One day in Rome

One day is better than no day. Your plan sounds good but tightly scheduled. The Roma Pass will get you to the Colosseum and Roman Forum so it may not be worth it. get tickets for the Vatican Museums online or you may have a long wait.

Taxis may be your best bet for getting around, there is a taxi stand at the corner of Piazza San Pietro and another beside the Colisseum as well as smaller stands near all the monuments. You go to the stand, taxis are not hailed on the street.

The Trevi Fountain has been undergoing restoration, I don't know if the water has been turned on yet.

The Vatican Museums seem to get busier as the day goes on, so the earlier you arrive, the fewer people you will have in the long hallways to slow you down. By the time you get out of the airport and into downtown Rome, you may already be part of the crowd, not ahead of it. Still, starting at the Vatican museums is likely the best plan, but don't linger too long in any part. From the entrance to the Sistine Chapel is a long way, with potentially a lot to see, but with your list of sights you can't spend all day. Also, if you can use the "secret" exit in the Sistine Chapel, normally only available to tour groups, that will save you time and backtracking. Rick Steves' guidebook provides the details.

Since the Colosseum, Forum, and Palatino are grouped together (but still take some time to cover on foot), you can see them together. The entrance at the Palatine Hill has fewer lines than the entrance at the Colosseum.

Rick Steves also lists several great pizza restaurants nor far from Termini.

What time of year are you visiting? Although Rome is always busy, there are times that will be even busier than others, and opening and closing times for some sights might be different. The Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps are always "open," of course.

Hi,

Thanks for the feedback. so you would suggest I directly take a taxi from FCO Airport to Vatican since I reach Airport at around 8am.

I would be visiting on the 11th of December, 2014.

Is it a good idea to take a guided or explore on my own?

Thanks.

This is just my opinion, but I would reduce the rush to see many sites in a day, to a couple and spend some time wandering the back streets and sitting in a cafe. For me that is how i fell in love with Rome.

I think you're going to have a difficult time doing all of this in the short time that you have - one of those challenges being the short winter hours at the Colosseum/Palatine/Forum: last entry for any of them is at 15:30, all closings at 16:30, which is very early.

I assume you'll want to stop by the hotel and drop your luggage: it'll be too early for check-in but most accommodations will store your bags.

So after dealing with your luggage, hightail it to the Vatican. Book your tickets in advance, and to do both the museums and basilica most efficiently I'd consider booking one of the museum/basilica tours. They last 3 hours, include line-skipping privileges, and you'll be assured of being able to enter the basilica down the backstairs reserved for tours. That stairway is NOT a given for individuals not on a tour; it all depends on the attitude of the guards on any particular day.

http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/z-Info/MV_Info_Servizi_Visite.html

Then hop the metro to the Colosseum/Palatine/Forum. Book your tickets in advance (yes, worth the 2 euro as you don't have time to waste standing in any lines) and go directly to the one you really want to see should time run out before fitting them all in.

Then walk to the Pantheon, and then to the Steps and Trevi.

Trevi (under renovation) and the Steps are just walk-bys, and the Pantheon is open until 7:30 (19:30) so those should be last on the to-do list.

You're going to have to pick a time slot for your Vatican tickets, and that could be tricky as a flight delay could cause you to miss your appointment. Obviously if you're traveling with just a carryon, you'll be out of the airport more quickly than if you have to wait for baggage. Bus shuttles take about an hour into Termini but could take longer in rush-hour traffic or accident delay. You might consider taking the Leonardo Express train instead? No chance of traffic delays with that one, and it'll get you to Termini more quickly (30 minutes).

http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=dd2aeb82a8fbf310VgnVCM1000008916f90aRCRD

Hi kathy,

Thanks for the feedback. That sounds good. My hostel is based at Termini (3 mins walk from the Metro). I would have just a carry bag anyway.

One of the concerns as exactly pointed out, is I might miss on my time for vatican time slot since the slots are from 9am. I had thought to visit the Necropolis under the Basilica of St. Peter (for which they provided me two slots : 9am/ 1.30pm)

1. So, I had thought to do it the other way around. My flight arrives at 8am. Get into Termini by 9am. Catch a train from Termini to Collosseum stop. Be there by 09.30am. Start off with Roman Forum, Palatine hill and followed by Colloseum. Finish off by 12.30 (max).

2. Take a cab to Vatican (i heard its around 5 euros, takes 30 mins) , bus/metro takes 40-45 mins. Start off with the Necropolis guided tour (1 hr) at 1.30pm , followed by St peters basilica (1 hr), followed by vatican Musuem (around 3.30pm). Will book the tickets to this in advance. Finish off by 5.30pm.

3. Take a metro and enter Pantheon by 6.15pm.. Spend some time to go to Trevi Fountain and spanish steps, have dinner, return back to Termini to hostel for flight next morning to Paris.

4. This way I felt I dont miss out on seeing either of the trio in Rome. Should this be fine or I should skip the Necropolis tour to spend more time in Vatican and basilica?

Any suggestions on places to eat around? Best place to have Gelatino?

Please note - the Trevi ftn is under restoration. When we visited in Sept, there wasn't much to see. You can check out real time video online I believe. Or I'm sure see how it has progressed to see if you want to go.

You may want to go to Piazza Navona instead and see the gorgeous Fountain of the Four Rivers (we missed that in 2008 as it was under restoration!).

For gelato - we really enjoyed Don Pepe, near the Colosseum - the black cherry is to DIE for! via San Giovanni in Laterno
http://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowUserReviews-g187791-d4088077-r239364913-Cremeria_Don_Pepe_Gelateria_e_Yogurteria-Rome_Lazio.html

Yes, you could do the itinerary in reverse but I'd really consider a combo basilica/museum tour. Practically all that I'm aware of (unless someone knows otherwise) start in the museums and end up in the basilica - from which you exit - instead of the other way around. You're allowed to sightsee the basilica on your own when your tour is over.

The basilica is free, no tickets needed, but being able to access it directly from the museums (with a tour as there's no guarantee you'll be able to use the back stairway otherwise) is going to save you some time as otherwise it's a bit of a walk between museum and basilica, and there could be a queue to get into the church.

I'd check your carryon at Termini when you arrive in Rome to eliminate the hassle/time of having to check and retrieve it at the museums.

http://www.romatermini.com/en/service/detail/left-luggage

Hi Kathy,

Thanks a lot for your insightful reply n feedback. I am grateful to you for that.

The guided tour of necropolis under basilica takes place only at 1.30pm, with prior reservation. That tour takes 1.5 hrs n drops you off at Centre of the church in basilica. If I visit the necropolis, I would have to come out to just visit Vatican n Sistine chapel n exit.

If I take in a guided tour starting from Vatican museums n Sistine chapel, I can take the back staircase to basilica n exit (which saves me from queus). This was infact what you suggested.

Is it better to take a guided Vatican museum tour or go in for a guided tour of necropolisunder basilica museum, considering my time crunch?

I would be keeping my carry-on by directly checking into my backpackers hostel, 100 m fr termini. Since they might do for free, instead of paying the extra money at the safekeepers. Is that what you meant to convey?

hi

does your flight land at 8 am or do you get out of the airport at 8 am ?
you need to plan for 60 mins from the time your flight lands to exiting the airport.

Traffic in Rome is a hit and miss - so you cant be sure you ll get anywhere on time

Metro is heaps better and you can get everywhere on metro.

check out vatican in late evening when it gets dark - quite a sight - (maybe after your day is over)

good luck

Do you already have a tour confirmed for the scavi under St. peter's? If not, it's probably too late to get one. If you do have the reservation then after the tour you come out inside the basilica. There is no waiting in line for that. I would visit the basilica and then go to the museums. Unless you're on a tour of the museums you won't come out into the basilica. You'll go out the main entry and then have to work your way around to the line for the basilica. The only way to visit the Sistine chapel is to go through the museums. They are not connected to the basilica. Only you can decide if you want to skip the necropolis tour. If you are interested in doing it, then you should. If it's not high on your list then you should skip it.

The fare from the colosseum are to St. Peter's will be closer to 10 euros and not 5 euros.

There is no metro near the pantheon. You will either need to walk or take a taxi or bus.

You haven't allowed yourself any time for lunch. There is a cafe inside the Vatican museums where you might get something to eat.

Donna

Re the café inside the Vatican Museums: there is a nice limited-menu restaurant in the courtyard of the museums. There are also cafes in the basement of the museums, light lunches and snacks. DO NOT eat the pizza.

Hi,

My flight lands at 7.40am. Expecting to reach Collosseum by 9.30am and finish off the Caesar's shuffle..

Would be heading off to St peters (Scavi) and then the Vatican (at evening)..

Hi Donna,

The tour for Scavi under St Peters is already booked. I haven't paid for it yet though. I had heard good reviews for it, especially the underground parts of the ancient city which they have. They dont keep the tomb there anyway. If I do the Scavi tour, that takes an hour or so, and then I can do the St Peters Basilica.

But I am worried, if that would leave me with too much of a less time for Vatican Musuems and Sistine Chapel. The last entry is at 4pm I had read during winters. Do you suggest going for Vatican + St Peters Basilica (climbing up the dome) and skipping the Scavi tour/?

Perhaps, I should take the metro from Roman Forum to Vatican then since that is well connected, and take a taxi to Pantheon in the evening. That would be cheaper and suit according to my requirements, is it?

Thanks.

I can't tell you if you should skip the scavi tour or not. It's all a personal decision. You need to decide which sites are the most important to you and visit those first. If you're already thinking of dropping the scavi tour then perhaps you should in order to see other sites.

You could still do the scavi tour, the basilica and then visit the museums. You would only be able to spend about half an hour inside the basilica but you can always come back after you're finished inside the museums. The basilica stays open until 7pm.

The other thing you could do would be to start at the museums, finish them by 1pm, go to the scavi tour and finish in the basilica and climb the dome. After that, take a taxi to the pantheon and trevi fountain. You would probably only be able to see the colosseum and forum from the outside because they also close earlier in the winter but at least you'd be able to visit everything at the Vatican that you wanted to visit.

I think, basically, you'll need to decide which sites are the most important to you because you won't fit everything in in a single day with early closures.

Donna

I've done a couple of walking tours with Walks Of Italy. I remember seeing they had a tour that does similar to what you listed in a day. Could be something to consider and let them take care of it all. If you land at 7:45 it maybe possible to make their 9:30 start time.

http://www.walksofitaly.com/tour_bookings/tour_all_listing/1/151

My head is spinning a little…

Your carryon could be a problem. I know that most hotels will store bags until check-in but I'm unsure about hostels. Not knowing how big it is, here are the restrictions for the Vatican Museums:

"It is obligatory to deposit in the cloakroom suitcases, backpacks and containers with dimensions larger than cm 40 x 35 x 15.

It is obligatory to deposit in the cloakroom bags and bagpacks which are cumbersome, except those small-sized, that carried on shoulder, don't jut out by 15 cm from the body's shape in its highest point."

Now, if you enter through the front entry of the museums, you can check it there - if it's large enough that it needs to be - but that also means that regardless of where you end up, you're going to have to circle back to get it. You might consider checking it at Termini so you don't have to worry about any complications.

Other than that, I'm with Donna that you're going to need to figure out what's most important to you and do those FIRST as there's too much on your wish list to try and fit in around early closures and limited daylight.

Hi Donna,

Thanks for the feedback. I certainly have in mind the must visits for me, which includes at least the collosseum, vatican museum, and climbing onto the dome at basilica. Maybe in that case, will give scavi a miss. I will not have to hurry much then, and can take a guided tour at vatican to get the inside shortcut entry to basilica only available to tour operators.

Hi Kathy,
I already dropped a mail to my hostel which would allow me to drop my luggage. Its less than 5 mins walk from termini. Thanks for the insight there.

Hi Robert.
They perfectly were doing the same. However they are sold out for the date I would be at rome, 11dec. Moreover, is it worth the price they advertise it for? Any other similar tours at a discounted price you know of?

Thanks all.

If you can swing it financially, I would really suggest you consider a private tour. They could meet you at the airport, get you from place to place, and help you see the highlights. Getting around Rome takes longer than in many other cities – very limited subway, bad traffic, etc. So, having someone get you from place to place could be a major plus.

I've used Comtext Rome many times and have been very happy with them. In addition, RS guide books have recommendations for private guides.

And with such limited time, skip the Spanish steps, it's just a staircase and wouldn't be particular attractive in the winter. And as others have noted, the Trevi fountain is covered up with scaffolding.

Well actually Trevi Fountain is Not entirely covered in scaffolding. The new walkway brings you right up to those huge magnificent winged horses and the God-Men who accompany them. There may be other over-sized land and sea creatures in the picture, there was so much going on, i can still feel the thrill I got from being so close to those statues.

If you google live cam trevi fountain, you can see that the walkway is heavily traveled. Two guards stand at both ends of the walkway. Only so many visitors are allowed on the walkway at a time, and signs warn you Not to throw money down at the dry bed below, but there are a lot of coins visible. With the guards watching, i did Not throw any money from the bridge.

The Fun is in the foto ops In front of those statues. We may never get that close to that monument again in our lifetime. Visitors from all over the world took advantage of their new vantage point and there is much fun and laughter on that bridge as travelers took photos of a lifetime.

You can throw coins in a small pool of water at street level opposite the walkway. People would bounce coins off of nearby poles, but I went for the direct hit.

I was at Trevi in September and was glad I went. It gave us a chance to be creative and it was Fun.

You do not have enough time to do everything on your list. Save some of it for your next trip, it'll still be there. Skip the Vatican or make it your only stop in Rome, anything else is a waste. As it is, your itinerary won't give you time to check in to your hotel.

Get the Rick Steve's guide. It will explain the fastest way to get into the Coliseum. Follow his "Night Time Walk" (at any time of day or night) for a fast tour of the Trevi, Pantheon, Piazza Navona and Spanish Steps.

That would be a full day considering flying and airport transfers. Adding more is not realistic.