Bus route questions in Rome

I'm a bit short on time at the mo to look up all those for you. I would use the official bus information website for Rome. ATAC is the name of the buses there.

http://www.atac.roma.it/?lingua=ENG

The website is a little intimidating on first look but it is all there, and sometimes in English.

The Smeraldo is on a tiny tiny cobblestone lane with no buses. Look at Largo Argentina (where Julius Caesar was assassinated and which is now a cat colony amongst the ruins rubble) or Campo dei Fiori for bus stops. Those are the nearest.

Number 8 is a tram not a bus. Expect plenty of cobblestones - hard on bad feet. Can he get any sort of physical brace or walking cast?

Very quickly then before I dash off - off the top of my head -

number 1 good

number 2 not very far, closer to walk than to take a combination of buses

number 3 used to be the electric bus, you will need to look it up

number 4 Metro may be the easiest

number 5 there are several probably with a connection - use the website

number 6 yes there is. Do you have Rick Steves book, he describes it

number 7 no

number 8 dunno

number 9 ys the number 8 tram. Ah, but where in Trastevere? That will make a big difference. Very hard to find level streets there.

number 10 the number 8 tram and then walk

number 11 there is no number 11.

This site may answer many of your questions.

https://www.rometoolkit.com/transport/rome_bus.htm

Additionally, the TI in the train station used to have a paper map available.

If you have plans to visit museums and Archeological sites with your use of the busses this may make sense as transportation is included.
Edit Rome pass.

The desk at your hotel may be able to point you in the right direction.

Nigel....thank you much! I was trying to figure out bus routes on the small route map in my RS Rome book. Instead I’ll check out the website you listed.

I smiled at your response to “#11”.

Gerri....thanks much for that informative link!

Some distances in your itinerary may be a long walk (like from Colosseo to hotel, which is probably a mile) but they are a short taxi ride. Rather than other with a couple of possibly crowded buses, I’d take a taxi. They aren’t that expensive for those distances.

I’d come to that conclusion too, Roberto.

Google maps has walking directions. Put in destination and starting point, click the person instead of the car and it tells you how many km or miles. CDF to Pantheon is 800 meters which is about a half mile. I find it an easy walk but I don’t have an injury.

Google maps also has bus route directions. It says bus 87 or 81. You can check this before you leave the sight (if you have a phone with data or WiFi) and it will tell you which bus and how far away it is. It’s not perfect but it’s more updated than a printed schedule.

Just another resource.

If you eat anywhere where you can see the Colosseum, you are going to pay extra. Go back in a couple streets and skip the extra charge. Enjoy!

What Mira said. I tried other resources, but found Google Maps much easier to use. Thoroughly explore it for your trips around town. You can click on options that will show different departure times, connections, routes and length of journey.

Last June I never used the Metro, only my feet and buses. One tip about the buses. The signs outside for the stops are up high and on the right. They are so high and the buses are designed in such a way that I could never see them unless I was close to a window on the right and bending down or actually sitting down on the right side. It was a challenge to be able to get in viewing position.

Rome Tool Kit is a good resource, but only gets you part of the way to real knowledge. If you plan on riding the bus/Metro transit system around Rome frequently, first time you're at Roma Termini station, near the doors going out to the bus terminal, look for a kiosk selling laminated transit schematic maps. For 3 Euro it explains everything visually much better than Rome Tool Kit does--I don't believe it exists online.

Secondly, if your husband has Achilles issues, I don't know whether buses with the stairs onto them is an improvement over just walking to your destinations, or spending money on taxis. If you are leaving soon, then in April the main bus routes will be crowded but not as bad as they will be May through July.

We were in Rome last March and bought the weekly bus/Metro pass at a local tabacchi shop near Campo de' Fiori, paying 24 Euro for unlimited rides for the week, and we kept the receipts on our person for the week as well--there supposedly are spot checks for passes by the police but we never saw it. First time on the bus, we had our tickets validated in the machine near the driver, then on subsequent trips we could get on either at the front or the side entrance, and not have to worry about validation. It worked very well--those buses and the Metro system took us all over Rome.

Agree than having a downloaded Rome Google map is great, then you can easily put in your destination and the different transit and walking options show up. I have mobility issues and found taking the trams the easiest. Getting a transit pass is a wonderful option if you don’t plan to take mainly taxis.

I’m spending the evening trying to create a couple routes on Google maps. Is there a way to save those to our phone...or better yet to our iPad...and then access them when we don’t have WiFi?

If we buy one- or two-day bus passes, do we need to validate with each bus ride?

I don’t mean to overplay the amount of disability. I do think he will be ok with the buses and he’ll wear an ankle stabilizer.. mostly, limiting the walking is an effort to avoid further riling-up of his Achilles injury. Our trip is 16 days (Paris, Rome, Valle, Florence, and Vernazza). [Cinque Terre which could prove challenging. 😉] The goal is to pace ourselves (unintended pun) to make sure he stays mobile throughout the trip.

If we buy one- or two-day bus passes, do we need to validate with each
bus ride?

Nope. Anything longer than a single ride ticket requires validation only on the first ride within that period. Incidentally, that validation starts the 'clock' on the time of the pass.

Sorry to hear about your husband's injury. My husband tore his posterior ACL 3 years ago in Pisa, not fun and it was only half way into our vacation. He had to rest for a few days, but then we continued our trip. We used taxis as much as possible, as the buses can be crowded and he might not be able to sit down and get up the high steps. In Rome and all other towns, the cobblestones are uneven and with a balance issue, the issue could get worst. Also realize that some of the places (the Colosseum for instance) has areas that he should not walk (going to the 3rd ring for example) . Make sure he brings some type of brace/wrap with him, as this will help people not bump into him when in line or sitting. A gel pack and some type of NASID will also come in handy. I walked alongside my husband next to his injured side for support as well as a shield when walking in crowded areas. Good luck

Do one- or two-day passes expire at midnight on the day purchased or does the clock start when purchased and expire at the 24 or 48 hour mark[s] thereafter?

Do one- or two-day passes expire at midnight on the day purchased or
does the clock start when purchased and expire at the 24 or 48 hour
mark[s] thereafter?

As I said, I believe when validating your ticket on the bus or Metro machine on your first trip, the timestamp will start the clock for whatever duration you've bought the ticket for, 24, 48 hours, or a week.

yup, hours, not days.

Thanks! I was confirming because my notes (obviously wrong) said they expired each day at midnight.

My husband downloads the Google maps for the area we’re going onto his Samsung tablet. I download them in my iPad. For some reason, the Samsung Google maps workmuch better when we’re walking around without wifi. The satellite location services seem to find his tablet much better than they find my iPad. In our hotel rooms with wifi, they both work great. I often check the routes between sites before we leave in the morning and jot down notes. While we’re out, we use his Samsung tablet for tracking where we are. One feature I really like with Google maps is that you can save the locations for places and restaurants you really want to go to. They show up as stars in your map, making is east to see if the blue satellite dot is getting close to your destination. Know that using location services takes quite a bit of power. We travel with a backup power tube in case we need it,

The single and multiple day passes are now named Roma24H, Roma48H, Roma72H, which shows how long they are good for. (Years ago they used to expire at midnight.)