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Just 1 or 2 or 3 days in Rome? Here are free self guided itineraries

Just 1 or 2 or 3 days in Rome? Here are free self guided itineraries

Old Jul 31st, 2010, 01:29 PM
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Just 1 or 2 or 3 days in Rome? Here are free self guided itineraries

Many people post for the first time on Fodor's because they are going to Rome for only a few days, and are uncertain about what to see and how to organize their time. If you want to a standard, efficient itinerary for seeing sights, here are links to that information:

One Day in Rome? (from Summer in Italy website)
http://www.summerinitaly.com/plannin...ightseeing.asp

Rome for 2 days, Tripadvisor
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g1...s.In.Rome.html

Rome 1 or 2 days, from Cruises.about.com
http://cruises.about.com/cs/europe/a/rome.htm

Three Days in Rome, WikiHow
http://www.wikihow.com/Spend-Three-Days-in-Rome

!, 2 and 3 Day Itineraries for Rome -- Frommer's
http://www.frommers.com/destinations...064020766.html
http://www.frommers.com/destinations...064020790.html
http://www.frommers.com/destinations...064020791.html

5 days in Rome -- Italy Guide
http://www.italylogue.com/planning-a...s-in-rome.html

1, 2, 3 Days, Rome step-by-step (from Rome.info)
http://www.rome.info/itineraries/

Three Days in Rome -- msnbc.com
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6576271

Rome for 3 days -- Reids Guides
http://www.reidsguides.com/italy/des...e_itin_3D.html

3 Day Itinerary Rome -- Open Travel
http://www.opentravelinfo.com/travel..._day_itinerary

There is more such information on line. Just do a google search putting in the numbers of days you will be in Rome (or Florence or Venice).
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Old Aug 1st, 2010, 04:24 AM
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ttt
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Old Aug 1st, 2010, 04:38 AM
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Thanks for this and all your other contributions and comments on this forum.
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Old Aug 1st, 2010, 05:40 AM
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Thank you!
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Old Aug 1st, 2010, 06:27 AM
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Thank you, Zeppole. I was twice in Both Rome and London, but I copied the links you gave and I keep them for ideas for my next visits there.

Thanks again.
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Old Aug 1st, 2010, 10:33 AM
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Great service, zeppole! I just want to make one thing clearer perhaps... though of course you said it in your original post: these are standard itineraries. They cover almost exclusively sights that are the so-called "must-sees", and I'll never understand who defined them as such. There's NO guarantee that these are among the greatest sights of Rome; in fact, some are and some are definitely not (the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, for different reasons also the Forum Romanum). The only guarantee is that they are the most crowded.
Of course, that's fine for everybody who has no time or energy (or, in other cases, not enough knowledge, frankly) to do that amount of research on their own that would be sufficient to figure out what THEY really want to see.
So once more, this is a great service for those who'd rather go standard than venture into seeing what this incredibly rich city actually boasts; but I for one cannot refrain from remarking that I'm amazed at how those "must-see" lists are invariably composed, particularly the extended (three and five days) lists. Why on earth would anybody, with merely five days in the richest city on this planet, bother about daytripping? Tivoli is definitely a great place to go, but after just four days, it's not as if Rome would already bore you. And most startlingly, for me, none of these lists has S. Maria Maggiore, S. Stefano Rotondo, Il Gesù, S. Luigi dei Francesi, S. Agostino, S. Ivo, S. Carlino, S. Andrea della Valle, S. Andrea al Quirinale, the Foro Boario, S. Prassede, the Aurelian city walls or the Colombarium of Pomponius Hylas - in other words, none of them has what are IMO the most important, beautiful and interesting sights of Rome, together with the Pantheon, the Galleria Borghese and the Capitole (which are on most itineraries), the Piazza Navona and the Colosseum (which are on all of them), S. Maria del Popolo, S. Clemente and the former Ghetto (which are at least on some or on one of them). I only say that to prove how arbitrary all those "most famous sights" lists are; and how highly individual rankings like these (cause that's what it comes to) always are.
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Old Aug 1st, 2010, 02:08 PM
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franco,

Do you use frequent flyer miles? Just curious.

I put these up after seeing posts in which a traveler was being discouraged from going to Rome for several days because one poster described Rome as overwhelming because everything was all piled on top of each other while another poster said it was overwhelming because it was compact enough for tourists, like Paris.

If we are talking personally, if I wanted to see Rome, she'd go there for three weeks straight at a minimum. If I wanted to see the Forum and the Capitole, I'd go for two days. For the record, I've been to Rome several times, but I have yet to see the Spanish Steps. I'm not avoiding it, but I've just not made a project of seeing it. There is so much else I have on my list to see, much of which is on your list.
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Old Aug 1st, 2010, 04:20 PM
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Frequent flyer miles, no. Before seeing the Spanish Steps, make sure to see nearby SS. Re Magi (inside Palazzo di Propaganda Fide, i.e. the see of the Holy Office) - a very interesting and unusual work by Borromini, capturing the austerity of the Holy Office without being totally non-Borromini. Infinitely more rewarding IMO.
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Old Aug 1st, 2010, 04:36 PM
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bookmarking, thanks!
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Old Aug 1st, 2010, 09:15 PM
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franco, thanks! Now I have a reason to go somewhere near the Spanish Steps. I actually kept thinking on my first trips to Rome that I'd just pass it sooner or later -- like Bernini's elephant -- no point in actually looking for it. But I somehow managed to miss it every time.

I don't use frequent flyer miles either, but I gather it has spawned a whole lot of tourism that is driven not by a desire to see a city or a monument or an artwork but by the availability of a destination on your frequent flyer account. So you've got a lot of people turning up in Florence because it sounded better than Copenhagen or Costa Rica, but they really don't know why the city is famous. Hence a lot of these posts on Fodor's.

Another thing I've come to realize is that many young Americans in particular imagine that European cities are like American cities, in that "36 Hours in Denver" is all you need. That would actually be too long for me in Denver, but people just don't believe if you tell them 36 Days in Rome would be make a good start, but only a start.
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Old Aug 2nd, 2010, 09:08 AM
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MSNBC's introductory remarks are useful, but its suggestion that two days be spent on tours with Appian Lines, quite possibly the worst big-bus tour operator in Rome, puts it beyond the pale.
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Old Aug 2nd, 2010, 09:12 AM
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Thanks for warning people!
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Old Aug 2nd, 2010, 09:14 AM
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P.S. The Rome Tourist Office offers quite serviceable itineraries for first-time visitors with limited time:
http://en.turismoroma.it/scoprire_ro..._in_due_giorni

There's also a four-day itinerary.
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Old Aug 2nd, 2010, 09:40 AM
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Actually, day 3 and the afternoon of day 4 (of their four-days itinerary, obviously) are different from all other itineraries, and quite interesting/rewarding! Though, OTOH, their itineraries are not very realistic, at least not for visitors who want to SEE what they visit. Half a day is definitely not enough for Ostia Antica, e.g.; I can say that with utmost certainty since on my last visit, I, too, thought I was being smart enough to do it in half a day. Not a bit of it! I had to go back the other day and spend another half-day between the ruins...
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Old Aug 2nd, 2010, 02:32 PM
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Thanks for posting that link, Zerlina. Glad to see the 2-day Rome guide from Romans themselves is in ENGLISH!


Regarding Ostia Antica, I wouldn't want to rush it in half a day, but I will also add that it is huge time saver if you pay for your ticket and enter, and then IMMEDIATELY walk the black-top driveway that runs alongside the site toward the museum, rather than beginning with a walk through antique cemetery. For people with children, or limited endurance, it will take them directly to engaging sights, and then they can leave via the cemetery road (which is rather appropriate anyway).
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Old Aug 4th, 2010, 07:05 AM
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bookmarking, thanks
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Old Jun 25th, 2017, 04:17 PM
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ttt

Going to Rome in October, for the 10th or 11th time. Lots of good information here.
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