I'm terrified of heights, is the walk up Palatine Hill steep? Just trying to figure out if I should even bother putting it on my to do list.

This is a hill in the center of a city - not a mountain. Unless you have a problem with a 3 or 4 story building you should have no concern.

It's a hill, a lump in the middle of the city, not Zermatt. I have no idea how scared you are of heights, but I surely wouldn't put this on a list of scary high places.

I also have a degree of acrophobia. Had no problem on the Palatine. You walk uphill and can leave by stairs to the Forum, but there are no cliffs or steep drops.

I'd suggest you use the entrance on Via di San Gregorio - just beyond the Colosseum and Constantine's arch - from whence the climb upwards is relatively slow and gentle.... and where, thankfully, the queue is only very rarely as long as it was this day, during the Valentine's offer of 2 tickets for the price of 1:

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/image/146593800

Once "up" on the hill, the views are quite wonderful - there's rarely any great sense of being on a precipice, with this probably the most worrying...

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/image/142756499

... although there are lots of spots from where you can see almost as much, whilst staying well back from the edge!

When descending to the Forums, you'll mostly be on outdoor stairways of this sort....

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/image/146593888

Slightly steep in places, but it does only take a very few minutes to get down, or you might prefer to retrace your steps?

Either way, try here for a fuller view of what it's like:

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/palatine

Peter

Thanks All! This won't be a problem.