2 days in Rome child free!

[pancakes222]

We are off to Rome for our anniversary for our first child free break. We can only go for 2 days but it's just somewhere we have always wanted to go. Ideally we want to enjoy some good Italian food and wine, have a nice potter and try and relax but I keep hearing things that you need at least 5 days there for first timer etc.

Has anyone been just for 2 days? Can it be done to still stay chilled and have a quieter romantic trip to rome rather than it be hectic and busy walking around everywhere?

@pancakes222 resurrecting an old thread as I was searching and could have written this !
Could you tell me what you did? Hope you had a great time 😊

I would opt for three days or four days unless one flight is very early and one is very late.

I'd say of course it's worth going there, or anywhere, for two days.

It's not the sort of place that you'd have any hope of 'doing' all of in a few days, but it's plenty of time to get a feel for the place providing your flights don't have you landing late on the first day then flying out first thing 2 days later so in reality it's a 2 night/one day trip and see if you like it.

If you do, you'll want to go back, at least a couple of times, if not, well, it's only a couple of days, which you can fill with 'nice food and wine and a bit of a potter'.

It’s that length of time or nothing I’m afraid 😊 early and late flights and we’ve had a very stressful time lately and hardly seen each other. So not expecting or wanting to check off every tourist attraction. Potter around, see a few things, eat, people watch. But will we need to book anything in advance??

2 days. See the free stuff. Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Parthenon all within easy walking distance. Along with Piazza Navona / Fiori. Go to the Victor Emmanuel monument and get lift to the roof to see over the Forum and Coliseum (looks better from outside than in). All doable in a day. Maybe pre-book a Vatican/St Peters tour for the other day. And eat all the food :)

If you don't have a full 2nd day, Villa Borghese....

Eat in the Jewish quarter. When we were in Rome we went for a walk from our hotel having arrived by train from Florence. We walked over the brow of a hill to unexpectedly see the Colosseum in front of us. Totally unplanned but memorable. There's lots to see just walking around.

We did Friday afternoon through to Sunday lunchtime back in November and had a fabulous time. We booked onto a walking tour for the Saturday; started 9:30 and finished 16:00 and took in lots of the main sightseeing places. The advantage for us was getting fast-tracked into the Colosseum, Pantheon and Vatican City (queues for the VC were long even in November). It’s a long time on your feet though so depends if that works for you.

Colosseum needs booking in advance ideally - the official website is coop culture but it’s been a bit glitchy recently and wouldn’t allow bookings. There are tickets on the gate but have to queue, better first thing. Or can buy tickets via agents (with mark up!) but make sure you use one with good reviews.

You’ll have a lovely time. Don’t kill yourself trying to see everything. I’d pick Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish steps, Colosseum and Forum and some squares like Campo dei Fiori and Piazza Navona. All very close together to walk around (maybe a taxi to Colosseum/Forum).

Do stay centrally (somewhere in the Pantheon/Campi de Fiori/Trevi Fountain triangle is good) to fit more in.

Yes the main thing is to stay central. Really the Colosseum and St Peters both take a good half a day each and both take a lot of energy. So I would either just pick one or instead if stay centrally I’d go to Spanish steps, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona all easily doable in a day as close together and if you have more time maybe Hand of Truth, the Borghese Park, walk past the Victor Emmanuel Monument and have lots of coffees, gelato and lovely Italian food.

Rent the bike things at villa borghese, romantic and hillarious. Then go down the steps to the square and eat/drink/people watch. Was the best bit of our trip. Day 2 Have a coffee/pizza at one of the overpriced cafes facing the colluseam, I wouldn’t bother going in if you don’t want hectic. Then a stroll to the trevi fountain with an ice cream. Spanish steps are a bit of a waste of time IMO.