We saw Rome and the Amalfi coast on our first family trip to Italy in June. ROME IS AMAZING! The entire family voted Rome as the best experience in Italy. My husband and I, my son who was 22 last June, and my daughters who were 16 and 17, everyone voted Rome as the most fun, exciting, fascinating, mind-boggling experience of our lives! (We also saw Venice, Florence, Siena, Pompeii, Mt. Vesuvius, Amalfi coast, sorrento, Positano, Ravello...)

A successful trip to Rome must be well-planned. And it's crucial to stay in a central and interesting part of town. I suggest staying anywhere near the Pantheon. We stayed at Hotel Nazionale a Montecitorio on Piazza Montecitorio, and absolutely fell in love with rome. We all want to go back someday.

I should mention that I don't normally like cities...I prefer the countryside and small towns. But Rome is unforgettable...

I should add that I recommend 4 nights minimum in Rome. While 1 night might be enough time to take in the "flavor" of a small medieval hill-top town, 1 night is not enough time to experience Rome.

Although the Amalfi coast is beautiful, I have never been anyplace as unique and magnificent as both Rome and Venice. Just St. Peter's Cathedral alone in Rome literally leaves you with your mouth hanging open.

I don't recommend "hitting Rome". Instead, Rome needs to be tasted, heard, felt, and embraced. Rome gets into your soul in a way a picture on TV never could.

Hi Italia,

All other factors aside, it sounds to me that your main reason for skiiping Rome is due to the opinions you have already formed.

My experience (on my first trip 10 years ago and we had very limited time): We only planned 2 nights and 1 1/2 days in Rome. I had heard that it was just a big, crowded, dirty, polluted city. WRONG!

I loved, loved, loved Rome and have always planned to return. I was blown away. My third trip is coming up in Sept and I'm planning 5 days in Rome to see everything I missed that first time.

My best advice, go with an open mind! That's what travel is all about.

Buon viaggio!

Dayle-
Good luck seeing everything in five days!I've gone back with that strategy three times, the last for a month, and still have barely scratched the surface!

To Italia Bound-
If you have no interest in history,art,architecture,and the like,then you should certainly skip Rome.

Hi LoveItaly,
>Ira, you have been to Venice many times and Italy once. Huh????
I don't think that is what you meant, hopefully.<

That is what I meant.

I have also been to Paris many times, but will be visiting France for the first time this Fall.

Paris, London, Rome, Venice, NYC, etc are destinations of their own. They are not representative of the countries in which they are located.

Hi ItaliaBound --

I don't see anything wrong with skipping Rome. Having been before, I chose to skip it last year while there for my husband's first trip to Italy. It didn't affect him and he loved Italy nonetheless. =)

We are going back this summer and adding in Rome this time, so it can always be saved for a future trip. Chances are, if you fall in love with Italy, you will probably go back. If not, at least you've created an itinerary suited to your tastes.

Good luck -- Heather.

Now that I've expressed the opinion that it is "o.k." to skip Rome and have read the other posts...I would clarify that I would skip Rome only if you are on a tight schedule. We loved Rome, but would not have enjoyed it if we were there only one or two nights. I think there may be other places you would enjoy more in that time frame.

From Fodor's miniguides:

"More than Florence, more than Venice, Rome is Italy's treasure trove"

http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgr...ation=rome@130

FWIW

Okay, let me say just one thing....COLISEUM.

Even if you are there for only one day how could you miss seeing this in person???

On our first trip to Italy we spent most of our week in Rome and saw a lot. On our upcoming return trip we could have chosen to skip it and spend more time elsewhere however both my husband and I said NO WAY!

You have to at least go to throw your coin in the Trevi Fountain to ensure your return!

I don't think that most people here are advocating never going to Rome.
Just maybe not on this particular trip, given the other options and the time allowed.

As an alternate opinion, the Colosseum did not wow me. Pretty impressive,will go again some day, but not my favorite thing in Rome.

Thanks to you all for your great insights. While I may be back to Italy some day, it's more likely that I'll want to travel elsewhere as I have never been out of the country beyond Mexico. I should mention that this is an anniversary trip, so romance is a priority which is one reason I'm looking at the AC over Rome (not to say Rome isn't romantic too!). I should also mention we have the trip paid for via points accrued on a credit card and the hotel in Amalfi looks amazing -- Santa Catarina, which has gotten great reviews here on Fodors. In Rome, we'd have to stay at Bernini Bristol which has also gotten good reviews. I just don't want to end my trip running around crazy trying to see it all in Rome (I would definitely feel guilty if I didn't)whereas in Amalfi I know I won't feel guilty if my mission is just to enjoy the beautiful scenery. I guess I could try to do it all in one day and add a night to our itinerary, but that, in my mind, would just make us more stressed and coming home needing a vacation from our vacation. Keep the opinions coming though as some that have been posted have got me thinking!! By the way, our trip is last week of September, first week of October... is scenery still good on AC at that time? That would definitely impact my decision.

ItaliaBound, if you have your heart set on romance on the Amalfi Coast, and if you are really intent upon skipping magnificent Rome, then I recommend you consider staying in Ravello. Hire a driver (we liked Giovanni Benvenuto) to drive you along the beautiful Amalfi coast, stopping wherever you wish, and then spend a few nights in Ravello. Villa Cimbrone is one of the beautiful and unforgettable places in Ravello, and it has an unforgettable garden and a view down to the sea. Ravello is for romantics. Sorrento is a little tacky. Positano is also lovely and romantic but Ravello is the most romantic.

Happy romancing!

Hi IB,

>our trip is last week of September, first week of October... is scenery still good on AC at that time?<

We were there that very time in 2003. It rained the day we arrived and the day we left, otherwise perfectly beautiful weather.

Santa Catarina is wonderful and very romantic. Have a great trip!

ItaliaBound...we just returned from our first trip to Italy. Our trip was to celebrate our 10th anniversary. We were originally going to skip Rome too. We were ALL about the food, wine and romance.

We LOVED Rome and found it very romantic. We picniced in the Borghese Gardens and on the steps in front of the Trevi. Great restaurants! We arrived the day the Pope died so missed the Vatican Museum and Sistine (weep), but the Colesseum and Form were amazing.

We did CT instead of AC and it was fabulous. VERY disappointed with Venice but we had crappy weather. I can't imagine going all the way to Italy and not seeing Rome. Like you said, you hope to make it back but there are SO many other places to visit in the world too.

Piece of advice that we were given...if all you want is food, romance and wine, go to Napa instead. That forever changed our trip-planning for Italy.

If you have your heart set on the romantic Amalfi Coast, and would only go to Rome on other people's suggestions, I would say how could you dare skip the Amalfi Coast? If you go to Rome, you will probably be thinking about AC (not the one in New Jersey..)the whole time, and wondering what it would be like to be there. So, I guess I am in the minority, but I say go where YOU want to go. Personally, I've been to Rome three times, and if I never go back, I won't cry. Call me horrible, but, yes, you can see a lot of the attractions on a video (oh, horror - did I just say that?!!). Yes, there is a certian je ne sais quois about seeing it in person, but if you are into the vibes of the Amalfi Coast, then go with your gut instinct. It's YOUR vacation & YOUR anniversary, so spend it where YOU want to go. Not where other Fodorites tell you to. Racing around Rome & waiting in long lines to see the tourist sites probably won't be as romantic as relaxing in a scenic wonderland. Sorry I can't help you with the weather forecast, because you are right about checking on average highs, precip etc...

Well, I am another person who says make this trip your own special one and go where you want. I have been to different countries and just visited little corners of them that interest me. Santa Catarina is wonderful so go and have a romantic holiday, the weather is perfect at that time (hopefully!). I would say the same if you had decided on any other area too, go where your bliss leads you. Oh, I sound so poetic!! Have fun!

Since you are going to Venice and Florence, I don't think you need to squeeze in Rome, especially if you aren't a city person. On our first trip to Italy we had 4 days in Florence (with a day trip to Siena) and two nights in Rome. We weren't really taken with Rome, and didn't appreciate it till we returned and spent a week there.

You will be very unusual if you don't fall in love with some part of Italy and want to go back, and I'm betting that you will find some way to return at some time in the future. So I agree with Ira -- save Rome for a time when you can do it justice.

By the way, of all the places we've been on our 5 trips to Italy, the only one we don't care about going back to is the Amalfi Coast. I'm glad we went there once, but it was definitely the most touristy and least "Italian" (as I think of the real Italy). And we were not there in the high tourist season either.

I adore Rome and would go there at just about any opportunity. That being said, I recall that you said that you'd pick natural scenery over a museum or church. And I really think that you should go where your gut tells you to go. Just about every time I go to Europe, there's somebody telling me that I "have" to go somewhere that I'm not planning on going. If I took all of their suggestions, I'd never get to do what I really want to do.

It's your trip, not ours or anybody else's. Have fun!