Anyone been on a tour in Rome? Any other Rome tips?

[StJulian2023]

Taking DC to Rome on my own for half term, we’ll have 3 full days. DC 11 and 13, eldest with ADHD. Has anyone booked a collosseum tour they’d recommend? Would need to be small group or just us for it to work for eldest.

Was hoping to just wander in the Sistine chapel but big long queue would be a challenge.

And anyone know what needs to be booked in advance?

Thanks for any help, excited but also getting cold feet! Oh - the cat sanctuary is essential according to DD, anyone been?!

Just caught up on your latest past OP. So glad you’re enjoying your trip.

I agree this is a wonderful time of year to visit Italy. You get a surprising amount of blue sky, sunny days and it’s the best weather for walking everywhere.

Re pickpockets, try to avoid the tube. They're often crowded and if you get a gang of pickpockets surrounding you when standing, then you've no chance at all. They'll crowd around you to stop other passengers seeing them when they open your bag and take your purse/wallet/phone, etc., and you won't know it's happening. They go around in mixed groups, i.e. young and old, male/female, etc., so you don't know you've been surrounded by a gang until afterwards when you can't find your valuables! A couple of them usually "block" the central gangway so you can't walk further into the tube, and then the rest of the gang get on behind you and bunch up to you to let other passengers on behind them, forcing you into the couple in front. When it happened to me, I couldn't understand why the couple in front weren't moving in more, then suffered a couple of stops of literally being unable to move as I was so crowded in. When they got off, I looked at my bag and saw it was still zipped up etc. It was only when I got off myself and went to go into my bag for the ticket that I realised my purse (which was in a zipped compartment within the zipped bag) wasn't there, but the compartment was also still zipped! I'd been all over other main cities and avoided pick-pockets, but although I know Rome was legendary for pickpocketing, I never realised just how well organised the gangs are!

I know Rome very well - lived round the corner from the Coliseum- and I hugely recommend a trip to Nero’s palace, Domus Aurea, slightly tucked away 2 mins from the Colosseum which has the most amazing virtual reality experience of what it would have been like back in the day. One of THE best trips I did. Kids love it. Tickets from here
www.coopculture.it/en/poi/domus-aurea/
When you’re in the area around Colosseum, here’s the pizza/pasta place where the locals eat - also great for kids and normal (not tourist) prices.
Ristorante Pizzeria da Michele
+39 06 487 2672
goo.gl/maps/QporNmW1ZLMD4nYH9

Like PP I also recommend getting on the train to Ostia Antica.

Older kids will love an electric bike ride out of the city to the old aqueduct from here
www.topbikerental.com/nuovosito/eng/index.php

Avoid the Vatican unless you are a sardine.

and btw we went out all the time, on the trams, all over the place, and never got pickpocketed. Just be careful.

it’s an amazing city!!

Hi OP, how was Rome? I'm going in April and I'm keen to hear how it went and any tips you might have?