curtandlori

I'm meeting my husband for a whirlwind 3 day trip in Rome. I arrive Friday Nov. 21 at around noon, and I have Fri, Sat and Sun before departing early on Monday. Since it's our first trip to Rome and time is obviously short, I'd love some suggestions for an itinerary or recommendations of "must see/must do/must eat" sites, activities, and restaurants. We'd prefer not to drive, so we thought we'd do either paid tours (referrals?) and/or bus, cab and foot. I also read that much of the city closes down on Sunday, so ideas for what might still be open on Sunday would be most appreciated.

As far as our interests are concerned, we're pretty conventional tourists. Beautiful gardens, fountains, stained glass are particular favorites. Way too much amazing art to see in a month, much less a few days, so we need to focus on the top of the "must see" list with respect to art and antiquities as well.

By the way, in case it's relevant, we're staying at the Grand Hotel Beverly Hills, which is just off Via Salaria, about midway between Villa Ada and Villa Borghese (according to my Google map).

I know it's going to be a wild three days -- I plan on a constant infusion of caffeine and a lot of Motrin, while we see as much as we can possibly fit in! We have two small boys (both special needs), so even four days away to be alone with my husband in Rome is an incredibly gift and I want to make the most of it. Thanks very much!

kybourbon

All of the tourist attractions will be open on Sunday except for the Vatican Museum. You can schedule a tour of the museum on Friday or Saturday. Your hotel is a bit out of the way so you will want to use a few taxis.

kybourbon

To book tours directly with the Vatican:
http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/z-In...zi_Visite.html

The Rome tourism board has 48 hour and 96 hour itineraries. You can modify them to fit your timeframe.
http://www.romaturismo.it/v2/romain4...in4896ore.html

bratsandbeer

Rome has a good bus system. We usually buy a daily ticket and just go. Your hotel should be able to give you a map and tell you what buses to take. This map shows where most things are located that you will want to see.

http://www.italiantourism.com/cosmo/mappecitta/roma.jpg

There is Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps shown at the Spagna stop - one of the largest and fanciest McDonalds is close to the bottom of the steps. Always good for a quick snack.

The Pantheon, the Forum and Colesium, St Peters and the Vatican Museum - so much to see but you will have enough time to see most of it.

Have a wonderful time in Rome. I have a special needs son also so I hear you!

robroma

Rome is so dense that you'll be better off defining something thematic. On my first trip, which was a ten-day work related thing, I focused almost entirely on Bernini and Caravaggio.

The Vatican Museums are a zoo and you could spend a day in shoulder-to-shoulder herding from gallery to gallery there.

Some of my favorite places, many free and not so crowded:

--Crypt of the Capuchin Monks: Santa Maria delle Concezione dei Cappuccini (Via Veneto): macabre but fascinating
--Santa Maria Sopra Minerva (a Michelangelo Christ, but to the left of that is the tomb of Beato Angelico, the great medieval painter); Bernini elephant in the Piazza
Pantheon (with the tomb of Rafaello)
Fontana dell'Acqua Paola on the Gianicolo (great view of Rome--go at twilight)
Piazza Mattei--Bar Taruga overlooking a lovely fountain in the small piazza
Fried Artichokes in the Jewish Ghetto (Carciofi: good place is Piperno)
great pizza at Monte Carlo (just off Corso di Vittorio Emanuele)
San Luigi dei Francesi (3 great Caravaggios free of charge)
Santa Maria del Popolo (two more great Caravaggios: free)
Chiesa San Angelo (another great Caravaggio)
Bernini's Ecstasy of St. Theresa at Santa Maria della Vittoria
Capitoline Museums: tons of ancient art
Borghese Museum (plenty of great sculpture, paintings)
Galleria Doria Pamphili (Caravaggio, Bernini and Velasquez)
Protestant Cemetery (Keats and Shelley's graves)
Palatine Hill at Sunset
Pont St. Angelo (Bernini Angels)
Gregorian Chants around 7-730 pm at San Anselmo on the Aventine Hill

There's plenty more, of course. Good luck...

Rob

robroma

Sorry, that's San Agostino for the Caravaggio. Probably a few other typos in there as well. If you have questions or trouble finding these places just ask.

bratsandbeer

The Vatican Museum was a zoo when we were there Oct 14th of this year. It was wall to wall people and I was afraid of being pushed down a flight of stairs.
The Sistine Chapel was standing room only - shoulder to shoulder with hardly any room to get through the crowd to get out of the chapel.

We were fortunate to have visited the museum once in April and there were no crowds and we could sit on the benches in the Sistine Chapel.

I voiced my complaint about safety to the guard and he only said "every day, every day, it is the same"

letsgo39

We really enjoyed the Hop On Hop Off bus in Rome.The ticket is good for 24 hours and the bus stops at all of the major tourist attractions.I believe you can also purchase a 48 hour ticket. We like to take the full trip around the first time to get our bearings and than start getting off and on the second time around. There are several companies but the best is the 110 Bus.This line runs about every 15 minutes during the major tourist season. We were there in May. There is a web site where I am sure you can get additional information on the winter schedule. Rome is a absolutely amazing city.

LoveItaly

Hello cutandlori, if the weather is conducive and in that you like beautiful gardens I am sure you would enjoy strolling around the Borghese Gardens. It is especially fun on Sunday's when Italian families go there. Well again if the weather is conducive. I sure wish you three beautiful days in Rome with your husband!

annhig

Hi lori [assuming you're not the curt part of the name!]

in such a short time, you don't want to be wasting time gonig backwards and forwards from one sight to another - you need to group them together.

eg - if you want to visit the colosseum [and who doesn't?] you could see the forum, the palatine, and the capitoline museums at the same time.

obviously you'd group the vatican and st. peter's together, but also they are reasonably convenient for trastevere, if you have the energy.

finally, if this is a business trip so you're not paying for the accommodation, [or even if you are] there are some very positive reports of private "after-hours" visits to the Vatican museums which are pricey, but you may feel are worth-while. [search this forum for private vatican tours and see what comes up].

have a great trip,

regards, ann

PS - remember that if you want to visit the villa borghese, you need to book in advance.

daveesl

Your hotel is about 1 mile away from the Borghese. It is very far away from most of the sites. HOWEVER, cabs can be reasonable.

Here is the link to the official bus/metro maps...

http://www.atac.roma.it/index.asp?p=...;a=4&tpg=8

On the right side of the page you will see Roma Centro and Roma Citta. Centro is for the central part of Rome, Citta is for the primary metro area. Notturna is the night routes.

ATAC has played games with their bus maps, so to actually see the things, you must right click on the map and use the marquee zoom feature.

You'll have to use the Citta map to see where your hotel is located. About a block away is the #19 tram, this will take you near Piazza del Popolo. It is the green line.

Now switch to the Centro map. Use the right click to zoom in.

From Popolo, you can then take either the metro or the 81 bus (near the river, away from Popolo). The 81 is a great bus to visit sites. It will take you from Popolo to Campidoglio around Circus Maximus and up to the Via San Gregorio entrance to the Palatine. Buy your Colosseo/Palatine/Forum tickets here, no line. Walk up the 200 meters to the Colosseum.

Great buses to use around the city are the 81, 87, 492. Fun bus is the 116 electric.

If you look at the map and you see an arrow next to a bus number, that means it only goes in that direction. If no arrow, then it goes in both directions on that street.

danon

I would try to avoid buses - take cabs , you don't have much time.
Your hotel is not in the center.
Read a gide book and look at the maps before leaving.
Don't go to McDonalds , please!

bratsandbeer

Sorry Danon but that McDonalds has been handy for us several times. Water, orange juice, good salads, bathrooms. We even like the ice cream. Gelato is good but so is McDonald's ice cream.
And some even have beer. Beer and french fries - sounds good to me.

kybourbon

Actually the McD's at the Spanish Steps makes quite a few flavors of gelato. It was the largest McD's (800 seats)when it opened (perhaps still is) and is worth a look if your in the area and need a bathroom.

sanschag

A few years back we had 3 whole days in Rome (arrived late Fri night, left Tues morning). He was what we did:

Sat: Ancient Rome - Colosseum, Forum, Palantine, Baths of Caracalla, Palazzo Massimo
Sun: Ostia Antica (morning), Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Campo di Fiori
Mon: Vatican - Museums in the morning, Trionfale Market (lunch), St. Peter's in the afternoon.

In addition, we did a lot of walking seeing more of Rome. You could a similar tour, skipping Ostia Antica since you have less time and switching the days as needed. We didn't do a tour of the Vatican Museums, but we were there in Feb, so it wasn't very busy. While this is rushed, I felt it was a good intro to the major areas. (We have since been back for a whole week.)

Enjoy your trip,
Paul