First time in Italy - Straight to Rome!

Look at the Best of Rome tour itinerary for guidance/inspiration.

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/italy/rome

The water is no wetter at the deep end than at the shallow end

Enjoy!

My bff and I are also going to rome, first international trip, for a week. Go big or go home, right? 😂😂

Its not intense. You live in a big city, plus, Rome's not intense ;p Study a map - does RS' divide the city into areas (am I remembering right?) - to get oriented, hen start walking. You'll find soon that you know her eatings are and how to get there. Have a wonderful time

You will have a great time! Been to Rome 5x and spent approx 25 days here. Love Rome! Reading R.S. Europe Through the Backdoor would be beneficial and read the Rome 2018 book which you said you picked up. His Rome book (at least my last Rome bk from 2014 did) has a section "planning your time" and "Rome in 7 days" that would be helpful. Have a great trip!

Also you can watch R.S. Rome videos on U Tube!

Forget according to what Rick or anyone else says. Sorry Rome is extremely popular (after all it is a major religious pilgrim site first). do not get caught up in preconceived idea based on what Rick or any other professional critic has to say. Just walk the city unguided and see for yourself and draw your own ideas. You really do not need a guide book for Rome.

My only advice is not to worry.
Rome is a big city, Toronto is a big city. You are not country folks going to a city for the first time.
Just learn how to say
Buon Giorno,
Buona Sera,
Grazie,
Prego,
Scusi,
Parla Inglese?
Dov’è il bagno?
Ho bisogno di un farmaco contro la diarrea.

What a great plan! It is lovely to see someone take time in one great place and not try to see the entire country in a short period of time. Enjoy!

(Do note what is open when and what requires advance ticket purchase so you are not disappointed.)

I recall our first time to Rome. My husband was concerned that it would "be intense." He realized right away that it was not at all. It ended up being one of his favorite cities in Europe! We returned several years later and we're still enchanted. So smart to spend quality time there!

Well - our very first trip overseas in '08, we went straight to Rome for 5 nights. Yeah - it was intense - especially the shuttle van ride from the airport to the B&B (they are INSANE drivers!) but we quite enjoyed it. You are lucky to have a week. We took a day and did a side trip out to Appia Antica - walked the ancient Roman Road, visited the catacombs (we didn't get as far as aqueduct park, but I hear it's lovely and you can rent bikes to bike around) - it was a nice break from the craziness of the city. On our 2nd visit to Rome, we did Ostia Antica, which was also a nice change of pace.

So my advice would be to schedule at least one 'quiet' day in there - and just enjoy. Stop for gelato, sit and watch the world go by at Piazza Navona or by the Pantheon. If you are early risers - it's a good time to go visit something like Trevi Fountain or Spanish Steps if you are close by - to avoid the crush that will be there by mid-morning. We stayed a block away from the Colosseum on our 2nd trip, and my mom and I would be out at 7am for a walk by before the hordes descended. We'd walk down the street and pop into churches - it was great.

Just wanted to add - we found it intense because it was our first trip overseas - learning about the trains, the metro, the language, how to cross the darn road without getting killed! And arrival day we were coming off an overnight flight to London and connecting to Rome, so toss in some jet lag and disorientation as well.

Singing with the choir here: it's just peaches to see someone give Rome some real quality time! We've spent as long as a week there without coming even CLOSE to running out of things to do including a fair amount of wandering around without a plan. Great fun, that. I've been making notes for future stay #4 and the list is long as my arm. HA!

Nope, it's no more "intense" than any other big city anywhere at all. While busy, it won't have what you might think of as a typical big-city feel due to lack of high-rises and soulless steel-and-glass structures. It's high on our list of much-loved favorite places, and you're going to have a wonderful time!

One suggestion...get the RS audio Europe app and download the tours/walks for Rome. There are several and they are good for providing some context to places like the Forum.

Please ignore the advice to NOT use a good guidebook!! For a first visit to Europe a good guidebook is invaluable. One of the reasons we recommend RS books (besides the fact that this is his website), is that he explains in detail about mundane but important things like managing money matters, transportation options, how to use the phone in a foreign country, internet access, accommodation considerations, etc, etc. And then there are all of the touristy things like opening hours, closed days, advance ticket advice, how to avoid the biggest crowds. And for those who choose to use them, suggested itineraries to maximize your time, and museum guides. The website also has the audio guide app and audioguides that you can download, and which we found extremely useful.

Kudos for choosing just one place to visit for the week. This will really ratchet down the intensity if a first visit to a foreign city, since you won't feel the need to frantically run from site to site, cramming too much into a single day. Have a wonderful time! Oh, and a daily gelato break is mandatory.

A week in Rome! How wonderful. We had 3 amazing days there and would have loved to have more. You can do day trips (Pompeii, Ostia Antica), if you like, since you have so much time there. I can see why some say it is intense, but we did not find it to be overwhelming. It is a big, busy city but it is such a charming, interesting place, so full of beautiful sights. I think you will love it. My advice is to do a couple walking tours (Rick's are great, I found), definitley walk around the Pantheon and Trevi fountain area at night (both are spectacular), get advance tickets to the Borghese, and try a lot of gelato! Our favorite was near Termini-it is called La Romana, we loved it so we went there 3 times in 3 days ;) Have fun!

It is refreshing to read of someone who plans to go deep in one spot. Too often posts state: "We are going to Italy for a week and plan to visit Rome, Florence, Venice, CT, Tuscany, Umbria, the Amalfi Coast, Naples, Bologna and Lake Como."

What time does your flight arrive? Where are you planning to stay? I suggest that you get settled, wander around the area near your hotel, then take the Walks of Italy Rome evening tour as an introduction. It's a wonderful couple of hours in the heart of Rome and a nice way to get introduced. I also recommend Walks of Italy for their other tours. They restrict the group to 12-14 so it is not a cattle call.

Once you've got your feet on the ground I also suggest you get up early and stay up late to avoid the midday crowds and get to see another side of the city. Your biggest hurdle will not be to over plan. You've made a great start there already. Resign yourself to the fact you won't be able to see everything. I also suggest you try to alternate your day so you don't spend an entire day looking at churches or an entire day in museums.

Please ignore the advice to NOT use a good guidebook!! For a first visit to Europe a good guidebook is invaluable. One of the reasons we recommend RS books (besides the fact that this is his website)

all I'm saying is don't take RS or any travel guides (which I use all the time ) as gospel.

Wow, thank you all so much! Such excellent tips and reassuring words.

I am happy to see so much support of our choice to stay in Rome for a week!

I will take all this great advice to heart, I will be sure to take the time to truly enjoy the city. Though it will be hard considering all the wonderful things to see! I'm glad that my big city experience has prepared me for the hustle and bustle. I am so excited about this trip and now even more so!

Thank you again,

KC

...and finish up in Rome which does not merit a whole week. FYI Rick's
advice is invariably golden. He gets it BIGTIME!

Sorry, Andrew, but I'll cheerfully disagree with both you and Mr. Steves on the merits of Rome and not doing big cities first. It's really nice to stagger, bleary-eyed, off an international flight and not be looking at another potentially long journey.

I love the Eternal City: could spend months there without boredom. And it's not really a difficult a place to begin a trip as the hospitality industry is well used to managing visitors.

PS: I've done Pompeii twice. It is WELL worth seeing but that and the Amalfi are not the do-all, end-all of Italy depending on one's time and interests, IMHO.

My boyfriend is completely obsessed with Rome, we could probably spend two weeks there and really see everything! We also like to relax alot while on vacation, so jetsetting/train travel is not really an option for us!

KC

We spent 5 of our 15 day 2014 Italy trip in Rome, and we did one “planned” thing per day... it was wonderful. I was surprised how much I enjoyed the city, and am anxious to return and see more. Have a wonderful time!

I find a printed map works better for me than Google Map directions. I have followed gGoogle Map directions that sent me a walking route with twists and turns when my destination was almost in front of me. However I will get a visual of my accommodation to help me see what it looks like at street level.

<<<<>>>>

Reminds me of the advice I received that Venice does not warrant more than three days. Total bunkum.

Hi,

We are travelling from Toronto to Rome in a few weeks for the first time as well and I had the same concerns as you, for the same reason initially.

In addition to your RS guide book, I found watching the RS videos on Rome really helpful, and I really love the ones about each neighbourhood on YouTube by The Roman Guy:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCobaqk2JEYLiBJAhJZG0Oiw

Have a wonderful time!

bxrlover,

I have already watched all the Rick Steve's Rome videos many many times haha, I have only watched the roman guy neighboorhood video of the one we are staying in. I found the link to the blog had some more info, I will definitely watch more of them!

KC