To skip Rome?

[yellowtotebag]

DP and I are planning a trip travelling to various places throughout Italy for 3 weeks. Neither of us have been to Rome (DP never been to Italy at all) but we are not majorly bothered about it - there are far more countryside and coastal places we would like to visit.

I’ve had a real split of opinions when saying to my friends that we might leave Rome off the itinerary. Some have said they didn’t really enjoy it that much and could see our point of view, some said that given we’d only be able to go for 2/3 days anyway we wouldn’t have enough time to make it worth it. But then some people have said we are crazy and that it would be criminal to travel around Italy without going to Rome!

What do you all think?

Skip Milan, it’s a shithole. Sorry

Rome in December was fabulous, clear blue skies, cool enough to be comfortable but warm enough to not need a thick coat. We stayed for a week. Such a uniquely historical city.

Venice - we stayed for a fortnight, based in two different areas. Once the crowds left, it was magical to walk along the canals by moonlight. Ditto, in the early morning light. We got a waterbus ticket, and travelled to Murano, Burano and also Torcello (my favourite island), then went on every route through Venice.

Lucca - amazing towers

Padua - nice for a quick stop

We took a day trip from Rome to Pompeii. Long day, but brilliant.

Amalfi coast is stunning.

Love Rome!

It’s hugely expensive and very busy but such an amazing place, I wouldn’t miss it. The food alone is worth it but the history and architecture is brilliant.

Two things though: 1) do not drive yourself. I made the mistake of renting a car while there and I lasted an hour. The drivers there are crazy dangerous and I feared for my life. Worse than driving in Paris. 2) Glue your stuff to your body. There are pick pockets in every major city but Rome is teeming with them, they’re like pigeons around bread.

I used to guide tour groups around Italy.

The itinerary was usually something like fly into Rome for a couple of days (historic centre for one day and Vatican the next), nip down to Sorrento (take in Pompeii, Vesuvius, Capri), then up to Tuscany, staying in Florence for a few days, maybe an overnight in Siena, but visiting Lucca, Montepulcuano, San Gimignano etc. then up to Venice via a pit stop somewhere like Ravenna, then ending in Milan to fly home (I hope I have got this right - it was twenty years ago!).

That was not a bad way of doing it. I think those trips were 2-3 weeks long, as I remember. It is hard to have a bad time in Italy, but I might do another post on my favourite places further down (… if my baby stays asleep for long enough).

What are you interested in, by the way? Art? Churches? Ancient civilisations? Beaches?

I love Rome, its one of my favourite places but of course YANBU to plan your holiday as you'd like!

@StrychnineInTheSandwiches

Pisa and Milan are skippable in my opinion.

Agreed especially Pisa! We went there to get a flight home but were stuck there before flight - so went into Pisa itself - ok there's a bell tower and I think some gardens and maybe a small palace or something but it's covered easily and we were very unimpressed by the rest of Pisa! Milan was also quite boring though you can do a few tours and the cathedral isn't bad. Definitely skippable compared to e.g. Rome.

It depends what sort of holiday it is. If you're city hopping then I wouldn't miss Rome. I would also want to include Siena, Venice, Bologna, and Florence (you can tell I've never been to anywhere south of Rome). But if you're planning to spend more time around beaches and countryside, then I wouldn't make a point of visiting Rome. I would maybe come back and see Rome in a separate long weekend another time, or several. I disagree with the idea that you wouldn't be able to see enough in 2-3 days. Obviously you wouldn't exhaust the city or even get to know it in depth, but there's plenty you could do in that timeframe. I've been to Rome on a day trip before (not my only time there), we still managed to get a full day's worth of activity in (including papal Mass).

Rome is fantastic! One of our favourite places. I would not skip it if I were you.
We also adore Venice & Florence!
We travel to Italy very regularly- last time early 2020 right before the pandemic. And we'll be back this year at Easter.
I've been to Italy about 15 or 16 times & never ever grow tired of it

Rome is doable in a few days. I wouldn’t skip it but I wouldn’t say I loved it either. The colosseum and palatine hill is incredible. I’d recommend an open top bus tour to get an overview of the city. I found it quite compact to get around the tourist spots but also found it quite grubby.

@TremendouslyJolly

Don’t miss Rome, Florence or Venice. Siena, Bologna, the lakes, Matera, Cinque Terre and Amalfi coast are also fantastic. Skip Turin, Milan, Pisa, Naples and Bari. Haven’t been to Sicily!

Agreed - would add on Verona (but can get very busy), Padua (a close friend is from there), the cities around the lakes especially near Garda e.g. Limone, Riva etc are all stunning. Never been to Matera.

I never fancied Rome until i went for DB's wedding and had an amazing time. We are going again next month with the dc and we can't wait. I think you would be crazy to miss it tbh.

I loved Rome - i went for the first time 4 years ago after being in lots of other parts of Italy, i thought Rome would be too intense and difficult to get around, but it was fantastic, easy to get around, very walkable, very beautiful. i can't wait to go back.

Loved Rome, as a city break it's unmissable.

Milan is missable.
Rome, on the other hand, is in my opinion, the most amazing city in the world.

@Longdistance

Skip Milan, it’s a shithole. Sorry

I used to live in Milan and it's actually a great city to live in.

But for a tourist, I agree that it's skippable, especially if time is limited. There are so many more instantly appealing Italian cities.

I'd go just for a plate of cacio e pepe. Or saltimbocca.

Rome exceeded my expectations when I went, don't miss it!

I didn't enjoy Naples very much, but Amalfi coast is good, Herculaneum and Pompeii excellent if you like ancient Roman towns. I liked Puglia as a region, but Bari isn't as lovely as Brindisi / Lecce. More medieval than ancient architecture. Trullos in places like Alberobello as fascinating.

Rome is probably my favourite bit of Italy. There’s the forum, the colosseum, Trevi (with San Crispino, the ice cream shop) and the Pantheon. I used to find walking via Camp de Fiori, over the bridge to Trastevere, unbelievably romantic. And I had a massive soft spot for St Peter’s, with La Pietà, and the Sistine chapel, and once did a brilliant tour of the Vatican gardens.

There are other wonderful ways of visiting Italy, though. There are the Greek temples in Sicily. I love Negombo and Poseidon - the seaside spas in Ischia, and Naples is a real favourite (although many dislike it). I used to live in Padua (and wasn’t in love with it, apart from the Giotto’s), and I used to visit Bologna a lot, but it wasn’t my favourite. I find Milan, Bergamo and Como very beautiful in the winter, and have spent many summers camping by the sea in blistering heat in Otranto (Puglia).

Things that I haven’t done, but would like to, are the Cinque Terre and the Saturnia hot baths near Florence.

Honestly I would skip Rome because it's never done a huge amount for me. It's a proper city city, like London or Barcelona, so it's set up for people to live and work rather than being a tourist centre. Which is obviously great for people who live there but for me made it less of a holiday-y tourist place. I would focus on doing the other smaller cities (Florence is the best place in the world) and also if you're going in the summer I'd make sure you've got some down time to relax by the sea / in the Tuscan hills.

Going against the grain- I really dislike Rome. I went once with school (so a very artificial experience) and hated it. I thought I would try it as an adult with DH and still didn't like it at all. It was filthy and underwhelming. I much preferred Capri, Sorrento, Florence, Padua.

I have only been once in 1998 and I can still say with some confidence that Rome is one of the most interesting cities I have ever been to. I went for five days but I think you can still do a lot in three.

OMG I can’t believe I have just looked up thread and somebody said it is not for tourism!

If you like history then it is a must.

I would skip Milan, Pisa and Naples.