Rome - best things to do

welnik

I am off to Rome next weekend and am looking to pack one and half days with as much as possible. I would like to go to the Vatican, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish steps and the Colasseum.

Any tips and advice would be greatly appreciated. We are only B&B and will be looking for some nice places to eat too!

Many thanks
Wel

tinandsue

My husband and I went to Rome about 4 years ago for a week but still didn' t have enough time to do everything we wanted!

My top tip would be to visit the Trevi fountain and then take a ride from a horse and carriage back towards the colosseum. The carriages all line up waiting for the tourists and do a roaring trade. Although I seem to recall they were a bit pricey, it was worth every penny. Our Italian driver spoke very good English and pointed out lots of interesting things on the way that we would have otherwise missed. When our journey ended, he took a photo of us with the horse. Highly recommended.

Also, make sure to give St. Peter's square and the Basilica a visit. As for eating out, we found that there were good restaurants selling cheap but excellent food on almost every corner. I' m sure you' ll really enjoy the trip. Hope this helps.

nelly_2

You can get a coluseum tour and roman forum tour from people outside the coluseum its essential to have a guide for the forum as the bring what is just a pile of ruins to life.

Piazza nervone has a load of restaurants and street entertainment too but not sure if there is the weather for sitting outside at this time of year.

donnie_darko_3

make sure you do the trevi fountain at night too

Backbiter

The Pantheon, St Peter's and Piazza Navona were the highlights for me.

Enjoyed the food everywhere, but Rome's not the cheapest city.

doogle_chick

If you are going at the weekend, check the opening times of the Vatican etc. I recall they closed at 1pm on Saturdays and weren't open at all on Sundays.

Have a great time!

welnik

donnie_darko wrote:

make sure you do the trevi fountain at night too

I Like the user name! I just love Jake Gyllenhaal!

lemontart

The attractions in rome are very spread out and the vatican and its museums will take you a whole day easily to do if not two - the museums found to rear of st peters basicillan have some very long galleries as well as chapels.

The tour of colleseum is worth doing and takes about 1 or 2 hrs at most

There is an underground train that charges for lenght of time on it, buses you buy tickets before you get on but traffic is scary to buy rossary beads when you first arrive and carry with you in your hands as you cross the roads...........and watch out for the scooters ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I am deadly serious about this. All the churchs in Rome are very ornate, and truely beautiful ........brought me to tears the first one I saw.

Treat yourself to some Baci chocolates .........................yummy

But most of all enjoy it is a wonderful busy city with freindly people.

Liz
xxx

randomtask_2

A quick tip if you're thinking of using taxis from the airport - avoid if possible!

There are a number of mercenary taxi drivers at the airport. They often overcharge as there is a two tier system for the roads in Rome - city centre and motorway - yet I've seen drivers conveniently leave it on the more expensive one for the entire journey.

For nice places to eat, the Trastevere area has lots of family run establishments, which are rustic, authentic and highly recommended. Take a look around and see what you fancy...

helenyw

If there's one thing you shouldn't do is to take their city tour buses. Like London ones, they come in threes. It was something like 12 euros for the day, and we gave up using it in the end, after waiting over an hour for one, just to have three come at the same time. A number of Americans complained to the onboard reps but they just shrugged and said nothing.

If you're interested in the Vatican Museum, I'd recommend taking the guided tour. We arrived in time for the English one at noon, so I'm not sure about other times. The tour itself lasts for about 2 hours and afterwards you get to skip the queue for St Peter's. The price is a few euros higher than the standard entrance charge, which is expensive already. But if, like me, you have no idea where to start and what to look at, just paying for the entrance fee would be a waste.

Contrast to what typical Italians would tell you, the average standard of restaurants in Rome aren't great compared to London. Seriously. I've had some really, really crap food in what appeared to be local restaurants (even those recommended by Rick Steves!). On one occasion my "spinach" was came as a very salty artichoke. Not very impressed, especially when the two-course meal for two including a mediocre bottle of house red came to about 70 euros! We're not chefs and we sure as hell can cook better than that! On the other hand, we did find a very good restaurant near Trevi fountain called Il Chianti, Address: Via del Lavatore 81-82, Rome, Phone: 06 678 7550.

daftstar

I'm going to Rome this Thursday for a couple of days.

Can you do the sights by purchasing a day Metro ticket and using their subway system?

Also, 'she' wants to do shopping. Is there a major shopping area in the city centre?