Finecheapboxofwine

I'll be travelling with my family to Rome over the Easter holiday and have put together a draft itinerary. Tried to keep it light and allow room for additions. Need two days side by side for the Colosseum. The Papal Service is locked in on the Wednesday. Thought the Vatican museums are less busy on a Friday. Looking good? Too ambitous?

Day 1 Travel day- Evening meal out near Piazza Navona
Day 2 EASTER SUNDAY- Pantheon- Piazza Navona-
Day 3 EASTER MONDAY- Colosseum tour
Day 4 Tuesday- Morning vist to Forum/Palatine Hill- go to Vatican between 3 p.m.-7 pm. to pick up tickets for service tomorrow. (otherwise pick them up starting at 7 am on Wed. which is too late.)
Day 5 Wednesday- Crack of dawn to St. Peter's for the 10:30 a.m. Papal Service- What's a good idea to do afternoon/evening?
Day 6 Thursday- Doria Pamphilj- Spanish Steps- Trevi Fountain- Via Condotti window shopping
Day 7 Friday- Early morning Vatican Musuems/Sistine Chapel/ St. Peter's Basilica.
Day 8 Saturday- Open
Day 9 Sunday Travel day

Questions:

1. Can I expect to find any grocery stores/markets open on Saturday evening before Easter in an around Piazza Navona or Campo di Fiori areas?
2. Easter Sunday- have read that many things are open. Should I book an Easter meal or can we take our chances on dining out?
3. Colosseum. I've read the Trip Advisor advisory on getting tickets to the Colosseum. So- entry is one price and tours are a second price. TA says you can't book the Underground and Third tier online. However, the coop website says otherwise.... Still confused about the tickets even after reading so I think that best bet is to call the number to book all the tickets I need. But.... going this route can one skip the long lines or is it advised to book online and print at home?
4. Rick Steve audio tours or similar. Has anyone used these in lieu of booking an actual tour? Was listening to his Colosseum tour and it sounds ok. Thoughts?
5. Other things we considered in this trip were the Giorgio de Chirico home and museum and Maxxi museum, Borghese garden or gallery, Trastavere and Jewish Ghetto.
6. Can small backpacks be taken into the Papal Service in St. Peter's Square?
7. There is a church or museum that includes a hallway that "fools the eye" some architectural or painting genius....the hallway was much shorter than appears by the painting. Does anyone remember the name of the church?
8. We will pop into small churches and other side streets on the way to and from the main destinations. Anything that we shouldn't miss? It already looks like we'll have to make Rome as a destination again.
9. Has anyone done the Vatican museum tour including breakfast or lunch?


Thank you!

mama_mia

Day 5: If you like walking, it is about 25 min walk from St. Peter's to Villa Farnesina, in Trastevere. You could have lunch in Trastevere and also visit Santa Maria in Trastevere, one of the oldest churches in Rome with great mosaics.

7. I think you are referring to the Scala Regia (Royal Staircase), the entrance to Vatican Palace that connects with St. Peter's. It was redesigned by Bernini. He used Baroque design to give it a more elegant look; the narrower end of the hallway gives the illusion of greater length.

I think you can only glimpse it by peering around the Swiss Guard.

8. Santa Maria Sopra Minerva (close to Pantheon). The only true Gothic church (i.e., built in 1300's) in Rome. Beautiful blue vaulted ceiling. Works by major artists inside and Bernini's elephant outside.

In the area near the Pantheon, two churches house Caravaggio's. Sant' Agostino and San Luigi dei Francesi are both worth a stop. Sant'Agostino also has works by Raphael and other Renaissance artists.

Near the Colosseum, you are close by the Basilica of San Clemente, well worth a visit because of the layers of Rome visible. From the main 12th century church, you can descend into the lower level (originally street level) 4th century church, then further down into earlier remains and a Mithraic temple.

Of course, there are a zillion churches in Rome and you can always pop into one and be pleasantly surprised by artworks from well-known Baroque and Renaissance artists. But be aware of CHURCH CLOSING TIMES. (Many close during the long lunch hour.)

I like the Streetwise maps of Rome for locating possible sites.

sandralist

The forced perspective gallery that you are trying to remember (#7) is in the Palazzo Spada

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palazzo_Spada

mama_mia

Re: Colosseum and Forum

I think you will be okay with a podcast "tour" of the Colosseum. However, I do think an organized tour of the Forum can be very beneficial. We just had the Forum's own audioguide and found it very dry; it was hard to appreciate the history and meaning of the ruins.

People I know who have taken guided tours of the Forum have really enjoyed them and learned a lot.

happytourist

I had lined up a private tour of the Colosseum last year but got sick at the last minute. The next day DH and I used the Rick Steves book for the tour. While it's not nearly as lengthy or complete as a private tour would be, it worked well for us.

The best part was buying a Roma pass which let us bypass the very long lines to enter (at least a one hour wait). We literally just walked right in. There are several newsstands around the Colosseum that sell the pass.

RobIm

mama_mia has many good suggestions. We have had pretty good luck with Rick Steves tours with the exception of Palatine Hill.

Many churches mentioned are close to the Pantheon.

You might look at my trip reports - www.rimerson.com

kybourbon

>>>3. Colosseum. I've read the Trip Advisor advisory on getting tickets to the Colosseum. So- entry is one price and tours are a second price. TA says you can't book the Underground and Third tier online. However, the coop website says otherwise..<<<

You can book these on Coop now, but it's a little tricky and at the moment you can only book the underground tour through the end of Feb. If you buy a Roma Pass then you can just buy the tour online without entry tickets. With your itinerary, I can't see you would benefit from a Roma Pass though (you would need to group things on the pass together as it's consecutive days).

>>>4. Rick Steve audio tours or similar. Has anyone used these in lieu of booking an actual tour? Was listening to his Colosseum tour and it sounds ok. <<<

I've d/l some of his tours. They are alright to use, but you also have the option of the Colosseum's own tour (not the underground tour) which is 5.00€ or rent their audio or video guide.

individuals guided tours
- cost: € 5.00
- duration: about 45’
- participants: up to 40 pax
- reservation: suggested
- language: english, spanish, french
timetable english: from monday to sunday at 10.15 - 11.15 - 12.30 - 13.45 - 15.00 - 16.15 - 17.15

audioguida
- cost: € 5,50
- duration: 1 h 10'
videoguide
- cost: € 6,00
- duration: 45'

Finecheapboxofwine

Mama Mia- thanks for the list of additional churches and villas. My itinerary is officially packed now but will be fun to see the wish list vs. actual visits! I'm especially interested in the Villa Farnesina for the frescoes and basilica of San Clemente for the mosaics and the underground layers you mentioned. Oh, and the church with the blue ceiling and....

Sandra, yes! the Palazzo Spada is the place with that architectural illusion I was asking about. I really hope to see this in person!

I've read in a couple of spots that an organized tour of the Forum is worth it. I might look into that as my child just expressed interest in visiting the site since she's studying it at school now. Lucky for her The Forum is on our itinerary!

Robin- I did read your blog. I wonder why you ate at the same restaurant several nights on a row when there is so much to discover in Rome? You did mention the meals there were great but am curious.

Happytourist and Kybourbon- I will need to add up the cost of our entries to see if the Roma Pass is something for us. You can skip the line for entry but if I need to buy a ticket for the underground or third ring are the lines huge for this?

Will maybe have the Rick Steve's online tours as a back up depending on which apparatuses we take...doesn't cost anything to download.

Guided tour question: if you could choose one, at which of the sights is a guided tour most beneficial? Vatican, Colosseum or The Forum? I know a lot depends on interest....

annhig

is there some reason why you aren't going to do the Forum and Palatine hill with the Colosseum on the same day? we did them all easily on the same day - which co-incidentally was Easter Monday about 8 years ago. And it would be the forum that I would want a guide for - I've been 3 times and it's still just a heap of stones.

the Colosseum has lots of great information notices, or there is a guide book you can buy for about €5 if you haven't got enough info in whatever guidebook you are using for Rome. The Vatican museums are best, IMO, just wandered around at will and at your own pace; again there is a decent guide book for about €12 or use your own. [but i would definitely book in advance].

on the Tuesday you could tour the Ghetto and/or Trastevere which would then put you in the right place for picking up your Papal audience tickets for the next day. People wax lyrical about Ste. Maria in Trastevere, but perhaps because it's the first church we went into in Rome, ever, we liked Set Cecilia the best - a lovely quiet atmosphere and the mosaic crypt is wonderful. There's also a branch of the museum of Rome there, but I haven't been into it yet.

if you don't pre-book the Colosseum get your tickets at the Palatine or forum entrance - don't even think about queuing to buy tickets at the Colosseum itself.

kybourbon

>>>You can skip the line for entry but if I need to buy a ticket for the underground or third ring are the lines huge for this? <<<

If you are using a Roma Pass, you would still need to buy the underground tour in advance to make sure you can get a tour in the language you want on the date and time you want. Keep checking the CoopCulture website for your dates to open up.

There is a 48 hour and a 3 day Roma Pass.

http://www.romapass.it/p.aspx?l=en&tid=2

FYI - A regular ticket to the Colosseum is good for 2 days (one entry to the Colosseum and one to the Forum/Palantine).

Finecheapboxofwine

Ann- I forgot to add Sta Maria in Trastavere to my list that was mentioned above. That gold dome looks stunning.

I think what Kybourbon mentioned about the two day ticket is why I had it in my head the Colosseum and Forum should be two days. I assumed that was necessary but can reshuffle if it's actually doable in one day. I ll need to do an itinerary run thru with my family and see what they are up for. K

One of my concerns was going over to the Vatican side three times. One to pick up Papal service tickets; next day to the service and a couple days later to the museum. Seems like too many times but i don't see an option.

I do have a Vatican museum book here at home somewhere, a must have souvenir from when I was a backpacking college student way too many years ago. Maybe can use that as my guide.

Thanks for the Roma Pass link Kybourbon.

annhig

don't forget the buses - with a Roma pass it covers them anyway so those 3 trips over to the Vatican don't sound so bad.

HappyTrvlr

Two churches you'll find interesting: San Clemente with excavarions below back to early days of Christianity and San Luigi with it's Caravaggio masterpieces.

kybourbon

One the Roma Pass, the Colosseum/Forum/Palantine count as one entrance. I really can't see that pass being useful or economical for your list. You would need to group things on the pass on 3 consecutive days (assuming you are getting the 3 day pass). The sites with more expensive entry are the Colosseum (12€), Musei Capitolini (15€), the Borghese (14€+2€reservation fee which are mandatory) and you aren't visiting them except for the Colosseum.

http://www.romapass.it/doc/sitiAdere...lietti_eng.pdf

You could buy a transport ticket only, but not sure you would use it enough to get the value. Here's the prices. To get the value of a 7 day pass, you would have to ride (bus/tram/metro) 16 times just to break even. A one day pass would take 4 rides to break even.

http://www.atac.roma.it/files/doc.asp?r=1642

http://www.atac.roma.it/page.asp?p=229&i=14

There is a Vatican pass of sorts that includes some of the same things as the Roma Pass plus some Vatican things, but it's much more expensive and I can't see that it would benefit you either.

mama_mia

Finecheapbox: Re your question on which tour is most worthwhile--I think if you are interested in seeing the forum, then a tour of the forum would be a good choice. It looks like some tour companies (e.g., Walks of Italy) offer combo tours of the Colosseum and Forum, some including the Palatine, so that might suit your needs.

Annhig: Re Santa Cecilia and the branch of the museum of Rome...Are you thinking of Museo degli strumenti musicali dell'Accademia nazionale di Santa Cecilia? That is in the Auditorium of the Parco della Musica and the Santa Cecilia refers to the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. (I was at S. Cecilia church 2 years ago and saw no evidence of a musuemm branch.)

However, I agree that S Cecilia is a wonderful church, with great mosaics, the beautiful statue by Stefano Maderno and the frescoes by Cavallini in the choir.

annhig

Re Santa Cecilia and the branch of the museum of Rome...Are you thinking of Museo degli strumenti musicali dell'Accademia nazionale di Santa Cecilia? >>

no, mama mia - i think you must have misread what I wrote. . the museum of Rome in Trastevere has nothing to do with the Church of St Ceclia, so far as I know; certainly the website doesn't suggest it, but here it is anyway;

http://en.museiincomuneroma.it/ne_fa..._in_trastevere

it sounds fun and would be another thing to look at in that area.

mama_mia

Oh sorry, you were talking about the church and then mentioned the museum being "there" and I thought you were putting the two together.

AJPeabody

I would consider moving the Doria Pamphilj to Saturday if they are doing one of their musical tours. We found it to be a very nice experience, with a guided tour plus period musical pieces performed in different rooms, followed by a concert.

You could use the open day to see the Borghese. It is worth the effort in buying advance tickets and meeting the rigid timing rules to see the magnificent sculptures with no crowds. Compared to the wall to wall people at the Vatican, it is a true marvel.

LouisaH

BMK, as I return to Rome in September after numerous visits but with my sister, who is going for the first time.

annhig

no probs, mama mia - i thought that was it.

I didn't know about the museum of musical instruments that you mention, though I have seen the ones in the Accademia in Florence which I enjoyed.

there are amazing things to see in Rome aren't there?