"Must dos" in Rome?

[sunnydelight]

DH and I are spending a childfree weekend in Rome - I've never been to Italy so this is our last chance before we emigrate to Oz in June. We have booked a hotel overlooking the Campo de Fiori market square. I'm looking for recommendations for restaurants and quirky things that people enjoyed! The Vatican holds no interest, but I love wandering round old churches. I have the attention span of a flea when it comes to museums/galleries etc. so I love things like the Miro in Barcelona, or the Rodin museum in Paris but the Louvre makes me hyperventilate!!!

Just wonder around and get lost. You will find endless churches, ruins, galleries, sensational restaurants, shops etc.
Get up really early and go to the Trevi Fountain before the hourdes arrive.

Definitely do St Peters, but I would try and get on a guided tour round as you will learn so much more.

sunnydelight the location of your hotel could not have been better. It is such a lovely villagey part of Rome you'll love it. full of nice little al fresco restaurant. go for the small trattoria where all italians go.
The whole area around it is full of lovely stuff to see, if you like old churches there's ll be plenty to see - one is the Panteon (in a lovely square with a great sliced pizza place in little road off at the top left if your back is facing the front of the church). also go to piazza navona, still walking distance. beautiful.
like other said go to the Trevi fountain and the spanish steps.
but you should not miss the colisseum and the the anchien roman bit: the FORI: it's great!! you really can see the old Roman Empire in your head.
I wouldn't worry with museums at this stage, there's so much 'old stuff' on the streets.
just relax, walk, have an ice cream.

I tagged along with a guide in the Forum and it really made the experience for me. I'd been before and had had to use too much imagination. So I'd really recommend a guide. Or you could just jump on the tourist bus and see everything from the top deck.

Do as the Romans do

can really recommend angel tours, they are english/irish, small groups, we did a tour with them of the colosseum and avoided the 3 hr queue. (beware the queue also winds it way around inside, so just when you think you're in ... you're not!)

I think St Peters is awesome, it's scale is just HUGE

I definitely wouldn't miss St Peter's/The Vatican - just for a wander. You'll probably waste too much precious time however queuing for the Vatican museum to see the Sistine Chapel etc so I wouldn't bother.
Definitely the Forum - absulutely amazing.

Coliseum is amazing.
Whatever you do, don't try to cover too much ground, Rome is HUGE and very hot now, have long lunches and lots of ice cream!
The backstreets where they mend antiques are strangely interesting.....

Thanks for all the responses. Might just have to do St. Peters!

I'd back up Pamina - do the catacombs, they are a real experience. But like veryone says do all the Roman stuff first, it blows your mind.

colleseum, piazza navona, i same as you r/e vatican but have to say after going there was worth two hour queue , def Trevi fountain although didn't think much of spanish steps, did an open top bus tour which would reccomend to save the legs, loads of lovely little trattorias but we asked our hotel for reccomendations and they were great and even phoned one up and booked us a table so would reccomend you ask when you arrive, it's a wonderful place i would love to return and drink plenty of wine and eat plenty of pasta, the pizza and ice cream to die for.

I LOVE ice cream

The Forum

& go up into the dome of St Peters

We missed the Sistine Chapel because of the queue, but made St Peter's by arriving at 8am!

The Pantheon area is nice for eating and ice cream

piazza navona did wonderful ice cream, at one of the ends, the little street leading off it has a toy shop, it is opposite there. They had the BEST coconut ice cream ever!

The square with the Pantheon (name?) is lovely for coffee and people watching. Get one of the free guided tours of the Vatican (students run them and they just hang around outside St Peter's offering them)- they make it so much more interesting! Colliseum is pretty spectacular.

xxx

okay folks - just come back from Rome.

That old Basilica place did I miss something?

We skipped the Cupola as we'd run out of Euro but wanted to see the Pieta - where the heck is it?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also is that IT to the Basilica, we walked into like a cloister with tombs of past popes and past a guarded marble hallway and then out. I was expecing SO much more. Did we go the wrong way?

how did you get into the dome.

I'm going to be well cheesed off here I can see - we didn't go the right way, I just know it!

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i'm determined to find out where we went wrong ....

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