Anyone been to Rome?

[JODIEwantsanewname]

I'm going in November for my mum's 60th, there will be 6 adults and one 13 month old.

We want a hotel that is close to the centre, esp. Vatican City, so we can save on Taxi's/buses (none of us mind walking far, although mum and dad might grumble if more than 30 mins walk out of town, esp. at night) Also some nice (reasonable priced) eateries around.

Also which airport is best to fly into? Or doesn't it really matter?

Any advice would be great as we are looking at booking this fairly soon.

Thanks

See my post in Rome.
We flew into Fiumicino airport

The Vatican is a good walk from the centre of Rome (by that I mean the Trevi Fountain, Ruins etc) but the Metro is very very cheap and it's not far to walk from the station.

I flew East Mids on Ryan Air I think and landed at Ciampino which was I think about 40 Euro? into Rome but again you can get the Metro if I remember correctly. Took about 30/45 mins to get there.

I stayed at the Eurostar International which was very central.

link

I live in Rome, not very up on hotels as people who come to visit us normally stay with us but re locations if you get a hotel that is near St Peters or in the Prati district and looks close to the river on the map then you shouldnt be more than 10-20 mins walk from Piazza del Popolo and Piazza Navona in the centre. If you want me to advise re any locations re hotels you narrow it down to post here or pm me. Cucina Umbra on Viale Guilio Cesare is a nice, cheapish family run trattoria about 10 mins walk from the Vatican and Bella Napoli is another nice one about another 5 mins away. Re taxis there are fixed rates from both airports if you are staying within the city walls- ?30 from Ciampino and ?40 from Fiumicino plus charges for bags. Have a look here for Ciampino and you can get to the Fiumicino link via the same site. Most of the cheap airlines fly into Ciampino. The cheapest way to get to the centre is to get the local bus outside arrivals to Anagnina metro which is at the end of line A and costs ?1 each, then get the metro into Rome for another ?1. If you are staying near the Vatican then Ottaviano metro stop on that line is nearby. I would advise you to have a day doing one of the hop on hop off buses as it's a good way of orientating yourself and you'll get a feel for where everything is. Having said that when my parents are over and want to do the sites we tend to walk round everything. It's pretty compact. Have a nice trip!

This was basic hotel for us:
www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g187791-d239506-Reviews-YWCA-Rome_Lazio.html

but it had fridge and thet was most important for us :)
I could keep milk for the kids there, breakfast downstairs.

In the centre of Rome, secure and family friendly.
With lovely street market in front of it and walking distance to all sights in ROme.
we went there when kids were 3 and 5, so both in buggies :)

I would suggest living coser to the centre of Rome than Vatican.

November is great time to visit, we went mid November - no tourist, very warm.

Thats fab, thanks guys! There is enough to go on there I think

Off to search the web for some good deals now!

We really enjoyed the open top bus tour. Very reasonable and tickets last 2 days so you can see everything you need to.

We stayed in a lovely traditional hotel next to Piazza Campo De Fiori, which has a market every morning, and restaurants, entertainers etc in the evenings. the rooms were completely soundproofed, so absolutely no noise from the streets or piazza at night.
It was a great location for walking everywhere, including the Vatican City for museum and St Peter's. I booked tickets for the museums online for our first day, as queues can be VERY long to buy tickets there.
I got lots of help and advice from the Trip Advisor Rome forum, which saved us time and money regarding sightseeing.
I wrote a review with photos of the hotel. It is currently ranked #8 of hotels in Rome on TA.

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g187791-d208552-r33014124-Hotel_Campo_De_Fiori-Rome_Lazio.html

Hope you have a lovely holiday!

Ooh, Jodie, I'll see you there!

We're going to Rome in November too, to celebrate my (sshhh 50th) birthday.

Never been before, so avidly following any advice on here.

lucky you - we wen't wait to go back last November and I can't wait to go again. We stayed at the Hotel Taormina, which is walking distance from the Collosseum and on a tram route. It also does a good continental breakfast. A few doors away is the best ice cream parlour in Rome.

Beware of ticket touts and scammers selling 'cheap' tickets for the Forum or Collosseum, saying that you will avoid the queue. One tried to sell us a ticket for the Collosseum, which was actually a 1 day ticket for the HOHO tour bus! He was wearing a uniform and said he worked for the Tourist Office, even showing ID.
When I pointed out that this was a bus ticket, he said that the tour bus stopped inside the Collosseum - LOL! It doesn't. I knew from TA that you could buy a combined ticket for both, and the price, which was less than he was asking!
We bought our combined tickets one morning for the Forum and Collosseum from a quiet side entrance at the Forum that I was told about on the Trip Advisor Rome forum. Hardly any queue to speak of, about 5 people.
It is better to do the forum in the morning before it gets too hot ( summer ) as there is very little shade. Then you can exit and go straight across to the Colosseum and bypass the long queue.