Arriving in Rome in the Morning after long flight

In order to get your internal clock reset to the new time zone, it is considered best to make yourself stay up until regular bedtime in that time zone, and get in lots of walking and fresh air beforehand. If you can manage that, the rest of your trip will go much better.

Ditto, go for a walk outside or a bus city tour or spend time in a park (walking and sitting) weather permitting. Hotels usually will hold your bags if you arrive in am. Enjoy!

You probably won't be able to check into your hotel but they will store your luggage. We like to look for a walking tour to keep us occupied and outdoors. We force ourselves to stay up until at least 9 pm. Then we feel pretty normal the next day.

I totally agree with inbsig's advice. By the time you clear immigration and customs and arrive at your hotel, it'll be noonish. If your your room is ready, drop your bags, get a delicious, light lunch and head out to the Eternal City. If your room isn't ready, leave your luggage at the hotel and head out. I have found that following this pattern helps me reset my body clock quickly.

If you search jet lag on this site you will find dozen of postings concerning jet lag cures. It is fairly individual but we find it very beneficial to take a nap around three, four oclock for a max of two hours - set an alarm. That will recharge us to get through the evening and a normal bed time of 10, 11 pm. We almost always find that we check in around noon, 1 pm. Then do a brisk walk outside in the sun shines for a couple hours prior to the nap.

totally, get to your hotel, they will hold your bags...then go out and walk all over! By the time you arrive, get your bags, and make your way to your hotel, you've probably spent another 1-2...so now it's 11 or noon.

Some hotels will allow you into the room, just depends if it's available or not.

DO NOT TAKE A NAP ! Walk around, have lunch, do some sightseeing, get the lay of the land so you can go back the next day or so...but do not stay in your hotel room if you get it....

If nothing else, go get lunch, then a gelato and people watch. go back to your hotel by 4-5, take a shower, change clothes and go out to dinner at 7-8PM..then come back and sleep well....

Since I typically arrive in Europe exhausted from a combination of no/little sleep on the plane and a couple of very late nights of trip planning before the flight, I usually sleep longer than 8 hours that first night. For that reason, I don't worry if I can't keep my eyes open much beyond 6 PM. There's a good chance I'll still sleep till about 6 AM. I do try to keep going outdoors till at least 6 PM, but if you can't, you can't.

One thing I like to do on the first day is hit the local tourist office to pick up any maps and brochures I want, beyond what my hotel might have. There may be some special events going on that align perfectly with your interests. Ask for the latest tips on avoiding the worst of the lines at the most popular sights. The T.O. might know of a short afternoon walking tour you'd enjoy.

In London (pre-internet), Day 1 was when I wandered around the theatre district, buying tickets. That made me feel I had accomplished something useful at a time when I was far too befuddled to make sense out of a museum. If you need to send postcards from Rome, you could pick them up the first day and write the messages later in your visit, after you have some activities to report.

Everyone has their own "best" way to keep going Day 1. Here's ours: arrive and find the easiest way to hotel from airport. In Rome, it was with Rome Chauffeurs. Arrive at hotel, check in and nap for a few hours (maximum 2 - 3). Head out and walk somewhere (fresh air!), again in Rome, it was the Pantheon and then Piazza Navona. Dinner somewhere nice, back to hotel for nightcap, then to sleep (hopefully by at least 10 PM local time). Next day, off and running... We arrived at hotel in Rome around 11 AM and luckily, could check in right away. I would suggest of you can't check in, store luggage, take a walk, then check in when you can and follow above steps. Enjoy your trip!

This won't help you now but I live on the west coast so I do my best to arrive in Europe after noon. If at all possible, without a layover someplace in Europe. That way I don't have as long to stay up that first day! The few times I arrived early morning proved difficult! I took a nap once and I never did that again. I am not able to sleep on a plane unless I am in business class and have a flat bed!

Try to sleep on the plane as much as possible. Experts say that melatonin helps with recovery from jet lag. I use melatonin, Xanax and magnesium to help me sleep on the plane. I live in Los Angeles so it's a looong day of flying but if I can get a solid 5-6 hrs of sleep on the plane, I'm generally good to go when we arrive in Europe. As others have mentioned, I resist the urge to take a nap as much as possible but if I absolutely need to take a nap, I set an alarm and don't allow myself to sleep more than an hour or it will interfere with my ability to sleep that night. I always go to bed early our first night in Europe (at around 7-8 pm) but by the next morning, I've pretty much acclimated. You can ask your hotel if they'll allow early check-ins. Some hotels do allow it and others don't. If not, drop off your luggage and go out sightseeing and grab a caffeinated beverage to get you through the afternoon. Have a great trip.

joyceleo,

You probably won't get to your hotel much before 10:30-11:00, as you'll need to get through Passport control, retrieve your luggage and then get into Rome from the airport. How were you planning to get from the airport to your hotel?

The hotel might allow you to check-in at 11:00 if your room is ready, but otherwise you'll have to drop your bags and go for an early lunch or something. If the previous guest has just left the room you'll be using, the hotel will need time to service it, so you'll have to "play it by ear" when you arrive.

If you decide to take a "power nap", be sure to set an alarm so you don't sleep too long.

People do it differently depending on what works for them. We've never been able to check in early, and even if it that was possible, would not nap. After dropping the bags at the hotel for storage until check-in, we grab find some coffee and hit the streets. Fresh air helps, and staying awake until close to what would be normal bedtime hour gets us into the local time zone the fastest.

As tired as we may be (neither of us can sleep on a plane), we usually get a big second wind to carry us through the day; probably the excitement of just being there!

I find it hard to sleep on a plane, so I arrive tired, disheveled and cranky. Not a pretty sight.

I go directly to the hotel to drop bags; the room is ready for early check-in about half the time. Either way, carryon stays at the hotel, messenger bag (may have to be re packed to take out non-essentials like cords/chargers, 3-1-1 bag, toiletries) goes with me for a walk. I may just walk around the neighborhood, then stop for lunch or vice versa (depending on arrival time), then continue walking or stopping at multiple cafes. I get an early night's sleep. No jet lag, thankfully.

What Frank said! The short nap in late afternoon -- NOT on arrival -- is very helpful but set an alarm.

Ask for early check-in. If you get into your room, unpack, shower and change, then stay outdoors until nap time. Go to dinner about 7:00pm and allow yourselves to go to bed at 9:00. By 6:00am you should be localized.

Sometimes the 4:00pm nap on day two is useful, too.

Nap is good every day! But definitely tell yourself you are on your regular schedule (or vacation schedule if you prefer). Someone said it takes 1 day to adjust to each hour of time difference. I don't know if that's true I just know that I spent a lot of money to be in Italy so I drop off luggage, hit the streets (not museums, etc.), have some food and gelato, take a nap and get going! Remember: you deserve this!

Just get out and walk! You don't even need to go into any sites; just walk around and get acquainted with your surroundings.

When my grandson and I arrived a few months ago at our lodging near Piazza Venezia, we immediately ventured out making the grand circle around the circumference of the Imperial Forum and Palatine Hill, walking past the Colosseum, Arch of Constantine, through the Circus Maximus, past Bocca della Verità, Forum Boarium, Theater of Marcellus, and Campidoglio -- all at our own pace and no pressure. It was a great way to settle in.