Too little time in Beautiful Rome!!
 

Hi all,

Help!! I'm travelling to Rome with my boyfriend on April 26th - 29th! We'll have the three nights but as our flights fall we'll only get two full days to see as much as possible!

Any advice on how to fit in so much, what the must see's are...etc? Have been reading posts and everything sounds amazing...i can't decide!

Also, is the trip to Scavi Ostia advisable with so little time??

Thanks for any help you can offer!
Shell

Two full days is pretty quick so I'd recommend carefully choosing neighborhoods to focus on and your major interests. I would highly recommend Knopf Mapguides ROME - it is a guide book that is broken down by neighborhoods and list the sites, restaurants, cafes, and stores in each area. It is small and a great book along with DK ROME TOP 10. But with such little time you need to familiarize yourself with neighborhoods and get the most out of your two days. We always visit the Pantheon and Trevi Fountain on our first and last nights in Rome.

I would recomend starting one day at the forum (recommend a tour), colosseum (you don't need to go inside unless it's a major dream), and maybe San Clemente church (nearby the Coloseum) or San Pietro in Vincoli (the church that housed Michelangelo's Moses)-just check times for when the churches are open. You can then walk around Piazza Venezia and up the Campodolio (much of the exterior of the piazza and museums designed by Michelangelo)_- then go in the direction of the Ghetto (see Piazza Mattei (beautiful fountain) then Largo Argentina (cats and ruins where Caeser was killed) cross the street up Via dei Cestari to the Pantheon (see the Pantheon in day time and lit up at night) and then over to Piazza Navona. Of course stop for food, gelato, and shopping along the way. In the evening make sure that you stroll over to the Trevi Fountain (best on the last night so you can throw a coin in and wish for a return to Rome). Rome is just beautiful at night.

The next day you may want to do the Vatican and Vatican Museum - then go to Via Cola Di Rienzi for some good shopping cross the river to Piazza del Popolo, have a drink at Rosati or Canova (touristy but good to people watch) walk down Via Babuino to Piazza d'Espana (touristy but sit on the Spanish Steps for a while) and if you'd love to see the most high end shops walk down Via Condotti.

If possible have dinner one night in Trastevere - very cool area. If you can stop in the church of Santa Maria in Trastevere it is worth it to see the magnificient mosaics. Recommended restaurants on Vicolo del Cinque are Il Duca and Hostoria Del Moro. The Campo Fiori is another nice area to walk through at night.

If you want a park and picnic experience then spend some time walking through the Borghese Park and if you would like to visit a small beautiful museum (wonderful sculptures by Bernini) then make reservations in advance for the Borghese Museum.

Also recommend Maccheroni Ristorante on Via di Coppelle. Great food and good prices.

Enjoy.

Wow, risab, you jsut described 2 perfect days in Rome - makes me anxious to get back. I would only like to add that Rome is a very easy city to get around in, especially on foot and almost all of it can be done on foot, right? I have only been once, will go back again this summer, but I know we stayed in the Piazza Navona area and we walked everywhere-got on one bus and some creep tried to get things out of my purse, so we threw away out bus stubs and walked and it was perfect! Also have to mention that Michaelangelo's Moses is in the St. Peter in Vincoli church-just takes your breath away, doesn' it? Bon voyage and Buona Pasqua to all
Leslie

If you have a couple of hours , you could also gain a quick insite into the city by travelling on one of the open top buses.

http://www.trambus.com/servizituristici.htm
click on " vedi il percorso" for route.

Hi - For 'Rome in 48 hrs' have a look at

www.romaturismo.it

Steve

Hi

My wife and I went to Rome a couple of years back. I have posted a trip report with pictures and links on my homepage http://gardkarlsen.com/rome_italy.htm . Maybe you can find some useful information there to start with...but you should buy a guidebook to plan the visit :d

I have also made this interactive Google map http://gardkarlsen.com/rome_italy_map.htm . It shows you the location of some of the attractions and you can click on the markers for more information. Hope this helps...have a great trip :d

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

Rome is really a walkable city - especially if you like to walk. But you need to wear comfortable shoes with good soles because the cobble stones are very hard on shoes and feet. And you've got to keep one eye & ears in back of your head so you don't get a vespa or car in your rear.

I never take buses and would rather spring for a cab if I need to get somewhere that's further away (like Temini Station).

Moses is breathtaking but my favorite and most "breathtaking" sculptures are in the Bernini's in the Borghese Museum (and the Canova, too) - and of course the Bernini's in the alterpiece of St. Peter's Basilica. But, Rome is filled with breathtakinng moments.

Hi, Shell
My husband, son and I spent a week in Rome in late February/early March and I can sympathize with your frustration at having only 2 days there. But they will be wonderful, and you just have to believe you will be able to go back another time and see more.

We rented an apartment in the ghetto right near Piazza Mattei with its charming tortoise fountain (mentioned in risab's itinerary) and we found that neighborhood and the area around Campo de Fiori and along the Tiber (Palazzos Farnese and Spada, Via Giulia) fascinating.

I agree you should definitely plan a walk in the Piazza Navona/Pantheon area. Other sights to consider there are San Luigi dei Francesi with its three spectacular Caravaggios and Santa Maria sopra Minerva and the Bernini elephant obelisk in the piazza outside. (You will walk right past the latter if you take risab's recommended walk up Via dei Cestari.)

Re guide books, we used the DK Eyewitness guide to Rome as a good source for walking tour ideas. I also picked up a pamphlet called The Streets of Rome at one of the tourist offices. The writing style is pretty dry and scholarly but it has lots of good information about interesting streets to explore.

You could easily combine a walk through the Ghetto with Santa Maria in Cosmedin/Piazza della Bocca della Verita and/or with a walk across the Isola Tiberina into Trastevere. The ghetto and Trastevere both have lots of good restaurants.

We really enjoyed going up (by bus) the Janiculum to Piazelle Garibaldi with its great views of the city and walking down via Fontana dell'Acqua Paola and San Pietro in Montorio with Bramante's Tempietto, then into Trastevere. You could do this after seeing the Vatican.

We also took the Archeobus, an open tram bus which starts in the central city and goes out via Porto San Sebastian to the catacombs and the Appian Way and to the impressive acqueducts on viale appio Claudia. You can get off and on at various stops en route. As mentioned in another post, the city also runs another open tram bus to major sights which we did not take but which would probably be a good way to get a quick overview.

No one else has responded yet to the question about Ostia Antica. I would say you should skip it this trip. It is very interesting and easy to reach by public transportation but would take up a huge chunk of time.

I assume from the question about going there that you are interested in ancient Roman history so will offer a few other suggestions of things to see in the city in addition to/instead of the archeobus. I would definitely go into the Colosseum and would also plan some time at (on?) the Palatine. You get a combined ticket to the two.

We did not visit the Domus Aurea (Nero's Golden House) but friends who have say that it is very interesting. You have to reserve tours in advance (can do this online from the States)

Of course you can't do all of the things people are suggesting, but you really can see an awful lot by walking especially because everyone is out and about in the evenings and dinner is relatively late.

Have a great trip!

Shell,
You'll have to first decide what most interests you personally (the DK guides were especially helpful to us, both the top 10 and Rome ones) before you can plan seriously or book necessary reservations.

Check also the "Must-Sees in Rome and Venice" thread, as many good suggestions there. We only had three days last time and did all our "musts" without ever being rushed.

I'll second the opinion that the Piazza Mattei location just cannot be beat for ease of getting around on foot and perfection of surroundings. We also like taxis over busses...they aren't expensive, less wasted time, and no need to worry about pickpockets.

This is really a great thread, thanks to all that posted. I am happy that I came across it.

bookmarking

Shell, you've received really great advice. For such a short trip, it's well worth it to find a very centrally located hotel, one where the charm and beauty of Rome is right outside your door.

Have a great trip. I love Rome!

I meant &quot;charm and beauty <b>are</b> right outside your door.&quot; I guess I love Rome so much it makes me lose all sense of subject-verb agreement.

Re public transit vs. taxis: we used buses and trams rather than taxis when we were in Rome earlier this year. We found it was important to have a good map and even so managed to end up crossing over to the wrong side of the Tiber when trying to get from the ghetto area to Piazza del Populo. (Not a major problem--we just got a brief walking tour of the Prati neighborhood)
One nice feature of the public transit system is the fact that tickets are good for 75 minutes once they are validated. We used this feature to take a quick ride to the Pyramid of Caius Cestius and the city walls on our (roundabout) way to the Palatine. I am sure we would not have bothered to take a separate taxi ride there but it was a minor sight that intrigued us.
We did not encounter any pickpockets but about 20 people warned us to be careful when we were taking the tram to the Trastevere train station with luggage. A friend visiting at the same time did have his wallet stolen on the Metro.

If you do use public transit, don't rely on the automatic ticket machines which often don't work (including, for us, one at the train station at the airport!) You can buy tickets at many bars, newsstands and tobacconists.

bookmark

Just got back from Rome (48 hours) last night yay!
Walking around Rome will cover most of the ground you want to see in the time. with plenty of time for lunch, dinner, gelato..
1. walk around all directions from the spanish steps, you will easily find the trevi fountain, pantheon and piazza navona etc.
2. go in and hang around the trastevere after about 9pm, bar-terraza culture.. nobody really goes out during the week.
3. The subway is pretty crap and taxis are EXpensive, keep flat shoes on.
4. Colloseum is cool, forum ruins nearby are nice to walk around, dont get the tour in the colloseum, you'd get more useful info reading out of your guidebook.
5. Shopping is expensive expensive, don't bother unless you have a very juicy budget (I didnt get shoes :( but it wasnt my birthday)

I will post a proper report soon. the apartment was brilliant.

oh the only scam we encountered was our taxi driver who doubled our metre fare when we werent looking and we then had to &quot;barter&quot; the price. will explain in the trip report. but rome was very hot, still crowded with tourists (surprising in october) and no thief problems. just the cabdriver.

bookmarking - great thread