Hi everyone,

My mom, sister, and I will be visiting Rome for the first time this August. My mom just turned 60 -- this trip is for her -- and has some mobility issues, so the smoother the trip goes, the better (though there's no preparing for everything!).

We look forward to visiting all the sites Rome is famous for, and I'm hoping you could give me tips on when to go, where to buy tickets... all tidbits of information welcome! Our itinerary includes:

Vatican City
Trevi Fountain
St. Mary of Peace
Trastevere
Piazza Navona
Roman Forum
Pantheon
Capitoline Hill
Colosseum
Spanish Steps
Castel Sant'Angelo

We're planning to stay in the Campo dei Fiori area, so most of these places should be within walking distance.

Many thanks for your help and expertise! I really do appreciate your feedback.


Best,
Karina

I <b>highly</b> recommend this spot for a nice lunch or dinner. It's a few blocks from Piazza Navona and an easy walk from the Campo area. Exquisite in all respects - a <i>little</i> pricy but not at all formal. The three of you could get by for a little over 100€ including apps., entrees, and wine. An incredible value considering the quality. Outdoor seating is very nice if the weather cooperates. Go, go , go!

http://www.ristorantesangallo.com/

I suggest for the sake of Mom that you see the Vatican Museum and St. Peters basilica on different days. At the very least have a nice nap/rest/LONG lunch between the two. You could combine St. Peters with Castle St. Angelo if you only spend a few hours in the basilica.

Go on and plan to spend some time sitting at Piazza Navona and Piazza Di Santa Maria in Trastevere - maybe a dessert, snack or drink. That will let Mom rest and have time to soak in the ambiance and off her feet. In Trastevere, consider a quick taxi (under 5€) up the big hill to Gianicolo park for the best views of Rome. Then taxi back to your next destination.

Get your colosseum tickets in advance - if you wait until you get there, the lines will be very long.
http://www.the-colosseum.net/around/visit.htm

If you decide to buy the colosseum ticket on the day buy it (and the joint forum ticket) from the forum queue (line) as it is always much shorter and you can march past the colosseum lines (queue).

Get to understand the underground and the bus system before you go. Buy a 24 hour ticket for multiple jump on and offs.

The forum area is massive, while the colosseum area is pretty big. Make sure Mom is up for it on the day.

Trastevere is a neighborhood, not a tourist spot. For newcomers, I think Rick Steves's book on
Rome is quite good. He describes walks with simple maps. How much of Trsatevere you want to see can be decided based on his recommendations.

It's very useful to have a book with neighborhood maps, not a map of the while historic center, as it is too big a map to handle on the street, maybe in the wind, with it flapping around. ( Historic Center is
centro storico in Italian. pronounced chen' tro store' eeco)

Hi charnees,

Any idea where I can get those neighborhood maps? I was reading through Rick Steves' book and although his maps are great, I was hoping for something more detailed with regards to neighborhoods. In my other Rome post that we were chatting on, you mentioned the Roma Pass comes with maps. Do you remember if those maps were using in getting around the neighborhood? I suppose I can always check with the tourist offices.

Many thanks for all your valuable advice

Since you still have time before your trip, I would try to get tickets for the Scavi Tour at the Vatican. Send an email to [email protected], tell them your dates that you will be in Rome and they will give you a date. It is a tour of the excavations under the Vatican of the necropolis of Vatican Hill. If you are lucky and get an early morning appointment you won't have to go through security to get into St. Peters. That way you should be able to do all of the Vatican, the Scavi, St. Peters, the cupola (if you want) and the museums all in one day with lots of time to relax for lunch and Mom to rest.

As we do at times of exhaustion, and just indolence, your Mum may find these a blessing in getting from site to site:

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/electric_buses

The city map that comes with the RomaPass map is one of its most overlooked benefits - with (sadly, not overly recently-updated) opening times, prices and bus and metro routes etc for many many sites on the back:

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/image/131811136

For those details - and lots of what's-on information, the like of which you'll not find in any guidebook - we use the monthly "Guest in Rome" magazine, given away in many hotels etc.

That's a real boon; to be sure of getting a copy, you can download a PDF - or read it online - using:

http://www.unospitearoma.it/en.html

Hope you'll have a wonderful visit! Although hot, August is a great time to be there, with noticeably fewer people around...

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/romeaug08

For other places you may enjoy, try:
http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/places_rome

Peter

I also went with my 75 yo mom. It was great! But as we were on a 1 day shore excursion we did not have enough time... do you ever?!
Just wanted to say that the part we liked the most was sitting for a nice lunch in Piazza Navona. Do not remember the name of the place but we just loved the atmosphere.

A nice walk over to Trastevere from the Campo dei Fiori area is via the Jewish ghetto, seeing the tortoise fountain in the Piazza Mattei, then going down Via della Regina and into the heart of the ghetto. This is an area with good restaurants with traditional Roman dishes. Rick Steves suggests a walking tour which you could adapt. Then walk across the Isola Tiberina into Trastevere.
http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/desti...aly/ghetto.htm

I recommend visiting the Palatine as well as the Forum and Colosseum. It is much greener and park like,with the Farnese gardens overlooking the Forum, so a welcome change from other parts of the city.

I am a little confused about how much walking your group can do. you say that most sites should be within walking distance but also mention that your mother has some mobility issues. If she is able to walk, that is definitely the best way to explore the city. I would get a guidebook with walking tours and a good city map. Rick Steves's maps are not enough for good planning. We found that the free ones you can get once there had enough detail but no index

The hop on/hop off tourist buses could be a way of getting around to some sites.

If you are able to do a fair amount of walking individual bus tickets for the regular city buses are probably cheaper than the passes.

Try my trip report. I've got some suggestions for maps, buses and other tips. I've also got a link to my photos if that helps.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...log-photos.cfm

I don't know about the advice that you separate the Vatican Museum and St Peter's into two separate days. That doesn't make sense, because they are at the same location.

But, primarily because you can go from the Museum into the Sistine Chapel and directly into St Peter's WITHOUT standing in a line again.

If you leave and come back, you will have to wait outside in line for St Peter's.

Go into St Peter's, take a seat and relax there.

I use the Knopf MapGuide book for Rome and think it's very good, in fact I've used it on 6 trips to Rome and it's finally starting to look a little ragged. I have used this map serious for Paris, San Francisco & NYC too.

What I like best about it, is the book is small enough to fit easily into the outside pocket of the day bag I use and it's not a large unwieldy map flapping in the wind. The book is sorted by area and each map folds out to be about the size of an 8x11 sheet of paper.

Here is a link to the mapguide on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Knopf-MapGuide.../dp/0375711007

Visit the Vatican Museum VERY EARLY in the morning. It's best to make the queue before the museum opens, it's not so hot -Rome in August is suffocating. Once inside the museum, therer are tw main itineraries? Yoy should go directly to the Sistine Chapel; most people visit the rest of the museum before, so it will be fairl empty at the beginning and you can enjoy it at leisure. It's so different to seeing it full of tourists! (you can visit the rest of the museum later).
And remember, the Vatican Museums do not accept creditt cards,you need to pay in cash.

Enjoy your trip!

You'll get different responses on the Vatican. Mine would be different than Agosto's.

We did well going to St. Peters early to go up the dome without a wait and then when to the Vatican Museum after lunch when the crowds had died down. Granted, we did not go in August so I can't comment on that.

I also have a credit card receipt for the Vatican as well (but none for St. Peters dome -- can't remember if I tried or not).

Make a reservation through the Vatican's website, for a museum tour. It will give you an entrance time, no waiting in line.

If you have a tablet, iPad, or smartphone, fodors fas a free app for Rome, which is interactive and has downloadable maps, so you don't need wifi or data. They also have Paris and a few other cities.
Also comes with light for night time map reading.

Fodor's HAS a free app!

Rome is walkable but even my sons, 19-29 were exhausted. The buses are easy to figure out and saved us many times. A good site for help on buses and most everything else is RoninRome.
He was a major help planning our trip.
Take advantage of the many Caffe's , a much needed pick me up

We had the same experience with timing the Vatican museums as indy_dad. Getting there early in the morning did not work well (very long line) but it would have been very easy to get in in the early afternoon.