When in Rome

ktcoil

Hello I have just booked for 4 nights for Rome for the end of Feb into March for my partners 30th, staying in a hotel which I have booked via booking.com with the free no charge if decide to drop out, obviously pay when we get there.just need flights but have couple in mind and they fly on both days.


Can anyone recommend the best things to do in Rome and anything that is worth skipping ques for, any tours, day trips out?


We love walking and staying at Hotel Cosmopolita which by the reviews its very central in Rome.


I have seen the following but unsure which to go for


Ancient Rome and Colosseum
Vatican Museums
St Peters and Sistine chapel
Pompeii and Vesuvius day trip from Rome
Hop ON Off sightseeing tour bus
Crypts and Roman Catacombs
Rome by night tour including Dinner


The above are all tours with skip the line, are they worth doing any? or are these things we can do alone with it being Feb and possibly not as busy?


Again anything else worth seeing that's not there would be a great help as never been, we have ordered two travel books.


Also any recommended not too pricy resturants in Rome that are nice? Was thinking The Rome by night tour including dinner on my partners 30th birthday day possible?


thank you

daveyjp

Even 4 days is not enough to do everything. Rome is a great walking city and its somewhere you want to walk around as many streets are too narrow for large vehicles, however it can be cold and wet in February. We covered 25 miles in 4 days.

Vatican, Sistine and St Peter's are best done as one tour. Takes 4-5 hours if you do everything including climbing the dome. Best with a tour so you can skip the lines, even in Feb/March they get 15-20,000 visitors a day.

Coliseum, Palatine Hill, Forum, Circus Maximus are also one visit, again taking a few hours, but very weather dependent as it is all outside. Can be done alone.

Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain can all be done by walking through the city over a day.

Basilica de San Clemente is near the Coliseum, less well known, but well worth a visit.

There is then a list of 101 other things you won't have time to do.

Plenty of restaurants in the city so you will need to do some research into what's recommended. Some of the Best food we had was at Dobar-Doris near the Spanish Steps.

Stressedtothemax95

Trastever is a must!! It includes a 30min walk from tube but is absolutely beautiful! Me and my friend went to Rome in November last year, trastever is very quiet and classic Italy, which is not filled with tourists. Have great little restaurants there and is beautiful on a sunny day.

slinga

Dunno how much those tours might cost but have you checked out the 'free' walking tours.
We do them in all the cities which offer them and they really are good.
OK you are asked to give a tip at the end, we usually give 20 euro but it still works out quids cheaper than the paid tours.

The free walking tour guides are very knowledgeable.

martindow

ktcoil wrote: »

Pompeii and Vesuvius day trip from Rome

As you are only going for four days I would skip this as they are a long way south near Naples. There is plenty to do in Rome without spending too much time travelling.

On your next holiday go to Naples, stay somewhere like Sorrento to see Pompeii, Herculaneum, Vesuvius and the lovely coast to the south.

ibizafan_2

Tripadvisor was invaluable when we went to Rome. Check out the forums as well, as people will ask the same sort of questions. There will be suggested itineraries depending on how many days you are there. A guidebook like DK Top ten Rome would also be useful.

ktcoil

Well my sister has been Sorento and said about trusting with us for a week/10 nights so was thinking of doing Capri and Pompiee on that holiday.

pollypenny

It took us four city breaks to feel that we'd seen most if the sights of Rome.

It's such a lovely city that you need to allow time for loitering and wandering, with the odd sit down for a beer or wine, of course?

michele-p

we had 3 nights in Rome last year, which was enough for us to feel we'd "done" everything we wanted to see. We booked timed tickets for the vatican museum, which meant we didn't queue, straight to the door and in. The museum is vast and we did a very much whistle stop tour, as we really aren't art museum people! It leads into the sistene chapel, which is crammed with people, and you aren't allowed to take photos. Then then the door back right, to get into St Peters. This was around 3 hours for us in total.

For the colosseum, if you walk past the main building, up the road to the right where the bus stops are, you can get tickets on the gate for the Roman Forum, and walk through there first, into the colosseum which is included in the same ticket.

We caught the hop on/off bus which is great for getting your bearings and a bit of history.

Just remember if you go a few streets back from an of the main sites the food/drinks will be much cheaper than on the main street.

ktcoil

Thanks yes we aren't big art fans so would be a wasted trip for us for that one .

Contessa

Make sure you wear very comfortable shoes as the cobbled streets are hard on the feet!