Where is your favorite place to "picnic" in Rome, and where is your favorite place to shop for your picnic. Also is it legal to drink wine with your picnic, in a public place?

Shop for your picnic at Volpetti in Testaccio. They have another outlet in the centro, I believe its on Via Marguetta but I am not sure. The Testaccio shop is one of the great cheese and gourmet food shops I have ever been to. The selection is just incredible. They have several shops all next to each other so you can get an assortment of fixings to a hot meal.<BR><BR>I don't know about the wine drinking issue. As for picnic spots, they are too many to list. Close by to Volpetti, there is a park on Monte Testaccio that is very lovely.

Other picnic spots...<BR><BR>Terme di Caracalla- there are some trees in the grassy area near the library that make for a nice picnic spot. One of my favorite spots, both for the picnicing and for the visit. The audio guide is superb and while there are a lot of visitors, it is far less crowded than say the Coloseo or the Foro Romano. Plus you can buy a combination ticket here which is good for 7 places to visit including the Coloseo (allowing you to bypass the ticket line there which is a very good thing to bypass).<BR><BR>The park at the Villa Borghese- make a reservation for the Galleria for after your lunch, perfect way to take it easy on a full stomach.<BR><BR>The Gianicolo hill behind and to the south of Trastevere. Just walk up the hill and pick a spot. There is a fountain with a grassy area nearby.<BR><BR>There are a lot of famous public spaces where you can just sit on the base of a statue or on some steps and eat. Not as beautiful as the above-<BR>Piazza di Rotunda<BR>Piazza Navona<BR>Fontana di Trevi<BR>Scala di Spagna<BR>The problem with these is how crowded they are.

Carol: good post, I've wondered myself about the wine - saw people doing it, so I guess it's ok. We liked a little park we found in Trastevere, sorry can't remember the name, kind of stumbled on it, but it's not far from the river.

I was on a train from Venice to Rome earlier this year and a couple sitting across from me pulled out this delicious lunch w/wine and I was very jealous. So I guess you can drink wine in public - conductor didn't kick them off.

I'd like to know about the wine too. Can you drink wine in a public place like eating on a piazza?

With the drinking age as low as it is (16), I don't see why this wouldn't be allowed!

I drank a bottle of cold white wine (from my pocketbook/from the bottle!) sitting canal side in Venice waiting to get into my hotel room. I don't know if it's legal but nobody raised an eyebrow.

Campo dei Fiori and the surrounding shops for shopping. The park near Castel San Angelo for eating.

It is my understanding that there are no liquor laws in Italy. Another example of their superiority.