Can I ask for advice on Rome?

[TurningAmerican]

I know it's not AIBU but we go in three weeks, have organised nothing so really need the traffic of AIBU!

Basically we go beginning of May for 4 days - what shouldn't we miss whilst there and does anyone have any tips about tickets/where to eat etc?

Things we definately want to do are the coliseum, Vatican and sisteen chapel, maybe the catacombs?

Any advice much appreciated!

Third vote for Ostia - it's brilliant!

Unless going into the Vatican is massively important to you, don't bother - St Peter's Square is magnificent, but the queues for the Basilica are HUGE and the museums are very expensive. Bear in mind you have to traipse round the Vatican museums to get to the Sistine chapel, which is tiny, dark, crowded and disappointing. Don't even try and buy food near the Vatican - the mark ups are obscene.

Top tip would be to buy the Blue guide to Rome - it goes into huge amounts of historical detail, especially on the more confusing sites e.g. the Forum, which can look like a pile of rocks if you don't know what everything is - will save you lots on tour guides and prevent confusion!

Try and get some arrancini (also known as suppli) - best food ever. Supplizio's genuinely changes my life

For something off the beaten track, the medieval church and 1st century Mithraeum under St Clemente Basilica (really near the colosseum) are incredible - just check the opening times as they close in the middle of the day for a few hours.

The Protestant cemetery is also amazing, especially if you're a fan of the romantic poets.

Most of all just have fun! Eat lots of food, drink lots of wine - can you tell Rome is one of my favourite places!?

(Oh and pack a light raincoat - Rome's warm but gets more rain than London in an average year, so be prepared!)

Pre book tickets for things you want to see. If you’re interested in ancient stuff then I’d do a guided tour of the colosseum and forum - there’s very little info around so get a lot more out of it.

Also, Largo di Torre Argentina is the site of the original Roman senate and Caesar’s assassination. It’s a square not far from the Pantheon.

If you love roman art (and a few excellent Hellenic pieces) the museo nazionale Romano near Termini station is excellent and not crowded.

I love Rome and have been many times.
If history is your thing the Baths of Caracalla are a short walk from the colosseum and amazing, they have a new audio visual guide as well which is great. It's also usually pretty quiet.
The Domus Aurea The ruins of Nero's palace beneath the city are also incredible. Guided tour only and quite expensive but so worth it. English tours run frequently but it's only open weekends.
I love the Vatican and Sistine chapel, it's worth the queues. The museums are enormous. So
Long as you don't take photos you can stay as long as you like in the chapel and guides are keen to help. One spoke to my son for ages, pointing out areas of the paintings we had missed.
Limoncello by the pantheon after dark when it's all lit up is something not to be missed. You pay more for eating on the square but hey when in Rome.....😊
The medieval church of Santa Maria in travestere, is stunning. As others have said though be sure to cover up or churches will ask you to leave.
Have a wonderful time :)

No @Basta the Tivoli gardens at Villa d'Este

@Catzpyjamas great minds think alike!

This is a lovely, unexpected view of the Vatican www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-aventine-keyhole-rome
and for a lovely vibrant area to visit at night, full of bars and restaurants, try the Trastevere region south of the Vatican. We loved the atmosphere and found some fab bars.

Avoid buying food in immediate vicinity of St Peter's. 2 paninis and 2 cans of coke cost us €30 😮 I loved the Sistine Chapel. Have an ice crram at Trevi Fountain. Watch Angels and Demons before you go for research haha. Best tip is comfortable shoes for all the walking on cobbles!

I love Rome! The last time we went our hotel was 5 mins walk from the vatican, superb! We spent ages in the vatican its absolutely stunning, i didnt fancy the climb up to the top of the building so sat outside in the sun whilst my DH went, an italian man came across and told me he had been watching me and had written a poem about me sitting watching the world go by, he signed it and told me one day he would be famous
The sistine chapel is beautiful, as is the trevi fountain, infact there was nothing that we didnt enjoy!
Food was amazing, we brought home tons of coffee beans, the patisseries are superb and theres a family run restaurant called spinosis near the vatican where they basically tell you what to eat, every meal was amazing!

Love Rome, we are heading back for our 4th visit this year (no mean feat with 2 small children from NZ!)

I just like wandering around and in recent trips haven't bothered doing much sightseeing ... Most of my research has gone on food 😂 It's worth doing a bit of leg work if you are staying in the Centro Storico to avoid the tourist traps.

Great bakeries on either side of Campo do Fiori - Forno Campo di Fiori and Forno Roscioli. Good for breakfast cornetto or slice of pizza for lunch.

Cul-de-sac: great wine bar near the Pantheon

La Fiaschetta - good restaurant again off Campo di Fiori. Lots of tourist traps near Campo and in Trastevere now so worth doing a bit of research rather than wandering into spots. Often the good places are not any more expensive!

Pianostrada near Ponte sisto was a cool restaurant.

An American in Rome is a good blog for various recommendations.

Sightseeing wise I loved the view from the top of St Peter's but the narrow walk up the staircase gave me the heeby jeebies- so claustrophobic. Never again!

If you book a guided tour through the Vatican museums you get to jump the queue for security. Those tours also go straight from the Sistine Chapel into St Peter's. Individual visitors have to take another door and then queue up again to go into the Basilica. (At least that's what our guide told us).
There are terraces on top of the Altare della Patria, it costs €7 (cash only) but the views are amazing.

I love Rome, it’s by far my favourite city. I’d strongly advise you to book your tickets in advance for things like the Colosseum and The Vatican - some allow you to skip the massive queues. Great if you don’t want to spend hours lining up in the sun. I love spending a day just wandering around and popping in to some of the many churches you’ll find (make sure you bring a light scarf to cover your shoulders and be sure to wear a longer skirt/trousers), they are all a bit different and staggering beautiful inside.

I cannot recoomend Basilica di San Clemente enough

Beautiful church on top, ancient early Christian church underneath with fescos of the saint's story (sea scapes), and an ancient Roman temple beneath that. It is amazing. Just a short walk from the Coloseum too!

And definitely book for the Vatican! The queues!

I think you need a guide in the forum (a good one!) because unless you are an ancient history buff it can be hard to picture what it looked like / what the buildings were for.

YY to the Pantheon

Also go to bocca della verità (mouth of truth) which is in fact an ancient fountain head now in the in the portico of Santa Maria in Cosmedin church. It is said to bite the hand off of anyone who tells a lie! Great fun. It was in Roman Holiday

Just back from Rome.

It is filthy, and much of the city is covered in graffiti.

You can't see alot of the buildings because of queues and iron gates and scaffold netting.

The touts shove stuff right in your face wherever you go.

I preferred the off the beaten track stuff. The protestants cemetery was the best bit. Wandering around on the west side of the river near the botanical gardens was great.

The pavements are shocking, it hasn't been maintained and there are huge gaps all over which makes it quite dangerous.

If you prepare for the above, and for it being totally rammed in places, then I am sure you will have a lovely time.

Colosseum was our highlight last week, we paid for a tour that took us a bit higher and the whole family enjoyed it

Wouldn't bother with the sistine chapel unless thats on your bucket list

Piazza navona and the surrounding area was an evening highlight

I'm not sure if you can still get it, but the BBC in conjunction with the Open University had a free guide to Rome earlier in the year.
It was to accompany Rome Unpacked that was on BBC2.

If anyone is going later in the year I would highly recommend the online Futurelearn course with Reading university on Virtual Rome which includes walk through visualisations of the ancient ruins as they may have been (it may develop into a travel app!) and so much information to bring it all to life.

All the places mentioned here are awesome! I would say the colosseum looks better outside than in. Don't go to ostia antic on first Sunday of the month. It's free admission and awfully crowded. Catacombs are brilliant. Make sure you take official taxis with the Roman crest on the doors. Others will charge 4 times as much. No joke! Have a fab time!

I would say the colosseum looks better outside than in

Did you go to the 3rd/4th floor jo?

I think i wouldnt have been so impressed at 'ground' level but it was great higher up

I love Rome, it's my favourite city.

I'd divide it into three days. One day for wandering - Spanish Steps, a Piazza Narvonna, Pantheon, Trevi (best at night), etc. One day for the Roman part (again, buy tickets at Palentine Hill, much quicker). Take water into the forum and Palentine hill as there's nothing inside, and see both together, you can't come in and out between them. Another day for the Vatican (go early!). I'm not a fan of the Sistine Chapel and museum - would never bother again, but liked the church bit and especially the roof of st Peters. Then on your final day the Villa Borghese or whatever you fancy.

Definitely wear comfy walking shoes, you'll do miles, but you'll earn your gelato and pizza! Beware of pick pockets, like any big tourist city. They can be crafty if you use public transport, pretending to be officials offering to help.. You can easily walk most of Rome anyway. Have fun!