Feedback requested on 10-day Rome itinerary

Colosseum Tour with Roman Forum & Palatine Hill 8:30 - 11:30

I fear that you are shortchanging yourself by not allowing enough time - you may find that you'd like to explore the Forum/Palatine more on your own after the tour concludes, but you have another site scheduled at noon.

Since you're staying in Trastevere, I'd suggest you work in a visit to Testaccio and the market.

I'm sure others will comment on other aspects - you have a healthy amount of unscheduled time for spontaneity.

These days you have to schedule more as so many sites require advance reservations and then you have the torus. I do think you have a lot scheduled but you seem to have a reasonable amount of unscheduled time most days and you should feel free to say “Enough” and take a nap or an aimless walk or sit in a piazza with a coffee or glass of wine.

A couple of specific comments:

• Too many churches in one day and they all start to look the same. Limit yourself to one or two.
• San Luigi dei Francesi is one of the best
• Palazzo Braschi is excellent and in my experience, under-visited, so good for you!
• I love Palazzo Colonna!
• Mercati di Traiano Museo dei Fori Imperiali I found underwhelming
• Villa Medici also under-appreciated. We thought the tour was great.
• Doria Pamphilj excellent choice!

Enjoy! We arrive a week after to leave. Have not been back for 8 years since we returned to the US after living in Rome for 5 years. Excited to revisit old haunts and favorite sites, as well as eat our way through the city.

I think we it looks good. At first I thought you had a lot planned, but you've built a lot of time in to catch up. My only comments, I was underwhelmed by the Baths of diocletian and thought it was overpriced for what we saw.

If you do go over to Testaccio area, consider the " non-catholic" or protestant cemetery. Very interesting. You might also enjoy exploring Aventine hill which has 3 churches, and garden with views at the top.

Unless you have some knowledge/context under your belt the Ara Pacis doesn't hold your attention for very long -- while you are going in that direction do the paseo up the Corso to the Piazza del Popolo and check out the three churches on the south side, and the balcony overlooking the holy poplar grove.

there are ultra famous cafes on either side of the Corso where it enters Piazza del Popolo and worth looking at but more affordable snacks to be had nearby.

Near the Pantheon you left out one of the most important churches, the other one with the special blue ceiling, not the Santa Maria sopra Minerva one, which is great itself, the one whose name I'm forgetting of course, sounds odd in both Italian and English, sorry. Some zz s are involved?

that arrival evening when you settle in Trastevere go out for a little local walk to get a sense of when the roll-up doors of the hole-in-the-wall pizzerias are open -- hours seem strange until you get used to it.

You'll also be pretty close to the Largo Argentina which is a nice cat-filled stop.

As mentioned above, the museums on the top of the Palatine hill that overlook the ruins of the Forum are worth a full day in themselves.

I'm envious Lane

...the museums on the top of the Palatine hill that overlook the ruins of the Forum are worth a full day in themselves.

That brings up a good point - if you think you might be interested in the museums within the Forum, be sure that yout ticket includes the SUPER sites - or you can add a supplemental quite cheaply.

Avirosemail might be thinking of this church https://santignazio.gesuiti.it/en/ which has a magnificent ceiling, though not blue, and a false dome. There is a mirror to facilitate viewing without breaking your neck.

Second your visit to Palazzo Doria Pamphilj. Even just to see what is behind those massive doors on the street.
Also, there was a church either next door or nearby, (walking away from the wedding cake monument) that had a magnificent lapis azuli altar. It would take you just 5 minutes to see. Maybe someone else can help out with the name.
Also, I didn’t notice Castel Sant’Angelo on your list.

This forum is such a great community! I expected to be lambasted for overplanning, but all your comments are so helpful! Thank you all so much.

I fear that you are shortchanging yourself by not allowing enough time - you may find that you'd like to explore the Forum/Palatine more on your own after the tour concludes, but you have another site scheduled at noon.

That occurred to me as well, markcw, but the Domus Aurea tours are only on Fridays and Saturdays with limited availability, so that was the only spot I could get. I had originally scheduled the Colosseum tour in the afternoon, but I moved it to the morning so I could fit in the Domus Aurea tour. I think I have time to go back and explore the Forum/Palatine Hill on my own either later that afternoon or another day.

Also, thanks for the tip on Testaccio Market.

Too many churches in one day and they all start to look the same. Limit yourself to one or two.

You may be right, Laurel, and if so, I'll skip some. Thanks for the tips on the ones you especially liked. I'll prioritize those.

I was underwhelmed by the Baths of diocletian and thought it was overpriced for what we saw.

Thanks Lisa, I'll deprioritize that. And I'll try to find a slot for Aventine Hill. (I want to peer through that famous keyhole I've read about.)

Avirosemail might be thinking of this church https://santignazio.gesuiti.it/en/ which has a magnificent ceiling, though not blue, and a false dome.

Avirosemail, lots of great suggestions! I'm definitely planning an informal walk around my neighborhood on the first night. And Largo di Torre Argentina

If you were thinking of Sant'Ignazio di Loyola, as Laurel suggests, that's included in the Wonders of Rome tour on the first day.

Also, I didn’t notice Castel Sant’Angelo on your list.

You're right, Barbara, and thanks for the reminder. I'd originally put it down for the day I'm at the Vatican, but it's closed on Mondays, so I need to figure out where to put it instead. Probably on the 3rd or the 5th, or the 6th if I stay in the city that day.

I think there is one Sunday a week or month when the Presidential (Quirinale) Palace is open in the morning - it is in current use by the gov't so not usually available to tourists. It has a lot of Napoleon-era decor that reminds us of more recent history rather than ancient history, and a copy of the Sistine Chapel in grayscale (the architecture is the same, not the decor or finishes)

Here is a page that undersells it but at least gives you some sense of the chapel:

https://romanchurches.fandom.com/wiki/Cappella_Paolina_al_Quirinale

I was lucky to get to see a live concert in the chapel for a piano special on the Italian equivalent of National Public Radio -- I think it was a noontime or 1pm radio show and as the guards were herding us out of the palace I shimmied over to the other line of people seating for the concert.