We are planning a trip to Rome with our 3 adult children for Thanksgiving. Comments on Nepoleon Hotel, climate and excersion trip to Pompeii and or day trip to Florence appreciated.

If you are really only going to be there for 4 days (Thursday morning to Monday morn?), I would just stick with Rome, as there is so much to see and do there. Jet lag will slow you down a little bit on the first day or so, and trying to fit in a day trip to Pompeii is not worth it, IMO. If you really want to see ancient ruins and Rome is not enough, go to Ostia Antica about an hour's drive from Rome. I could easily spend a week in Rome and still not see it all. There are several companies offering walking tours of Ancient Rome and the Vatican, my favorite and a favorite on this site is Scale Real (scalareale.org). Enjoy Rome also gets good reviews here, their website is enjoyrome.com

Florence is a beautiful city and deserves more than one day, you will not begin to appreciate the city if you try to "do it" in one day. I would focus on Rome, museums, shopping and restaurants.

Weather in Rome in November will be about 55 F on average during the day. Rain is likely, but I think the city is beautiful in late fall, and the rain makes it more romantic (in the original sense of the word). There will be many fewer tourists, so you will get a better opportunity to see and appreciate the sights.

We spent Thanksgiving in Rome 2 years ago. The weather was wonderful. We had expected rain but didn't have any. You will find few tourist lines. We didn't wait in line for anything. We made no dinner reservations. At one resturant we were told we should have made reservations and they weren't sure they could seat us--within 5 minutes we had a good table. It's a great time to go!!

I spent Thanksgiving in Rome last year (and a few other times!). It's a great time to travel to Italy--cheap fares, less tourists, and it's not a holiday there so everything is open. I agree with Cicerone's points about day trips to both Florence and Pompeii. Florence has too much to see in one day, especially if this is your first trip there. You might spend more time traveling to and from Pompeii than actually touring the ruins--an exhausting day. Rome has plenty to see in that short time. If you really feel the need for an out-of-Rome trip to a different atmosphere, I suggest Orvieto. It is easily reached by train, small enough to see in a day, charming, and scenic.

By the way, when I go I get a 5-night hotel/air package. Fly out Tuesday night; arrive Wednesday; stay Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday; fly home Monday. You use only two vacation days and avoid the big flying days at the airport.

I would agree with one of the other authors, if you want more of ancient Rome, go and see Ostia Antica (old Roman port). If you dont want to drive, it is so easy to get there - You take the subway and then change to a small local train (your hotel will tell you where to get off on the subway - sorry, I cant remember). When you come off the train, cross the bridge to the other side of the motorway and the site is only a 5 minute walk. There is a small cafe at the other side of the bridge you can buy snacks or juice. Also the site itself has a lovely restaurant and toilets. Pompeii is really too far to go on a day trip from Rome. Try and find the Ed and Julie website (two Americans who have an excellent report on Ostia Antica.)
Also, wander Rome at night and see the Roman sites lit up - its a wonderful experience.

Did you get a good deal to Rome in Novemeber? We are exploring going somewhere over Thanksgiving and I was just wondering if it was more expensive or less during that time.

A number of companies offer short winter packages that are very reasonable. Two I've used are Central Holidays (now associated with Far and Wide) and Italiatour (the tour company of Alitalia). Both of these offer similar winter air/hotel packages from November 1 to March 31: 5 nights in Rome, plus airfare (from east coast US), airport transfers for $599 plus taxes. This is for their least expensive hotels, which are perfectly fine hotels though not centrally located. For another $30-$50, you can upgrade to a much better location, well worth the expense. Both companies also offer Venice or Florence starting at $699.

Thanks for that information.
I guess my follow up would be, does this mean airfare generally will drop as fall/winter approaches? Right now, when I look up just airfare for the week of Thanksgiving, it is around $600-800. I have a friend that has traveled to Italy in November before for closer to $250-300. Is this rate totally unreasonable? Or is there a chance the prices will drop quite a bit before November?

Seconding Isobel's recommendation for Ostia Antica.....It was a perfect "short" daytrip that allowed us to do whatever we wanted in Rome and still have the opportunity to get "out of town".

Best wishes for a great trip!! Dave

We were in Rome and Florence for TG in 2000. The weather was cool, and I wore a light jacket and medium-weight sweater every day, usually a turtle-neck sweater. If you plan travel by train to Florence, book your tickets the day you arrive in Rome. If you don't smoke, you may want to book your train ticket before you leave home b/c there are fewer non-smoking train cars than smoking cars.

DeniseQ -- We will be in Rome/Positano over Thanksgiving this year as well. Staying at the Albergo del Senato. Our first trip there (though 3rd trip to Italy) and we are so excited. It is encouraging to read all the posts about reasonably fair weather and short lines! I wonder what the Italian equivalent to turkey and dressing is??

I know someone will hate me for this but I would skip Florence. Rome is so alive and wonderful that going to Florence will only be more of the same. The only difference is the museums.Actually I like Rome much better. It more active and alive. Florence can be too touristy and expensive. Besides the train is not cheap and the time spent getting there will be wasted.

Try Pompeii?

I don't hate you.
Denise, go to Florence if you think you won't see enough religous art in Rome. Otherwise it is too long a trip for one day.

hyatt222
I've usually used this package for Thanksgiving since it fits just right with my timing and makes life simpler to have everything arranged for such a short trip. However, in both 1999 and 2000 I booked tickets to Florence from NYC at Thanksgiving on very short notice. In 1999, I got $350 TWO DAYS before departure for Newark-Paris-Florence. (All other airlines quoted $1400 at such short notice--very strange.) A year later the same flights, with a little more notice cost $450. I suspect times have changed since then, but the companies I mentioned earlier has been offering this same deal for almost 10 years.