4th visit to Rome

Rome is one of those cities where you can find a new attraction around every corner. Get tired of one century, turn the corner. Get tired of ancient history, turn the corner. Want more modern experiences, turn the corner. Or how about just feeling like a Roman for a while? Sit on a piazza, any piazza, with a cool drink, coffee or gelato and just "be" in Rome. Have dinner at the same place a few times and get remembered. See it in the daytime, try seeing it at night. Go shopping. Just walk in a different direction each day. You've done 3 visits? I'm planning visit 18. I started planning while on the plane after visit 17. This one will be for 7 weeks instead of 2.

And they'll have to put me on the flight home, kicking and screaming, like every year.

Sights other than churches are bolded:

- Domus Aurea: active excavation site. Open weekends only, I think, and tickets go fast.
- Mausoleo August: Newly opened. Not sure what it is.
- Great Synagogue, Lungotevere de Cenci, near Ponte Fabricio: Remarkable building from turn of 20C.
- Church of the Aracoeli: Wonderfully decorated; chapels; works by Donatello and Michelangelo.
- Art Nouveau Museum, Villa Torlonia, Via Nomentana 70: Part of Musei di Villa Torlonia; ticket office at Casino Nobile.
- Vittorio Emmanuele II Monument: Contains Museum of the Risorgimento (Unification).
- Santa Maria di Loreto: Lovely Renaissance masterpiece, begun 1507.
- Basilica of Saints Cosma and Damian, Via dei Fori Imperiali: Unimpressive exterior but some of city’s best early (6C) Christian mosaics.
- Santa Prassede, near Santa Maria Maggiore: Early church with wonderful 9C mosaics in apse and Chapel of St Zeno.
- Palazzo Doria Pamphilj: Enormous Baroque palace with one of world’s most important private art collections.
- San Marcello al Corso, at Via del Corso and Via dei Santi Apostoli: Highly ornate, imposing interior.
- Santi Apostoli, Piazza dei Santi Apostoli: Overwhelmingly Baroque, with some impressive tombs. Renaissance cloister.
- Palazzo Colonna, attached to Santi Apostoli: Open Saturday mornings. Great private art and object collection. Public entrance on Via della Pilota.
- Galleria Sciarra, Piazza Santi Apostoli: Neglected gem. Glass-covered, multi-story courtyard with 1885-1888 Art Nouveau frescoes (Cellini) showing costumes of the day. Believe entered through iron gates off Via di San Marcello (weekday business hours only).
- Sant’ Andrea al Quirinale: Bernini masterpiece; Baroque. Small but remarkable. Very popular for weddings.
- San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (aka San Carlino): Baroque church perhaps even more imaginative than Sant’ Andrea al Quirinale. Borromini.
- Santa Susanna: Ancient church with masterful façade (1603) by Maderno. Richly decorated Baroque interior. Fountain across Piazza di San Bernardo includes ancient Egyptian basalt lions.
- Santa Maria della Vittoria, Via XX Settembre: Theatrical Cornaro Chapel with lifelike Ecstasy of St. Teresa by Bernini.
- Santa Maria della Concezione: 17C Capuchin church with bone decoration in crypt (through staircase beside—not inside--church).
- Palazzo Barberini: Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica holds huge collection of historical art, some here and some in Palazzo Corsini in Trastevere.
- Palazzetto Zaccari, via Gregoriana 28: One of Rome’s strangest houses. Openings to street are mouths of hell.
- San Lorenzo in Lucina, in Piazza San Lorenzo in Lucina: Lovely small church. Interior 17C. Reni altarpiece and tomb of Nichols Poussin are treasures.
- Galleria Alberto Sordi (formerly Galleria Colonna), Via del Corso near Palazzo Chigi: Multi-story shopping galleria, Art Nouveau (Liberty), built 1914.
- Sant’ Ignazio: Illusionistic perspectives in interior (one of Rome’s most magnificent) by Jesuit lay brother Andrea Pozzo. Stand on bronze stars on floor and dome appears to rise.
Santa Maria Sopra Minerva: Charming elephant with obelisk by Bernini in splendid Gothic interior.
- Palazzo della Sapienza: 16C courtyard by della Porta. Imaginative Borromini church of Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza with concave façade. Brilliant dome is corkscrew on outside.
- Etruscan Museum.
- San Giovanni Laterani: Mosaic on rear exterior. 13C cloisters among most beautiful in Rome.
- Museo Storico della Liberazione, former Gestapo headquarters, near San Giovanni Laterani: Small but good.
- Quartiere Coppedé: Art Nouveau district. Walkable from Parioli; a longish trip from center.

I'll just add two comments about Vittorio Emmanuele II Monument - take the elevator to the roof. It's well worth the money for an amazing view of the entire city. There are also displays that identify the buildings. We found it to be a wonderful way to "connect the dots" on the city. Also there is currently an exhibit (with English subtitles) that describes some of the WWI activities as well as describing how the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier came to be - they just commemorated the 100 year anniversary of it.
And as a side note, from someone who just spent 16 days in Rome (our 4 days unexpectedly turned into 16 days due to a medical issue with one of us) - spend time just wandering and looking up and around. Look for the small architecture touches and small statues as well as the small alleys and backstreets. Spend time people watching and looking for the unexpected.

The first time I was in Rome I walked all over the place with no direction home and couldn’t believe the number of water fountains I saw so get lost. Another idea is to buy Rick Steve’s Rome guidebook 22nd edition and take his self-guided walking tours, do not miss Rome’s oldest square and my favorite the Piazza del Popolo. The 23rd edition comes out in the fall’22.
If that doesn’t appeal to you explore Rome’s neighborhoods. The best guidebook for that is Lonely Planet’s Rome 11th edition that came out in Dec’19. The 12th edition will be available in Apr’22. There’s also the Best of Rome 2020 city guide 4th edition that came out in Sep’19. The 5th edition will be available in Jun’22.

Capitoline museum and the church next to it

Montemartini museum

Non-Catholic cemetery

Acraven just gave us a list that could consume many visits to Rome -- seven weeks might be enough! ;-)

But surprisingly she didn't mention the Ara Pacis, which I enjoyed seeing in 2018. It's next to the Mausoleum of Augustus, which was then surrounded by scaffolding but apparently is now open to visit. I'm sure that would be on my list if and when I return.

Ellen didn't mention the Capitoline Museums but certainly they're well worth visiting, for themselves and the Forum view between them. Nice place to eat upstairs too.

This amazing site was a highlight of our third trip to Rome in 2019. You must reserve in advance and be sure to reserve the English tour. I note they require a green pass now https://www.palazzovalentini.it/domus-romane/index-en.html

Baths of Caracalla:
https://www.coopculture.it/en/poi/baths-of-caracalla/

Portico d'Ottavia and Teatro di Marcello, in the Jewish Ghetto area:
https://www.turismoroma.it/en/places/portico-octavia
https://www.turismoroma.it/en/places/theatre-marcellus
https://www.italyguides.it/en/lazio/rome/districts-of-rome/campo-marzio/porticus-octaviae

There aren't any buildings you can venture into but the ruin of Portico d'Ottavia and surrounding structures are right on the doorstep of flats that are occupied today! As you wander through the Ghetto area (as well as some others) keep an eye open for Stumbling Stones:

https://www.wantedinrome.com/news/the-stumbling-stones-of-jewish-memorials.html

Take a food tour (or two) with Eating Italy. They have tours in several different areas of Rome. I’ve done three at various times. Testaccio was my favorite, followed closely by Trastevere. There is also a tour near the Vatican, which I didn’t particularly like, perhaps only because of a substandard guide.

I'd suggest using your time to simply stroll. We too have been to Rome many times and after checking off the main sites (took us 3 visits to get most of the knocked out) we decided to just walk. Once we started walking we decided to stop in every church we came across. This is no small feat as there are literally hundreds of churches in Rome. We would take one neighborhood each day and devote between 2 and 4 hours just strolling and checking out churches. On our walks we saw some great (priceless) art and met some interesting and friendly locals who gave us great insight into their respective neighborhoods. Then we use the "intelligence" we gathered in the morning to make our plans for lunch and the evening. I have been a RS fan for years but never really appreciated what he meant by traveling as a temporary local until we adopted this tactic. I love art and history and will certainly hit the Vatican, Borghese Gallery, etc again but truly experiencing Rome (and we have adopted this in many other cities throughout Europe) is a gift that is there for anyone to just take and I'd highly recommend it. In this day and age, in my opinion, having a global perspective is the truest pathway to peace. I have not been to Europe since early in 2020 but we are booked to return in May 2022 and I can't wait to reconnect with my extended families there. I wish you happy travels!

THank you all, great responses and especially to acraven, what a wealth of information! To all who suggested wandering, we do,my favorite activity.

Rome is one of those cities where you can find a new attraction around
every corner. Get tired of one century, turn the corner. Get tired of
ancient history, turn the corner. Want more modern experiences, turn
the corner. Or how about just feeling like a Roman for a while? Sit on
a piazza, any piazza, with a cool drink, coffee or gelato and just
"be" in Rome. Have dinner at the same place a few times and get
remembered. See it in the daytime, try seeing it at night. Go
shopping. Just walk in a different direction each day. You've done 3
visits? I'm planning visit 18. I started planning while on the plane
after visit 17. This one will be for 7 weeks instead of 2.

And they'll have to put me on the flight home, kicking and screaming,
like every year.

Truth, Robert...

Had to postpone #3 trip to Rome from next spring to next fall, but my ultimate will be some year while I am able, to spend an entire winter--or at least a couple of winter months--in the Eternal City. We had friends that we had met at a B&B in Salerno that are from Chicago but spend their winters not in Florida or Arizona, but Rome! He has dual citizenship and has family in town.

So in February 2017, we got our own apartment at Campo de' Fiori for a week, and followed them around doing what they do. They were staying up north of Termini on Via Nomentana, and we found so much neat stuff not talked about in the travel journals--Villa Torlonia (Mussolini's wartime residence), the mosaic at St. Constantia, then back down by the station the Roman Museum and the Baths of Diocletian. All fantastic.

Bottom line is that I will do research for my next trip, but won't decide on anything until I get my Metro/bus pass, my laminated street & bus route map, and ask myself the 'eternal' question--what do I want to do today? Rome always delivers...

So many great responses! I’m bookmarking this for my trip in 2022, returning to Rome.

Also bookmarking...for an eighth trip there someday.

Bookmarking too for my January birthday trip !

On our trip to Rome, one evening, we bought tickets to an opera "greatest hits" and dance performance at a nearby church. It was small and intimate. The performers were wonderful. The scale and length was perfect for us novices.

Next time in Rome, I'm taking a compass. We walked so far and go so lost that I wished I'd had one to get my bearings. We ended up at markets and gelato stands I'll never find again. Sore feet but happy souls.

Having been to Rome a bunch of times (10 I believe), I find the best way to see the city differently is to stay in a different neighborhood thank you have in the past. My last trip to Rome just prior to the Pandemic, stayed in Trastevere, and really enjoyed it. You get a whole different view of the city. For sites, caravan gave you a great list. For me, Rome isn't just the sites, it's the vibe, the food, and the history. I loved the Trastevere food tour we did - got to eat at restaurants that we would never have gotten into ourselves.

Glenn