This was a city that we were looking forward to for a long time. We love art and history, so living in Europe is a great blessing.

However, coming into the city from the Fiumicino airport was hurtfull to the eyes!(dirty). The Majority of the city was the same way, okay, they do clean up at night but by 10:00 am it gets dirty again.

My other big gripe, the weather. Imagine the hottest day in a Mississippi swamp, yeah, that bad.

The Metro(subways),-sardines,with no air whatsoever;My glasses fogged up inside of the cars.

It was hot,humid and dirty. So now you are saying that all I do is bitch and complain,i.e, whine. No. I have endured heat exhaustion in Africa, Dirty in Egypt and cramped in Tokyo.

It is just that Rome did not wow us with city itself like many other places we expect conditions like these from. The history and Art is top notch, but the ambience of the city was hard to enjoy. I always ask the locals for restaurant tips or secret destinations. Some where great, but please pray that there is A/C in the Ristorante.

Just chock full of locals selling tourist crap everywhere and the Indians, Africans and chinese selling, no, badgering to buy even more useless junk, spoiling the the Beautiful art work or statue that lies beyond there 5 euro hats, scarves or postcard combos.

This was my non-sugarcoated report. I'm just an average travelling joe that came away from this city feeling like this. I rank this trip as okay, but will never go again,unless forced to. Rant away!

Every single complaint in your non-sugar coated report has been posted countless times in this forum, and for that matter just in about every other Rome guidebook. Summer months in Rome are very, very hot. They have been for thousands of years. When I was doing research for our first trip to Rome, summer was definitely not an option, but if it had to be, there was plenty of info out there telling me exactly what to expect. Were you expecting something else? Why?

I'd have to agree, I thought everyone knew that June/July/August are months that you don't travel in Europe because it's hot and all the locals are away traveling.

That aside, we had a similar experience in Florence, noisy, crowded, polluted, and that was in late April...

We didn't have that experience in Rome, but my sister did.

We have come to the conclusion that where you stay plays a big role in the sort of enjoyment you have in both these cities.

We stayed in a very central location in Florence, but it was a dump. In Rome we stayed at a 5 star.

My sister stayed in a dump, centrally located in Rome and hated it, but stayed somewhere nice in Florence and enjoyed it.

Stop and consider if that might have had something to do with it!

Poor sap, they forgot to tell you "rome" is NOT a fully airconditionned museum, covered by a plastic bubble, without any inhabitants, closing in the evening to be cleaned. Funny you didn't complained about all these ruins waiting to be rebuilt...

I agree with the OP; I was a little shocked and saddened by the amount of litter and graffitti, and the really bad parking habits too! making it pretty dangerous to cross the road in some cases. However, I think about my home Country, England, and what London is like at times and in certain places. And all the other large cities I have been throughout the world. Cities will always be littered and noisy and a little dirty, its the nature of the environment, I suppose. But I think when you holiday, you tend to want to see the City through 'rose coloured glasses'. I got on with trying to ignore the litter etc. and concentrate on the beautiful sights and I thoroughly enjoyed Rome in the end

No ranting....just sadness that your criticisms and negative observations obviously hindered any chance of enjoying any of the many pleasures that one of the world's great cities has to offer.

Some similar reactions here: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34406329

Rome is one of my favorite cities. Sorry you missed it!

On my first trip to Rome I was also struck by how dirty the city looked and the grafitti certainly didn't enhance anything either. After having been to London and Paris in my first trip abroad just the year before I felt a bubble burst. Rome/Itay have been dreamed of since my childhood as my father was first generation in the U.S.--his parents coming over on "the boat"--and my parents dying before they ever made their long dreamed of pilgramage. That said, it took about 24 hours before I no longer saw the grafitti and only saw the beauty, and the beauty was everywhere EXCEPT...

...those people who harass you to buy the sunglasses, scarves, toys, postcards. For the most part a simple, firm NO sent them away. However, at the Piazza Navona where we had planned to spend a longer time, it was similar to cutting a path through dense underbrush. "No" simply wouldn't suffice; there were five of us and each of us had someone pestering and walking along with us. No sooner were we free than it happened again. We left the piazza.

We've been in to Rome twice, both times in March. I guess the ambiance is a lot easier to enjoy at 70 degrees.

Then why is it that so many people who post here either tell you that you should stay near the Piazza Navona or want to stay near it?

I have no clue about the problems at Piazza Novona. We stayed there and had no problems with anyone trying to sell us anything. We were there in May of 2002. We are returning in October of this yera, and we plan to stay there again.

Diane

I am not sure that WHERE you stay is as important as WHEN you go--and the weather that you get dealt. I look back on my disappointments after 22 trips to Europe and most are directly related to weather--often heavy rain. That is the luck of the draw.

Is not just Rome that is umberable hot this summer, but it is the same almost everywhere in Europe, the cause of this misery is the Scirocco, the hot wind of Africa. So, if you want to blame someone razageorge, blame the WIND.

PS. I have an excellent idea....How about if, we built special Utopia cities for the One's that loves to complains and can find anything positive to say?

Well, my opinion is completely different. Rome didn't appeal much to me. I went there last year in Mars and loved it so much I had to return in November with my kids to visit it again. And I will return again and again if I can. I am also sorry you missed its beauty and paid so much atention to the sellers you saw near the colosseum.

The hot weather is why only Northern Europe and the UK is fit for summer travel. Italy is fit for spring and fall travel. In the middle of summer, Australia has good weather where it is winter.

We just got back from a visit to Rome and, while it has many absolutely stunning attractions, I'm not sure it would be at the top of my list for places to visit again. The reason? Unlike most other great/large cities of the world, it's very difficult to get around. There are huge swaths of important/beautiful sites that are nowhere near a Metro, the busses can be crowded and prime pickpocketing territory, taxis can be obtained only by having a hotel or restaurant call for you and then waiting, and the prices they charge can be at the whim of the driver. We could have seen and done so much more if we hadn't had to spend hours trekking everywhere.

I understand the problem with building a decent Metro system (they keep running into Roman ruins), but why can't the city either straighten out the taxi situation or offer a simple tourist-oriented trolley that loops around the major sites?

That gripe aside, we didn't find Rome any dirtier than any other major city (think New York City). On the contrary, we found a lot of improvements and cleaned-up buildings thanks to the millenium celebration. The Trevi Fountain looked especially beautiful, in our opinion.

Sorry to hear you didn't care for Rome. In two visits, I've fallen in love with Rome, but then both of those visits were in early spring when the weather was beautiful, rather than in the summer when it's hot and humid.

The kind of weather one encounters during a visit to a city can have quite an effect on one's overall impression. I'm sure that people who visit Seattle, where I live, on a gorgeous summer day (like today) have quite a different experience than people who visit it on a dreary and soggy winter day.

As for you finding Rome dirty, that is, of course, your perception and not some kind of objective truth. That has not been my perception.

I did not explain myself as far as my itinerary is concerned, I had to go this month due to my scheduled vacation time, (think military).

I am used to being in not-so pleasant countries due to my line of work, but as a choice I was expecting something along the lines of my first visit to Paris.

I was awed by the Vatican and the Sistine chapel, and the other equally impressive sights, but I said it was hard to enjoy the ambience.

There are probably a lot of you who can afford all the taxi rides and shuttled service, I can't and walked from point to point, and used the local transportation, therefore a gripe.

Your opinion of your time in Rome might differ, but like I said, this is how I felt of my virginal visit. Yes there are many cities like this in the states, but I never felt so dissapointed from something that obviously is a top tourist destination.

Regarding Piazza Navona; it IS a beautiful piazza and why we anticipated a longer stay than last year. Last year we walked into a huge anti-American/anti-Israel demonstration there, people jam-packed in there, linking arms and parading around the streets outside the piazza. We didn't stay. Soooo, back we went this year. No protesters but many, many more vendors who were much more persistent than at the other sites. I'm sure it (the vendors) ebbs and flows and we've just had two rotten experiences there.