top things to do in Rome
 

Hi,i've got 3 days in rome and would love advice on what the best things to do in 3 days would be. Also any handy info on getting around long tourist queues would be a great help!thnks

hi beans

if you do a search on my name, one of the top threads will be about top 100 things to do in Rome - I asked the same Q a few weeks back.

One thing I suggest you NOT do is worry about what to wear. You won't see many people in shorts as we know them in the US except for younger kids touring around..despite the heat that can envelope the city in Summer.

What you will see is LOTS of denim and LOTS of athletic shoes despite what some of the bored housefraus who frequent this board will tell you.

Avoiding lines? easy..don;t go to where everyone else is (which is kinda impossible)..going EARLY in the day..and I mean EARLY (no, not 10 AM if it "opens" at 8 or 9) is sometimeshelpful.

Enjoy your trip

Hi
here are two useful threads, the first on things to do in Rome, the other is Helpful Information on Italy, including quite a bit for Rome

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34443219

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34443340

Also, if you click at the top of this screen on Destinations, you will eventually get to lots of good fodors info on Rome, including suggestions for a short visit.

I have a long file on Rome; if you'd like to see it, email me at
[email protected]

It is easier for strangers to make suggestions if you can say what your interests are. You might also want to consider some guided walking tours--just 3 good organizations are Enjoy Rome, Scala Reale, and Through Eternity.

I'm not sure this belongs to the "top 10", but, if you don't have time to get out to the suburbs to see the catacombs but want to see something similar, visit the Tomb of the Capuchin Monks in central Rome (relatively close to the central train station). Not for those unnerved by dead people - this attraction features monk skeletons that were fashioned into wall mosaics, room structures (eg altars, chandeliers etc) by the faithful. You'll have to google it to get the exact location, but it's attached to a church. Creepy but fascinating.

The Capuchin Crypt is located in the church of Santa Maria Concezione on the Via Veneto, just up from Piazza Barberini. A few months ago, it was closed for restoration without a reopening date being given. If anyone has been in Rome recently and has further information on the Crypt's reopening, please post it because many people have this on their their list of things to see.

To get around the long queues I would suggest getting to the location you want right at opening time or for really busy places (Vatican Museum) go before it opens.

We visited St. Peters at 7:15 AM and we were able to go right in and also go up the elevators to the top right when they opened - No lines!...The Vatican had a line at 8:30 that was already very long...

"Message: Hi,i've got 3 days in rome and would love advice on what the best things to do in 3 days would be. Also any handy info on getting around long tourist queues would be a great help!thnks"

The best way to avoid lines is to go with a tour. (Except at the Vatican where this doesn't work because of securty. But go after noon and there should be no problem. DON'T go first thing in the morning, since that's when everybody else goes.) Further, don't bother to book a tour ahead. Just show up and wait for someone to come up to you and ask if you want to take join a tour. We had our best tour that way. We got the colosseum and they threw in the Forum and Palatine hill for free. The whole thing cost 1/2 to 1/3 of what of the highly touted tours that people recommend here. It was a lot better and more fun than our Vatican tour which lasted 4 hours and had us gasping for air and dying to sit down to rest while the guide yammered on and on and every bit of minutia she could recall about obscure artists. The whole tourgroup was turning ugly and I could almost hear them murmuring "shut up and show us the chapel, show us the chapel."

Incidentally, my favorite part of St Peter's is where they show that it's the biggest in the world by having marks on the floor to indicate where the other great cathedrals would fit inside St. Peter's. In other words, it's the Pope saying, "Mine's bigger than yours!"

This attitide may explain why there are no female Catholic priests.

1. Eat a pizza. This may be tribute. But I cannot help reminding you. Sorry. Rome was my first stop in Italy. Their pizza was a real shocker. After Rome, Italian pizza were not as shocking anymore. Was I getting used to it...
2. Eat breakfast in a bar. Bar is where the locals eat breakfast. It can be challenging when you get in at a peak time.

One thing that's tops for me is to eat gelato while sitting in Piazza Navona.

Beans, we just returned from our first family trip to Italy and we loved Rome!

We spent 4 nights in Rome, which equals 3 full days. I travelled with my husband and 22-year-old son and daughters ages 18 and 17.

The whole family agreed our planning was perfect in Rome. Here is how I planned it:

First full day: 3-hour walking tour of Ancient Rome with private licensed tour guide. (tour was for our family only) We saw the Pantheon, the colosseum, Roman forum, house of the vestal virgins, Piazza del Campidoglio, etc., all part of Ancient Rome.

In the afternoon of that first day I left it free to explore the many sights surrounding our hotel, at our own pace, on our own. We stayed at the Hotel nazionale a Montecitori on Piazza Montecitorio, and from there you can walk to the Trevi fountain, spanish steps, piazza navona, etc. and this is what we did with our afternoon.

SEcond Full day: Visit St. peter's Cathedral after breakfast. Then visit the Vatican Museums, entering at noon if it is summer hours. (least crowded time in summer; museums open til 4:30 in summer.)
This will take the whole day! Plan on dinner after this. If you get hungry while visiting the Vatican museums stop in their cafeteria for a quick bite to last you until dinner. Enter the Sistine chapel by 3:30 so you can enjoy it before the museums close at 4:30. Remember these are summer hours.

Third Full Day: Leave this day unplanned. You will know by this third day exactly how you want to spend it. My husband and son and daughters chose to return to see St. peter's one more time and to climb the dome, which they hadn't had time to do on the day before. I chose to spend the time on my own writing in my journal, and wandering about the piazzas near our hotel, and revisiting the Pantheon.

STAY AT A CENTRAL HOTEL, NEAR THE PANTHEON!

Have a great time in Rome.