Rome tips please

[Freshstarts23]

Travelling to Rome soon, only staying 2 nights. Have booked the colosseum and will visit the trevi fountainbut that’s all so far. Don’t really want to book anything else that costs much.
Have a few questions if anyone is kind enough to answer..

1. Do we need some kind of travel cards for buses and underground or can we use contactless like in London?
2. Any recommendations of places to eat? Nothing too fancy.
3. Any places to see, nice places to walk, must see’s etc.
4. How easy is travel to and from the airport.

Following as off to Rome too! The omnia pass looks good as it includes all transport and passes to lots of attractions. Includes hop on and off buses too. I'm just worried about spending all my time in queues!

Whereabouts are you staying?

We walked almost everywhere.
Shuttle to/from Termini Station v easy but most recently we were staying on the other side of the city so got a cab to/from.

I spent 4 days there pre covid- so hopefully someone with more recent info will come along. We caught the fast train from Naples, so not sure about travelling from the airport into Rome.

For the trains, I recall you had to validate the ticket for each journey. I think you buy the ticket- but need to use the machine to validate that particular journey.

A work colleague recommended trying the Jewish quarter for tasty, cheapish food. I recall a flattened, deep fried artichoke being delicious.

DH and I walked almost everywhere. Along the river and between all the main sights. We did get a local train/tube to the Vatican to see the Vatican museums. The amount of wealth on show was shocking, but its was equally amazing to see.

We visited in Late Oct/Nov, so didn't need to pre-book things, but I believe the queues can be dreadful in summer, so best to book ahead.

Word of note. DH and I have travelled extensively- but Rome was the only place where we felt we needed to be on alert a bit more. Mainly around the Spanish steps, but happens at all sorts of popular tourist locations. Don't engage if someone thrusts flowers/lavender/herbs at you- they will ask for money. Don't engage if they start wrapping a 'friendly' bracelet around your wrist- they will ask for money. Dont leave a mobile on your table if in a cafe etc. I know these scams can happen anywhere- its just the 1st time I've seen this 1st hand. I did, however, feel safe and wish we'd stayed longer there.

Take comfy shoes. You walk a lot in Rome. The only thing that’s a bit of distance is The Vatican.

With your Colosseum ticket you get entry to the Roman Forum, highly recommend.

Don’t use the entrance directly opposite the Colosseum as the queues can be massive, walk around the the left and you’ll find a smaller entrance with less queue.

Is this a separate thing because our colosseum tickets are for 4pm, could we do the forum first? We have a guided tour.

I’ve come across this a lot and was initially worried but I live in central London and would never dream of leaving a phone out or in an exposed pocket. Round here they’re snatched from your hands whilst you’re using them! Will be extra vigilant though.

Taxi cabs from airport to central Rome are capped at €50 and required to take payment by card so you don’t have to pay by cash. Don’t go with a random guy in arrivals, go to the taxi rank.

Do you have a hotel? We liked Nerva Boutique Hotel, or the Leonardo Hotel at Termini if Nerva is booked up. These are walking distance to everything you’d want to see.

If you want to see the Pantheon for free, put on your best church clothes and go around 8am on Sunday and tell the guards you are there for the church service. You then get to be a in special queue. You have to stay for whole service and take no photos and can’t chit chat etc..have to participate respectfully. But can wander around after the service.

travel light and try not to look touristy. Pickpockets and moped purse snatchers are everywhere. If you get hot/overheated, pop into a church to cool down. There are tons all with gorgeous artwork.

There’s a lovely food market called Trionfale close to the Vatican City. It feels like a proper local market and has everything under the sun. You can find suppli (fried tomato rice balls filled with mozzarella). They can heat them up for you if you want to eat them straight away. There’s another market called Campo de' Fiori which is more central. It doesn’t feel as authentic though, and is probably there mainly for the tourists. We’ve still got some good food from it.
The best pizza place is definitely Piccolo Buco!

Oh staying near a big park where Villa Borghese is

Trastevere for food and atmosphere. Cobbled streets, markets, street art and entertainment. Loved it.

Second Trastevere. We stayed there. Amazing memories.
Don't bother with the hop on hop off bus but do take v comfy shoes.
Baths of Caracalla worth a visit.

The Pantheon is always free as it's a functioning place of worship. The only thing you have to pay for in there are the audio guides.

Eat in Trastevere, cheap as chips. Also eat in typical places that only offer the main Roman dishes rather than try and cater for tourists (carbonara, amatriciana, cacio e pepe) I can recommend Arlú and also a little trattoria on the street directly facing the Pantheon. I'll look for the name in a mo'. Venchi ice cream for dessert.

Avoid the area around Termini, I have lived in Italy for almost 30 years and it's one of very few areas I felt unsafe in. Spanish Steps, Trevi, and around the Vatican are all heavily policed all the time and I felt very safe there. We stayed in a Best Western just outside the Vatican walls which was fab. Lovely just to wander through St Peter's Square in the evening. Remember there are drinking fountains everywhere to fill up your water bottles.

But any entrance tickets on the official apps/websites.

And yes, sensible walking shoes. Almost everywhere in Rome is within walking distance of everywhere else with the exception of the Colosseum.

The Pantheon is always free as it's a functioning place of worship.
It’s €5 fee now for tourists. The free for worshippers is only if you attend a service and you have to show up early to get a place in the queue as places are limited.

Yes Forum is separate (but close by). The tickets allow you to visit both the Colosseum and the Forum in a two day window. So you could see the Forum earlier on the same day as your Colosseum ticket, or on the day before or day after.

If you are near Villa Borghese then you might want a taxi to the Colosseum/Forum as it’s a bit of a long walk. There isn’t a lot of public transport in the centro storico, no tube, there are buses but only on the big main roads and tbh I found the odd taxi to be worth it for ease and comfort.

I visited the Vatican and the Sistine chapel which Id love to visit again and would be first in my list in Rome. You need to check dates and times.

I stayed up n Trastevere and walked or got their underground. The streets are very cobbles so lots of walking

It is a stunningly beautiful city but stay away from the main train station areas

This is really helpful. I'm going alone with my teen dd soon and was worried about safety. We have traveled alone before but not for a long while.

Alfredo’s for the Fettucine Alfredo

A trip up Vittorio Emanuel us well worth it for the views and to listen to the bells.

The comfortable shoes cannot be stressed enough, with some foot cream at the end of the day. Those guys with the bracelets are a major pain in the arse. Don't do the British thing and try to be polite. Just totally blank them. Do not engage and don't let them grab your arm. Watch your possessions, even at the airport. On my flight coming back there was an off duty stewardess who had to stay an extra night because her bag got stolen at the airport, which had her passport etc.

Saying that I felt far safer walking around at night than in London. I bought one of those anti slash/RFID cross body bags, just to make it more trickier for them. Will probably start using it in London soon!

Amazing place though, so much to see.

Ah yes, just seen from July this year. We haven't been for a few years. Not surprised really I suppose. Still very much worth it.

We spent 4 days there in January and walked everywhere too. Transport from the airport was really easy by train :) the best thing we did was an underground tour of St. Paul's in Vatican city (have to book quite far ahead with the archaeological office there but you might be lucky) which was incredible! There are companies which charge hundreds of pounds to do it but if you go direct it's less than 20 euros each and is in a small group so feels way less touristy than the rest of Rome. We also found a really great little wine bar called Il Goccetto that we'd highly recommend if you like wine :)

Sorry to jump on your thread op.
Would people recommend booking an early morning guided tour of the museum and Sistine Chapel? They are £££ online but reviews seem to recommend them over the standard tickets because of crowds. This will be the main thing for us as dd is studying art.

Good food is easy to find; just don't pick anywhere with a tourist menu, and if you're in a main tourist hotspot then try restaurants down side streets. That's where people working or living there go.

@Lizlibrarian

Always book through the official websites never a 3rd party website whatever City you're visiting.

You need to book through the official Vatican museum website if you want to pre book.

This gets you into the Vatican itself to then visit the Sistine chapel etc

Meant to add this photo with prices