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4.5 Days in Rome

Posted by (Texas) on

Hello everyone,

I always appreciate the thoughtful and knowledgeable answers provided in this forum! I feel bad asking too many questions, but you guys are truly the best.

We are looking to plan out 5 days in Rome (we will also go to Florence for 4 days and Venice for 2, but for this post I want to make the most use of my time in Rome).

A bit about us: we like to visit really hard. We pick up small meals and don't spend time in sit-down restaurants much.

Here is what we have outlined so far:

Day 1: Flight arrives at 10:30 AM, so hoping to find something for late afternoon and evening. I'm assuming first week of November it will be dark at 5:30 PM?

Day 2 (Sunday, All Saints Day): We are doing a train directly to Pompeii. This seemed to me better than dealing with large crowds in Rome on a holiday. It may be crowded in Pompeii on a holiday also, but it's got to be less crowded than Rome that day! Hoping to arrive back around 7:30 PM, I think.

Day 3: Our Colosseum day, with tickets for the arena floor at 2 PM.

Day 4: Vatican day, we have museum tickets for 9 AM.

Day 5: Open to anything. I'm thinking e-bikes on the Appian Way, but would like to seek out some lesser-known places as well.

What are some good ideas or walking routes for our late afternoon/evening on Day 1 once it gets dark?
Any recommendations for lesser-known places, unique sites, or quick grab-and-go food spots to fit in on Days 3, 4, or 5?
What else might we have time for on the Colosseum and Vatican days?

Thanks so much for any advice!

Posted by
5441 posts

I think San Clemente Church is near the Colosseum and I think that it's a must-see. If your trip is early in November, they may still have the light show in the forum at night.

Posted by
673 posts

We went to Naples from Rome on All Saints’ Day a few years ago. We did not realize it was a national day off (Bankers Holiday) and we found the trains and train stations pretty crowded. Do you need to connect in Naples? If I had to do it over again I would have picked a different day to go.

As for sites in Rome there are so many lesser museums that may be quite empty but interesting
We enjoyed the Centrale Montemartini in an old power plant as one example. I know you said you like to eat on the run but there are some very good food tours in Rome. Enjoy

Posted by
698 posts

Any recommendations for lesser-known places, unique sites, or quick grab-and-go food spots to fit in on Days 3, 4, or 5?

I would include the Borghese Gallery and the Pantheon somewhere in your itinerary, I wouldn’t miss them. They are not lesser-known places but are not in your itinerary.

What are some good ideas or walking routes for our late afternoon/evening on Day 1 once it gets dark?

Put the iconic places you want to see on Google Maps (Colosseum, Forum, Piazza Venezia, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Piazza del Popolo, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Castel Sant’Angelo, St. Peter’s, etc.), and then walk from one to the next. This would give you a good introduction to Rome, seeing a lot of the city along the way. You could spend about 3 or 4 hours doing this, depending on how much time you spend at each place.

Posted by
30 posts

Thank you for these replies.
This is not my first trip to Rome but it is for some family members so essentially I am treating it like a first trip. I've not been in 8 years but for a period of 5 years I went twice a year for work (to Florence and occasional trip to Rome). For Pompeii we have an express train from Rome Termini to Pompeii, so no connection in Napels.

What are the best ways to do Appian Way? I know we want to do some of the catacombs.

Posted by
9727 posts

Just note that fast train from Termini goes to Pompei (town ) not the Scavi

It’s a 10-15 min walk to the site - figure that out ahead of time

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