Pick Apart My Rome Itinerary

Heather, Looks like a busy 5 days in Rome. Your places of interest are great and will give a good overview of the city, but be sure to leave enough time in your itinerary to enjoy the sites and sights. Also, jet lag will hit you on the first day so plan accordingly. I'm not sure how your 13-year-old will react, but be sure to build in time for everyone to catch his or her breath. That said, your first day might be a bit ambitious. It's a pretty good walk from the Collosseum to the Campo de Fiori to the Spanish Steps (and back, I assume.) You might want to take a bus or cut out the Spanish Steps, since you'll be in the same vicinity when you visit the Borghese (which we absolutely loved, by the way) as well as on Saturday Also, you might want to reschedule the Pantheon to a day when you will be in the general vicinity, maybe on Friday, before the Vatican. The daytrip to Pompeii worked well for us. I would not have wanted to add a tour of Naples in the same day, however. I don't know what you plan to do in that city, but again, don't overbook. As I said, this looks like a great itinerary, but be sure to enjoy it. And don't forget the gelato shops. There's a great one northwest of the Pantheon - Gelateria Teatro. Once we discovered it, nothing else could come close.

Hi Heather! Your trip sounds great! One thing I want to point out is that campo de fiori isn't too interesting in the middle of the afternoon. The morning market is a lot of fun, and the place is lively at night, too, but it's going to be pretty quiet if you are planning to get there mid-day. Maybe you could instead use that first afternoon to walk around the area near your hotel and soak in Rome. When we travel, we usually spend the first afternoon just sitting somewhere for a while--usually eating--and taking it all in. We once walked up the hill north of the Coliseum and grabbed some cheap pizza near the University of Rome Engineering building and sat and watched a soccer game being played on the pitch in Domus Aurea. Or you could get your souvenir-buying out of the way on the first day; there are lots of vendors near the Coliseum selling Italian soccer jerseys that I bet a 13 year old boy would like. Then you could start your evening walk at the Spanish Steps and end at dinner in the Campo. Or better: have dinner in the campo and do the walk in the other direction--the Steps are lively at night! Also, if your husband likes archaeology, make sure you check out Largo Argentina when you are on your way to campo de fiori--very interesting! There is a taxi stand right there if you are ending your stroll and don't want to walk all the way back to the hotel. Have a great time!

Sounds a little like what hubby and I did - including the day trip to Naples - but my only thing after coming home and reliving the trip - trying to pack too much into a day can make you rush thru things - some things, we felt like we didn't really 'see' or 'experience' it - was almost like a task...so try not to pack too much into your days...

I like the sites that you have mapped out. Just a couple of sessions. I would get to the vatican by 3:30 and add the vatican museum. the sistine chapel would be great to see. It is huge but much of it you proably don't care about. We got there at 3:30 and walked right in with no line. We wanted to see the Raphel Room and Sistine Chapel. We saw what we wanted and was out by 5:00. Also I wouls suggest buying tickets to the borghese gallery in advance. they sell the tickets in blocks of time and I wouldn't want to chance a long line on a weekend. The borghese was one of our favorites. Also the via venuto and spanish steps really not that far from Borghese so it works well. lots of shopping along the way. As for you schedule for Gelato on saturday. you need to adjust that to have it every day! Tom C
have a great trip

Actually, for a first timer, that is a very well thought out itinerary, well paced, hitting the high points, really can not find any faults. If I have any advice, it is that Rome is a great strolling city, you have some walks, but any spare time would be well spent walking old Rome, maybe head over to the Trastevere. Pick up a coffee in the morning, stop for a pizza slice, step into one of the hundreds of spectacular churches for a few moments, find a market, or two, scope out restaurants tucked into the side streets, a glass of wine later in the day....missing Rome already.

Thanks for the great advice, everyone! For the first day, I thought a walk would just be a leisurely filler - it looks like the Heart of Rome walk is longer than I thought and maybe better suited for evening. Maybe we will just explore on our own around the hotel, which is what I originally had planned anyway. Have some espresso and gelato, etc. For Thursday, I was under the impression that the Caesar Shuffle begins at the Colosseum and ends at the Pantheon. Of course, we are stopping at Trajan's forum and the Victor Emmanuel elevator, but is the Pantheon really that far from these sites? Not sure when else we'd get over there unless we had the energy to see the National Museum of Rome on the first day and then visit the Pantheon neighborhood/Campo de Fiori before our afternoon/evening Vatican visit on Friday (I for one, could care less about the Baths of Diocletian). Gelato near the Pantheon will definitely be on the agenda! Friday night's Vatican visit actually includes the museum and Sistine Chapel - it's open Friday nights during the summer. But we have to get there earlier to see St. Peter's and climb the dome since that closes at 7:00. I'm a little worried about this being a long day with activities on opposite sides of Rome. Saturday - Yes, we'll definitely book Borghese online! Has anyone been to Rome on Republic Day? Is it going to be crazy to get to the north end of town after the parade? Sunday - Our time in Naples will just be to stop at the Archeological Museum before heading to Pompeii, and then we will probably have some pizza there before heading back to Rome. If you could cut out the National Museum of Rome the Baths to have more time for strolling/walks, would you? I'm also not sure where the Trevi Fountain is going to fit into this (would like to see it at night).

Heather,
I think it's well thought-out. The walking is not too far, if you are reasonably avid walkers. We always do 6+ miles per day when in Rome on vacation. It is not too far to do any of what you've outlined. Do watch the Pantheon's hours, though, so you don't miss it by going too late. We did find the Pantheon to be quiet in the morning, if you can arrange to be there for opening. that way you can actually see the place. :-) The Rome from the Sky is great, too, but I'd time it for just before sunset if I could. The Trevi is kind of neat early, before the crowds descend. It's fun to see the contrast of say 07:30 and 15:00 and 21:00! I might cut the baths of Diocletian if you want to have a less hectic day mid-trip. Don't be afraid of dumping an activity in favor of a relaxing sit in a cafe or piazza. Campo Dei Fiori is a good place to have an apperitivo around 18:00 and take in the scene. When you do your Dolce Vita Stroll, consider a slight detour to Via Margutta. This is a classy old quiet street, made famous by the movie Roman Holiday. A very nice stroll away from the crowds. FWIW, we loved having Gaetano Manfredi as a guide in Pompeii. Worth every euro! Have a ball! Roma e bella!

What does your 13yo think of the itinerary? While it looks great for adults, unless your son is as into history as your husband, there isn't much in there that seems to be of interest to a typical 13yo. The Colosseum is totally interesting, but the Forum is a pile of rubble and Palantine Hill is just a hill with remains of houses (although there are some other stuff) Art galleries all blend together, and walking gets old fast. And there isn't enough time to try all the gelato flavors you would like. Just ask my 12.5yo who was with me in Rome two weeks ago ;-) Her highlight was the Cappuccin crypt (lots of creepy bones). She liked climbing the dome at St. Peter's, and some of the rooms in the Vatican Museum. The day trip to Pompeii was great, too. I had purchased Eyewitness Travel's Top 10 Rome book and she went through it and picked out sites she wanted to see, and I think we had a good compromise in the end.

Heather, very well planned and energetic! You might consider a trip to the Catacombs or just a bus ride out to the Via Appia Antica. On your Galleria Borghese day, you can walk through the Borghese park to get to Piazza del Popolo (I don't know if you had that in mind), then continue with your itinerary. If you plan to attend a parade, allow a lot of time to get to the Galleria Borghese. Have so much fun! And yes, gelato every day.

I agree with so much of what everyone says. I just wanted to add if your 13 y.o. likes cats another reason for going to Largo Argentino besides the ruins (and the spot where Ceasar was assassinated) is their cat sanctuary housed in one corner. It is so fun to watch the rescued cats playing and sunning in the ruins.

I would substitute Baths of Caracalla for Diocletian. What about the Mouth of Truth? That could be combined with the Aventine Hill walk. Pantheon can be closed for services so you may need to work around that. Definitely see Campo Fiori in the am-lots of nice spices for sale and a real treat to watch artichokes being cut. Try to duck into as many churches as possible even if you have only 15 minutes-the Minerva is just around the corner from Pantheon. On Via Guiia, which runs parallel to the Tiber, is a fountain that is interesting-fed from an original aqueduct-it is near the Ponte Sisto bridge. Have a grand time-never enough time to see as much as you would like!

Oh, so Largo di Torre Argentina is where the remains of the Pompey's Theatre are, huh? I was under the impression that building no longer existed and was built over a long time ago. Shows what I know. The 13-year-old's two itinerary requests were to go up in the glass elevator and to see where Caesar was assassinated, so there you go. He does seem interested in ruins and museums. Hopefully Paris will give us a little bit of a breather since I've already been there a couple times and the others don't share my enthusiasm about France!

Just a thought: As you will be going to the Baths of Diocletian, you may wish to go to Santa Maria della Vittoria only a couple of blocks away. There you can see Bernini's "Ecstasy of St. Theresa" for free and even take photos - something the Borghese Gallery does not allow.

Hi Heather, It's confusing the way ancient sites in Rome are often subsumed by the present buildings. So you're right; you can't actually see the Theatre of Pompey anymore. You can see where it was and where the city has grown around it. In a similar, when you are in the Piazza Navona, you can still see the outline of the stadium, but buildings have grown up where stadium seats used to be. The curia where the assassins were waiting to stab Julius Caesar was located on one end of the complex that made up the Theatre of Pompey, so not the theatre building itself. The site known as Largo Argentina IS excavated, and it's pretty cool. You look down into the excavated area from street level; you can't wander down in the area, but you can see it all from street level (and watch all the cats running around!) and there are signs at street level that explain what you are looking at. No tours or fees or reservations; you just look down on it from the street.

OK, please tell me if you think this is a crazy idea. Be honest. What if, on our first day, we visited the National Museum of Rome? Since that doesn't give us much outdoor activity for combating jet leg, maybe we could walk Via Cavour from our hotel (on Via Cavour near the Colosseum) to the Termini/National Museum of Rome, perhaps stopping along the way at some of the churches (Santa Maria Maggiore). We could take the Metro back to Cavour after our visit for dinner/bedtime. Or, maybe we don't even stop at the hotel first and take the Leonardo Express straight to the Termini and see the museum, then take the metro or a cab to our hotel? That would give us time on Friday morning before our evening St. Peter's/Vatican visit to go to the Pantheon neighborhood (Campo de'Fiori, Largo Argentino, Piazza Navona and the Pantheon - and Trevi fountain?), which means we wouldn't have to visit the Pantheon on Tuesday night. If we are just way too tired to attempt the National Museum of Rome, we could maybe just wander around the Pantheon neighborhood the first day and visit the National Museum on Friday as originally planned.

OR, not visit the National Museum at all.

First trip, skip the National Museum. There's much more to experience. Is San Clements on your list? Much better first trip choice.

First trip, skip the National Museum. There's much more to experience. Is San Clements on your list? Much better first trip choice.

Heather, I'm going to thank you for posting this. Will be in Rome in early July with 13 y.o. son, plus older (20s) niece and nephew and this is giving me a good feel for what's on the "must do" list! Please post when you return and let us know what the hits and misses ended up being!

For the best gelato in Rome, check out the Old Bridge gelateria (across the street from where people line up to get into the Vatican museum): http://oldbridgegelateria.com/ I also agree with a previous poster that the day trip to Pompeii might be too rushed if you also include the Naples museum. On our last trip to Italy we spent a full day at Pompeii and it was barely enough (we were staying in Sorrento). The Trastevere neighborhood is interesting, as you get a taste of medieval Rome. Also, some of the best art in Rome is in the churches (eg Bernini sculptures).