To ask for help planning a 3 day Rome itinerary in January

[Axlcat]

I posted before asking for ideas for a 50th birthday trip in January and I’ve settled on Rome. It will be the first time I’ve been.

Id love any recommendations on what to see/ not to see and any fabulous reasonably priced restaurants. We’ll be there pretty much 3 full days.

Would like to book queue skip tickets for the Vatican and colosseum. Can anyone recommend which sites to book tickets please are there are so many.

thanks! So excited!

Place marking

There was a thread with recommendations for Rome very recently. I'll see if I can find it and provide the link.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5221706-rome-advice?page=1

Vatican you can book direct, Colosseum, Palatine etc via coopculture.it

Gently, you’re not going to have a lot of time with three days. Any chance of extending it? If you did the Vatican museum with Sistine chapel and the basilica (I recommend the crypt as well as climbing the dome) you’d be spending quite a few hours. The colosseum and Roman Forum would be another fairly long stretch. I wouldn’t want to skip either. You would definitely want to see the pantheon (fairly quick) and the trevi fountain (also fairly quick) and other things like piazza Navona and the Spanish steps - all of this would take a large chunk of time too. And that doesn’t even touch on the bazillion of hidden gems which are, imo, even more beautiful - the lasagna church, the capuchin crypts, and just wandering in and out of random churches and discovering Caravaggios just randomly dotted about.

You will have an amazing time, especially if you plan well, but as the famous saying goes, you could spend a lifetime in Rome and not see all it has to offer. I generally find those who just scratch the surface don’t like it much, and those who delve in fall in love (can you tell how much I love it?).

Definitely stay centrally. You don’t need to bother with traveling in from the outskirts each day.

Agreed, 3 days is nowhere near long enough. But book Vatican on one day, Forum, Colosseum & Palatine on another. Booking essential.
Then leave the 3rd day free just to wander - Piazza Navona, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain (altho it is currently behind scaffolding), Spanish Steps, Theatre of Marcellus, Mouth of Truth, San Ignazio church, Trastevere....... you can only choose a few of these, timewise. If you like art, Galleria Borghese, but it has to be booked in advance.

Take really comfy flat shows, get up early each morning, be prepared for a lot of walking. Make time for regular coffee stops.

By the way, I've been to Rome 8 or 9 times, and there are still things I'm waiting to see!

We had a fantastic and very knowledgeable tour guide who picked us up from our hotel in an a/c cab and took us around all the sights, stopping and waiting for us whenever we wanted to see anything- and who also took us to a fabulous restaurant tucked away in the hills above Rome.
Worth every penny - found him on Tripadvisor.
Booked the Colossium and the Vatican separately. Be aware that you will need long trousers/skirt and also a covering for your shoulders/arms to gain entry to the Vatican . For anyone who forgets there's a guy doing a roaring trade in dodgy track suit bottoms and ladies scarves nearby.

We had 4 days and saw everything we wanted to. Stayed to trastevere which was lovely for eating out in the evening. Booked colloseum + roman forum guided tour through get your guide, 24hrs in advance, free cancellation. Took ourselves to the Vatican and climbed to the dome. Wandered round pantheon, trevi fountain and circus maximus. Even visited the area Julie's caesar was supposedly assassinated, although it's really just a cat sanctuary now, great takeaway pizza place opposite there for a quick lunch. Loved Rome, ate so well !

We did Colosseum and Roman Forum in one day. We went to the upper levels which was really nice.

Did Vatican City/Sistine Chapel in a morning as we weren’t particularly bothered about the museum so walked through that very quickly. Walked past the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain in the evening.

We then got the train to Naples and did Pompeii and Vesuvius. We stayed overnight to do Herculaneum the next day. I reckon you could do Pompeii as a long day trip from Rome.

Thanks everyone - will go through and look at some of these recommendations. Completely understand I won’t even scratch the surface in 3 days hence looking for advice on the best things to see in a short space of time (do wish I had more time!)

id like to book tours - which sites are best? Does anyone have recommendations on which companies to use?

We did a free walking tour (pay a tip) as soon as we got to Rome.
That took us around all the main sights like trevi fountain, coliseum, spanish steps and we learnt a lot. Tour guide was really good.
The next day we did Sistine chapel and Vatican. Book directly.
Third day, we went inside the coliseum and wandered around a bit more.
We walked everywhere so saw lots (and didn't feel too guilty eating pasta followed by tiramisu)

Worth keeping in mind it’s the Vatican Jubilee year in 2025 so it will be busier than usual with a lot of pilgrims.

I went to Rome twice this year, we loved it. A number of sites were closed or covered for refurbishment ahead of the jubilee so hopefully you’ll be able to see them now.

At a book direct on their site. There is a breakfast tour at 7.30am that means you get in before it's busy.

We did this Collosseum tour - www.takewalks.com/rome-tours/colosseum-tours-rome/

Ignore comment re 3 days we only went for 2 and squeezed everything in!

Food tours with Eating Europe are also good.

Opera at St Paul's within the Walls if you are there on a Friday night.

That should say "Vatican" book direct on their site - not "At a" !!

I plotted everything I wanted to see onto a Google map. When we were out and about it was then very easy to meander in a meaningful way & take everything in.

Following, as I love Rome

Check out this blog https://affordacool.wordpress.com/2023/02/15/rome/

which has a 3 day itinerary for Rome and loads of tips.