Hi our family will be in Rome for a few days and I was wondering if anyone can recommend a fun day trip? Our family consists of 3 college age boys and a teenage girl who have never been to Italy. We are also looking to do a walking tour of the Coliseum and would love some suggestions on which one to do? We will be visiting other cities in Italy, a few days in Venice and a few days in Sorrento.
Thanks!
The most popular tend to be Villa d'Este, Ostia Antica (very close to Rome), and Hadrian's Villa (same town as Villa de'Este, but not adjacent.) For five days or less in Rome, and including Vatican City, there is no need to plan a day away. You can't see the whole city in that time. People who don't expect to take a later Italy trip sometimes train to Orvieto, but it seems far to go. Are you going to other cities on the trip, like Florence or Venice?
Just review threads under Italy here. Your questions are asked -and answered - weekly . Also get an RS Italy guide book. In addition, a Search of your topics here on the Forum will result in a wealth of info. Have a great trip!
We really enjoyed visiting Sacro Bosco https://www.sacrobosco.eu/?lang=en , Civita di Banoregio https://www.civita-di-bagnoregio.info/en/ , and Orvieto https://www.orvietoviva.com/en/ . We used My Day Trip for this, as we didn't need a guide, and that was an excellent option for us https://mydaytrip.com . We did do an underground tour in Orvieto: http://orvietounderground.it/index.php/en/
You can just hop on a train to Orvieto (the 9:02 AM train takes 86 minutes and costs 9.15 euros). I like Orvieto a lot, but I agree that it doesn't sound like you'll have any extra time. Rome has tons of sights, plus dozens if not hundreds of gorgeous churches (most of them free). Although the city is walkable--and there's always something interesting to see--that doesn't mean the sights are all clustered together. You will spend time moving between them and you will have more to see than you can possibly manage.
Orvieto was suggested when you asked this question back in February. Not a trip that interests you?
But I'll also ask how many days/nights you will be staying in Rome, and where will you be coming from? Your stay in London is only 3 days, as is your stay in Sorrento. How many NIGHTS are you staying in each of those locations? It makes a difference where planning is concerned.
Rome has a ton of things to see so I personally consider 4 nights/3.5 days the minimum just to scratch the surface. I guess i'm wondering if you even have time for a day trip without shorting the Eternal City itself? Have you bought tickets yet for the attractions you wish to see? Looks like your trip is next month so the clock is ticking! ⏱
Hi, thanks for all the great suggestions. I thought I had posted this before but couldn't find my post (new to this site) but someone told me how to find and bookmark them. After reading all the posts, I agree that we prob do not have too much time to do a day trip and will focus on sights in Rome as we will be there 3 nights as well.. We are visiting 2 other cities and will at each for 3 nights.
Thanks again!
Thanks for coming back and posting your comments. For future reference, you will get the best advice when you give the month of travel and a tentative itinerary, including planned air flights and means of ground travel. No evil hackers will be able to track you down from that small disclosure and break into your hotel room.
After reading all the posts, I agree that we prob do not have too much
time to do a day trip and will focus on sights in Rome as we will be
there 3 nights as well.
That's a good decision as 3 nights is, at most, 2.5 days or even less if not arriving until the afternoon. Where will you be coming from, and what does your FULL trip itinerary look like? As Tim said, no evil hackers will be able to track you down if you share that info, and the bigger picture can help us make the best suggestions for you plus look for any pitfalls in the plan. :O)
The Colosseum is a toughie: it is THE most-visited attraction in Italy, and tickets for high and shoulder seasons have become increasingly hard to land over the past number of years: you're going to be fighting with thousands of other folks for them.
These recent threads include some info about ticketing, and illustrate how quickly they sell out once they become available on the official vendor's site (https://www.coopculture.it/en/index.html).
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/colosseum-ticket
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/forum-palentine-colosseum-tickets
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/rome-colosseum-ticketing
There are also independent companies that offer tours. A few of those which have been positively recommended on the forums are:
The Roman Guy:
https://theromanguy.com/tours/italy
Walks of Italy:
https://www.walksofitaly.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlZaok82p_gIVkUVyCh0K-QroEAAYASAAEgIAo_D_BwE
Through Eternity:
https://www.througheternity.com
I'll caution against booking tours, outside of those offered by coopculture, which include the underground as there's no guarantee that even the independent companies can get hands on those. There is a HUGE demand for them, and you'll fare better booking a tour which does not include it as there's the possibility it could be cancelled if they can't get tickets. I'll suggested booking with one of the independent companies I listed for a 3-4 hour tour which includes the Palatine and Forum - which are right next door to the arena - as well as the Colosseum as those two archeological sites are more complex and benefit from an educated human guide.
Regarding Coopculture: You cannot buy tickets to the Colosseum, Forum or Palatine AT the sites - only online - and all ticketing for the Colosseum is timed-entry, meaning you have to choose a day and time slot which still has tickets or tours available. With 6 people in your group, that's going to be really difficult on the Coopculture website so explore choosing a tour from one of the independents.
