Our first trip to italy is coming up in January. We planned on having 4 full days in Rome, but a great airfare lopped off the first day...we arrive a little after 3 pm on Thursday. So it will be dark by the time we get to Hotel Parlamento.

On the first night, we'll probably just wander over to Piazza Navona (assuming good weather) for an early dinner. Maybe Fiammora? Other suggestions?

We're booked for the Scavi tour on Saturday morning, which is the source of our indecision. It would make sense to do the rest of the Vatican on Saturday, but our Scavi tour ends too late (11:00) for us to catch one of the guide companies. We could pick up an independent guide, but the museums close early in January---would there be time after the Scavi tour to go find a guide and see the museums before they close at 13:45? Perhaps it makes more sense to do the museums/St. Peters on FRIDAY when we won't be so rushed?

Either way, the rest of our time will be spent just wandering seeing the sites: Antiquities sites, Sp Steps, Pza Navona,Pantheon, Campo d' Fiori, various churches (any particular recommendations?), maybe Borghese. If the weather is good, we may consider a night walking tour.

Any suggestions will be appreciated. Especially of the restaurant variety!

(BTW, upon leaving Rome we'll have 2 days in Florence, almost 3 days in Venice, and then a glorious week in Paris.)

You've got a good start. Add to your knowledge base with a search for the churches. There are a few threads here where people gave their favorites.

Personally, I'd made two passes to the Vatican: your Friday idea for the museums then back again on Saturday for the Scavi, then back for mass on sunday if you are Catholic. It is easy to get there via subway, bus or taxi.

Piazza Navona or even around the Pantheon are our two favorite areas. Touristy? 100% so...but they are so for a reason. I can't think of anything better in Rome for dinner than watching the Pantheon get bathed in light as the sun goes down.

Do some more research on the churches then ask some specific questions. There are just too many to pick from without knowing what you're looking for.

Ciao.

Oh, I forgot to mention there's a performance of Don Giovanni at the Teatro dell'Opera Sunday afternoon at 4:30. We're interested, but I was a little queasy about the on-line purchase options.
If tickets are still available, this might be a very good option for our last evening in Rome.

Hi Jeanne,

I agree with MDTravel that two half days at the Vatican can be more enjoyable than one long marathon day. Consider doing the St. Peters/Vatican tour on Friday. Then, you can revisit after Scavi tour on Saturday if you wish to see some additional things you missed. Personally, I was overwhelmed by St. Peter's on the first visit, and wanted to return a second time just to absorb it all and remember the details. It's not too bad to walk to the Vatican from your location on two days. But you might consider taking a taxi one way, and then wandering back on a different route each day.

I wanted to strongly endorse the Borghese - it's "knock your socks off" sculpture that you won't see in such a concentration anywhere else. And easy to do because you're limited to a total time of two hours - not so prone to museum fatigue.

I can recommend my favorite churches: Santa Maria del Popolo, and San Luigi dei Francesi for the Caravaggios, and San Pietro in Vincoli for Michelangeolo's Moses statue.

There are so many more, but IMO, for a short first time trip, these are the "must sees" outside the Vatican.

Thanks for the tips. I've printed out a list of churches by area...it's 12 pages long! I'll locate the ones you mention on my map as well as a few others. If we are nearby we can pop in and take a look.

I'll add San Clemente as a much see church. Over 1,000 years of buildings in three to four layers. It is amazing.

The key to churches, IMO, is to do your research ahead of time so you can appreciate what you see there. You've got 12 pages...great start. Now pare it down and figure out what is interesting with each one of them. The ones offered here are great along with Sopra Minerva and Santa Maria Maggiore.

I'll give you a list of the ones we saw this last time:
San Luigi Francesca
Sant' Ignaziio di Loyola
Santa Maria Sopra Minerva
Santa Maria Popolo
Santa Maria della Vittoria
Santa Maria Maggiore
San Giovanni / the steps from Pontius Pilate's house across the street
St. Peter Enchained (Moses statue that was part of the project underway when the Sistine Chapel bumped it out of the way)
San Clemente

That's the full list. The time before we went to the church on Via Veneto with the Cappaccin (sp?) Crypt as well. Of course we went to St. Peter's like three times. Make a point to get there if you can: in the early a.m. before the crowds descend to see the sun coming in through the windows over the door and again at night to see it lit up with, again, minimal crowds.

Ok, you've got me in the spirit. Here are some notes that I compiled / stole.

San Clemente Church
A good place to begin exploring Rome’s layers is San Clemente, a 12th century basilica just east of the Colosseum. It has four levels of buildings, shrines to two religions and works of art from each of the last 20 centuries. The first Christian church on this site was burned by the Normans in 1084. It was subsequently filled in and built on top of for the current church. The original church beneath the current church has frescoes showing the Life of Jesus and Ascension from the 9th century. In a niche on the right hand wall is a statue of the Virgin. On the opposite wall more 9th century frescoes tell the story of Sisinius but are most remarkable for the inscriptions which might be the oldest inscriptions in the Italian language. Climb down another level (steps are near the right wall) for the 1st century A.D. block housing the mithraeum. Of at least a dozen temples to Mithras discovered in Rome, this is the most accessible and best preserved. There is an ornamental stucco ceiling and an altar portraying Mithras with a white bull and knife. The benches suggest it was used for ritual suppers. Adjacent there is another room with a better preserved ceiling believed to be used for religious training. There is still one level more below: the foundations of a Republican era building that burned in Nero’s great fire. These have never been excavated, but from the mithraeum you can walk out into a 1,900 year old Roman alley, now some 30 feet below street level. At the end of it, you will hear water rushing below. No one knows if this is an underground stream, a sewer or a lake.

Sant’ Ignazio di Loyola a Campo Marzio
decorated in Baroque style. The fresco paintings of the nave vault are the greatest work of Fr. Andrea Pozzo S.J., painted in 1685. It depicts the Glory of Ignatius, with St Ignatius being welcomed by Christ and the Blessed Virgin as he enters Paradise. The effect of perspective creates the illusion of looking up at the sky through open colonnades. Pozzo also painted the trompe l’oeil ceiling, a false dome in the nave, on a canvas that is 17 meters wide. The original intention was to build a dome, but this was too expensive. To get the best possible effect of the illusion, stand at the spot marked by a bronze plaque in the floor of the nave. From the Pantheon, take Via del Seminario toward Via del Corso.

San Giovanni in Laterno Church
This church is the cathedral of Rome and some call it one of the least interesting in all of Rome. The façade is clearly modeled on St. Peters. On the portico’s left stands an ancient statue of Constantine which was removed from the Imperial baths on the Quirinal Hill. The central portal has bronze doors that were brought from the original Senate House from the Roman Forums. The church has been rebuilt a number of times and little remains of the original structure. A terrorist bomb causes severe damage in 1993. Statues of Christ and the apostles ring the top of the façade. During one of the remodeling projects, frescoes by Giotto were destroyed; remnants of the frescoes were discovered in 1952 and are now on display against a column near the entrance on the right inner pier. The Palazzo Laterno, next door and not open to the public, was the original home to the popes before they became voluntary captives in France in 1309. In the main crossing stands the papal altar at which only a pope can officiate. The altar is supposedly one that St. Peter used. The Gothic tabernacle from 1367 above the altar contains the churches main objects of devotion, reportedly the skulls of Sts. Paul and Peter. Below, on the steps to the confessional, is the tomb of Martin V., on which it is customary to throw a coin. Across the street is the Santuario della Scala Santa (Palace of the Holy Steps). It’s alleged that the 28 marble steps (now covered with wood for preservation) were originally at Pontius Pilate’s villa in Jerusalem and that Christ climbed them the day he was brought before Pilate. According to legend, they were brought to Rome by Constantine’s mother in 326 and they’ve been here since 1589. Today pilgrims from all over the world come here to climb the steps on their knees. It is one of the holiest sites in Christendom, though some historians say the stairs may date only to the 4th century.

San Luigi dei Francesi
The church has five chapels on each side of the nave. The frescoes in the ceiling depicting St. Luois were painted in 1756 by Natoire, famous for his paintings at the Versailles. At the high altar is a painting of the Annunciation by Francesco Bassano. The fifth chapel on the left was decorated by Caravaggio 1599-1602. The artist was commissioned by Cardinal Mathieu Cointrel. The paintings depict three scenes from the life of St Matthew: the Call of St Matthew, the Martyrdom of St Matthew and Matthew and the Angel. The Madonna at the entrance to the chapel is from the 15th century. The first chapel on the right hand side has frescoes of the Life of St. Cecilia by Domenichino, painted 1616-1617. The painter Claude Lorrain (1600-1682) is buried here. He became famous for his studies of the Roman countryside. Please note that to protect the Caravaggio paintings in the church, flash photography is strictly forbidden. There are coin operated lights by the paintings, and as you can see above, it is possible to take pictures without flash. Between Piazza Navona and Pantheon.

Santa Maria del Popolo Church
Though the ‘twin’ churches in the square get much of the attention, the real jewel is this church because of the architecture, art and sculpture. This church sits inconspicuously in the corner of the piazza. The church is full of history and masterpieces by Raphael (second chapel on the left), Caravaggio (in the chapel to the left of the high altar) and Bernini. A chapel and later on a little church have been on this site since the 10th century, but in 1472 a new church was built. Although Vasari attributed the church to Baccio Pontelli, it is in general considered a work by Andrea Bregno, a sculptor from Como in Lombardy who lived in Rome and is buried in S. Maria sopra Minerva. The church houses two masterpieces by Caravaggio: Crucifixion of St. Peter and Conversion of St. Paul.

Santa Maria della Vittoria
This baroque church Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome houses one of Bernini’s most ambitious sculptures, “The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa” located inside the Cornaro Chapel. The Venetian Cornaro’s family commissioned the chapel. Bernini was the first who tried to combine architecture with sculpture and painting in order to have a scenographic effect. The Ecstasy of St. Teresa was a controversial sculpture because of the sexuality it seemed to display. The mystical experience melts with a real passion, to the limit of eroticism. Visitors maybe shocked or thrilled by the physical nature of Saint Teresa’s ecstasy, as she appears collapsed on a cloud with mouth half open and eyelids closed, struck by the arrow of a smiling angel. Bernini also sculpted statues that look like people watching a theater show. These sculptures by Gianlorenzo Bernini represent the Cornaro’s family members as they watch an onstage performance from their theater box seats.

Santa Maria sopra Minerva
This church was built over the ruins of a temple to Minerva and is the only Gothic church in all of Rome. Its interior looks Florentine like due to the frescoes to the right of the transept depicting the life of Thomas Aquinas and the portraits of the two Medicis who later became pope. To the left of the altar is the statue of The Redeemer by Michelangelo. It was criticized in its day for looking more like a pagan god than Christ. It was a nude when Michelangelo first completed it, but a drapery was added later. A sandal was added later to prevent one of its feet from being worn away by kisses of the faithful. Under the altar is the tomb of St. Catherine of Siena. On the fifth pier from the entrance there is a little known sculpture by Bernini called the Monument to Maria Raggi, which is on the tomb of Maria Raggi. The amusing baby elephant carrying a small obelisk in the piazza was designed by Bernini.

Santa Maria Maggiore
This is the largest of the 80 churches dedicated to St. Mary in Rome. It is also one of the city’s most important points of pilgrimage and one of Rome’s four great basilicas (St. Peter’s, San Giovanni in Laterno, San Paolo fuori le Mura). Unlike the other basilicas, this church has not been rebuilt and is the only church in Rome where mass has been celebrated every day since the 5th century. According to tradition, the Virgin appeared to Pope Liberius on the night of August 5th, 358 A.D. telling him to build a church on the spot where snow was to fall the following day. The church was probably built by Pope Sixtus III in 431. The church was originally called St. Mary of the Crib because a shrine was said to contain fragments of the Holy Crib; they are reportedly kept under the altar today. The church was added on to over the centuries including a new apse, the campanile, and two side chapels. The churches best profile is from Via Cavour. The obelisk in Piazza del Esquilino behind the church was taken from the tomb of Caesar Augustus. The church also contains the tomb of the man who changed the face of all of Rome: Bernini. The tomb is so simple that it could elude a detective; it is to the right near the altar.

St. Peter Enchained
Less known for the chains than the huge Moses statue by Michelangelo, this church houses the tomb of Julius II. The tomb was originally to include 42 statues. It was never finished as the artist was forced to work instead on the Sistine Chapel and when the pope died no funds were left for the tomb. The church is built on the site where St. Peter was condemned to death by Nero. It houses both the chains that bound Peter in Rome and Jerusalem. They have supposedly been miraculously fused together and are on display in a glass case.

JeanneB, Here's the link to a thread discussing,
<i> Rome: Favorite Churches </i>
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34500653

Thanks so much everyone! MDTravel: That's amazing. I'm printing out all your notes and will research further before the trip.

Please enlighten me about &quot;the door&quot; you refer to at St. Peter's. We WILL be there early morning and I'd like to see that.

Here's a tip about the churches: a lot of them close for a few hours in the afternoon (or else close early altogether), so you will want to find out their hours before making a special journey. Most of the ones in the Pantheon/Piazza Navona area (so that would cover S. Ignazio, Sta Maria Sopra Minerva, Il Gesu, S. Luigi dei Francesi, and S. Agnese) are open in the later afternoon, so I usually roam the churches before dinner myself, since I typically eat in places in that area (but not IN Piazza Navona, no way).

The Conversion of St Paul (Sta Maria del Popolo) and the Calling of St Matthew (S. Luigi dei Francesi) are my absolute favorite Caravaggios. I'm such a Caravaggio nut!

Have to add my favorite Caravaggio in a Rome church - Madonna di Loreto in Sant'Agostino (very close to the grouping of churches by Navona/Pantheon listed by DejaVu).

Two pilgrims kneel in prayer in front of an open door, while the Madonna looks on holding the infant Jesus.

Same church also has a Raphael (Isaiah), sculptures by Sansovino &amp; Bernini and is the burial site of Saint Monica, Augustine's mother.

Definately worth a stop.

JeanneB. Definately take the time to do the Vatican/St.Peters tour. Trevi Fountain. The Borghese was really neat, I would suggest reserving the first admittance, it isnt as crowded and you are finished by the time your 2 hours is up(we went in November of '04, so it could be different, or not)
There is a restaurant called La Rampa, it is near the spanish steps(right around the corner actually, so if you are facing the steps, its the right side)it was very good, the locals suggested it. Happy traveling.

Jeanne

There are so very many churches in Rome, you will want to do this two ways. First, decide on some &quot;can't miss&quot; choices. Second, figure out what other places you are going and pair a church or two that is nearby as a shorter event before/after. For example, we visited St. Peter Vincoli (in chains) right before we went to the Colosseum. My personal suggestions:

St. Clement -- as posted above, this is no ordinary church, it is a time machine.

St. Maria Sopra Minerva, the only Gothic church in Rome. It will stand out from the crowd.

I would also add a mention for St. Maria Degli Angeli, which was once Roman baths, and Michelangelo converted into a church.

Here is an extensive site about churches in Rome.

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/...html#Via_Appia

Same site but in case the other url is too long:
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/home.html

Here is a link describing the keyhole:

http://www.igougo.com/planning/journ...+Malta+Keyhole

We are headed to Italy in January as well! Thank you, generous posters, for sharing so much of what you know. I have to work to stay off of this site (and stay focused on my work), as I keep finding so many great threads. I am printing away, too, as I type.

Bonniejean

bonniejean:

When and where?

JeanneB, we leave for Paris January 8-12, Rome, January 13-19 and Florence, January 19-22, and back to Rome for a day and a night.

We have a Scavi Tour too, and we have booked some of the tours in Paris, Rome, and Florence, which have been recommended on this site. My DH is handling the tours, but I believe we have a Context: Rome tour of the Vatican Art, and, I think, a private Context: Rome tour of Ancient Rome. We were trying to buid around the Scavi Tour also. I saw a thread about coordinating the Scavi Tour and a Papal audience, which we also have, but on another day, but we did not think of that.

I am going to check out Fiammora, and other suggestions.

Best regards, Bonniejean

Hey you guys, you forgot the restaurants. Here are my picks, from my March 2005 trip report:

&quot;Now, restaurants: Though picky diners, we never had to go more than 5 minutes on foot to get a fine dinner. So all the following are neighbourhood places just west of P.za Navona:

&quot;Cantina del Vecchio, v. dei Coronari 30
www.cantinadelvecchio.it

&quot;Absolutely first rate in its class. Dined there twice -- we REALLY wanted to go back, which is something we seldom indulge for fear of disappointments.

&quot;No disappointment here. Service is really personable. Obviously a neighbourhood favourite. Smart-casual dress, clientele ditto. Lazio cuisine; &quot;serious-about-the-food&quot; but folks were having fun too.

&quot;Around the corner: simpler but still very good Osteria del Pegno, vicolo di Montevecchio 8
Tel/fax: 06 68 80 70 25

&quot;Finally: Ristorante Montevecchio, Piazza di Montevecchio 22a
Tel. 06 68 61 319
Well-known and well-loved by guidebooks (see Frommers). We expected full house and lots of tourists but quite the contrary. Very simple room on a tiny square.

&quot;Excellent food: I cannot quite describe this but...You know how you can TELL when a chef or owner has absolute confidence in the menu and the food and generally just KNOWS what he is doing? That is Montevecchio. Plus, when there was a negligible delay in getting us our bill, we were offered our choice of liqueur on the house (we had said nothing -- it was just a grace note)

&quot;Also noted in the neighbourhood but we did not get around to sampling them. So based on close scrutiny of the menu and the room I would say these &quot;merit your attention/ investigation&quot;:

&quot;Santa Lucia: largo Febo
www.santalucia-bartolo.com
Just west of P.za Navona; beautiful rooms

&quot;Pierluigi: Piazza de'Ricci, 144
www.pierluigi.it
Recommended with urgency and conviction by a nice lady in our building; it is on Via Monserrato near P.za Farnese.

&quot;Stay away from:
Il desiderio preso per la coda, north of P.za Navona.

&quot;Breathlessly endorsed on one travel site: charm, warmth, attentive service, yadda, yadda. Rated 5.0 out of 5.0 -- but only one poster had rated it.

&quot;Food was actually quite fine but if I told you the unilingual waiter literally tossed menus onto the table and stared into space when answering my questions (I do speak Italian) you get my drift.&quot;

The little but good &quot;Top Ten Rome&quot; guidebook does a nice job with the section on churches...
Another vote for San Clemente and its layers of history.

Re: night walking tour. Rick Steves has a decent night walk of Rome described in his &quot;Italy&quot; guidebook if you just want to wander by yourselves.