5 nights in Rome

Sorry-I guess this also would be a good time to ask about Venice-we will take the train and spend 3 nights in Venice-any ideas? Thanks again

Has anyone stayed at Quodlibet Hotel in Rome? Thanks

It would help if you would include all of your stops/places on the trip and the exact amount of nights in Italy.

Fly into Venice and out of Rome so you won't back track.
5 nights in Rome is a lot, 4 is usually enough, even with The Vatican..maybe add Florence
Prepare for cold, damp weather.

Hotel Adriano in Centro Storico

... is wonderful...walk 8-15 minutes to most major sites..such as Piazza Navona, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, walk to Trastevere etc...great hotel, quiet, English spoken, super breakfast and 4 seating areas in the lobby including the lobby bar and a quiet little nook. They have great pricing NOW on Booking.com for March.

as far as hotel you inquired about, I don't recommend staying in or near Vatican City...

Thanks! Ok we fly into Rome and have 8 nights in Italy and will take a train to Zermatt on the 9th day for 3 nights and then train to Paris for 4 nights and fly out of Paris. Does this sound doable? Thanks again

5 nights in Rome is a lot, 4 is usually enough,

I'll respectfully disagree with that, depending on one's interests. I've spent more time than that in Rome over multiple trips and my to-do list is still long! Day trips are possible as well.

I don't recommend staying in or near Vatican City...

Tourists can't stay IN Vatican City but we've stayed in the Prati district - where Quodlibet Hotel is located - and enjoyed it very much. That hotel is very close to a metro station, which would be useful for getting to the southern part of the city and in-and-out of Termini for flights/trains. For a first-timer, it's possible that you'd want to be a little more centrally located as Prati is pushing the northern limits of the larger area where tourists spend most of their time but again, we enjoyed that neighborhood.

We've had two 5-night visits to Rome and I still could go back for another 5! We stayed in the Colosseum area both times (the 2nd time at a great airbnb apartment just steps from the Col...literally - it was a block away and you could gaze out the window at the Colosseum), but people seem to like Pantheon and Campo di Fiori areas...

I have to disagree too that 5 nights is too much. Also I disagree that the Vatican area isn't a good one to stay in. I love that area. It's very easy to take public transportation into the center of the city and yet at night you can walk around without the hordes of tourists everywhere.

Since you're visiting both Rome and Venice I would say to fly into one and out the other. This will eliminate back tracking.

Donna

Mark your 3 country itinerary sounds very doable and I like the amount of time you've allocated for each place you want to experience. Flying into Rome and out of Paris is efficient.

We often stay in the Vatican neighborhood at the Amalia Hotel. We love its proximity to the Vatican complex, the metro and a major bus stop. We also enjoy walking to and from central Rome from this neighborhood. Many other people prefer to stay closer to Campo Fiore, Coliseum or the Borghese. I don't recommend the Termini train station and nearby government building area as one is too lively and the other area is more dead at night.

EDIT: I see the location of the Rome hotel you asked about. It is about 4 blocks further away from the Amalia where we usually stay. Both hotels have triples and family rooms. I'd look at both hotels in this neighborhood. I'd prefer the one closer to the Vatican and equidistant to the metro stop. Also I think it's a more interesting walk through the business areas, restaurants and sites to the other side of the Tiber from the Amalia if you choose the Vatican area.

Hi Mark,

I am doing something similar this summer with 3 kids ages 9, 12, and 14. We are staying 5 nights and chose the Trastevere neighborhood. It is featured in one of RS' Rome shows - they are online - in which he describes it as one of the more authentic neighborhoods in Rome. Also, it is not in the busiest part of the city, but/and ~equidistant to all the sites. I can walk one way to the Coliseum, and the other to the Vatican. We are across the bridge from the Jewish Ghetto, etc. And when we want to be out of the crush of the city/tourist center, we can stroll around and eat in Trastevere. Plus there is a park on its edge, and if the kids need some running around, we'll go there for a break. We'll be in Rome for 4 ½ days as we arrive in the afternoon and leave in the morning of our last day. We are staying in a VRBO, because with 5 people, it is the most economical.

...5 nights in Rome is a lot, 4 is usually enough,....

That is a very personal opinion. Over the years we have spent about three weeks in Rome and for us we will go back for more days since there are still many things we have not seen. Four or five nights will provide a good overview and a brief taste of the city but you cannot cover it that quickly. So just plan on returning.

Five nights may be enough if your aim is to cover the commonly perceived "must-sees" in swift fashion. I love Rome and scouring it's backstreets, the second time we stayed for two weeks in an apartment close to the Vatican on Via Crescenzio. Why not consider renting an apartment for 5 nights?

Mark--

PM me if you want a line on a cheap but great little apartment that looks out on Campo de' Fiori, if your daughter doesn't mind sacking out on a couch! Otherwise there are larger apartments as well that these folks own. We were just there, also in March, for 6 nights, could've done a week more easily, and still only saw a couple of the alleged 'must-sees' of Rome.

What's my must-see? I call them 'anti-must-see's'! The Campo fruit & vegetable market each morning. Tremendous strawberries and blood oranges from Sicily. The little tabacchi shop around the corner that I'd nip into for a pick-me-up espresso. The Tiber river in the morning, as quiet as the cars screaming by on the perimeter roads are loud. Not-well-known museums and churches like the Baths of Diocletian, Villa Torlonia, St. Agnese and St. Costantia. Oh, and St. Peter-in-Chains..actually that's pretty well known, it houses a statue of Moses by Michelangelo. At Elle Effe, the best Sicilian cuisine I've ever tasted...in Rome!

Enjoy your planning--in Roma, it's worth it to think outside the box!

I have to join the chorus: 5 nights in Rome is not too long! We spent 4.5 years living there and never "finished." Palazzo Olivia near Piazza Navona is a great location and should be close on budget. Many like Hotel Smeraldo in the same area. Very walkable!

So many good trattorie! Try Antica Taverna just west of P.za Navona on Via Monte Giordano for affordable and classic Roma cuisine. Head over to Trastevere to Dar Poeta for pizza or in Testaccio, Da Remo does thin Roman crust pizza. (These are two of our favorites.) Take Tram #19 from P.za Risorgamento all the way to Parioli and try Taverna Rossini for a neighborhood experience (this is where we lived).

In Venice, try Bottega ai Promessi Sposi (reservations a good idea) for affordable and excellent food. We always go to Nono Risorto, and Trattoria Bar Pontini has never disappointed. As to Venice hotels, Ca'Angeli and Locanda La Corte are fine places to stay if you can get in. Shouldn't be a problem in March.

In 8 days total in Italy...
5 nights in Rome is a lot if the objective is to go other places..tough crowd here.

Obviously if the OP wants to do and see more than the main sights or has a special interest in exploring an area like The Vatican for 2 full days that traveler would add days.

I gave my experience....staying in Centro Storico in Oct. 2016, very rainy btw, so being close to major sights that a first time like OP would most likely want to walk to in MARCH, also rainy...could be advantageous.

Good point, JJ--

With only 8 nights 'boots on the ground', I'd have to really weigh time spent at one base vs. what else I'd like to do.

Admittedly, I've never been to Venice. For some, it's their absolute favorite place in Italy, which is so cool because I think if you ask 20 repeat travelers to Italy you might get 15 different answers as to their favorite spot. My litmus test question to myself has been, '...if I had to spend a month in Italy and could only pick one base, where would it be?'

It used to be Florence. Neighborhood-y, from the SMN station you can get virtually anywhere from its central location--it's just a great hub. But our second trip there, it almost felt a little claustrophobic after a few days, and frankly there was a lot of sameness in the cuisine. I didn't complain, however, as being anywhere in Italy is better than being home!

But now my heart is in Rome, after almost a week in a little apartment overlooking a market, having pretty much mastered the city bus/Metro system--no small task--and also solving the massive edifice of weirdness that is Roma Termini station. And I observed, IMHO, that tourists that were in Rome in early March seemed to be absorbed into Roman society a lot better than Florence at the same time of year. Even at St. Peter's there was room to move--'advantageous' as you said, JJ. And even though I stayed with Italian cuisine the whole time there--as opposed to McDonald's or the like--for something different I was able to groove on Napolitan pizza, or authentic dishes from Puglia or Sicily--just awesome.

My .02 Euro...formerly lira...

Thanks everyone for the great feedback! Now for the monkey wrench: we have deleted Zermatt from our trip and would like to add Amalfi-we fly into Rome and after 11 nights will fly from Venice to Paris--we now need to rearrange our itinerary--any suggestions? if we do Amalfi Coast does a visit to Pompeii make sense? Thanks again- sorry to switch it up so severely!

Sounds to me like you really enjoy putting this trip together! Good for you - and glad to know I'm not the only one!

Amalfi Coast. My suggestion, stay in Sorrento. You can easily get to Capri, the rest of the coast (by boat or bus is my suggestion) and Pompeii.

Rome. There's never enough time in Rome. Period. So, do your homework and decide what your daughter wants to see. Shopping, history, music, art, ruins - it's all there. If you get tired of one century just turn left and you'll be in a different one! Can I suggest getting an apartment? I stay just off of Piazza Navona. You can get everywhere in Rome pretty much on foot from there. And you can take advantage of the fresh fruit and vegetables, meats and cheeses and breads from Campo di Fiori. I like Trastevere for dinner and an evening passaggiata (walk). It's a great place for families to hang out.

Venice. That's my favorite place. Instead of going to a museum to see things, Venice is a place where you actually walk in the art. Hard to explain but I don't feel like I 'see Venice' as much as I 'am part of Venice' when I'm there. Venice airport is much easier to deal with then Rome. The flight to Paris should take you right over the Alps - another exciting thing for the family to remember.

Enjoy! Remember that the Italians have a custom called the 'riposo.' Between about 1:00 and 4:00, they have a good lunch, take a long nap and then they head out for the second part of their day, be it work or pleasure. With a 10 year old I should think that break with come in handy!

Mark--

Adding the Amalfi Coast is good, but in March the actual coastal towns are still closed up for the most part, but still a great area to visit that time of year. You may hit some inclement weather as we did, but it's still worth it for the lack of tourists.

As I stated above, in early March of this year we followed 6 nights at an apartment in Rome with 5 nights at a B&B in Sorrento, which is not actually on the A.C. but more open for business that time of year than anyplace else on the peninsula. That's where I would stay, visiting the A.C. by bus and Pompeii by train. Oh--don't miss the Archeological Museum in Naples, housing all the art taken away from Pompeii in the 1750's--fabulous.

Only problem is it'll be a long trip to Venice--7 hours by train from Sorrento, or a 3 hour flight from Naples, which is what I'd do. Stay in Sorrento, take the Curreri Viaggi bus early the morning you leave to Napoli Capodichino, then the flight to Venice.

So in total, it would be 5 nights in Rome, 3 nights Sorrento, 3 nights Venice.

What do you think? Enjoy your planning!

Thanks again everyone! Yes Jay I did not consider how long a haul it would be to Venice--that is -in part-is why we cut Zermatt out because of the long train ride-I think I need to look again at the map ant rethink the route. Thanks again for everyones effort and thoughts--it really is helpful!

Another option that I don't usually recommend but in your case it might be a decent choice, would be a daytrip from Rome to Pompeii and back. In theory you leave Roma Termini station around 7:30 AM, arrive Pompeii about 10:00, spend 3-4 hours, and arrive back in Rome early evening. It is doable.

If Pompeii were your only reason to go down to the Amalfi Coast, then maybe do it like this:

6 nights Rome (including a day at Pompeii)
2 nights Orvieto (beautiful hilltown totally different from Rome & Venice) [1 hr, 20 min train]
3 nights Venice [4 hrs, 40 min train]

A possibility? I mean there's also Florence, but whatever... :)