Dear All,

Very soon in April me and my wife will be in Rome for 4 days. We are terribly excited and want to make the most of the time we have there. After going through lonely planet and other literature available online we have put together our initial list of things to see in 4 days available.

Broadly what excites us about Rome is- Places/Monuments/Structure of great beauty/history,The Vatican, Opportunity to walk around in areas/districts that either exposes us to Italian Culture or takes us back in time a little, Areas which represent modern Rome- Cool Cafes, Night Life. Apart from these we will want to cover Mueseums but only if highly recommended (something that one should not miss if in Rome; we are not great Museum fans)

We will like to share our current list and get your guidance on:

a) Any place that should be put on the list-an absolute must according to you! Also, are we doing too many museums?
b) For which of these places its absolute must to book tickets in advance to beat queue? And how to do that?
b) For these places- how do we make the most of our visit? Suggested Audio Tours/ Walking Tours?
c) For which of these places can i get my hands on Free Audio tours and How?

Here is our list (we await your comments!):

Places/Things to see
1 Colosseum
2 The Palatine
3 Roman Forum
4 Capitoline Hill
5 Pantheon
6 Piazza Navona
7 Campo Di Fiori
8 Jewish Ghetto
9 Trevi Fountain
10 Tridente-Piazza De Spagna
11 Tridente-Spanish Steps
12 Villa Borghese
13 Museoe Galleria Borghese
14 Monti
15 Piazza Dela Republica
16 Trastevere
17 Trastavere-Piazza Santa Maria, Basilica Santa Maria
18 Vatican
19 Vatican- St. Peters Square
20 Vatican-St. Peters Basilica
21 Vatican-Sistene Chapel
22 Vatican-Mueseums

You can make your list seem shorter by noting that 10 and 11 are the same sight, and 21 can only be visited by entering 22.

Missing for me are the churches of Rome besides St. Peter's and the Pantheon, many of which are near some of your desired sights. It is easy to choose to step into an open church for a few minutes, but there are many that you may enjoy for the art and architecture within. Here's a start:

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

You can get free audio tours by Rick Steves on Itunes for the Vatican, Colosseum, Forum, Trastevere, Jewish Ghetto and Pantheon.

Go to my website to download free MP3 audio tours from the Library area. The Google Maps will show you about 60 locations plus another 50+ churches on the Churches map. Also in the library is my free printable guidebook as well as a bunch of official guide books. Be aware I have not updated it in a year, am still in Europe and will not have the chance to update things for a couple of more months, but most of the things are up-to-date.

www.passagetoroma.com

dave

You will see the most marvelous views of glorious Rome from the terraces of Castel Sant' Angelo. And it is just a short walk away from the Vatican.

If you are going to Monti, then please view the interior of the very beautiful and ornate Maria Maggiore. A short walk away is Santa Prassede with its gorgeous mosaics.

If you don't like museums, why are you going to the Borghese Gallery?

If you want to see one of Bernini's greatest works for free--The Ecstasy of St. Terese--head to Santa Maria Vittoria on the Via 20 Settembre. The Hotel St. Regis Grand is across the street.

If you are going to the Spanish Steps Area and you want to see a very pretty street, walk down the Via Margutta.

Good luck.

Tschuss,
Pepper