First day in Rome-jet lag

Hi Ann. After two friends and I flew into Rome, we went to the Colosseum and the Forum Romanum. Our hotel was only a 20-minute walk from the Colosseum so we had a nice afternoon being outside and active at a relaxed pace.

To effectively fight lag or to reset your internal clock you need to stay as activity as you can in the daylight. Avoid sit down buses, walk a lot, and scouts some of the place you will want to visit later. The forum and colosseum are good outdoor sites. We find it very beneficial to take a 90 min to 2 hour (absolutely no more) nap from about 2-3, 3-5.

I usually go to the nearest cafe and have an expresso. Keeps me going until 9 pm. Then off to sleep I go. I would agree not to get on a bus where you are sitting down. Stay outdoors and hopefully sunshine will help you along. Have fun. We also visited the Colloseum on our first day.

What I do is this: - Check in, shower (you'll feel lie a new woman), unpack - Head out for lunch, no alcohol - Have an espresso or two if you like coffee - Take a good walk or tour for a couple of hours, stopping as needed for refreshment
- Drink lots of water Rick Steves' "Caesar Shuffle" would be a good afternoon activity to keep you moving and outdoors. You can always stop for a gelato to revive, or more coffee! Head to an early dinner (7:00 or 7:30 is early in Rome) and then to bed about 9:00. You'll wake up ready to go on Day 2. (I'm always up easily by 6:00 the second day.)

Although I'm sure I always have jet lag when arriving in Europe (everything I read says jet lag is worse heading east than west), I never feel it. For me, I think the excitement of the trip and the adrenaline of the whole experience compensates for, or masks, the jet lag. That said, I do set my watch to local time as soon as I'm on the plane and try to nap (usually unsuccessfully) on the local clock. And when I arrive at my destination, I always take a walk around the neighborhood where I'm staying to get the lay of the land and the feel of the air and time, and stay up until a reasonable local go-to-bed time. Coming home is a different story. Jet lag for one week, guaranteed. I suppose part of the problem is that I'm returning to work....

Ann, I agree with Mike. Set your watch to Italian time as soon as you get on the plane. It will be weird to have breakfast at 2am if you take a night flight, but that simple step of changing the time helps me to adjust. Never feel jet lag on the trip over, but I wake up really early for about a month after I return.

As other people have said, set your clock to Italy time and start thinking in that time. Since your flight will be overnight, try to get as much sleep as possible. (I know it can be hard). This is what I did last week: -Arrived to FCO at 9, after luggage and customs and taxi, got to my hotel around 10:30 or 11. Dropped of luggage. -Went out and got a coffee. Walked around Rome. -Got lunch around 12 or 1, walked some more. -Took a nap from 3 to 5 or so.
-Walked around more, got dinner around 8-9 (get a snack of gelato or granita if you are hungry between!) -Stayed up until 10 or 11 our first night there. Basically you want to stay up until at least 9pm, maybe 10-midnight, so that you can get some sleep and wake up in the morning with your body on Italian time. It worked well for me. I was tired again the next day in the afternoon, but it was more due to walking miles and miles around Rome in such heat. We took another afternoon nap, and stayed out late again. Following an Italian time schedule the first day helped us easily adjust! As far as certain activities to do: Enjoy the city (and the free public water, it has been very hot lately and you'll appreciate it) and go see the sites. Tour the Colosseum if you'd like, or wait until a different day, but you can walk around it. Visit the Pantheon (free), Piazza Navona, Campo D'Fiori. The Villa Borghese is Rome's version of Central Park and is nice to walk around for a relaxing day. While you're there, you can visit the Galleria Borghese if you have reserved tickets.

Have a very LIGHT lunch, too much pasta might put you to sleep. Salad/fish are good. Espresso always wakes me up, it's strong and they'll look at you funny cuz evidently most Americans don't order them, so if they quiz you just confirm "yes, small caffe". Sign language works great there!

Ann, we found Castel St. Angelo a lovely 1st day outing. It's not terribly crowded and has wonderful views of Rome and a lovely grape vine covered cafe on the upper level. It was peaceful and relaxing. Then maybe you would be up to visiting Piazza Navona in the evening. There's a very reasonable restaurant in that area called "da Tonnino" which had very good pasta (and good size portions) if you are on a budget. You do not need to order seconds here. Primi Piatti is plenty.

Every one has their own way. Our time tested method is to go the hotel and dump our bags (in storage if our room is not ready, in our room if it is), grab our camera and guide books and get moving immediately. If we stop to rest, we're "finished."
some "light" sightseeing, have a late lunch, and when we are just overcome with tiredness, go back to the hotel and call it an early night (usually around 4 o'clock). Taking a nap around that time just doesn't work for us. With a long nights sleep we're up early the next morning and ready to roll. Never have a problem after that. Everyone has the own way. Trial and error resulted in our strategy. You'll find your own best way.

What works for me is to keep going... as hard as it is. I am not the napping kind at home and I have a hard time waking up. I will usually do everything I can and when I feel I am too tired to carry on if I am in a big city I will do the Hop On Hop Off bus. That way if I doze for a few minutes its okay. I get an overview of a new city and will have time to see what I want in depth the next day. Early dinner, no coffee, maybe a little wine and go to bed early and next day I am good to go. I have also found that with the noise cancelling headphones on the plane I am able to catch a little sleep while listening to a boring movie.

Yeah, set your watch to Italian time and try to stay awake at your destination. I do all those things whenever possible. BUT, I'm different, I'll drink the Espresso, but I usually like to pound down a couple of stiff drinks after the coffee (it wakes me up, I'm different). I'm on vacation so I tend to relax anyway. One more thing is that even in coach, I WILL sleep some (Ambien Cr seems to do the trick. I'm NOT endorsing that for everyone, but it works for me and the wife)! Besides you might not have a choice on staying awake, your room might not be ready. If you're staying around the Pantheon you have the Pantheon itself. Piazza Navona. The Trevi Fountain is not that far in the opposite direction. The Campo de Fiori is also close by. And there are plenty of restaurants and bars to hang out in any of these places. Don't forget to try to find the Filleti di Baccala restaurant around the Campo de Fiori (look it up in RS's book). You might want to leave the Colosseum and the Forum for fresher legs. I feel your Jet Lag pain.

Go to the Pantheon sit out side and have something to eat. My family decided to go to the Borghese Gallery. We were tired but we had already booked this. It was beautiful but just relax and take in the sights.

Try to sleep on the plane if you can-Check-in to your hotel if you can, if not leave your bags, freshen up a bit......and hit the streets, stop for lunch, go shopping, stay out doors as much as you can in the sun light, stop for a gelato, plenty of outdoor sights, or just get your bearings, have an early dinner and try to get to sleep at your normal time, and set your alarm to wake up to have breakfast at your hotel and you should be fine. Enjoy your trip