My wife, 7 year old daughter and I have just returned from a short break in Rome. Perhaps some of the information is of use to travellers this summer.
We booked flights from London Stansted to Rome Ciampino when EasyJet were doing a "no tax" campaign, and therefore paid only £67 (around $123) each.
We transfered from the airport using LimoServiceRome (NOT LimoServiceSRome), and they were absoultely fantastic. I cannot recommend them enough.
After some advice sought on this forum we decided to stay out of town at the Holiday Inn Rome West. The 3 night stay came to £268 ($490) without breakfast. The hotel provided a very useful shuttle bus throught the day both to and from the city. We chose the hotel as it had a pool for our daughter and we didn't want her to become monument fatigued! Unfortunately, the pool was 1.68m in depth and had no shallow end. She is a good swimmer though (but got conjunctivitis at the end of the stay which may have been due to the pool). (Not any good for non-swimmers or very young children.) We had considered the Hotel Aberdeen, which had rave reviews here - but wanted the pool.
The food at the hotel was fine and reasonably priced (but for US visitors the poor exchange may not favour you). Breakfast - which we declined - was a whopping £15 each. That would have cost us £45 each morning - or $82.50!!!
In the city itself, we visited the usual sights but booked in advance for the coloseum (using www.pierreci.it). This was the best thing we did all holiday as the lines were horrendous, but we just sailed right past them and up to the reservations window. It took us 2 minutes to get in - and this was at about 10am.
Although not catholics, we were keen to visit a papal audience and were disappointed to be told numerous times that the Pope was at Castelgandolfo but not giving any audiences there. For some reason a nun came up to us at the Vatican Post Office and told us that there was a change of plan and the Pope had returned the previous evening and would be giving an audience in 20 minutes!!! We ran to the audience hall to witness something none of us will ever forget.
We then queued for an hour to climb to the top of St Peter's Dome. Now, I love high views (Empire State Building, the top of the Eifel Tower, London Eye, Washinton Monument in DC etc) but didn't think that the wait and exhausting climb was worth it. Give it a miss. Both wife and daughter still not speaking to me!
The heat was oppressive and walking difficult. On our last day we took a tour with Apian Line around some of the monuments (Trevi, Pantheon, Piaza Navona and St Peters again) but most of the tour was walking. Add to that the fact that even though we arrived at the Vatican at 11:05, the guide did not allow us free time until 11:55 and told us to meet back at the bus (a 10 minute walk away) at 12:30. What did we do for the other 50 minutes? Well, we were taken into a souvenir shop (which she called a fine art school) to buy the grossly overpriced trinkets being offered with no doubt a hefty commission for our guide.
All in all a great trip. Some advice:
1. Buy your coloseum tickets in advance
2. Plan to spend at least half a day around St Peters (and that's not including the sistine chapel).
3. Get early to the Trevi fountain.
4. Dont bother with the dome (320 claustrophobic steps in searing heat)
5. Dont ask for the chicken pieces in curry sauce but without the curry and with fries instead of the potatoes (whilst still wearing your sun-visor at dinner!!!) Not us!
6. Take time out in the Villa Borghese gardens for some sanity and tranquility (and shade).

AR,

Thanks for the tips. I can sure use them (leaving in early August). I was just thinking what I should reserve before leaving. Looks like the Colosseum is one. Do you think it will still be this bad for other places (lines) in August?

Thanks again!
Patricia

ugh, I had the same experience climbing to the dome. I should've done it at sunset, not at noon. Glaring sun and oppressive heat!

The Villa Borghese can be booked on-line. I think the website is called Ticketaria.it - if not then someone may correct me. You can book for the gallery in 2 hour blocks that ask you to turn up half an hour before your designated time to collect (and pay) for your tickets.
Amazingly, even though the Vatican has a website, you can't book tickets for the museums on-line. The lines start at 7am for an 8:45 opening.
One thing I forgot is that St Peters's basilica has airline style security where you have to place your belongings on an x-ray scanner. This means that the lines are long but they move quickly. Entry to the church is free.
The school holidays have just began and I assume that the lines will be as bad until September. We found no serious problems as we had booked ahead for the coloseum and that was the longest line. It's up to you whether you climb to the top of the dome - one tip is to not pay the 5 euros for the lift (which takes you to the inner dome gallery within the church before you embark on the 320 steps to the very top) and just pay 4 euros and walk. It's a heck of a lot more steps but you just walk past the lines as most want to use the lift as far as it goes. I really can't think what else you could book for as things like the Pantheon are free.

You can make reservations for the Borghese Gallery online at the official website - www.galleriaborghese.it. We just did it for our trip in September.

Thanks AR! I will probably skip the dome...

It sounds like the colosseum is the one to book, and possibly a tour of the Vatican (if possible to find anywhere). I also kind of want to see the Necropolis but heard you have to have reservations at least 2 weeks in advance?

Do you or does anyone know if you can get into any of these sites when closed (such as Forum, Appian Way, or Colosseum)? I thought I read somewhere that someone rode the Archeobus and was able to see some sights in the evening after closing hours (or on closing days) ????

Thanks!
Patricia

BoulderCO:

When in Sept are you going? My wife and I will be t here Sep 26, 27 28 flying out on 29th ...

dwzemens

We will be in Italy Sept 4th through the 18th.

Hi Patricia
The UK's "Mail on Sunday" newspaper did a feature on Rome in a Day recently and bemoaned the fact that the Vatican Museums cannot presently be booked on line. Considering (rightly or wrongly) that most people would want to head straight for the Sistine Chapel then they should sell tickets for that and leave the rest quieter for other visitors!!
What I will say is that Rome is an absolutely incredible city. It is a living museum. Have fun crossing the road - Forget those jaywalking laws!

A few posters have told of their difficulty in finding the Bocca Della Verita (mouth of truth). It really is not that difficult to find - especially as the small square outside is named after it! Our 7 year old cried when she saw it (we'd all watched Roman Holiday just before leaving). We are now trying to find out exactly what lies she's scared of us finding out!!

"A few posters have told of their difficulty in finding the Bocca Della Verita (mouth of truth). It really is not that difficult to find - "

Since you are so much more clever than those of us who had difficulty getting to it, perhaps you could share your secret in how you got there? Did you take public transportation? ANd where did you come from to get there? It really all depends. Easiest would probably be a taxi.

What screwed us up is that the DK witness book had the wrong bus number to get there. Yes it would have been easy if we had the right bus. Some buses do stop right at the square. DK Witness is NOT a good source for this info.

JOelle

Thanks Joelle. You really have a nice turn of phrase - and so friendly too.
It's nothing to do with being clever, I just read the Rough Guide to Rome book (I find the DK a complete waste of time as they are fine once you get there but don't give directions. I threw mine away after the first day).
It's no secret - we took the metro to Circo Massimo (Circus Maximus) and walked along it on Via De Circo Massimo. At the end is Piazza Bocca del Verita and the church (Santa Maria in Cosmedin - with a bell tower with six levels) is on your right. I really can't help it if I found it without a problem.
No need for a taxi as it would be a 10 minute walk from the Coloseum or 10 minutes from the Vittorio Emanuele Monument along Via del Teatro Marcello.
Sorry to appear triumphal in finding it, but we did - and it was no problem.