First Trip to Rome in early April

I suggest that you get the Rick Steves Italy or Rome book. You may be able to find then at the library. He gives lots of info about all the sites to see, hours they are open, and any entry fees.
One thing that will give you a great overview of Rome is to go to the top of the

Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II. It is located almost across the street from the Forum. Take the elevator to the top and you have a great 360 degree view of all of Rome. You can see where various sites are located and it is a wonderful way to to orient yourselves as to where things are located.
I found Rome to be "walkable" - I like to walk and always us metro or buses.
Hope you have a wonderful trip.

For an entire week in Rome, you really should buy or borrow Rick Steves guidebook for Rome. So many of your questions will be answered and even questions you didn't know you had. For example, with advance purchase tickets for many sites, you can minimize time waiting online. In some cases, a private tour for three will cost less then a per person price x 3 on a group tour.

We were in St. Peter's Square last Easter and heard the Pope's speech. It was busy and about 1/2 full. But the crowd was respectful and the authorities did a good job of moving the crowds in and out. We would go again.
My best suggestion for anyone visiting Rome is to figure out where you are staying and how to navigate the city by mass transit--buses and their Metro system. Since Trastevere is not close to the Metro, it'd be buses to get around. Hopefully your son has scouted out the neighborhood for you.
I also suggest that you prepurchase tickets to the Vatican Museum and get a time reserved to enter.

We know we probably won't be able to do too much in that span of time

Actually, you should be able to do a LOT in 6 days. The big thing to avoid on April 1st (Easter Sunday) are the big National sites, like the Colosseum, which are free on the first Sunday of every month. That might be a great day to do a walking tour or two, and most guidebooks - including Rick Steves - have some of those mapped out for self-touring; no guide needed.

The Vatican Museums will be closed Easter Sunday and Monday (April 2) but you should pre-order tickets for a day that they're open to avoid standing in a long ticket line, You will still need to pass through security but that line moves pretty quickly. The page with their tickets and tours is here:

http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/visita-i-musei/scegli-la-visita/visitatori-singoli.html

"Open tour of the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel" is a general-entry ticket for self-touring and not a guided tour. However, you may want to look at the 3-hour combo tour (guided) of museums + St Peter's for accessing the church directly via the tours-only back passage.

For the Colosseum, Forum and Palatine, (one ticket covers all three), pre-order here:

https://www.coopculture.it/en/colosseo-e-shop.cfm

"Open ticket" is the choice for self-touring the main section of the arena. I am guessing that the underground and Belvedere tours are long sold out for the week you'll be there, although you could take a look and see if tickets are still available. I personally don't think either of those areas are must-dos but other folks have enjoyed them.

Those are really the two places with the longest lines so you shouldn't stand around long to get into anything else. If you want to see the Borghese (excellent museum), reservations are mandatory, and it may be booked up for that week but give a look:

http://www.tosc.it/tickets.htm?affiliate=T2C&sort_by=event_datum&sort_direction=asc&fun=erdetail&doc=erdetaila&erid=912678&language=en

A day trip to Orvieto by train might be up your alley, or to the ruins at Ostia Antica.

A guidebook is a necessity for picking and choosing what might interest you in Rome so buy one (and check your local library for others) as quickly as possible and spend some quality time with it.

Just to be clear, we don't all work for Rick Steves or get a commission on his guidebook sales. ;-) But this is a case where a guidebook (any good one, and his are very good) would be a wise investment. You might consider buying his Pocket Rome (see "shop online" on this site) as a lighter, more portable alternative to the bigger Rome guidebooks. See what other guidebooks your library has, study and peruse in the next few weeks if you can. Also see the "explore Europe" link on this site. And, also on this site, under "our tours" see the 7-day Rome tour for ideas about what's most worth visiting. Your preferences may vary of course, but it's a good starting point.

Wow. First time on the site and many great ideas especially about the book. I will go tomorrow and purchase, peruse and see what sounds good. This site is great I’m just a little overwhelmed at this point. Picking the Airbnb was stressful enough! ;)

I'm so happy to read this ^ tomsmom. My husband and I are heading to Rome in early May, and will be there for about 5-6 days before meeting friends to hike the Old Salt Road. The hiking part of the trip is arranged, but we decided to tack on a visit to Rome at the front end because we've never done it. And now we're finding that planning it is a tad daunting. I have similar questions to yours, and the answers here are very helpful.

But, we also want to visit Pompei. There seem to be plenty of day tours out of Rome, via van or bus, but we were advised by a friend to take a train instead. We tend to shy away from the rush of a one-day tour, but of course so much depends on the quality of the guide.
So, my question is, has anyone done the one day tour to Pompei from Rome? Is that enough time? Are we better off taking a train and spending a night near Naples? If we go without a tour, will we wish we had a guide? Are we crazy to try to see Rome, and Pompei, in such a short time? And, if you've taken the day tour, is there a company you recommend? Thanks.

We are talking a walks of italy daytrip to Pompeii in june; we’ve done a number of their small group tours before and the guides are excellent( although they do hand you over to a Pompeii qualified specific guide at the site). A one day trip will give you a taste of Pompeii; it is a long day but I think worth it if you’re not staying in the Naples/Amalfi coast area to be able to spend more time at the site.

soolen46, it would be best if you start a new thread with your questions. Otherwise responses to two different posters with different questions on the same thread can become confusing! :O)

Just copy/paste the text you posted here into that new thread; no need to retype it all.