My family of five arrives in Rome at 1 pm on Sunday, July 2. I'd like to do an early evening or Rome at night tour to get us acclimated while getting to see some amazing sights. Many tours I've found don't operate on Sundays. Any tours that you guys recommend?
We are doing a Vatican Sistine chapel early VIP tour the very next morning so since we have to be there at 7:30 am, I don't want to stay out past about 10 pm.
I would bet that at least one of your group will be ready to crash by 10pm that first day, anyway, so good not to plan a late night.
I would do one of the RS walking tours from the Italy or Rome book, just modify it for night time. The fountains and monuments are beautiful when lit up! Rather than commit to a tour, I suggest just doing what you can and be flexible about when to call it a day.
We followed a walk in Rick Steves guide book - just did it at night...aaaaaand, I can't find it! I downloaded his Rome book on my ipad, but this was a few years back and it has disappeared into the ether, I guess. But we started at Campo de Fiori, Piazza Navona, to the Pantheon, Trevi Ftn...I'm sure someone knows a link for this walk...
I did find this blog post... http://gombojavfamily.blogspot.ca/2011/01/night-walk-across-rome-campo-de-fiori.html which lays it all out...
Ditto to Zoe's suggestion for a do-it-yourself walk from Rick's or another guidebook. Arrival days can be fraught with enough unpredictables - delayed flights, bad case of jetlag, lousy weather - to make booking any sort of tour a risky endeavor. With a DIY plan, you can abbreviate or scrap the plan with no $$ lost, if necessary.
I wouldn't book anything for first night. Too many variables and children; jet lag etc. A nice walk in Centro Storico will be perfect.
Take a walk ...
- Victor Emmanuel II Monument
- Trevi Fountain
- Spanish Steps
- Piazza del Popolo
- Pincio Gardens (for a famous view over Rome)
I agree-after what happened to us, I'll never book a tour the day of arrival. We got delayed a day and missed a tour the following morning. You never know. Best to keep arrival day free. And you will likely be really tired come 8pm local time. There are so many great sights in Rome you can make your own nighttime tour--we did the RS Heart of Rome walk at night, but it's great in the day too. My favorites were Trevi, Piazza Navona and the Pantheon. Have fun!
I wouldn't plan any type of guided tour for your day of arrival. Jet lag kicks in differently for each person and it would be horrible to be in the middle of a tour with someone who couldn't keep their eyes open. The best way to combat jet lag is to stay outside so do a self guided walking tour of the city. Plan it out before you leave home so that you know what you want to see. Try to stay outside and try to stay moving. Since Rome is at least 6 hours ahead of us I would try to be back in the room by 8-9 pm Rome time. Switch all your watches and clocks as soon as you land and start working on Rome time. This will help with the jet lag as well.
Donna
I agree with Donna.
When you say you arrive in Rome at 1 pm, does that mean you'll be in the city @ 1:00 or your plane lands at 1:00? There's a big difference. If you land at 1:00, assuming the flight is on time, it will be at least 4:00 or possibly 5:00 before you reach the city. If you have to check in to your hotel and get settled, it maybe 6:00 before you're out the door.
Where will you be staying? If you're down near the Piazza Navona, you can do a stroll to the Trevi Fountain, Pantheon and Spanish Steps. This would only take a couple of hours. You could have a nice meal at an outside table facing a piazza.
Everyone acclimates differently, but like Donna we find being outside and active really helps overcome jet lag. We normally hit a little slump mid afternoon the second day, but we plow through it. The trick is to immediately adopt to the new time zone and stick to it.
Have you been to Europe, especially Italy before? I know there's so much to see, but try not to cram every minute of your stay with planned activities. How long will you be there? If possible, set aside at least a day for unstructured activity. Italy is much more than checking off the sites. To me, soaking up the atmosphere of the place is just as important as staring at a painting in a museum or visiting an ABC (another bloody church).
Thanks for all the great advice!
Our plane lands at 1 pm. It's a 30 minute drive to our hotel. I have a driver we hired to pick us up and they said we should be ready to be picked up by 2 pm. We will go through passport control in Paris as our first entry into the EU, before we arrive in Rome. Will that speed things up any?
We are staying near the Vatican. Perhaps a stroll through Travestere after we settle in, and an early-ish dinner, will be all we have the energy to handle.
My husband and I have been to Europe before, and to Italy. I'm trying to balance our days with one tour, at most, and then free time to do other stuff as we feel the urge. We have done the RS heart of Rome tour before, on our own, and that was quite nice. I even have that down as a possibility for us for that afternoon. I think you guys are right - no official tour with a guide, just do our own thing.
We usually plow right through all day the first day in Europe, and then crash for bed by 10 pm and get on the local time schedule by the next morning. Naps are the worst. I hope no one insists on one the day we arrive. We are six hours behind Rome time at home, but we will have slept some on the plane. Not too much tho, just 8-1/2 hours from Cincinnati to Paris, so that won't give time for more than about 5-1/2 hours of sleep after dinner and before they serve breakfast on the plane.
Scully,
It sounds like a wonderful trip! Have a great time. It sounds like you know the score. We spent all our time in Tuscany last trip. Deb wants to dedicate an entire trip to Rome. She has a work trip to London in the Fall (I'm tagging along) and I have a work trip (tentative) to Germany later in the Fall (she's trying to tag along with that one). After those, we can start to work on the Rome trip.
