Rome Itinerary critique
 

Hello all,

I'm planning a trip to Rome for August for a total of 8 days, and I have an itinerary in place and I wanted to know your opinion. I read Rick Steves guides for Rome, and I'm basing my itinerary on it. I'm going with my wife, brother and his girlfriend.

So what I kind of would like to know is if you feel I'm missing something, or if you feel maybe something is worth sacrificing if too many things in a day. So, here it is. It starts on July 30th and ends August 6th. Please let me know your thoughts

Tues

TUES
borgesse Gallery and park (maybe too much for first day, replace for something later?)
appian way

WED
Napoli day trip

THUR
colosseum Underground tour
forum
palentine Hill
capitolone Hill
St Peter

FRI
National Museum of Rome
baths of iocletian
pilgrims Walk (a walk visiting 4 churches)
Dolce Vita stroll (a walk visitin the pantheon, trevi fountain and many sqares)

SAT
ostia artica
lido di ostia (Would you recommend it?)

SUN
villa d'este
hadrian villa
travestere and jewish getto walk (1:30 hour walk)

MON
vatican city st peter
dome climb
vatican museum
castel san angelo
heart of rome walk (another interesting 1 hour walk)

TUE
cinque terre (on my way to Florence, my brother really wants to do a day trip here)

hi dsauna - where are you arriving from, and at what time? have you booked accommodation yet?

I ask that because it really affects what you are able to plan for the first day. in any event, I would not recommend booking something with a set entry time for your first day - even if you have time for it in theory, if you get delayed you may be rushed or even miss it entirely.

IMO a better plan is to familiarise yourselves with the "centro storico" that is to say the historic centre of Rome, the triangle from the campo dei fiori to the piazza navona to the via del corso, covering the Trevi fountain, the Pantheon, even the Vittoriano. you can take this at your own pace, it's free so if you get tired and beed to go back to your hotel you've lost nothing, and it gives you a real feeling for Rome. [there is more to the centro storico than this, but it's a good start].

After that, I see nothing that wrong with what you've go planned, though I' not sure what you mean by St. Peter on the thursday - presumably San Pietro in Vincoli - which is quite a hike from the area you're going to be in after doing all you've got planned. [things are further away from each other than they look on a small map!]

you don't say why you want to go to Naples the day after you've arrived - do you have something particular in mind? you could certainly swap that day for the colosseum day so that you aren't leaving Rome the 2nd day you are there, if you decide that it's worth doing.

finally, you could go directly to the CT from Rome by getting the train to La Spezia - but to do all that and actually SEE something, you'd need to stay overnight somewhere in the CT, IMO.

Thanks so much for your answer. I do have accommodations, I'm arriving from DC. I actually wanted to get there the day before, so I rest and start on Tuesday with energy. Any advise with Jetlag? Is 5 hours that bad?

I'm planning Napoli for the second day, cause my brother may not come with me until the third day, and I think he can give up on Napoli and Villa Borghesse.

That's exactly what I was afraid with CT, that one day I won't really see anything. But if I only focus on one thing or two, would it be enough?

Thanks so much,
Daniel

Hi Daniel,

a good plan to start fresh on the Tuesday, only you may still not be fully recovered - jetlag hits different people in different ways at different times.

Is 5 hours that bad?>>

mmmm - 5 hours what? I'm not sure I follow you there, and I'm still not sure why you are going to Naples for a day trip - what are you planning to see?

there aren't so much things to see in the CT as places - it is a series of little [and not so little] villages set along the coast. the fun is to walk from one to another, have lunch perhaps, walk a little more, get a boat or a train back, etc. the sort of place to relax for a few days, not to hit for a day trip.

you could just about do one village - consulting trenitalia.it i found that there is a train leaves Rome Termini at 8am, goes via La Spezia and gets into Manarola [a CT village] at just after 12 noon. a train then leaves there at just after 16.00 and gets into Florence at about 20.00 - that's a very loooong day.

i don't know if there are left luggage offices at Manarola [there might be one at La Spezia where you have to change] because you wouldn't want to lug your luggage round the village.

it's up to you whether 4 hours would be enough time there.

Sorry, I mean 5 hours difference between DC and Rome for jetlag.

That's also what I was thinking about CT. Maybe I can convince my brother to not go there, or only focus in one area (maybe Maranola) to make him happy :) but seems like traveling all day for 4 hours might not be worth it.