Rome for free
 

Hi everyone! I'm interested in hearing what you did or experienced in Rome that cost very little or nothing at all (I like to believe that the best things in life are free):)

What are the best experiences in Rome that cost little or even nothing at all?

Thanks!
Patricia

Walking around Centro Historico (sp?).
The experience of being able witness and soak in the historical significance of the Pantheon and the Forum which goes back thousands of years and imagining Roman life of ages ago as one wanders around the piazzas (Novona and Campo di Fiore).

Visit the ENDLESS number of gorgeous churches. I just returned after 12 wonderful days in Rome and must have toured over 50 of them. A great website listing/describing many of them is on www.stuardtclarkesrome.com/churches.htm.It was an great tool for my visit. Mike

Pigeons...

Hey Ziana,

STFU, YM !

Sipping a cappucino in Piazza Navona and marveling at the Bernini sculptures.

Borghese Gardens.

When your feet just can't take it anymore, buy a 75 minute bus ticket (1 euro) and ride the bus from one end of the line to the other. You'll see things you don't see in Centro Storico! (The number 23 is a good one)

Ziana,

I don't know what ezlivin is saying either, but the original poster (Patricia) asked for the best experiences in Rome that cost little and, I have to admit but your "pigeons" response appear contrary to the information the Patricia needed. I'm sorry but it also looked to me that you are making a mockery of her thread.

The Trevi fountain.

Are you guys, crazy?
Simple word pigeons is making mockery?
I pictured that famous Plaza with fountains that is always shown whenever Rome is in zenit - and I simply imagined pigeons watching and feeding.

Why are you suppose to be so nasty ?
Is this left overs from being bullied in HS, now you fulfilling your dream of being bully rather then bullied?

I left my husband soundly sleeping on the Sunday morning we were in Rome and walked from our hotel, near Piazza Navona, to the Spanish Steps in the light rain, pretending that I was a Roman citizen. The (very slippery) Steps were almost deserted. I climbed to the top and looked out over Rome and felt as if it were all mine. One of my favorite Europe experiences and it didn't cost a cent (or, at the time, Lira).

I'm probably crazy for responding to you, Ziana.
What started out as a promising and interesting thread is slowly turning into a meaningless wasteful thread as soon as you posted your response.
Anyway, the original question was for your best experiences in Rome and your pigeon response was just based on a MENTAL picture and imagination. You go figure.

My apologies to Patricia for getting off-tangent. Anyway, the suggestion on the churches is good. What a better way to start off than with a visit to St. Peter's in the Vatican. There's Michaelangelo's masterpiece, the Pieta, in full display - for free.

What a great thread! I was amazed at the volume of free stuff to do in Rome. These suggestions are not new, but my favorites included each and every one of the piazzas with their amazing fountains and obelisks and people watching, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, and churches, churches, churches! My kid enjoyed scouring the city for the ancient water fountains! I want to go back!

Look through the Maltese keyhole for a perfect view of St. Peter's. It will make you gasp with its beautiful perfection! It's in the Piazza di S. Anselmo, in the Aventine neighborhood. This and many other lesser known treats of Rome are mentioned in the book City Secrets Rome. A $20 investment (easily found on amazon.com) that will yield more than its weight in gold in touristic delights.

hello everyone! Thanks for the great responses so far.

I do have to disagree about the response to Ziana's posting --I thought it was an imaginative response...and maybe what she's trying to say is that we shouldn't take for granted what some might consider the smallest details in life --especially the smallest wonders (including our feathery friends) and the natural life of the region. I think to mention the pigeons she just demonstrates she has a great and deep affinity with nature and has the eye to observe them in one of the most beautiful regions of the world. I think she has a poetic soul.


Thanks again everyone and please keep the suggestions coming!
Patricia

Well, then you should have clarified your question to include "best experiences in Rome - imagined or otherwise...".

???Well, that's of course your opinion, but I believe my posting is suitably and purposefully left open to allow for all types of creative responses whether dealing with the concrete (things that may require money) to those that don't require money at all. Didn't know there was only one type of response allowed and therefore that I must limit my question to presuppose for those answers.

Thanks again to everyone! Please keep the suggestions coming!
Patricia

"Hi everyone! I'm interested in hearing what you did or experienced in Rome ..."

Oh BTW, I'd hate to disappoint you. But, pigeons in central Rome - hardly any.

Patricia - I think you're the one with the poetic soul to derive all that from the word pigeon.

Just think of how much we would gain from this thread if everyone posted a type of bird as a response.

Ok, here is what I did.

I stood on the Sant Angelo bridge and watched the clouds float over the Tevere in the deep blue sky.

I watched an Asian couple fish from the Tiber (Tevere) river and run and put their fish in a basket and wondered if they were really going to eat them.

I sat in P. Navona very early on a chilled foggy morning and watched a man sweep the street and curb with a ragged broom.

I watched a lady hanging out her wash on the line next to my hotel window and marveled at the way she slowly and lovingly took each garment and shook it, smoothed it with her hands and carefully put on the clothes pins.

I watched an elderly man hold his wife's arm as she limped on the slippery cobblestones one misty evening. He held her shopping bag and patiently waited for her to find their keys in her pocket. He handed her the bag and he slowly opened their apartment door and they stepped into the darkness inside.

I watched a child chase the pigeons in a square and then come back to his parents for a hug, over and over again.

I sat on a stone bench still warm from the setting sun and ate my gelato and tried to lick the drips before they ran down my hand, then turned and saw I had been watched by an amused woman wearing a white apron.

I ran from the rain into the Pantheon and sat there almost alone on a winter day watching the rain fall into the opening and then disappear as it fell.

I like to savor moments like these, they are what sticks in my memory more than any museum.

What a beautiful memory, Betsy--thanks for sharing it with us! :-)

Hi, Patricia. We just returned from Rome last month. We were delighted to discover it's a pretty small city and you can walk to all the major tourist attractions. You can see a lot without paying entrance fees.

Just looking at the buildings and piazzas is a wonderful experience. The churches are all free and most of them have excellent art, no tickets, no lines and no hoards of fellow tourists. The only exception to that was St. Peter in Chains where Michelangelo's Moses is displayed. There were enough tourists there to make up for the other churches. It was worth it though.

Check through some guidebooks at your local library and see which churches have major works of art. You'll create your own little art tour with no entrance fees.

The fountains, gardens and piazzas are fun and can be enjoyed for free or for the price of a cup of coffee. Check for local festivals while you are there too. These are always fun and a real experience . . . something unlike home!

Have fun. I like your attitude.

It's not free, but very inexpensive and that's the bus mentioned by a poster above. Try to avoid the bus during rush hours but the rest of the time, it's a great way to rest your feet and still see something.

Thanks SalB and Chardonnay, beautiful imagery! Would either of you happen to know where the best places would be to discover impromptu concerts? (I heard that you can read about them in the local bulletins, but am wondering about the small churches or sites where people have accidentally stumbled upon sublime music in their travel experiences in the past). Any that are regulars for holding free music?

Thanks again!
Patricia

Lovely Chardonnay. I do believe that you certainly have a poetic soul. I myself have spent many hours at the Trevi Fountain. Sometimes in the early morning and sometimes very late at night. I still find it hard to believe that something like that is just around the corner in a regular neighborhood.