Rome - Trip Report
 

Hello Fodorites,

Been back from our Rome trip almost a week now and with all the work piled up, haven’t gotten around to the trip report, so I thought I’d do it in bits.

Please forgive me if some of you find the details boring, but this is my way of saying thank you to all the incredibly helpful Fodorites, because of whom our trip was well researched and hence very rewarding. I hope intending travelers will find it useful:


November 29th :

We arrived in Rome, surprisingly refreshed, after an overnight flight and headed straight to our hotel by a pre-booked airline car. The hotel, Residenza Canali (www.residenzacanali.com), was a gem – tucked away in a little street (Via Dei Tre Archi, off Via Coronari towards the Pizza Navona side. While the location could not be better, the street itself is quite and the hotel is neat, clean and the rooms reasonably spacious. We had a room with a terrace, which was great for a smoke, but did involve a bit of a trek up 4 flights of stairs. All up, a great small hotel with a decent breakfast and generally helpful and pleasant staff.

A quick freshening up and we headed for lunch at Cul de Sac (Piazza Pasquino), near Piazza Navona. Wow – what a place. Their wine list was actually in a huge album and the selection of cheeses was quite remarkable. After an amazing meal, we walked across to Piazza Campo de' Fiori, for a quick stroll (and some Gelatos along the way) and then from there walked up to the river and back.

We met up with Petulia from Context Travel at a café, for a one hour Orientation chat. This was a great idea – highly recommended.

Strolled back to the hotel via Piazza Navona and later that night, walked to a memorable dining experience at Pierluigi (http://www.deliciousitaly.com/pierluigi.htm) – this restaurant is worth a visit and it is highly recommended that you be very hungry, because they’ll feed you to death!

ahmed,

Thanks for the report. I have recommended Residenza Canali to a co-worker based on Fodorites reviews. Glad to hear a reaffirmation.

Looking forward to more...

Nice report! We are plaaning a trip to Rome and after looking at the hotels website noticed that the prices are from 2004-2005. Have they gone up quite a bit compared to what is listed on the website?

thanks panhandle,

We paid 130E per night for a double room (cash rate, credit card was 145E), inclusive of breakfast and tax. I actually called them up after the email offer and when they didn't budge beyond 130E, I pestered some more and they gave us the room with the terrace in the same price. In hindsight, this was their revenge for negotiating the price down, since while the terrace is useful for smokers and I suppose in summers generally, the climb up 5 flights of staircases must have caused them to exchange secret smiles!

But I jest - this is truly a fantastic little find. We had a great time and would gladly stay there again.

Looking forward to the rest of your report. I recently posted a Rome trip report for my October trip. If you're interested, just search on my screen name.

Thanks for the report. Looking forward to more. Can you go into more detail about the orientation talk with Petulia? What sorts of things were discussed? Why do you reccomend it?
Thanks,
Bill

Thanks all - will be posting the rest soon.

Bill - the Orientation chat was thrown in by Petulia as complimentary (we had booked 2 tours and had a couple of conversations while booking - these guys are amazingly helpful and very responsive).

The chat itself is designed such that she meets you at your hotel and takes you around the surrounding area and then you sit somewhere and basically ask pretty much anything that is of interest. Ours was a group of 8 and she advised us on everything from resaturants, shopping, sightseeing outside the tours, what routes to take - you name it. After an hour, we pretty much knew how to go about doing everything that we did. My own particluar interest was sightseeing and food (what else do you do in Rome??) and she guided us to some amazing places.

I would suggest giving Petulia a call while you're planning a visit and take it from there.

Several of us here, including myself, have stayed in that hotel. The location can't be beat, for sure.

Thanks ahmedhaff!

-Bill

Ahmedhaff, I'm really looking forward to the rest of your report. I just found out that my husband and I are going to Rome (2nd visit)at end of February, and we're thinking about extending our trip 2 more nights. The Residenza Canali looks like it might be the perfect place to stay.

Good start, ahmedhaff! Looking forward to more . . .

What airline did you use? How was it?

Apologies for the delay – been way too busy at work.

November 30th

Took an early start, had a decent breakfast at the hotel and headed out to the Vatican.

It was a particularly beautiful day – bright, sunny and crisp. We met our docent, Dena, at Trattoria da Paolo at #104 Viale Vaticano, which is located across the street from the entrance to the Vatican museums just short of 8:00 AM. Grabbed a cup of coffee and stood in the queue, which wasn’t terribly long (maybe about 100 people ahead of us). Gates opened at 8:45 and we were through, buying tickets within 15-20 minutes.

Ours was, again, a private tour with Context and we had designed it such that both Sistine Chapel and St. Peters were combined. Our docent, Dena Woodall, is a PhD candidate in Renaissance art and was absolutely superb. At the Belvedere court, she described in great detail the ceiling of the Sistine chapel using the large photographs on display there (given that you cannot speak loudly in the chapel itself, this was a great idea). She was able to make he entire tour almost like a University lecture/excursion – very knowledgeable and hence a very rewarding experience indeed (particularly at the Sistine chapel, Raphael rooms and the Tapestries/maps) All up, highly recommended – we would missed half the flavor had we gone o our own (or indeed, with any of the mass tours).

After St. Peters, we were basically finished with the tour (took about 5 hours) and by this time we were primed for some serious Italian food! We strolled around the St. Peters square for a bit and then walked to Castel St. Angel and after a quick look, walked up to Ponte Sant’Angelo and through to Via Corso Vittorio Emmanuelle and from there, left on to Vicolo Savelli to Pizzeria La Montecarlo. Had some amazing thin crusted, slightly burnt on the edges pizzas and beers. The virtues of an afternoon siesta dawned upon us, but it was not to be – coins needed to be thrown in the Trevi Fountain and gelatos needed to be consumed at the Spanish steps.

We spent the afternoon strolling around, sightseeing and then discovered, while around the Spanish Steps, that there lurk shoppers among us. And that Via Condotti had a shrine like appeal to them. And so they went (and dragged us along) like pilgrims to the likes Armani and Prada and Ferragamo and what not. Fearing a complete disaster in the making, I guided the men to a nice wine bar I had earlier spotted close to the Pantheon and left the women to their beloved Condotti. This was a good idea and we hung around at the outdoor table of the wine bar until, many hours later, they came laden with their shopping.

Headed back to the hotel for a bit of a rest and change and then made our way for dinner to Fortunato al Pantheon (located on Via del Pantheon). A great place, they treat you like royalty and the food is excellent.

After this, we went across to Piazza Navona and settled in one of the numerous restaurants and ordered some wine….and staggered back to the hotel.

Thanks Samsaf - I would highly recommend Resideza Canali to anyone looking for a neat, clean hotel with relatively spacious rooms and a superb location.

Miz - I travelled Emirates. I usually connect via Dubai hence Emirates usually means the best connections. The flight itself was very nice (we upgraded to business using my miles), arrived in Rome at 11:00 AM and departure was at 3:30 in the afternoon.