Rome ideas
 

My husband and I are planning a trip to Rome/environs mid-March of 2012. We are thinking of about a week in the city and then another few days somewhere in the surrounding countryside. Is March a good time to go? (We tend to prefer the shoulder season, with less crowds and slightly lower prices.) And what nearby location in the countryside would you recommend?

March is a good time, as is November.

I don't find the countryside around Rome to be particularly rewarding, but Florence and Tuscany are a reasonable train ride away. If you haven't been to Italy before, it is worth it. Siena is perhaps even more wonderful, and Venice is the best of all.

You won't have any trouble filling up ten days or two weeks in Rome with perhaps a local tour to one of the nearby gardens or villas.

in /march, I'd be inclined to head south for the countryside.

you could combine a trip to the amalfi with Rome in March.

or stick to rome with a few day trips as Ack suggests.

In March the weather is still chilly and can be rainy. Just be prepared and you will be fine.

We were in Rome in mid-March a few years back. It was sunny and in the high 70s/low 80Fs during the day. The weather is really unpredictable, like it is in many places that time of year. Rain is more likely September through February (see average temps and rainfall: http://weather.yahoo.com/climo/ITXX0067_f.html)

Orvieto is a charming little hill town in Umbria, worth visiting and even spending a night. Another possiblility is staying in the Sorrento area, and visit Pompeii.

The region around Rome (called Lazio) is one of Italy's lest visited, and while it's sometimes less than charming, there's no reason at all to avoid it - sights are plenty and great, and some parts of it ARE charming indeed, so I would never go as far as Orvieto or Sorrento, but stick to your plan and stay in the region: you won't regret it. The most beautiful corners are between Viterbo and Sutri in the north, and the area between Anagni - Alatri - Arpino - Segni - Cori in the south-east. If you want to stay closer to Rome, consider Palestrina, which is great, or even Tivoli (for all the visitors Villa d'Este and Villa Adriana get, nobody ever seems to visit the town, which is a shame!).

Thanks so much for the feedback, guys! I appreciate your help!

Travels w/ M&J http://web.me.com/jvscully

Don't forget to get up to the Aventine Hill. It's one of my favorite spots.
Happy trails,
Janet

franco - Why would you never go as far north as Orvieto? It's a reasonable 60 miles from Rome and looks charming. Would it be particularly cold in March, due to its altitude?

March is a fine time to visit, as long as Easter doesn't fall on the period that you are planning.

You may want to visit my website, it has lots of free info, guidebooks, my own freely downloadable audio and print guides and more...

www.passagetoroma.com

dave

If you have 4 or 5 days, I suggest Florence and the Tuscan countryside. There is little less appealing than a seaside resort if the weather turns out to be chilly and rainy so I'd avoid the Amalfi Coast this early in the year. Florence is great both in the sun and the rain - there is so much to see and do.

Rome should be great in March - the later in themonth, the better.

Orvieto is a delightful town however it has a very strict siesta time between 2-4pm and some places 1-4 pm.So when you go up there on a daytrip go very early as you are really "picking your nose" when everything in town closes for those 2-3 hours. The cave trip is very interesting and I would highly recommend that during your visit.
However, if you only have a week in Rome and then just a few other days I would probably bypass it for something else as the town didn't hold enough interest to me to warrant staying a day and a night?
I love Rome in late February and March-just be aware that most hotels in Rome start moving into higher season rates after Feb.15th.

bradshawgirl, I wouldn't go as far as Orvieto since there is simply no reason for it. Of course it's beautiful and interesting, but there is a plethora of places that are at least as beautiful and interesting in Italy, and I don't see any reason to pass by several charming towns without visiting them just to reach another charming town that is no more or less worth visiting than the others, just farther away. What sense would it make, in a country where there are certainly 50 towns that are as interesting as or more interesting than Orvieto? Just because some guidebooks (and following them, zillions of tourists) have picked Orvieto, of all those beautiful, interesting and charming towns, as a "must see" destination, not having even the faintest idea about most of the 49 other "must sees"? For me, that's one more reason to go anywhere but Orvieto: I shun tourist crowds. So I'd prefer to see one of those other great towns (mentioned above) that are less distant, and where I'd most probably be the only tourist.

These are all great tips! We are going in late March, so we will miss Easter by about a week and a half.

I'm thinking no more than three days outside of Rome, and we could do those all in one trip or break them up into a couple of day trips.

Though Florence has alot to offer, one of the reasons we'd like to get out of Rome is to visit some places that are smaller and slower-paced, with less pressure to do, go and see everything. Make sense?

I'm not really feeling the seaside, but I like the idea of hill towns/Umbria.

Any other suggestions you would make, based on the info above?

If you want a 2 day trip that very few make, but takes you back to a time long before Rome existed, go to Paestum. It is about an hour south of Naples. Pasteum holds arguably the most pristine doric GREEK temples in the world. A great B&B there is Casa GianCesare.

dave

Of course, as early as March, there won't yet be any crowds, so that's certainly a point in favour of Orvieto, if you really want to go to Umbria. But keep in mind that in order to see Umbria, you'd need two weeks minimum, so all you could see in three days is a small portion of Umbria.

As far as moving from Rome to another base for those three days vs. daytripping from Rome, you couldn't see the same sights. Three daytrips from Rome to Umbria, Viterbo, Sutri, or the Anagni-Alatri-Segni-Cori area (the so-called Ciociaria) wouldn't make sense since it's so time-consuming to go out of and back into Rome by car (and if you go by public transport, that's slow anyway). So daytripping from Rome, you'd go to Tivoli, Palestrina, Ostia Antica, Cerveteri; moving, you could either do the Ciociaria, or northern Lazio (Viterbo and so on), or the southern tip of Umbria (Orvieto, Todi, Lago di Piediluco, Ameglia, Lugnano in Teverina).

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Bradshawgirl1-I don't know what country you are coming from but going the week and a half before Easter it will be packed in Rome. I work for an airline and the month of March is when we change to bigger equipment as the tourist season is in full swing. I live in Chicago and most of the midwest of the US is on some type of spring break during March.All of our flights particularly to Rome are always full so expect crowds as that is not the "shoulder season" anymore!

dutyfree - Eeek. Well, it's a bit late for that, as we've just booked our airline tickets! I guess we will be waiting in line!

Considering your advice, we will be booking our lodging SOON.

bradshawgirl1 - sorry to intrude on your thread. We are visiting next april and i was also under the impression that it would be an off-season.

Can anyone tell me how's April like? We are visting Rome for 5 days in the third week of april....a week after Easter. Can we expect some discounts on hotel bookings?

A website you may find helpful as plan your visit to Rome is "Ron in Rome", who is an American living in the city >>> http://www.roninrome.com/

NehaK -- As for hotel prices during latter part of April (post-Easter) I wouldn't expect to find alot of discounts. Next year Easter falls on Apr-12 ...... as such, some travellers coming to Rome specifically for that time period may stay thru that week into 3rd week of April.

Most of the hotels consider a shoulder bump up between Feb.15 and March 1st.After that everything is high season until around early October or November depending on the hotel.
(NehaK-discount the week after Easter,ah NO!April is full of tourists and long lines even after Easter.)
There is such an influx of tourists all year round now in Rome due to religious groups;students;cruise ship tours,etc. so don't expect ANY discounts on hotels and also expect major lines for the usual tourist haunts.
In my experience,low season is really January through February 15th which I love as the city is warm to me(I am from Chicago);sales are on; and you can enjoy it before it gets crowded!

Most of the guidebooks I've consulted still list March as "shoulder season," and we've always visited Europe during March for this reason. That said, I totally hear (and understand) dutyfree's point. We've almost always noted school groups abroad for spring break trips during these European jaunts, though I imagine sites are not as crowded nor prices as high as they'd be in, say, May or June.

Still up in the air a bit on day trips. Franco, your suggestion of Tivoli is well taken. I've also stumbled across Bolsena (a lake town not far from Orvieto), Civita di Bagnoregio (cool looking, but not much to do there) and the Castelli Romani (really close to Rome) in an Italia guide. All of these look promising. Will let you know what we decide!

you might also consider Frascati, which is also a short train ride from Rome.

but there is really no need to decide till you get there!

We took our family of 5 to Rome in March. The weather was fabulous....we had light coats but seldom needed them. We had a tour guide for 2 days. Her name was Daniella Sarghini and she was absolutely amazing. We used her to take us to the Colusseum & forum..Palantine Hill too... She was fun, informative and my kids and I loved her! Husband loved the history she provided...very well informed. We also used her our 3rd day to tour the Vatican/St. Peter's Basilica. I am so glad we did that! Incredible! Best part is we were able to skip all the lines at all places. So daniella was great and the other two days we were there we explored on our own. An amazing city! Absolutely loved it. I did think that 4 days was enough. We flew from Rome to Palermo via EasyJet for 38 dollars (Yup...no kidding!) and explored Sicily. We started in Venice...coolest there...great to see but very touristy..kind of like Disney. lol. then took the train to Florence. Florence was my favorite. We had a great place to stay (Il Villino) we ate the best food! Then took the train to Rome. The history and architecture are amazing. Rome is a must see but after 4 days we were ready to leave and explore less crowded areas. March is a good time because it isn't as packed as other times...still crowded though! A must is to eat in the jewish ghetto. Fabulous food. You could do the vatican and then walk to Jewish Ghetto. YOu won't be disappointed.

bradshawgirl, once more: do you want to move to a second base for those three days, or do you want to daytrip from Rome? If you decide on daytripping, Bolsena and Civita di Bagnoregio are out of (reasonable) reach. If you move to a second base, neither Tivoli nor the Castelli Romani would make sense (those are typical daytrips from Rome). It's just two different concepts, depending also on what you really want to see...
Btw and IMHO, neither Bolsena nor the Castelli Romani nor Civita di Bagnoregio are worth the effort, during such a short exploration of Lazio like the one you can do in three days. Of course, would you spend three weeks in Lazio (Rome excluded), you'd visit all of them. As it is, though, none of the three is rewarding enough, I think. It would be far more interesting to trade the Castelli Romani for Palestrina, in the daytripping scenario; or Bolsena and Civita di Bagnoregio for Acquapendente (for the church's spectacular crypt, don't get me wrong - over the rest of Acquapendente, a veil of silence may be cast) and Montefiascone, in the case of moving towards the Lazio-Umbria border.

In any case, as soon as you've decided whether to move or to daytrip, come back and tell us, and you'll get many more tips on what to see.

franco - I think we are daytripping. We've found a great deal on an apartment in Rome, and I'd rather stay there and unpack once rather than lugging my things hither and yon.

So well, as I said above, for three daytrips from Rome, I would certainly pick Ostia Antica and Tivoli (one full day each, whatever you may be told elsewhere!) - and for the third day, I'd choose between Palestrina and Cerveteri. Since neither of them needs a full day, I'd probably decide on Palestrina; around Cerveteri, there's nothing else to see, while from Palestrina, you could go on to Subiaco, which is worth your time, as well.

Frascati looks interesting, Ann.

Ronda - i have to make a confession - we never actually got there!

but I thought it looked like a good trip - only 40 minutes on the train, lots of trains each way, and the single fare is only €2!

Thanks so much for the advice!!

We stayed in Rome for 4 days in march...weather was wonderful and the crowds less than the touristy months. I would do it again in a heartbeat. We stayed there for 4 days and that was enough. We had a wonderful tour guide that was with us for 2 days. One day we toured the Colluseum, Forum, Palentine Hill and surrounding areas. Next day with the guide we visited the Vatican and of course St. Peter's Basilica and surrounding area. We then said goodbye to our tour guide and on her suggested walked over the bridge to the Jewish Ghetto and had one of the best meals in Rome. There were many outdoor restaurants and the area was booming with activity. We then continued to walk and found remnants of a city from the past that Rome was unearthing....pretty cool. Then onto a church that had another church underground discovered with a $3 tour...very cool. I would not want to spend more than 4 days in Rome. It gave us time to shop and see the sights. We went from Venice to Florence to Rome and then took a plane for $38 per person and flew to Palermo, Sicily. I do recommend that!! Florence is amazing as well. But no matter what you do...you are in italy! It will be fabulous!

March can be beautiful or rainy and a bit chilly it all depends and you will most likely experience both kinds of days. May is my favorite month because it is warmer, dryer and you are still beating the crowds, however March is still recomendable.

For day trips I love to go to Umbria and a beautiful and rather quaint city to visit is Orvietto which is about an hour by train. There is a beautiful Cathedral, fabulous restaurants and great little shops.

As a Food Tour Guide in Rome I like to make sure that all visitors stay clear of the tourist traps and taste the wonderful cuisine this city has to offer. Just ask if you are looking for any restaurant recommendations!

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