Only 1 full day in Rome w/walking problems

Madmcks, even if you get a skip-the-line ticket for the Vatican, you will be on your feet for more than 30 minutes, and there are no places to sit, stop, or rest. It’s a constant moving crowd that sweeps you along through the museum. The Sistine Chapel has a ring of seats around the edge, but getting one of them is almost impossible.

The Colosseum and Foro Romano are on uneven ground, can be crowded, and necessitate walking. If you take the metro, you will still have to walk to the locale and walk through the locale.

Hop-on hop-off still requires you to climb on and off the bus. And then walk to your destination. There was a gentleman at our hotel one year who had horrible knees and sciatica and his method was to call a cab, walk five minutes at most, focusing on one venue, and then go have a coffee in a cafe. He recommended against the HoHo bus given bad knees.

I don’t know if there are wheelchairs for rent, but these would be useless at the Colosseum. And the streets in Rome are cobblestones, which could be very difficult to navigate in a wheelchair.

I would suggest the Borghese, taking a taxi there, which will be around 10€, and enjoying your day rather than being in pain. It is a lovely museum.

Or choose a church you wish to see, or the Pantheon, or focus on one place. You won’t get to see everything, but you may come away without much pain. And you save things for another time should you return in the future.

Termini to Fontana di Trevi is a 30 minute walk. You can take the metro and have a ten minute walk, but you will still have to go up and down stairs into the metro station. Rome2Rio is a good App to look at possible transportation choices; or Google Maps.

Just my thoughts.

It will be tough to fit all that into one day with mobility trouble and public transit and the better order would be St.Peter's - Pantheon - Colosseum, so if you can afford to hire a guide with a car you should consider it, and look for ones that can supply wheelchairs or walkers. St. Peters is big and the Sistine Chapel is crowded, and none of these things is just a short transfer from a street curb to inside. Either the subway stop or the bus stop will still leave you with some distance to negotiate. You'd be tuckered out before you get to the start, and wouldn't be able to enjoy the vastness of wandering around inside St. Peter's.
Same goes for the Colosseum.

Some relatively easier things to get to: the various Mary churches around the Piazza del Popolo; the Ara Pacis; if you're staying near Termini then the Palazzo Massimo and Santa Maria Maggiore. Also near there is Santa Prasede if you take the time to learn about it ahead.

I am very sorry but when you describe your limitations, I don’t think you should try the Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel. There is a tremendous amount of walking and standing involved as described in the post above. It is very difficult to adequately describe the crowds. When I went I felt as if I was in a cattle chute, constantly being pressed forward in a small place by the herd.

Take taxis to get around.

They do have wheelchairs you can check out at the Vatican Museums but quite honestly, given the extreme crowds during high season, I think you'll have trouble viewing from a seated position, ceilings aside. They also note that they can't accommodate wheelchairs on their own tours of the museums. A google brings up some private tours which do although I can't tell if they expect you to have your own chair, and some require you to have proof of disability. Sorry, I'm unfamiliar with any of them so can't recommend one over another.

https://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/organizza-visita/servizi-per-i-visitatori/accessibilita.html

The Colosseum/Forum Palatine websites notes this:
https://colosseo.it/en/the-park-for-all-services/

"5 wheelchairs are available at the main entrances to the Roman Forum and Palatine. On the first tier of the Colosseum, 3 wheelchairs are available at the reception and security office."

Neither website states that those can be reserved so if you HAD to have one to sightsee the sites, you'll be taking a chance that they aren't all in use. That page also notes some specific paths for wheelchairs.

That said, I will toss this resource out as Sage Traveling has Rick's endorsement. Maybe they can help so take a look?
https://www.sagetraveling.com/rome-accessible-guided-tours

I am an older adult - 76 - with some mobility issues. Consider a cane with a built in seat. Amazon has several options. Good for museums, standing in line etc. We do the hop on bus to get an overview of the city. But we don't hop off ;) At least not often. I do force myself to go to the upper level for the view.
I would chose 1 or 2 places I really want to see, and then plan to relax at a place near the hotel where I can enjoy the moods of the city. We use taxis - expensive but saves time and my legs.

You might consider a golf cart tour
https://theromanguy.com/tours/italy/rome-golf-cart-tours

Hi all, to who have given me suggestions, A BIG THANK YOU! I didn’t expect this much responses. I feel your sincerity and warm heart to help others. All suggestions are very helpful that I would take to consideration. I’ve been walking 30-40 minutes every morning with my husband, and now I’m considering to go back to physical therapy to strengthening my legs as I still have 4 months before the trip. Thank you all!!!

https://m.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani-mobile/en/organizza-visita/servizi-per-i-visitatori/accessibilita.html#:~:text=For%20visitors%20with%20mobility%20problems,scooters%20and%20with%20electric%20wheelchairs.

The beauty of Rome is being there. We only visited St. Peters, on our first trip to Rome. Didn't go the Vatican museum until we returned in two years later. We were very mobile at the time but realized Rome wasn't built or understood in a day. My advice would be to take a taxi to St. Peters and let the spirituality of the building envelope you. Sit and absorb what this place has meant to the history of the world. Then take a taxi to the Vittorio Emanuel II Monument (the wedding cake) and be awed by the building and the bustle of modern Rome. From there, you are a short walk to the Roman Forum. From above, you can appreciate it as the center of the empire 2000 years ago. I believe you can see the Coliseum from there. Or take a short taxi ride from the wedding cake to the Coliseum/Arch of Septimus? (haven't been in Rome for 2 decades) and you can get a peak into the Roman forum and see the exterior of the Coliseum.

Perhaps it is how I travel, but I try to bring the ghosts of history with me to visualize what makes the place important. You can slow down, and cover less ground if you let the place and your understanding of history talk to you.

And head to Piazza Navaronna to enjoy the fountains and gelato. Just enjoy the city as best you can. There is much to see but there's also alot to simply absorb without any frenetic need to say you saw it all.

You've received such good advice here: enjoy just being there, take a golf cart tour, buy a cane with built-in seat, but the best of all is your attitude to start walking every day. This will serve you for the whole trip. Don't forget leg stretching and lifting those cans and jars in your kitchen for strength training. You'll be ready. Bravo.

In order to see the Sistine Chapel, you have to go through the length and stairs of the Vatican Museum; I was there for 6 hours. However, Saint Peter's would be doable with a wait to enter, but you would have your cane with a seat with you, after getting off a golf cart transportation.

For the Colosseum, the best would be a mobility reduced tour that provides a certified guide, so you can enter through the shorter groups entrance and then take an elevator. I took the elevator to save my energy a couple of months ago.

As others have said, the outside of the Colosseum is paved in stones. It takes time to learn to walk on these, using muscles you didn't know you had. But wear shoes with very wide toe and heels, the widest you can find, use the cane with the seat attached to help balance, and walk as slowly as you want. Bon voyage.

I had a family member with a similar issue and we took a golf cart tour with Rolling Rome and they took us around with minimal walking to see a wide variety of sites! We weren’t able to take my aunt to the Vatican Museums because of how much walking there is so we were really glad to still see a lot of the city that way!

Madmcks, such wonderful advice and thoughtfulness in the responses you've received! I also love that you have started walking and will do some PT. I did exactly the same thing and it did make a big difference. I had about 6 weeks of PT and then continued on my own at home. But don't feel bad if you need to take a taxi. Sometimes I take a taxi to get to my day's location and then I will be in better shape to do all the walking at the actual site. Why get worn out before the fun even begins this is especially true in warm weather.

Consider getting cortisone shots in your knees-talk to doctor about best time to do so.

St Peter's does have an entrance for people with disabilities, but you have to email them for details https://www.basilicasanpietro.va/en/experience-the-basilica/services-for-people-with-disaabilities.html