My family of four (two teens) have 4 nights in Rome later this month. We are staying in apt. near Piazza Novona. Would like to tour the Trastevere area and have a meal, is it better to see Trastevere at night (dinner) or lunch? Also, from the Piazza Novona what would be the best way to get to Testevere --cab or tram? If we take a cab what would you recommend as the drop off location. Lastly any resturant suggestions are welcomed. Thanks for your help.

Given that Roman youths tend to gather in their little groups and hang out in and around the Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere all night long with no parental supervision whatever (as well as everyone else) I'd have to say nighttime is when you should hit Trastevere (which means "across the Tiber" which it is) in order to be where the action is.(however you might want to go in the day to view the interiors of the ancient churches of Santa Maria and Santa Cecelia located in Trastevere).

You know you can walk from the Campo dei Fiori over the Ponte Sisto bridge and be in Trastevere, walking along the Viale di Trastevere, and by wandering further you'll get to the Piazza Santa Maria. I can't recall (should know) what bus goes to Trastevere from P.Navona but that's easy enough to find out from your hotel. But if you stay late, you'll probably want to just catch a cab anyway on the way back.

As far as trattorias/restaurants, I would say rely on your instincts and pick one that catches your fancy-there are SO many, and I've not had a bad meal anywhere I've eaten there. But if pressed, I can recommend these two:

Alle Fratte di Trastevere, located on Via alle Fratte di Trastevere-considered one of the best of the family run Roman trattoria with homemade desserts, and just about anything else, fish, meat, pasta dishes that you'd be looking for. Really good, and frequented by the locals. Tana di Noantri is another place that I like and is popular-great fish dishes, Sardinian style, on Via della Paglia, just behind the Piazza Santa Maria.

Thanks for the question, Ken, and the answer, spygirl. Very helfpul for my trip, too!

I think your family would like the pizzeria Dar Poeta, we loved the ambiance and the pizzas!

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Yes, thank you as well! This is helpful for our trip later this month.

I went to a seafood restaurant called Il Galeone di Corsetti, which is located on Piazza San Cosimato, for lunch. It was wonderful and service was great. It's a pretty high-end place (most customers dressed up to eat there--certainly not a place for shorts and t-shirts) and the decor upstairs was worth checking out.

I had both lunch and dinner in Trastevere. Many restaurants were not open during lunch but those that did open for lunch were not too busy. At night, there were a lot more choices.

From Piazza Navnona, walk to Largo Argentina and take tram 8. The tram only 10 minutes to cross the river. Do not bother with a cab during commute hours. In fact, after a heavy dinner, you can walk along the route of tram 8 back to Largo Argentina. I did this last week after midnight when the tram just stopped running. There were quite a few people doing the same thing and the cab lines were long.