Rome in a weekend. What to see? Pease help me plan

[Colddayhotcuppa]

Planning a weekend trip to Rome, I know it needs much longer than that. But is it possible to do this is a weekend? We would be going in late September. I have an 18 year old. What are the absolute must sees and how to book? And any decently located hotel recommendations?
we've never been and would love to do some of the historical sites.

It's such a 'big' city and I feel overwhelmed so would be grateful for any suggestions. Many thanks 😊 🙏

You can do all the “big hitters” in a weekend. You need to book the Colluseum and Sistine Chapel in advance. If you Google them then check the results to find the ones that are from the actual sites rather than third party providers.
its a wonderful city to wander about as there is something ancient and beautiful around every corner. The Trevi fountain and Spanish steps are sites you can just seek out when you’re wandering. They’re too busy really to linger.

Villa Borghese is a beautiful park on the edge in the centre of the city and is the perfect place to escape too.

As a city it’s very busy and often hot. But, you’ll have an amazing time!

Thanks so much @delightfuldweeb that's great. Any hotel recommendations?

H say that the main things to do are the Pantheon, Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Sistine Chapel and Roman Forum.
To fully appreciate the Colosseum, along with the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill (which often come with the same ticket), you'll need at least 3 hours. you can do them on 2 consecutive days ( if I remember correctly).
For the Trevi Fountain, you could save time by going after 9pm or before 9am. During the day, from 9- 9, you'll need to join a queue and access is limited to 400 people at a time.
It only takes about an hour to visit the Pantheon and the best sunlight is 11-1pm. If you want to avoid crowds, then you should avoid Mass. Mass timings are 5pm on Saturdays and 10:30am on Sundays it starts getting busy an hour before.
The Vatican Museums are closed on Sundays, with the exception of the last Sunday in each month. If you’re not visiting on the last weekend, then I suggest going on Saturday afternoon.

Download Rick Steve's Europe and download the tours.
Save's you a fortune on guided tours/headsets
There's ones for colliseum, forum etc

We did the Welcome to Rome Immersive experience, really brought the city to life.

Thank you for this

How can I access this ? is it an app? Also as it's the anniversary this year is it likely to be extra crowded?

Everything everyone else said but also drinks/ lunch in one of the cafes opposite the Pantheon. I have sipped limoncello there more than once. And of course the Pantheon itselfi

It depends what interests you. I was in Rome for 48 hours in March with DH, and with a fixed event taking up about half of one day. We had some excellent meals, saw the Caravaggio exhibition at the Palazzo Barberini, spent a few hours the Galleria Borghese, went to Santa Maria della Vitoria to see the Bernini St Teresa, walked in the Borghese park, and went out to the Protestant cemetery to see Keats’ grave, and had a few drinks in a bar overlooking the Circus Maximus.

It was absolutely lovely. What I’m saying is that Thete are no ‘must sees’ in any city, there’s only what interests you. It’s a gorgeous city just to wander in.

We booked an audience with the Pope! (we thought it was amusing, literally many hundreds of other people there, quite an experience).

We also booked a guided tour of the Vatican museums, which we thought worked out well.

We were staying near the Termini and found a great cafe in the road next to the station

also, watch out for pickpockets

https://welcometo-rome.it/welcome-to-rome-experience/

Yes

We’re going for 3 days later this month. The website
https://www.romewise.com/ has been invaluable in planning everything from public transport to what to wear.

We’re wandering around the Spanish Steps, Trevi Foundation and Pantheon (€5 in advance) on our first afternoon before dinner.

We’ve booked a guided tour to the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palantine Hill.

Final day, we’re doing an early morning guided tour of the Vatican museums, Sistine Chapel and Saint Peters Basilica.
(St Peters is closed on a Wednesday as the Pope is in residence but is definitely worth a visit as you can climb all the way to the top of the dome and look out over St Peter’s Square).

We booked with TUI and are staying at Hotel Canada.
https://www.hotelcanadaroma.com/en/

Remember to take your passport when visiting Vatican City. And both sexes must cover shoulders and knees in the churches and chapels.

We stayed in the Aventino district. It was around a 10 - 15 minute walk to the centre so very accessible. Can’t remember the hotel name - sorry.
The colosseum and Vatican museums and Sistine chapel - book in advance.

Hotel Santa Maria in the Trastavere area is lovely. Controversial but I would skip the Vatican.

The map room in the Vatican museum was a favourite. As was the piazza del popolo with the adjacent gardens (mentioned above)

I went with 16 year old DS in October.. had left it way to late to book directly so had to pay for third party tours.. but that was fine. We focused on the things we wanted to see and not on the myriad of things we might be missing. Stayed in a pretty grotty Airbnb near the train station... walked a huge amount but also took lots of buses. We had a great time.

Really recommend you do a Segway tour - takes in Forum, Circus Maximus, outside the Coliseum, up on the hill etc in quick time and less energy!

We hated the Vatican, ridiculously crowded and chaotic (even when prebooked) and you have to shuffle through MILES of corridors before you get to the Sistine Chapel by which time you’ve lost the will to live let alone appreciate the ceiling!

Well worth booking Coliseum, if no luck on the official website try Viator (we did this)

We did a package with BA holidays, way cheaper than booking even EasyJet plus hotel.

a meal at Cafe Canova Tadolini if you love Kool arty surroundings
Gianicolo hill or Orange Garden for a romantic sunset view of the eternal city👍🏿

We did -

Friday - general look around, Piazza Navone, Pantheon, Opera.

Saturday - breakfast at the Vatican, Collosseum and Pallatine Hill tour.

Sunday - Spanish steps, food tour and home.

Be careful where you book tickets from, there are so many third party online websites which make themselves sound like the only way to get the best tickets. They just seem to sell at a markup to me. We got hit with Vatican Museum early entry tickets that way - we paid FAR too much wtih a third party seller and you end up hanging aroudn waiting for everyone to arrive. And still have to queue. Use the official sites direct with the venue - always ending in "it". Book in advance (at least a month ahead during summer).

Look at where the main sites are on a map and plan so that you see all the things in one area at one time so you're not going backwards and forwards unnecessarily.

We;ve been twice now:

First time was a city break (we arrived just after lunch and then had the next 2 full days in Rome and then took an early evening flight the day after that) and we stayed at a hotel right at the Pantheon on the square - it was amazing. We opened our window and could almost touch the pantheon, there was an opera singer in the square outside, a buzzy atmosphere. We walked everywhere as I feel it's the best way to get the proper feel of a city and it's a fantastic city to walk around. The furthest place was to the Vatican museum. Piazza Navona, the Campo Fiori market, Trevi fountain and Spanish steps were all close by.

We had combined tickets to the Colosseum and Roman Forum (again, third party seller, so expensive). We did that in the afternoon of the day we got there.

Went to Vatican city area early morning next day and went in the Vatican Museum (the busiest place I've ever been in my life akin to the London Underground at morning rush hour, it was literally shuffling along, it was so claustrophobic I didn't enjoy the Sistine chapel when we got to that bit and just wanted to get out). You can go in St Peter's Basilica for free as it just operates as a normal church too, but unfortunately it wasn't open on the day we were there till later on and we didn't have time to hang around.

We had a coffee in Piazza del Popolo then went for a walk around the Villa Borghese gardens.

One evening we went to the Travestere area for dinner - that was buzzing and atmospheric.

I love love LOVED Rome! We just came back off a cruise last weekend and had a day in Rome from Civitavecchia. We chose to see the stuff we hadn't already seen - St Peter's Basilica, had lunch in Trastevere, then went to the Castel Sant Angelo, then back to the ship. I think the others on our cruise felt there was too much to try and see and they felt rushed. It was their first and only visit to Rome. It definitely is a city that takes a return visit if you only have a weekend.

You will love it all and I'm so jealous. Enjoy just strolling through those little back streets finding a nice little local restaurant.....

I agree about the Vatican Museum. It wasn't a nice experience. They just let too many people in.

I assume you mean the Vatican Museum. OP, St Peter's Basilica and St Peter's Square in Vatican City are actually easy to see. You just turn up. hardly any queues when we went last week. You just have to have your bag scanned for security and then in you go. It's big enough not to feel claustrophobic inside. It's worth a visit, I'd say, just for the scale of it all.

If you really must go to the Vatican Museum itself I would try to go late afternoon near closing maybe, if I ever went back. I just couldn't stand the crowds, it made me all on edge.