all of the above. you'll never get round them all, so St Cecila's and the Doria Pamphilij stand out for me.

We also liked Rick Steve's mosaic churches tour.

Palazzo Altemps would be at the bottom of my list.

a place I don't think is mentioned above but is towards the top of my list is the presidential palace:

http://palazzo.quirinale.it/visitapa...renota_en.html

You need to reserve in advance and take passports but it looks gorgeous.

Santa Sabina is one of my favorite churches. It is probably the most intact ancient Christian basilica in Rome, in the sense that it wasn't tatted up in the 16th and 17th centuries. (It did have some earlier modifications.) Don't miss the ancient wooden door, around at the side, with woodcarvings illustrating biblical scenes. It's very rare that a piece of ancient Roman woodcarving has been preserved so well. There's an ancient mosaic above the main entrance to the basilica, showing the Christian church as a Jewish woman and a Greek woman, the two main branches of the Christian religion at that time. The inscription in Latin gives the date of the dedication of the basilica, in the early 5th century.

There are nice views of the Tiber and Trastevere from Via Santa Sabina.

The Palazzo Altemps (another part of the National Roman Museum) doesn't do much for me, either. If you go to Palazzo Massimo (highly recommended) the ticket gives you free admission also to the Palazzo Altemps, so if you're in the vicinity, and have time to kill or need to use the bathroom, why not pop in. Probably the most interesting thing is the so-called Ludovisi throne, which is really probably a Greek temple frieze. The statues are from private mostly 17th-century collections, and the owners often made clumsy attempts at repairs, in order to decorate their gardens. They sometimes attached an arm or a head from one sculpture to the torso of another.

The National Etruscan Museum is great. There's also an excellent Etruscan collection at the Vatican Museums.

Look at the website coopculture.it, if you're interested in seeing the Domus Aurea, Houses of Augustus and Livia, or other difficult-to-see places.

Rome has now made it easy to reserve and buy advance tickets to some of these sights. Last time I was there, it was just the guide and me, unlocking the excavations on the Palatine Hill to see the painted rooms.

My wife and I will be returning to Rome for our 6th outing in a couple of weeks. We too have been to most of the main attractions so have been looking for new things. Crypta Balbi, Domus Aurea and the Circus Maximus excavations are at the top of our list.

Domus Romane was a great place to see. I would also recommend the Capuchin Crypt.

Thanks again to everyone for your help! We have a wealth of great sites (and sights) to choose from, now. Too many... but that's a good problem to have.

San Pietro in Vincoli to see the magnificent Michaelangelo sculpture.

I agree that the Etruscan Museum in the Borghese Gardens is a wonderful museum. I was absolutely gobsmacked by the gold jewellery collection.

Thin

Villa Farnesina

Santa Maria della Vittoria

Basilica di San Paolo Fuori le Mura (St. Paul Outside the Walls)

The Wedding Cake (Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II)

Santa Maria d’Aracoeli

Palazzo Massimo alle Terme

Santa Maria degli Angeli

For lunch (near Piazza Navona): Enoteca Cul De Sac

Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano

PS - You'll love the Scavi Tour. One of my biggest European highlights.

((H))

Santa Maria in Trastevere, generally exploring Trastevere, Villa Farnesia, Janiculum Hill, Terme di Caracalla, the gallery in Piazza Barberini, Testaccio region, Domus Aurea, the cat sanctuary if its still there, as its near to where you are staying. Love Rome ❤

http://www.aviewoncities.com/rome/eur.htm

EUR Mussolini's planned modern Rome?

https://www.google.com/search?q=EUR+...w=1745&bih=863

I just learned that the Scuderie del Quirinale has opened a Picasso show, from tomorrow until January 21st. The works exhibited are from the Picasso Museum in Paris.

https://www.scuderiequirinale.it/

The Scuderie has had many blockbuster art exhibits in the past; this should be worth a visit.

Thanks again to everyone for all your brilliant suggestions! Now, I'm looking forward to our visit even more.

Since you will be in the Jewish Ghetto - the Great Synagogue. You can tour the Museum and visit the Synagogue. The museum also does walking tours of the area.

http://lnx.museoebraico.roma.it/w/?lang=en

Hi Mr-go!

In my first post I forgot another suggestion:

If you visit Trastevere( and I know you will) you can go to San Francesco a Ripa Church.

The church is the home of a most beautiful Bernini sculpture, the Extasis of the Beata Ludovica Albertoni. Without any doubt, as good as the more famous sculpture of the Extasis of St. Therese.

Enjoy your trip!

we are in Rome in May next year, so I am following this thread, so packed with amazing information! x

<b>How to walk 50 miles in 3.5 days and still gain 5 pounds</b>

Thanks, again, everyone for your suggestions. We had a great visit over the long Thanksgiving weekend – 4 nights and 3.5 days. Thought I’d just post this mini-TR as an addendum to this thread, as it probably doesn’t warrant a thread of its own.

The weather worked out perfectly for us – dry and in the 60s (F), although the winds changed on our last day and it became a bit cool the last evening. The leaves were at peak fall colors, for the most part. Just right for visiting Rome on foot.

<b>Accommodation</b>
We booked an excellent apartment on via del Conservatorio, very spacious and well furnished. We loved the location, both for the quiet street and the ease of getting around. We walked pretty much everywhere from there, but it is also very close to the Largo Argentina transportation hub. There is a decent grocery on the next street over, and a nice bar a block away for grabbing coffee in the morning. The host can arrange airport transportation with a private driver that is the same cost as the standard taxi fare to/from FCO. We would not hesitate to recommend this apartment for anyone visiting, unless you have a problem walking up a couple flights.
https://www.booking.com/hotel/it/casa-fiori.html

<b>Activities</b>
As noted in the OP, we are return visitors to Rome. Accordingly, we tried for mostly “new” things to us, based on your suggestions above, while also leaving enough time for relaxation. Highlights included:
* Scavi tour at the Vatican (with visit to St. Peter’s after)… ms_go had done this one before, but I hadn’t. Fascinating stuff.
* Ostia Antica – very easy via train from Porta San Paolo station, and sparsely visited compared to the forum and sites within Rome proper… and much larger than we envisioned
* Galleria Doria Pamphilj
* Galleria Borghese with the current special Bernini exhibit – amazing work
* Terme di Caracalla
* Santa Maria Maggiore
* Santa Maria in Trastevere for the mosaics
* Pantheon and Piazza Navona – repeat visits for both of us, but we made sure to get up early one morning and be there before the crowds of people, touts, and “gladiators”

What else? We walked… and we walked. According to the Fitbit, over 93,000 steps and just about 50 miles. For refreshment, we found a few good places to settle in for a Negroni and glass of wine, most notably example in Trastevere and along via del Governo Vecchio.

<b>Food and beverage</b>
We also ate fairly well… well enough to gain 5 pounds despite all the walking. Many thanks, again, to all of you for your recommendations, especially to Dave_Ohio for turning me on to the carbonara at Ar Galletto in Piazza Farnese. For the record, we stopped for gelato only once. We do kind of regret not making it to Testaccio as was planned for our last night. We were simply too tired to go much further.

Our most unusual meal was the wine tasting dinner at Rimessa Roscioli, which ironically was just several doors down from our apartment. We – along with fellow diners from the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Latvia and Japan – enjoyed nine courses of small bites paired with various Italian wines. Not exactly traditional Roman, but it was tasty and educational.
http://www.winetastingrome.com


Anyway, thanks again to everyone. I knew we’d end up with about 10x more great ideas than we could possibly execute, but too much is never enough!

Sounds like a wonderful trip! Nice apt, will have to remember it for whenever we make it back to Rome. Only 1 gelato?? That is a crime or at least a sin.

<i>Only 1 gelato?</i>

We were just too full, most of the time. Mea culpa!

I'm nor surprised you were tired - you really packed a lot into 3 ½ days.

And again the wisdom of staying central to all the things you want to see is demonstrated.

<i>the wisdom of staying central</i>

Absolutely. And it's worth repeating: via Conservatorio is a surprisingly quiet street.