3 days in Rome

Roma Pass is definitely worth getting. Aside from the time saving convenience of it, the free Metro rides will be especially useful based on where you’re staying. When you can hop right on the Metro and zip back to your hotel for a break, it really helps.

Obviously it depends on what is important to you, but a logical break up would be (in no particular order)

Day 1 - Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Forum, and admire the ruins of Caesar and Augustus outside the Forum on the way back to Termini. I always thought the Basilica of San Clemente was great, though it rarely gets a mention. Stop at San Pietro church on the way back to see Michelangelo's Moses if you are into art, or explore the streets of Monti where there are plenty of good restaurants.

Day 2 - Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Spanish Steps and the old section of Rome, again with great restaurants. If you still have time, an art museum such as the Capitoline Museum might be of interest and can use up the "second museum" of the 72 hour Roma Pass.

Day 3 - Vatican. Buy tickets ahead of time. And take advantage of the Sistine Chapel trick in the Rick Steves guides. Works like a charm.

We found the Roma pass to be worth while mainly for skipping lines. We had trouble deciding on the "second museum" (the Colosseum was first.) Choose whatever you are most interested in from the list on the Roma Pass website.

If you are into art museums, obviously do those in addition or instead of other things.

Enjoy!

We have a similar timeframe in Rome in September, we'll be staying in the Testaccio neighborhood, so our details include our metro rides and stops; we'll have my fit and active, yet 80 year old, mother with us, so while this is an ambitious plan, it also allows us to modify if needed should she get tired and not feel like walking as much.

Day 1
Walk to Pyramid of Caius Cestius, metro Piramide--Colosso, we'll start with the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, then do the Colosseum, and from there walk to Circus Maximus, then return (walk) to apartment. Going in that order allows us to bail, if needed, after the Colosseum and simply return to the apartment via the metro at Colosso.

Day 2
Piramide-Termini-Cipro metro ride to Vatican Museum, Breakfast at the Vatican (7:15 AM entry) - Museums, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Bascilica; we anticipate we'll be there from 7:15 AM until about 1:00 PM. When we're done there, we'll take a break, grab a bite to eat (about an hour), then head over to Castel Sant'Angelo and the Supreme Court area, then make our way to the Mausoleum of Augustus and then Piazza Popolo, and then to the Flaminio metro station to return to Piramide station.

Day 3
We'll take Piramide to Spagna station and start the day at the Spanish Steps, walk over to the Trevi Fountain, then head over to the Palazzo Borghese until lunch. Take a break, grab a bite to eat. Then we'll walk over to Piazza Navona, then the Pantheon. After that we'll check out the Roman ruins at Largo di Torre and make our way over the bridge to Trastevere and see Basilica of Our Lady of Trastevere, walk the neighborhood, making our way to Porto Portese and the bridge back to the neighborhood we'll be staying.

Day 4 is our departure day from Rome, and we have a car, so we'll head out via the Appia Antica for a few hours, stopping along the way as we find interesting things to see, then head up to Parco dei Mostri in Bomarzo after lunch on our way to Florence.

My family and friends visited Rome this June (3 days and 4 nights). Rome is a magical city, in fact I could live in Rome, and managed to hit the highlights with some time to relax. You have received great advice already, I will just add a few things:

• See the Colosseum in the morning before you hit the Palatine Hill and the Forum. It gets more crowded as the morning wears on so if you see that first, then go to the Forum, and then if you have time and/or interest Palatine Hill. We had a guide for the Colosseum, but did the Palatine Hill and Forum on our own. While the RS audio guide was helpful, it is no replacement for a guide. In addition, make sure you take water. We were not thinking and had to pay 5 euros to get water out of vending machine at the Forum.
• The Vatican museum is a zoo. I thought when they got their new museum director that she would introduce some crowd management, but other than some restoration (especially in the map room), didn't see any real changes. We had a guide for the Vatican (museum, basilica,, Sistine Chapel) and it was well worth it, just to navigate the crowds and to see the really important artwork in the Vatican museum. Early entry and skip-the-line helps make this a better experience.
• Note in the Vatican, they have a post office. You can buy postcards at the adjacent gift store and then have them mailed from the Vatican. My friends and family loved getting postcards postmarked from the Vatican.
• If you love art and especially if you love Bernini, then the Borghese Gallery is a treat. We went one morning, you need to reserve tickets and get the guided tour: http://galleriaborghese.beniculturali.it/it. This was by far the most favorite museum of my non-art loving friends. You can then walk through a lovely park (outdoor cafe's, even a outdoor movie theatre in the evening) and then to the Spanish Steps (you will be walking down the steps, not up)--about 20 minutes, have a nice lunch near the Spanish Steps and then walk to the Trevi Fountain (about 18 minutes). Along the way are upscale shops and great gelato. If you then feel so inclined, it is another 15 minutes to the Pantheon.
• Lastly, I would recommend taking a food tour, we took the https://www.eatingitalyfoodtours.com/rome/tours/twilight-trastevere/. Come hungry as there is a lot of food, but you tour the most amazing places, including having some amazing food and wine in a wine cellar older than the Colosseum. The only mistake that we made is doing this on a Saturday evening. Our college-aged girls wanted to go back the next day for the vegan cookies and Suppli, both of which were closed.

Have a great trip,
Sandy

Thanks everyone for the responses, great insight.
We will get the Rome pass for sure, also, we will look into the food tour mentioned in one of the responses.

What is the best source to buy the Vatican pass, some tour operators selling Vatican passes (skip the line) with guide, do not have good reviews ..

Thanks
Davinder

Book your tours directly through the Vatican website:

http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en.html

I read the above tips and thanks...we are doing a similar trip, but we are going in March and staying 4 minutes from the Vatican. So on the Roma pass....we have been trying to decide to buy or not...if you use it for the Colosseum do you get the skip the line pass? Did you pre-book your Colosseum trip?
We are hoping the lines are less since we are going early spring.

With the Roma Pass, you only get skip the line privileges at your free entries. After that, you only get a reduction, and you have to line up for tickets.

So, if you are using a Roma Pass, you want to make sure you see the Colosseum as one of your free entries (you get two with a 72 hour pass and only one with a 48 hour pass). If that doesn't work with your schedule, the Roma Pass immediately becomes less of a good deal.

The big ticket line ups are at the Colosseum and the Vatican Museums (where the Sistine Chapel is). You want advance tickets for these. In addition, you may want to take an early morning or late evening tour of the Vatican Museums to lessen the mobs at the Sistine Chapel. You can get these through the Vatican itself, or you can take a tour from Walks of Italy (The Pristine Sistine) or Dark Rome, among others.

What is the best source to buy the Vatican pass

I missed the word "pass" on this earlier post. There is no pass that covers the separate parts of Vatican City in Rome, Some parts are free (basilica, crypt and St. Peter's Square), others require an entry ticket and can be self-toured or with a guide (museums), and still others can only be done with a fee+ guided tour (gardens and Necropolis).

If you run across a thing called an "Omnia Card" which promises. "St Peter’s Basilica, Sistine Chapel and all other museums and sights within The Vatican City", among other attractions, please don't buy it as it's a ridiculously overpriced thing. The card does you NOT allow you to see "all the sights in Vatican City" beyond the church/crypt/square (which are free anyway; you just get an audioguide for St. Peter's) and museums with it.