What to do other then museums in Rome. 2 full days?
 

Hello,

I have 2 ful days in Rome. I am visiting famous St peters Basilica and Colosseum/Form/Palantine. Please let me know what other things to do in these 2 days other then museums?

Thanks

Ostia Antica?

There are hundreds of other things to do in Rome: Churches, catacombs, ancient ruins, Renaissance palazzos, parks, fountains, scenic overlooks.

What kinds of things do you enjoy most?

I love the Villa Borghese which is a nice contrast to what you have planned. Timed tickets must be ordered in advance:

http://www.galleriaborghese.it/borghese/en/edefault.htm

I don't consider it a museum.

how can one miss the DISNEYLAND PARIS

The Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, Piazza Navona and the Campo dei Fiori. You can walk from one to another of these stunning attractions. Evenings in these places are great as there is live entertainment and lots of options for affordable outdoor dining. The Trevi is under renovation at the moment, but still well worth a look.

Visit the Vatican - you must see Michelangelo's ceiling in the Sistine Chapel.

Explore several of the unique neighborhoods, including the piazzas, fountains and charming streets. One place we really love is the Basilica San Clemente - which has several churches built on top of one another - excavated down to the 1st century Temple of Mithras (Roman God of the army).

Just so you know a complete look at the Vatican will take most of the day (Museum, St Peter's, Dome, Treasury and Scavi as well as Castel Sant'angelo).

Ancient Rome will also take a full day with the Colosseum, The Forum (many buildings in the excavated political and religious center of Rome), the Palatine Museum and the Pantheon.

Cathinjoetown may not consider the Villa Borghese a museum, but she or he is very much in a minority there. It is a typical European museum, with an historic palace residence turned into a public setting to display paintings and sculpture.

Seeing the two sites you mention is rather time consuming, and they are rather far apart, and in the remaining time you have, minus lunch and diner, you can simply walk around the center of the city, enjoying the food markets, the fountains, the unusual architecture and observing how today's Romans live in their antique city. If you have specific interests in life -- like shopping or music or bicycling or video games (there is a museum in Rome for that if you don't mind another museum), you can do a little googling and come up with some activities you might personally find the most interesting.

It'd be interesting to hear from Maggi123 what she wants to do or see in Rome. But I suspect that, for anyone who's museum-averse, "[baroque or medieval] Churches, catacombs, ancient ruins, Renaissance palazzos, parks, fountains, scenic overlooks" are mostly about as unappetising.

OK, not parks: but who on earth would travel to Rome for the city's mind-numbingly underwhelming parks? Yes, many fountains are extraordinary works of art: but they're still precisely the kind of art usually found only in museums and art galleries

When asked much the same question recently (which started off as "and I don't like museums, but quickly added most of bvlenci's list to the no-nos), I was reduced to a few street markets, Cinecitta, EUR and the surviving Fascist-era architecture. And I've been just about Rome's number 1 fan for 50 years.

Compared to London or Paris, the river's inaccessible, the food's insular, the public transport so appalling it's almost impossible to get around without spending a fortune on cabs or coming close to heat exhaustion, the weather's unbearable (and inescapable) from May to September and the streets now so choked in summer with bored tourists the city's position on the global tourist map really does now need to be rethought. As for its music and theatres...

The honest answer to the person asking me Maggi123's question was "Rome's not for you." Personally I think Rome's classical, religious and baroque heritage is well worth putting up with its inadequacies for, though not in midsummer. But no-one's helped by pretending Rome's magic works for everyone.

Well, now you have Flanner's truculent opinion. Run out of little liver pills, Flan?

Maggi, I assume you enjoy at least some of the things I mentioned, or you could mention something else. It was an open-ended question.

The OP did not say s/he did not like musuems. But rather "other things to do in these 2 days other then museums?"

OP - Not knowing your specific interests. With only two days, I would walk trying to hit Piazza Navonna/Pantheon/Trevi Fountain. Take time to enjoy a coffee or a gelato

Thsi is a bit of a stab in the dark, but we enjoyed the food tour of the Testaccio neighborhood that we took with Eating Italy.

Do you like to cook or enjoy food? Maybe you could take one of those cooking classes where you learn to make authentic Italian dishes or learn about the local cuisine. I see Indyhiker mentioned a food tour above. That sounds like fun! I personally would enjoy a food tour of the Jewish Ghetto or gelati!

Or, take a self-guided walking tour of Rome. If you look for my trip report on Rome you can read that the city is easy to get around by foot and you will see so much that way. Just take your time and enjoy the streets and squares. Rome is just a fascinating city and you miss so much if you spend all your days indoors in the museums anyway!

Reading a few guidebooks will help you immensely.

Magnificent views of Rome from the Pincio in the Borghese Gardens.

Drinks on the patio of the Hotel de Russie or in the bar at the Hassler if you are posh. Don't bother if you can't tell the difference between Krug and Elmo Pio.

Santa Prassede is my favourite church in Rome. Love it. Wanted to do a cartwheel down the center aisle last time I was there but some horrible Christian in sandals and wooly jumper was giving me the stink eye. Dreadful people, Christians!


The Trevi Fountain area is horror of horrors! Far better to gaze upon the Bernini fountain in front of the Pantheon. The eye must travel!

More magnificent views of Rome from Castel Sant'Angelo.


The posh shopping street is the Via Condotti. Prada! Ferragamo! You have to be as rich as Pippy Longstocking to shop here.

Have fun. Don't get drunk and fall into the Tiber.


Thin

We took the tip-based New Rome Free Tour and really enjoyed it. It starts at the Spanish Steps and ends at the Trevi Fountain. In between, you get to visit some great churches, the Pantheon, and other interesting things. www.newromefreetour.com

Lee Ann