4 day Itinerary for Rome

Try to get reservations well in advance for the Vatican Museum if you have time to spend a full day there. Just got back last week and we, along with what seemed like half the world, took a four hour guided tour and felt like I was part of a multi-language herd of cattle. Had about 20 minutes of free time in the Sistine Chapel and 30 minutes in St. Peter's Basilica. Not nearly enough time to absorb and and truly appreciate what you're looking at. The line for those WITHOUT tickets was at least four hours long just to buy them.

Don't forget the Borghese Gallery if you like art.

The following link is to a very exclusive tour of the excavations below St. Peter's. You will need to apply for it 3-6 months ahead of your visit. We were late and missed out, but I'm told it is spectacular and hope you can get it. All the details are in the attached.

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/institutions_connected/uffscavi/documents/rc_ic_uffscavi_doc_gen-information_20040112_en.html

Congrats on the impending nuptials! Write ahead for tickets for a papal audience: http://www.santasusanna.org/popeVatican/tickets.html Special blessing available to newlyweds. Give a day to Vatican--not the first day as you will need to pick up audience tickets--and St. Peter's (climb the dome) and in the evening do RS's night stroll. Toss a coin in Trevi Fountain. Spend a day seeing Forum area(include Marmatine Prison) and Colosseum (get tickets at Palatine Hill). San Pietro in Vincoli is not far (the chains that held St. Peter are beneath altar, plus Michelangelo's Moses is there). Use one day to see Borghese Gallery and rent pedal-cart to exlore Villa Borghese. You can walk to Spanish Steps from there, and take a taxi home from the stand in the piazza below. See Pantheon by day and by night. Budget time for wandering, stopping at churches you find, and eating leisurely meals. The city is magical!

Congratulations to the newlyweds - a Catholic pilgrimage is apropos to your marriage.

Visit the not-too-touristy churches, San Ignacio, Gesu, etc. There are 300 churches in Rome.

When in Rome do as the Romans do. Leave plenty of time for strolling, leisurely meals al fresno watching the world go by, sipping cappaccino at a coffee bar, and of course eating gelato.
Then wander around and discover amazing art work in the churches. "Do" the Vatican and St Peter's of course, wander the ruins with a tour guide if you have time, and make advance reservations for the Borghese if you like art. Don't forget to take an evening stroll to your favorite piazza. The city is magic so no matter what you decide to do it will be wonderful and if you miss something, be sure you throw a coin in the Trevi fountain. Then you can go back!! Happy Honeymooning

Jeff, Congratulations to you and your soon to be bride! We just celebrated our 25th (Catholic)wedding anniversary last month in Rome. You don't say what time of year you will be there. That can have some bearing on what you do. I concur that a privately guided tour by an educated guide is an excellent way to see the Vatican Museums. You get in with no wait and make best use of your time. There is such a huge collection of art and without a good guide you will either not really know what it is you are looking at or you will spend much of your time with your nose in a guide book. One night we followed Rick's super "Night walk Across Rome" on p570 of Italy 2007 book. We made a point of going to a mass in almost every city we visited in Italy. In Venice we found that by going to weekday Mass in the morning at St. Mark's we were able to see the Basilica as it was designed to be seen, as a place of worship. Only 10-15 people were there so we almost had it to ourselves and it was a sung Mass!

Be sure to be at the top of the Spanish Steps to watch the sunset one night. The view out over St. Peter's and the city from up there is beautiful. We just happened to see it because we had dinner reservations at a restaurnant up there right around sunset. We did a "Skip the lines tour" of the Sistine chappel and landed up in a 1 1/2 hour wait to get in and got herded through as someone previously mentioned. I would not recommend taking that kind of tour. Maybe a priviate tour would work as previously mentioned. If you get into the Scavi tour under St. Peter's our guide at the end showed us how to get in right from the end of the tour. I heard if you go early in the morning for St. Peter's there are not the large crowds. Try to take the elevator up to the inside of the dome and roof of St. Peter's. If you have the extra energy climb the extra steps for the view from the very top. I also heard that the view back from the cafeteria at top of Castle St. Angelo of St. Peter's is beautiful.

I don't know when you are leaving but have you tried putting in a request for the scavi tour of the ruins under St Peters Basillica? I'm not religious or Catholic but I found them very facinating from an archaeology point of view. Its a great tour they only allow 200 people per day on this tour. I did Rome in 4 1/2 days and it was plenty. You might even enjoy a walking tour of some sort depending on your interests. Try www.romewalks.com