we are staying at the hotel donatella, close to termini station.

we fly in on feb 16th carnivale, does anyone know of any special pre lent activities in Rome?

We are getting the Roma Pass

we arruve in Rome at 8 am Feb 16

Since we all will be jet lagged, we were thinking the first day walk outside and see Piazza Navona, Campo Fiori, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain...

maybe Roman Forum at night.

Feb 17th
Vatican Day, Scavi Tour, sistine chapel
evening Trastervere restaurant

Feb 18th
Borgese Museum in the morning
Spanish Steps area
take the metro to Colleseum
eat around the colleseum

Please help with restaurants, public transport ideas, whatever wisdome you want to bestow here with be appreciated~
PJ

Read Maitai Tom's current trip report, a wealth of information!

thank you, very good stuff....!

topping my thread, thank you~

You have the right plan on your day of arrival. Due to jet lag, it is important to keep moving and active and not be tempted to nap, as that will only extend the jet lag.

I would add, when at the Vatican, climbing to the top of the dome at St. Peters. It is a fantastic view up there. If you decide on that, as it is popular, get there by the time it opens (check to see when that will be for the days you will be there). To do it, go up the front steps of St. Peter's, but do not go in. Instead, turn right, then follow the building around to the side. When you almost get to the end, there will be a place to buy tickets, and, if you wish, lift tickets that allows you to avoid the first set up steps. If you take the lift, it deposits you on the roof of St. Peters. You then go into a door to enter at the base of the dome, and go up stairs from there. Very interesting climb, as you are between the inner and out domes. BEAUTIFUL view of Rome from up there.

As there are something like 495 steps total if you don't take the lift for the first part, be sure you get in lots of stair climbing exercise before going. The stairs are one way going up, so NO turning back once you start.

we have tickets to the vatican at 9 am, I did the dome last time in st peters, wonderful, thank you, we will add this to our day~

The forum won't be open at night.

Your Roma Pass will come with a map that lists the sites included. The transportation (bus/metro/tram numbers) needed to get to the site will be listed also. It may help to print a few transport maps (you may need to zoom in a couple of times) to take along such as the electric bus that you can take to the Borghese.
http://www.atac.roma.it/files/doc.asp?r=9

If you zoom in to 100% on this map (slow to load too) you can see the bus numbers listed on the streets.
http://www.atac.roma.it/files/doc.asp?r=3

Other maps (night bus, metro, etc.) are also on the ATAC website. Don't click English as they won't be listed.
http://www.atac.roma.it/index.asp?p=18&i=14

thank you everyone, wonderful help

The electric bus looks very user friendly~

My one extra suggestion would be not to miss the Capitoline Museum. It ranks as one of my favorite museum experiences. Have fun, wear comfortable shoes, hope the cars stop for you and share a bottle of wine at lunch at Enoteca Cul de Sac. It's a nice break in the middle of the day.

thank you maitaitom~