First day in Rome what to see with Jet Lag?

Pantheon. Have lunch at a sidewalk cafe and then head down to the Colleseum and the Roman Forum. By that point, if you have not slept on the plane, you should be exhausted. At that point, I would take a taxi back to the hotel and sleep for a short while (don't sleep to long because your body clock is off and you'll want to sleep at night. After and hour or two of sleep, I'd hit a nice place for a relaxing dinner and then get a good eight hours of sleep. I have been to Rome many times, My sister went to a semester of college there in 1973 ended up getting married, having a family and absolutely loves the Italian lifestyle. Fortunately, for me that works out great because I love Italy also! Have fun, try not to rush to much and most of all, enjoy the whole Italian experience!!

Not the Vatican, it's overwhelming on a good non-jet lag day. If your hotel is close to the Borghese, I would make a late morning reservation and go there first - it's not huge and overwhelming like many art museums (side note: your daughter might enjoy the zoo nearby in the same park not too far from the Borghese). Then I'd grab a bite to eat, since your hotel is close take a quick early afternoon nap if you must (no more than 2 hours, tops). Then head out to the Spanish Steps, Pantheon, or something of the like that isn't going to require huge amount of crowd patience. Walking is best, try some of the RS walking tours. Eat an early dinner and get to bed early. Space the Vatican and Colleseo across your two remaining days, filling in between with other activities.

We are doing the same exact itinerary. There are three of us for three days in Rome. We arrive at 7 am. My husband and I were there last year, however, we would like to share our experiences with our son. We plan on taking it easy the first day and do a walking tour...Trevi, Pantheon, and Spanish steps with a nap mid day. The next day we will do the Colleseum area and we saved the Vatican for our last day.

I've traveled to Europe many times and I can tell you that, in spite of little sleep on the trip, we're all always so excited to be there that we have plenty of energy to do a full day of easy activities right off the bat. In fact, when night comes, we usually have a hard time falling asleep!

I wouldn't tackle the Vatican that first day, but yes, you can certainly do the Coliseum and/or see Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps, all of which can be covered walking if you take it slow and easy.

(Of course it's up to you to determine the 9 y.o.'s limits, but generally a kid that age can out-do the adults!)

Considering, however, a certain level of tiredness, you might not want to take on figuring out the Metro on the first day, so use a taxi to travel from your hotel to the Forum/Coliseum area.

Also, don't let your fatigue make you a victim of a pickpocket or other scam. Keep your head up, your eyes open, and your valuables in the money belt and you'll do fine.

Have to agree - not the Vatican -- we were there two weeks ago, flight arrived at 7:30. We arrived at to the hotel around 10, left our backpacks there and took off. We were close to the Colleseum, so went there with Rick's Audio Tour, had lunch at a cafe nearby, did the Audio Tour of the Forumn, and then went to the Pantheom. We were going great till we stopped for Dinner around 7:00 went down hill in a hurry, quick Pizza and then bed. Got up early the next morning, and was ready for the Day. Good Luck.

barry

Barry, did you like Rick's audio tour?

We just got back 2 weeks ago and we decided that we would stay up all day because we wanted to sleep at night. We did the Vatican and it was a little too much. Next time, I would do some relaxing sites like Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps etc, but still stay up all day so you can sleep that night. Even if you are tired, you can enjoy the other sites that don't require the attention the Vatican does.

Last summer, in a similar situation (kids 12 and 14), we made reservations for the Borghese for our first afternoon. After going to our hotel, we did walk to the Pantheon and see some other churches in that area, and then took a cab (as someone above suggested) to the Borghese (3:00 reservations). I am very comfortable with public transportation, but figuring out everything right away (when jetlagged) can be hard. For a while both before and after our reserved time we just sat in the park relaxing. For you, you could probably just walk back to hotel, have dinner in the area and collapse afterwards! I admit that at the end of our time in Rome, I wished we could return to some of the things we saw the first day. It felt like I hadn't really been paying attention yet-maybe just sensory overload on the first day.

BTW, the Borghese and the Spainish Steps are about a 15 minute walk apart. No need to use any transportation other then foot power. Have a great trip!

A couple of years ago, on our arrival day, we walked to lunch, then up to the Borghese, then to the Capuchin crypt, back to the hotel and dinner- we sat in the Borghese park for about 45 minutes waiting for our museum reservation, were nodding off... but got awakened by the Bernini's in the museum.

We fear that our drowsiness limited our experience of the Borghese, so when we return this year, it's going to be on a "non-arrival" day.

Suggest Spanish Steps, Pza del Poppolo, the Villa Borghese - your daughter might like to have a long run around in the park. Perhaps a picnic there. Pantheon after lunch and stroll around the piazzas with a gelati. St Peter's Square looks fabulous in the early eveningm, but save the inside until next morning.

since it hasn't been mentioned yet, you should spend the 1st 2 days without sunglasses. Get out each morning, especially. Sunlight hitting your eyes is an important part of the system that regulates your internal body clock. If you wear sunglasses, you block the UV and hence slow the reset of your body clock to local time.

On his travel tips DVD that came with our railpass, Rick said that jet lag hates fresh air, bright light and exercise, so on our early morning arrival in Rome we took the Hop-on/Hop off bus tour. You can get a ticket for 24 or 48 hours and it is good through the same time the next day, or the second day if you have the time. the busses go to all of the big sights in about 2 1/2 hours (with English narration) and give you a great overview. They run every 15 minutes, so you can get off and explore, then get back on whenever you like. It is also helpful because many of the stops are close to restaurants, nightlife, hotels, etc. and you can use it instead of an expensive taxi. Once you've made the circle, you can decide what you really want to see and what is less important. You will be ready for a good nights sleep and wake up refreshed and ready to take on the big city, or at least that's what happened t0 my mother-in-law who turned 83 on the day of our arrival did. Good Luck.

I forgot to say that the fresh air comes from sitting on the open air upper deck, which also lets you see more of Rome. The busses go to ALL of the places you listed in your posting.

I LOVE all your ideas and input. The Hop on Hop off sounds perfect though for our family. That way we won't commit to a long walk, a paid admission somewhere, and can decide after seeing everything what to do and make a plan for rest of day. I am sure the guidebook and/or hotel can direct us to that. I imagine it is surreal to leave home in evening and arrive to the sights in ROME next morning. I am sure the 'lag' will be in competition with the 'awe'. THANK YOU ALL!!!!

Sorry to hijack this post, I'll be arriving in Rome from Australia early next Sunday morning, so will be in the same position as Lisa...

Just wondering, do you need to reserve in advanced for the Hop-on Hop-off bus or can you purchase tickets as you get on?

Many thanks..

Lisa, If you meant that your flight arrives at 9 am, then that means that by the time you get to the hotel, checked in and maybe freshen up, it will be almost noon. I think I would consider skipping the nap and doing the hop on hop off that others have described and trying to stay awake as long as possible. Walk as much as possible, and if your 9 y/o gets tired and cranky, find a piazza with a fountain, there's always a gelato stop close by and do some people watching. Even a 9 y/o will find this entertaining. Have fun.

Jim - Do you know what hours the hop on - hop off bus goes from when to when. We will be arriving late afternoon -early evening from Athens in July. By the way, just got back from Nawlins!

LANG,

You don't need to reserve the Red Bus (Hop On/Hop Off) tours. Just show up at the appropriate location and buy your ticket from the attendant (the Driver usually has an "assistant" to take the tickets and so on).

I'd suggest bringing your own Ear phones, so that you don't have to use the ugly red phones provided.

If you have access to Rick's Italy or Rome books, everything is listed there.

Cheers!

The truth is the 9 y/o will definitely outlast her 40 something parents!! I know this from the last time we traveled time zones at age 7!! Yes, the bus hop off/on is perfect, some walking, some sitting, and yes the people watching and gelato to soak it all in is right up my alley and family friendly to boot. Is July here yet???

We won't have Jet Lag because we'll be flying from London, but "if" we end up pulling an all nighter at the airport because of the early flight (7:05 a.m.) and having to check-in by 5:00 a.m. which means leaving for the airport (Heathrow from Abingdon) in the wee hours of the morning, we might as well call it JL! We'll probably get very little sleep, so I am not planning any major sightseeing because I know from experience that we'll all be very crabby first day.

In my years of having flown across the pond, we could never, ever do that Hop-on Hop-off bus. Our brains are not clear enough to really appreciate or enjoy anything on the first day, but if you can, that's great.

Good luck.