Rome
 

My husband and I will be spending the month of January in Rome. We are renting a small apartment in Trastevere. Although we have been to Rome a number of times I know that some of you will have suggestions re. things to do/places to visit that we have not experienced. Here is my list of places we've seen - we will certainly go back to many of them but are always happy to see new things: Vatican, Castel Saint Angelo (sunset!), Forum, Capitoline ,etc, Quirinale, Villa Borghese, Domus Aurea, San Giovanni in Laterno, Chiesa San Clemente, the wonderful piazzas - Campo Dei Fiori, Piazza Navona, Pantheon - really all of those places not to miss - but there surely are many that we have missed so any ideas are welcomed as well as places to eat - we have an entire month to enjoy Rome! We also enjoy music but I could not find any concerts in the month of January. I'm hoping they exist but are just not listed??

Villa Giulia has a fantastic Etruscan collection.

I believe the Forum has new (newly uncovered) exhibits if you haven't been there lately.

Take the opportunity to do some day trips to nearby towns - there are many within anhour by train.

We enjoyed our visit to Ostia Antica - the old seaport city ruins.

Also, we were in Assisi for 2 nights and thoroughly enjoyed seeing everything there. A day trip there would be nice.

If you're going to be in Rome for a month, it might well be worth your while to buy an in-depth guidebook like the Companion Guide to Rome and, for places to eat, David Downie's Food and Wine in Rome.

For music events, check www.romace.it. The Italian version is as complete a listing as you're likely to find, but the English version hasn't been updated since August.

I highly recommend the Scavi tour under St. Peter's.

We enjoyed the National Museum at Palazzo Massimo alle Terme and Palazzo Altemps, the Baths of Diocletian, and the Ara Pacis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Museum_of_Rome
http://en.arapacis.it/

Two things I've bookmarked for our next trip to Rome:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/22/ar...=2&oref=slogin

http://en.mercatiditraiano.it/

f you do a search for "rome churches", you'll bring up a number of great threads of famous as well as obscure churches to visit. Seems like everyone has their favorites. For example:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...e-churches.cfm

I enjoyed The Doria Pamphili Museum just a few weeks ago. I thought the audio guide was well done. A family member did the narration and spoke about growing up in the palazzo.

I really liked the Blue Guide to Rome. It weighs a ton but has detailed information on every museum, historical site and neighborhood.

Here are a couple of places I loved that I didn't see on your list of places you've already seen:

Palazzo Massimo alle Terme- it's modern and airy and well laid out, and the sculpture and mosaics are gorgeous.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Pa...imo_alle_Terme

Santa Prassede- the chapel of St Zeno is like a jewel box.

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/i...a-prassede.htm

Santa Pudenziana is a small, interesting church in the same area.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Pudenziana

Santa Maria Maggiore is a huge, interesting church in the same area.

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/i...maria-maggiore

All four of these places are easy to group together, they are within short walking distance of one another.

And don't count out visiting a place for a 2nd or 3rd time if you liked it the first time. We did that for our trip in September and found we saw different/new things the 2nd time around. (Trip report coming soon!)

bookmarking

How about taking the train up to Orvieto for the day...or maybe Florence? Eat at the Osteria del Pegno, Vicolo Montevecchio 8, reservations advised 06 6880725, a charming, welcoming osteria. Food is great too!

Here's what I just sent to maitaitom-have a great time:


Another vote for Orvieto. We did an underground tour and liked it but enjoyed walking around the town even more. Duomo is gawdgeous.

We passed St. Paul outside the wall on our way home last time and wondered how we could have missed such a beautiful church. Guess I'm in the minority but Ostio Antica left me cold after seeing Pompeii.

If you like Bernini, go to Santa Maria della Vittoria church. A replica of the main statue was made for the Dan Brown movie BTW. The church is exquisitely rococo (sp?). Another fave is St. Ignazio near Pantheon. St. John Lateran has incredible ceilings. Doria Pamphilj gallery is amazing-check for open days-Versailles in Rome IMHO.

Giannetta,
Sorry to intrude, but you haven't commented/answered my question about the hooks in Venice. I hope that you will.
(Bert's trivia)

Oh, I can actually offer a suggestion for something to do in Rome. Get "The Fountains of Rome" by H V Morton. There are fairly detailed maps and descriptions of just about every fountain in Rome. You can spend a wonderful two weeks looking for each one. I think there are about 50. If you cannot find the book, I could scan the maps and email them to you.

gianetta,

Lucky you to get a whole month in Roma! I also vote for a trip to Orvieto, but DO stay overnight. It's a beautiful town with much to see and do and fully worth a full day and night.

Also, on my last trip to Rome, I went out to Tivoli and visited Hadrian's Villa and Villa d'Este. Both were wonderful and I'm so glad I went. The fountains were a delightful highlight!

Here's a 100 best list with some suggestions of things to consider
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...m#last-comment

From Trastevere it is an easy walk to the Jewish Ghetto neighborhood (over the Isola Tiberina pedestrian island). The Ghetto has a lot of good restaurants with traditional Roman dishes liked fried artichokes. More detail on this thread
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...to-in-rome.cfm

Two more of my favorites not mentioned yet: St. Pietro in Vincoli and Santa Maria Sopra Minerva.

gianetta,

Sorry, I missed that your trip is in January. I have no idea if the fountains at Villa d'Este are running in January. Better check that before going out. Hadrian's Villa is all outdoors and was lovely in Sept, but I don't know about that either in January!

bookmarking.