earlier in the day.

I may try to go to Villa Farnesina before we leave tomorrow. We tried going on our first day, but it was closed (supposedly for the President's visit -- not sure which one, as I think Bush was here too). It's across the river from where we're staying.

Thanks, 111op. I hope you get to the Villa Farmesina tomorrow.

great thread! helping me with planning my trip in Sept!

Hello, I´m going to Rome in about tree weeks and I´d like to know if a hotel close do Colosseum is ok, or would be much better, for some euros more, get one closer to Pantheon?

Hi, I just got home. I went to Villa Farnesina in the morning. It didn't take very long to see (for a casual visitor).

I'm not terribly familiar with Rome. I've been to Rome four times, but on my second visit I was there for one night and on my third visit I was there for one day. During my first visit, I stayed near the Spanish steps.

So regarding Rome hotel location:

This time I had two backup hotels -- one near Piazza del Popolo and the other near the Barberini Palace. I thought that Pizza del Popolo would be too far, but actually I think I'd have liked this location. If you like shopping, I think Spanish steps or Piazza del Popolo would be a good location, plus there're Metro stops nearby.

Instead we stayed at Hotel Ponte Sisto, which I chose figuring that it was close to Campo dei Fiori and it has good reviews on Tripadvisor. It's a fine hotel, but I didn't think that I made the greatest use of the location.

I quickly learned to take buses this time. It really helps that the bus routes are clearly posted, and you can easily figure out which stop may be closest to where you're getting.

Regarding the Colosseum, I'd find that a bit inconvenient, but there's also a Metro stop, and as I mentioned, there're buses too, so I think that it won't be too bad. A location near the Pantheon would be preferable, in my opinion, but I think that personally I'd prefer being near Spanish steps, now that I've an even better idea about Rome.

Thanks very much!

Hi 111op,

Would you mind elaborating on the following:

It's a fine hotel, but I didn't think that I made the greatest use of the location.

?

I'm fairly familiar with Rome, and am not returning for a while, but when I do it'll be with my mom.

Thanks. Hope you and your parents are having fun between all the fast-and-furious mad dashing.

Hi, I think I was trying to say that I booked it thinking that it'd have been a great location, but it didn't seem to me to be that way. Since you're familiar with Rome, to elaborate, the hotel is right at Ponte Sisto, and it's a very short walk from Campo dei Fiori. It should be close to everything, but somehow it didn't seem that way to me.

I think that's because we were busy sightseeing, but the hotel wasn't actually right at any principal sights, so we still had to get to the sights and back.

Does that make better sense? For example, for the day we visited ancient Rome, we walked all the way to the Palatine entrance, and that took about 35-40 minutes. I think that it'd have been faster if I had to walk this myself, but I was walking with my parents.

I didn't try to figure out the bus for this one since I figured that it might be interesting to walk, and I asked my parents and they said that walking that long was ok. Also, the major street along the Tiber runs west near our hotel, so I knew that I couldn't catch a bus on that street anyway. And I'd have to do some research. I guess I could have asked the hotel, and I did ask them on one occasion, but in the end I disregarded their advice and took a different bus since the bus routes are so clearly posted and I knew I could take a different bus once I got to the stop.

I actually had my laptop with me, and I discovered later that I could input some street names and the bus website will give me the right bus route. So I used this for how to get to the Borghese Gallery from Spanish steps, and how to return to the hotel after having dinner from Mirabelle. In the end, we walked to Borghese Gallery anyway, but we caught a bus near Barberini to return to the hotel. There was still a little walking, but we saved ourselves a lot of time.

If I do this again, I think that I'd try to stay near the Spanish steps, as I mentioned. So shopping would be covered, and we could basically take the subway to Colosseum, say, and see ancient Rome. It'd have been tougher to go to Piazza Navona, say, but I can probably figure out some bus that goes there (or take a taxi). Then for the Vatican, we could take the subway again to Ottaviano and walk.

Anyway, I did like the hotel. Hope this explanation makes a little more sense. Or maybe it's too detailed. :-)

I will be in Rome from next Tuesday to the following Monday (6/24-6/30) and will be going to the Vatican Museums on my first full day there (6/25). I thought for Thursday-Saturday, I could buy and use the Roma Pass since I have a BOrghese Gallery reservation on Thursday morning. My question is: can I buy the Roma Pass at Borghese before I pay for my entry ticket to the gallery? Is it sold there and would they take credit cards there (rather than the Palatine Hill/Forum/Collosseum location which seemingly requires cash? I plan to use the Roma Pass for those two locations but it would make sense for me to buy it at Borghese since my ticket reservation there is Thursday morning.

Just wondering if I should buy it the day before instead if it's not sold at Borghese...