Favorite places in Rome

You may have been but I love the underground excavations at San Clemente. Also views from Janiculum hill. Finally back streets of Trastavere and Monti.

Looking forward to more off beaten path ideas for my next trip!

Hi Becky -
It would help to know more exactly which of those 'main sites' you've seen? What some of us would consider an unmissable site doesn't make it onto all lists so it's difficult to know what you overlooked on your previous trip. I am assuming you saw the Colosseum/Forum/Palatine, the Vatican Museums and St Peters, the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Campo de' Fiori, Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps, the Capitoline Museums, Galleria Borghese - all of which are common to the usual Top 10 lists - but what else?

And what sorts of things are you interested in? My 'special place' could be a yawn for you and vice versa.

The Italy Eats food tour of Trastavere is outstanding. Lasts about 3-4 hours. The former Jewish Ghetto is very interesting. Beautiful synagogue and museum, kosher restaurants. Jewish Roma gives tours, which we took on our recent visit to Rome and highly recommend.

Kathy, We have visited all the places you mentioned, but may do some again. We have also visited Vila Giula (Etruscan art). We love art museum, but also like wandering around neighborhoods. We are open to all suggestions. I'll then research them to decide if we should visit. Becky

If you haven't been to the top of the Victor Emmanuel monument, I strongly recommend it. The view of Rome is amazing from there. I had been to Rome previously, but my wife hadn't. She was very surprised how close the major sites were to each other and how many could be seen from there.

Here's what came to mind that's a bit off the beaten path:
Centrale Montemartini (museum)
Aqueduct Park
Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere
Domus Aurea (you have to book well in advance)
Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls
Santo Stefano Rotondo (amazing round church that's been restored with some modern elements incorporated into the older parts)
View from Orange Garden on Aventine Hill

All good recommendations so far; note that the Domus Aurea is open only on Saturdays and Sundays (at least it was last summer when I visited).

If you will be on the Aventine Hill, stop in at the church of Santa Sabina - the central doors have 4th-century wood carvings, and the window grillwork is original. There is a place a little further up the hill to look through a keyhole for a view of Saint Peter's Dome. There is also a rose garden to your left as you walk down toward the Circus Maximus.

We have visited all the places you mentioned, but may do some again.
We have also visited Vila Giula (Etruscan art).

Thanks, Becky, that helps!
Seconding San Stefano in Rotondo, San Clemente, Santa Maria in Trastevere (and a general wander about Trastevere), Aventine Hill (see Santa Sabina and peer through the keyhole of the gate at the Priory of Malta at lined-up view of St Pete's dome). There's also a great view of the backside of the Palatine from up there.

Adding:
Jewish Ghetto and the ruins of Portico d'Ottavia and Teatro Marcello (top floor is now luxury apartments although you'd never know it). There are some nice medieval structures in this area too.

A long walk on Via Appia Antica: our favorite day (yet) in Rome. Choose a sunny one, and plan to visit one the catacombs, maybe.

http://www.parcoappiaantica.it/

Churches: Santa Maria Maggiore, San Giovanni in Laterano, Santa Maria del Popolo, Gesu
(There are too many churches in Rome, and too many well worth seeing so these are just a few!)

The Baths of Caracalla, San Giovanni, San Clemente and Santa Stefano in Rotondo are all in the same general part of the city so are efficiently done together (we have).

Snap, Zoe! Was madly typing along as you were posting so apologies for the redundancies! Consider them a seconding of your motion. :O)

Kathy: Thank you so much for posting the Appia Antica link! Walking the Appian Way and seeing the aqueducts are high on my list for our trip in May. Lots of other good suggestions here, as well. We'll be on the VFR tour, first time in Italy, but will have one extra day in Rome. We quickly figured out that we'll barely scratch the surface on this all-too-short visit.

The Monti neighborhood near the Cavour metro station has a local feel not overrun with tourists like so much else in Rome. I liked the Non-Catholic Cemetery which houses the remains of Keats and Shelley. If you've been to the Keats-Shelley house, the cemetery is a good add on visit, right near the Pyramide metro stop. Very peaceful and well kept cemetery. For me this was a special place, having studied English literature. I only made it to the Capitoline Museums on my most recent (fourth) visit to Rome, but it was very good. Also I second the Victor Emmanuel monument. The temptation is to spend a lot of time repeating the same obligatory sights on different visits, your thinking in seeking out new things is good.

Good call on Baths of Caracalla. Huge grounds, and very quiet.
I'll also throw in the Baths of Diocletian/ Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri (interesting hybrid of ruins and a portion of the baths converted to a church centuries ago. That church and the Pantheon are the best glimpses at what all of Imperial Rome would have looked like at its peak.) Right in front of Termini.

I'll also throw in the Baths of Diocletian/ Santa Maria degli Angeli e
dei Martiri

Oooh, yes, Michael. That one too, and look for the gnomon in the floor of the south transept. I've seen some others but this one is particularly nice. There's a tiny hole up on the southern wall that lets in the beam of light.

Thank you so much for posting the Appia Antica link! Walking the
Appian Way and seeing the aqueducts are high on my list for our trip
in May.

You're very welcome, Stoutfella. We didn't get all the way out to the aqueducts (next time) as what with starting at a point 6-7 miles of so from the city center, stopping to inspect too many tombs, a circus (Villa di Massenzio: in better shape than the Maximus), a bath under excavation (Capo di Bove), a catacomb (San Sebastiano), church of Quo Vadis, San Stephano, San Giovanni, Baths of Caracalla and San Clemente, we were good and ready for a collapse and a couple of beers (at a favorite wee outdoor bar in Parco Colle Oppio)!

To tie in a bit of modern history, on a building near the Portico d'Ottavia there are two plaques, one commemorating the thousands of Jews deported from that spor, and a second for the prenatal/infants who were murdered. Less than twenty of the deported Jews were able to return. Also in the Ghetto, across the street from the Great Synagogue, is a stumbling block in front of an apartment building.

Near the Quo Vadis location is the Fosse Ardeatina, where 335 Italians were murdered in retribution for the killing of 33(?) German occupation forces by the Italian Resistance.

Unless I missed it, no one mentioned Ostia Antica. Accessible by public transit, close by, not all that expensive, and quite historic.

This one will seem obvious to a lot of people, but if you go to the Capitoline Museum (and you should) be sure to go to the bottom level that has amazing views out over the forum. I've met many people who went to the museum, saw the famous pieces of sculpture but missed the lower level

Thank you all for your suggestioms! We've gotten many new ideas for places we'll plan to visit.

As I recall, Mira is talking about the lower level that connects two different parts of the Capitoline Museums. Yes, that view is amazing.

I agree with the Domus Aurea suggestion. This was one of our highlights during our third trip to Rome last September. Definitely book in advance; it's well worth it. We also enjoyed our visit to Trajan's Market.

The Domus Aurea finally opened reservations for Feb-March a couple days ago. Also on my list for my late Feb. visit: Ara Pacis, Castel Sant'Angelo, Appian Way walk (Thank you Kathy for the link) on Sunday, Barbarini Museum. If you're a fan of Caravaggio, pop in to see some of his works at the beautiful San Luigi church, near the Pantheon.

I'm also taking a couple guided tours with outfits recommended in RS Italy: a day tour to Tivoli with Enjoy Rome (booked through Viator - cheaper), and a Trastevere food tour with The Roman Guy. Walks of Italy has a "food tour & pizza-making class" that sounded like fun, but it only starts in March.