Getting Around in Rome

Roxanne,

I've also gotten "lost" on a couple of occasions when walking around Rome. I've found that I can usually find my way, either by asking others along the way and watching for landmarks. However, a few times I've been so tired that I just hailed a Cab and took the "easy way" back to the Hotel to rest my aching feet.

I now pack along a portable GPS unit (Garmin) and it's made things a lot easier.

Thank you. I thought I was the only one. I got lost so many times. The first time, I was sooo frustrated. After that, I just went with the flow and ended up seeing some wonderful places that weren't on my list, and even inadvertantly stumbling on one sight that I couldn't find TWICE before.

On the other hand, I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to cross streets, after hearing and reading many tales of woe.

Oh, but a GPS would steal the pleasure of the many finds you have when lost...

OK, I am only partly serious about that, but yes, navigating in Rome can be trying, partly due to the maze of streets, but trying to find an address is especially frustrating. This is partly due to the fact that even on a fairly straight street, when you come to an intersection, if it is even a little bit open, that is a Piazza of a different name, and continuing on what appears to be the same street is now one of a different name and usually a different numbering order.

I usually find a map helpful and navigate by landmark.

I understand your frustration & I've been twice. So this trip I purchased Streetwise maps of Rome, Florence & Venice & from the looks of them I think they will really help this trip.

I totally get where you are coming from about Rome (I think someone here once likened the streets to being like a big bowl of spaghetti), then again I get turned around just about everywhere we go. So instead of a GPS I got a JDS. That's my husband. The upside is he doesn't require batteries, the downside is he can talk back.

i have to disagree here, i was there this past weekend and my first day there iw as so tired i hated walking rome, but i slept well and the next two days there saw how easy it is to walk all the neighborhoods, not needing a map or gps(which i refrained from using any my whole 3 week trip)

the famous gelato shop(forget the name) earlier in the day iw as thinking of the place and said ah well who cares if i miss it, then at night on my way to the trevi fountain completely lost i walked right into an ally and bamn there was the gelateria, so if course i went and got some, then went after asking a cop how to get the trevi which was stupidly next door, i had a great end to a night.

the metro isnt much but for the most parts it allowed me to find the major neighborhoods and start and walk to the rest

I love getting lost in Rome! We have found many wonderful sites along the way. And great food!!!!

That why the compass was invented. Any old city whether Rome or Venice or London has a tangle of streets. If you define lost as not knowing exactly where you are, then that describes my condition most of the time. The key is good map and we most often use the map from the hotel which we mark up. Generally get a new one every day. Use the compass frequently to make sure I am headed in the right direction. It is easy for curving or slanted street to throw you off. Haven't used a GPS in Europe but have had problem in big US cities when the GPS cannot get a good signal and becomes equally lost with me. I would assume a similar problem has to exist in Europe where the buildings are closer together. My compass always works and I don't have to recharge the battery. It is solar powered.

We had our GPS with us last year, we used it driving in Tuscany, and out of curiosity, carried it around with us in Rome for a day. The biggest problem is that the tallish and packed in buildings block the signal a lot of the time, then you pop out in a piazza and the GPS can catch up with you again.

We like to use our map to figure out which direction we want to head in and then put the map away and wander. Takes us longer to get where we are going but we find lots of little sites and spots along the way. If you are on a mission to get somewhere quickly this doesn't work well, but we enjoyed it and found some great little churches and piazzas we never would have seen otherwise.

I will add that since I am off on business most days I have been in Rome, my wife was left to herself to wander Rome. No disrespect to her, but even she will agree that she has no sense of direction. She very much enjoyed getting lost, took her camera to show me where she wandered, and had the great idea of using the river as her main landmark. When the day was getting late, she would head (or ask the way) to the river, easily finding her way back to our hotel in the Trastevere.

I will add that since I am off on business most days I have been in Rome, my wife was left to herself to wander Rome. No disrespect to her, but even she will agree that she has no sense of direction. She very much enjoyed getting lost, took her camera to show me where she wandered, and had the great idea of using the river as her main landmark. When the day was getting late, she would head (or ask the way) to the river, easily finding her way back to our hotel in the Trastevere.

I completely agree- I just got back and I still feel my head spin when I think of getting around Rome! I felt like I was checking a map every street or two to make sure I was getting lost! I live in a big city myself, and spent 4 months in London, and neither of them have got anything on Rome in terms of confusion!

The trouble with GPS in Rome is that the buildings are so close together and the streets so narrow that it is difficult to get "line of sight" with the satellite. I found it to be fairly useless in the city. I ended up using a good map instead.

Had the same experience as Scott; the GPS didn't work in pedestrian mode in Rome because the buildings blocked the signal. We found it to be useless. But, I also purchased one of those Rome Streetwise maps and I used it a lot. I put a black dot on the map to designate the apartment we stayed in so we could get back to it a little easier!