Rome in 2 1/2 Days
 

My family will be visiting Rome for 2 1/2 days (afternoon on first day and two full days) on a layover from the U.S. to the Middle East. This is our first visit to Rome. How would you organize your itinerary and cover as many of the must-sees as possible?

Thank you.

Concentrate one day at the Vatican Museums and St Peter's, one day on ancient Rome (Colosseum, Forum, Palatine Hill) Fill in your first afternoon and late afternoons and evenings with wandering the streets of the old center near the Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, and Piazza Navona. Stop in a few churches as you wander.

I agree with the above ideas.

Hi SL - The Rome Tourist Office website has an itinerary for 'Rome in 48 hrs'

Check it out at:
http://www.romaturismo.it/v2/en/main.asp

Hope this helps ...

Steve

Hi

I would have bought a guidebook to plan the visit :-) But you can also check out my trip report with pictures and links on my homepage http://gardkarlsen.com/rome_italy.htm . Maybe you can find some useful information there.

Here is a Google map that I have made of Rome by the way http://gardkarlsen.com/rome_italy_map.htm . I have marked some of the main attractions and you can click on the various markers for more info :d

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

This is a tough one because Rome is so diverse. I'd narrow down your interests...ruins? Fountains / squares? Museums? Churches?

Once you've done that you can better build an itinerary. Or if you want to see the 'biggees' use one of those '48 hours' or 'three perfect days' guides. I think both Fodors.com and Frommers.com have a 'how to spend X days' section on their sites.

Our family did 2 days in Rome last July. It was supposed to be 2 1/2 days but we drove from Paris and ran into terrible weather. We arrived exhausted but nevertheless managed two great days in Rome. Day One, if I remember correctly was the Pantheon, Ancient Rome (Forum, Coliseum, Palatine Hill) and San Giovanni Laterno. We also fit in some shopping and after a nice dinner, saw Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. Day Two we went to the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's. The heat was almost unbearable and after a late lunch and some shopping we were finished. We knew going into this that we were only going to get a flavor of Rome not see everything. I think we did pretty well considering we were traveling with kids ages 16, 13 and 11 and in the heat of the summer. Also,we stayed at a great hotel(lots of amenities that we never used) but it was located out near the Olympic village, and we had to take cabs back and forth. We stayed here because we had "points" The hotel shuttle was useless due to the crowds. We could have saved lots of time by staying in a better location. Still, it was better than not seeing Rome. We'd all like to go back someday, but never again in the summer!

Guidebook writer's tips:
-What and how much you see depends on the time of year, & where you stay, as the previous poster put so well.
-Rome is a layer cake of history: ask yourself & family what their priorities are
-do some prep reading-websites, books and films set in Rome-it will double your appreciation of the visit
-check the Rome articles on www.elegantetruria.com

couple of questions....

Since you said "family" - I am assuming you will have kids with you. What ages? Girls or boys?

Is this a trip to the ME or will you be living there? In other words, will there be an opportunity to visit Rome again in the future, or are you going with the approach that "this is it."

What do you want to spend for a hotel or is that covered already?

BOOKMARk!