Any tips for visit to Rome please?

chrissy3634

Me and my husband are spending 3 days in Rome at the beginning of September. :j

We would be grateful for any useful information - eg travelling on buses,trams etc, places not to miss, or reasonably priced restaurants.

Any tips at all would be appreciated.

Many thanks

Chrissy

CostCutter

Hi

We have only been once, it is a lovely place.

I wouldn't recommend driving in Rome unless you are VERY confident. It's mental!
We found much easier to park at what would be the same as a tube station out of London & get a tube into Rome, you can buy a travel card for the day.
When you get into Rome you can either hop on & off the tube (be warned tho it gets very very busy at around 4-6 ish) or I would recommend you take a open top bus tour around the city & you can get on & off as you wish at all the points of interest another bus comes along every 20 mins. I think it is the number 71? but you will see them everywhere. You can either start from the main terminal in Rome or at any of the main tourist attractions. We got on at the Trevi Fountain there was a kiosk selling tickets near the bus stop.

Also I would recommend taking advantage of pre-booking a visit around the Colosseum this is a tip from a friend who went, they basically pre-booked and then met a guide at a point & time at they didn't have to queue. Once they had done this they were then offered the same to visit The Vatican.

There are nice places to eat everywhere. Pizza & Ice Cream everywhere!

Hope all that helps a bit, we would love to go back again for a long weekend.
Have a fab time!

CC

fluffy-duck_2

oh you will have a great time. I was there in June and enjoyed every second of it.
Good tip - walk. Really it is so interesting. We were staying about 20 mins out of the centre so got a bus in to Victoria Emanuelle every day then walked. also if possible see everything by day and night. The Vatican in particular is fantastic by night. All the major attractions are easily within walking distance of each other but flat shoes are an absolute must.

Bargain with street selers we got bags down from 45E to 10E and glasses down from 25E to 10E and that was not really trying to - they will come back to you.
A resturant tip is on an evening head to the panthenon. Directly opposite is a reastaurant called night and day and it is such a lovely place to sit and have a meal. The atmosphere is amazing.
Anything else because I feel I am rambling just ask!!

kellyp

If you are reasonablly fit you really do not need to use the public transport at all. We went in March and pretty much walked everywhere. It was lovely weather so why be couped up on the horrible metro??! If you are happy to chill and take your time take in the scenery as you go!
The traditional sights are great - colosseum, Vatican, Trevi fountain, Spanis steps, Forum and Pantheon are must sees.
We only went for 4 nights and covered everything with time to spare.

robnye

vatican museum - use one of the guides outside... well worth the money....... especially the sistine chapel....
st pauls cathedral
colleseum and forum
spanish steps of an evening
pope's address on sunday morning and wednesday.....

sturdy shoes required, as trams run on 2 main routes like an X, little electric buses are fabulous and tend to go down the narrowest streets possible...

blue_haddock

and don't miss the nutella gellato - it's to die for!

SallyD

Rome is a great city to wander around and take in all the sights. I would recommend you ride all the routes on the electric mini buses.These buses are commuter buses and twist and turn along the narrow streets through, past and away from the tourist sites - you get to see some wonderful buildings,markets etc., You must remember to stamp your bus ticket on entering the bus. No mercy is shown to tourists that forget - you get arrested! There are plenty of "bag/belt sellers" but remember it is an offence to buy counterfeit goods in Italy as well as selling them, if you are caught buying you too get arrested...I am mentioning this so you are aware. Rome is truly a magical city and with a good guide book under your arm you will see some wonderful places. Heaps of super places to eat. Enjoy!

colnkits

Hiya,
Have a fantastic time.

We went in January for a few days.
I'd def recommend the open top buses, you can hop on and off all day long for one price and it drops you directly at each of the attractions.
We caught one from outside the main train station

We wasted a huge amount of money(now I think about it) at the Colosseum(sp?) We took a guided tour as it takes you away from the main queues, but it only lasted 25 mins and took us half way around.
In saying that the commentary was really quite interesting.

We did a lot of walking too while we were there, and used the electric buses.

Kits

chrissy3634

Thanks to everyone who has posted tips for our visit to Rome.

It's much appreciated.

Chrissy :T

trinnylilac

I drive in London and found it no worse than that. If you are looking for cheap parking there is a multistory car park a few hundred metres from main train station terminal. It is 3 euro's for the day and very secure. It takes about 15 mins to walk from the station to the colloseum. Remember to keep you bag around your body rather than on your shoulder as bag snatching is common especially from people on mopeds. If you don't care what you look like invest in a waist belt ( bumbag) .You can keep all your goodies in it.
Hope you have a great time.

JoeyEmma

We just got back from there on Wednesday

THE BEST ICE CREAM EVER was at this place http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B3GGGL_enGB218GB218&um=1&q=ice+cream&near=Rome+(Lazio),+Italia&fb=1&view=text&latlng=41901091,12477277,13412031004177999303
Sorry for the capital letters but it was so good, I need to shout about it. Order lampone (raspberry) the best flavour ever ever ever.


We queued for 2 and a half hours in blistering sunshine for the Vatican Museums (inc Sistine Chapel). We queued up from 10am in the morning. When we left at about 2, the queue was non existant (about 20 minutes). If you don't want to pay extra for one of the tours, then go join the queue about lunchtime. Everybody seems to go first thing in the morning and nobody goes at lunchtime. You'll almost walk in!


Finally, chill. You'll never be able to do it all, don't try and fit it all in. You are there on holiday, so relax!

Trams, buses etc are 1 euro a journey btw.