Museum itinerary questions

If you are not staying in Naples, you may want to reconsider the Campania Artecard. You can just pay for admission at the museum (you can check your bags at the train station). Check Trenitalia for schedules to Siena; if you are arriving late, be sure to contact your hotel or apartment.

From the train station in Siena you can take a bus into the city center, but a taxi or two might be more convenient and not too expensive for six (even three and three).

Get your Galleria Borghese tickets (or vouchers) in advance; 4:30 should be enough time for you to get to your apartment by bus (metro doesn't get that close to Campo dei Fiori). You may want to transfer at Tiburtina to get to the Termini station, where you can get a van-taxi at the station (taxis in Rome are not very expensive). Check in, and get on the #116 mini-bus (buy tickets and validate them) that stops in Campo dei Fiori (make sure it's going to Galleria Borghese). The stop at the Borghese is a couple of hundred meters from the entrance.

The Uffizi is a crapshoot concerning crowds. I like going in the morning, others prefer late afternoon.

Since you are very budget-conscience, take into account that the charge for checking each bag at train stations is usually around €4-6. The Archaeological Museum has free lockers, but there aren't many large ones and I'm not sure you could fit suitcases in the large ones anyway. So if you decide to go to the museum, take any smaller bags with you.

If you intend not to take taxis the 492 bus from Tiburtina (it starts there from the bus lanes next to the station, almost all the way to the left in the bus lanes/station) will get you to nearby Campo dei Fiori in something like 30 minutes or so. Get off at Largo Torre Argentina or one of the two following stops depending on where you want to be.

The now slightly dated Ron in Rome website has very good information about using buses in Rome at
http://www.roninrome.com/%20transportation/bus

To get a good idea of the 492 bus - my friend last year because I was in and out of Tiburtina and staying in the Prati and everywhere I wanted to go the 492 went - you can look at the official ATAC bus website and put in the bus you want or the destination you want. The map for the 492 is at http://viaggiacon.atac.roma.it/?service=trovalinea&linea=492&percorso=492R The brown line is the bus route - you can zoom in - and the yellow dots are the stops. You can see the departure times too. If you want it in English click the little flag in the upper right corner, but it honestly works better in Italian.

Good advice, everyone -- thanks!

Nigel, your link to the bus routes is fantastic. I have been trying to find a good bus map for Rome with no luck.
Zoe, I was intending to get the Campania ArteCard Tutta la Regione version because it will cover the museum, Pompeii, and all of our transportation (Circumvesuviana train and Amalfi Coast buses), at least that was my understanding.

Sorry, Jennie, I didn't realize you would be in Campania that long. It sounds like a good idea if you'll be in the area for a few days. The card should be available at the airport; I have bought it at the train station.