I will be arriving in Rome in July, around noon by train. I will be there for 3 nights, with 2 complete days, and planning to leave aroun noon on the last day. <BR>I want to see the Vatican (1/2 day), the historical sights (colosseum, pantheon, forum), the spanish steps and trevi fountain, relax and stroll in some neighbourhoods like Campo De Fiori and maybe some other shopping. If I have time, I also would like to do a general city bus tour to get an overview. <BR>Any ideas on how to plan all of this would be really helpful. Plus - I plan to do most of my sightseeing in the morning/late afternoon/evening to avoid the midday heat! <BR>Thanks! <BR>

To help you best, it might be useful to know what day of the week arriving, and where (in general) is your hotel - - or perhaps you haven't chosen yet. <BR> <BR>And take a look at www.scalareale.org to see if that appeals to you. <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR>

<BR>Amanda <BR> <BR>I second the Scala Reale organization. Took a couple of their tours last April. The most notable being the half day Vatican tour. I would recommend this to anyone in a heartbeat. The cost was about $105 (there were three of us so it was completely affordable) and more than worth it. We also enjoyed the orientation walk and the evening Baroque walk. <BR> <BR>Since it will be hot and your time limited, don’t be afraid to take cabs to the sights and then walk around. The cabs are very inexpensive. Watch out for cabbies who will try to short change you. Try to carry small bank notes so you don’t have to worry about getting the correct change back. <BR> <BR>During the hottest time of the day you can visit churches which should be cool(er) as they’re made out of stone. They’re also a great place to sit for a few minutes and rest while absorbing their beauty. I would be hard pressed to name my favorite church in Rome since each church we visited seemed to be more beautiful than the last. You’re right to visit places that have no shade (Colosseum, Forum, etc.) during early hours. Campo de Fiori was a delight with the produce/housewares market. There are many restaurants around the square for lunch. <BR> <BR>In terms of the bus/city tour…I know lots of people enjoy doing this to orient themselves but if you pick up a copy of an Eyewitness book that has pictures of the sights you will know what you’re looking at and I found cab drivers were more than willing to point out sights and “show off” their city. You won’t have the running commentary that you would in a tour bus but you can get that from reading a guide book. IMHO I wouldn’t spend the time for a city bus tour since you only have 2 days in Rome. Choose the most important sights and focus your itinerary. <BR> <BR>Also get yourself a good map, one of the laminated plastic maps and you’ll be able to see where the sights you want to see are located. When you plan your itinerary you’ll not only want to do it by geographic location but also keep in mind when sights are closed for the day and what time they reopen so you won’t be going to some church, etc. that’s closed for 2 or 3 hours in the afternoon. <BR> <BR>If you’d like to see my trip report from last year I’d be happy to email it to you. <BR> <BR> <BR>

Three days of half-day itineraries in Rome sketched beginning at www.twenj.com/romesights.htm Just pick the four you like best.

to the top

Hi Amanda, <BR>You need to look through some travel books (like Fodors, or Eyewitness Guides) to see what sorts of things appeal to you. there is so much to see, and everyone has special things that they like to do. Here are some examples you might want to look up: <BR>Piazza Navone (must see) <BR>Fountains - Trevi, of course <BR>Churches - Gesu, Santa Maria Sopra Minerva <BR>History - Forum, Palatine Hill, Pantheon <BR>Walking around - Campo dei Fiori (seconds away from Piazza Navone) <BR>If you like sculpture - Villa Borghese (you need reservations in advance) <BR>Sistine Chapel/Vatican Museums <BR>Good luck and have a great trip. <BR> <BR>

Something I wish I had done was to do a walking tour of the famous fountains. They're around most every corner and all are breathtaking. There were also many more small churches, of architectual importance, that I didn't see and I missed some of the gardens. I found that 3 days just didn't us enough time. What a great city.

I was in Rome last November, and took Rick Steves Italy guide. It had great walking tours of Rome, I don't feel like I missed anything. You definatly need 3/4 day at the Vatican, and 3/4 day at the Colosseum/Pantheon/Forum. I would split those into 2 seperate days, because it's a lot of walking. At the Vatican, we did the Church in the morning, and than ate lunch outside the walls, than did the museum. As for the Colosseum, you definatly want to see inside during the day, and the outside at night. It was one of my most memorible sites!