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Re-Visiting Rome Itinerary

I've got 3 full days and 2 half days to be a tourist in Rome before some work stuff starts. This is my third trip to Rome and my travelling companion's second. It's been a few years, so re-visiting some of the heavy hitters (I'll put an asterisk on the stuff we've both already seen). The first two days are more repeats deliberately to overlap with the jetlag.

What do you think of this itinerary?

Day 1 (1/2 day). Arrive from North American in the mid-morning. Nap. Heart of Rome walk as an orientation* (RS Audio App) + Pantheon* (RS Audio App)
Day 2: 1030h Vatican museums, Sistine (RS Audio app tours) maybe St. Peter's; Castel Sant'angelo, 1900h Roscioli restaurant;
Day 3: 900-1500h: eBike tour of Appian way with Catacombs & Aqueduct
Day 4: Colosseum* & forum* tour followed by Basilica San Clemente. Twilight Trastevere food tour in the evening.
Day 5 (1/2 day): Capitoline Museum in the morning; tourist time in Rome ends in the afternoon.

Is this too busy or does it sound pretty reasonable?
What sites would your "Rome Re-Visit" itinerary include? I have also already been to Borghese, Ostia Antica, Jewish tour, Trastevere tour so curious about other

Thanks!

Posted by
8002 posts

You’ve got full activities and sights each day, without trying to do 20 things in the morning and another 15 in the afternoon - looks quite doable; keep up your nutrition and factor in time for lunch and/or a shot of caffeine. Day 2 in particular will require a good amount of energy. I bet you’ll find San Clemente fascinating. I saw it for my second time last September, although I wasn’t aware that they wanted me to have purchased my reservation for the subterranean excavations ahead of time, and weren’t allowing on-site cash or credit card purchases. Well, there was no Internet connection inside the basilica, so I couldn’t book an entry right there on my phone, but the ticket taker took pity on me and another woman behind me. She took our €10 apiece and I got in. Better if you have your voucher ahead of time.

Appian Way: two years ago, we rented bikes (not eBikes) from the “cafe” listed in Rick’s guidebook, and attempted to ride the cobbles. It was a weekend, when car traffic was supposed to be restricted, but there was just enough traffic to make things pretty challenging. There were also bus loads of school kids, plus hundreds of other pedestrians covering much of the width of the roadway, and that was enough to make things really really challenging. There are dirt trackways along the banks of the roadway in places, so it’s kind-of a mountain bike course, shared with other vehicles, and possibly hoards of pedestrians, walking in the opposite direction, and no understanding of who’s got any right of way, or keeping to a particular side of the road. The rough cobbles and breaks in the road were unforgiving, as were roots across some of the dirt paths on the side, attempted when the roadway was extra crowded. Between stopping when the path wasn’t clear, swerving onto the banks on either side, steering to avoid people who weren’t looking for bikes coming the opposite direction, or thinking about sharing the road with us, it was not a smooth ride. Oh, and that’s not even mentioning the rough paving stones. Maybe your eBike tour is a group activity, with a ride leader. If so, they may provide some tips on getting down the road safely.

Eating Europe does a Testaccio food tour that’s enjoyable and enlightening, and worth taking, but it starts at 9:15 AM. That won’t fit in with your current itinerary, unless you scrapped the Appian Way ride (which I will not be doing a second time - not on a bicycle, anyway. I’d also definitely re-visit the Baths of Caracalla, on the south end of Rome on the same road that heads towards the Appian Way.

After enduring the Appian Way bike experience, we caught the afternoon’s last San Sebastian catacombs tour. Even though you’ve been to the Borghese before, and sounds like you won’t be seeing those Brunelleschi statues this time, the church above the catacombs has Brunelleschi’s final carving inside - a bust of Jesus. If you see those catacombs, see his last work!

Posted by
28249 posts

Just a few thoughts:

The Palazzo Bonaparte has a traveling Van Gogh exhibition I really enjoyed. It includes close to,50, paintings, I believe, apparently all from the Kroller-Muller museum in the Netherlands. The posted explanatory material was very good. The exhibition runs till May 7. Hours are 9 AM to 7 PM Mon-Fri and 9 to 9 Sat-Sun with a special opening until midnight on March 30. Online tickets are available, but I found one of the ticket sources doesn't sell same-day tickets. Every time I've walked past the Palazzo--including twice after 5 PM--there has been something of a line. I think I waited about 30 minutes to get in one early afternoon. It's popular but not horribly crowded.

San Clemente now has a smartcode posted on the glass at the counter where online reservations are converted to physical tickets. I saw people without reservations being turned away and told to use that smartcode to buy tickets online, so I doubt that cash would get you in now. I had bought my online ticket while standing outside the church but hadn't allowed enough time to get through the process before my entry time, so I had to wait while the ticket-issuer finished selling posters and postcards to other visitors.

The general-entry tickets to the Vatican Museums are selling out way in advance now.

Posted by
8331 posts

Need more time there.
You are missing so much:
The Pantheon
Spanish Steps
Trajan's Forum
Nero's palace (near the Colosseum)
Piazza Navona
Trevi Fountain
There is more

Posted by
30 posts

Thanks everybody!

Cyn - yes the Appian way is a group tour. After a fair bit of reading, I ended up booking the TopBike Appian "plus" tour which includes a guided visit to the catacombs (St. Callixtus for us), the aquaduct park, Villa dei Quintili, and the baths of Caracalla. I will definitely be asking our guide for advice on navigating the stones, traffic... as well as using the electric capabilities of the ebike!
And good tip on the Testaccio food tour - I'll keep that in mind if things get shuffled around and we end up with a morning. I'd heard the most praise for the Trastevere version, which is why I picked it.

acraven - I have actually been to Basilica San Clemente but my travel companion hasn't.. I thought it was fantastic and really wanted them to see it (and I'd happily revisit)! It's too bad about the pre-booking though, back in 2019 I just showed up on a whim after a guide suggested we see the "lasagna church".
Also - that van Gogh exhibit looks fantastic! I'm a huge sucker for post-impressionism. Are there English descriptions in the exhibit?

geovagriffith - thank you. Most of those we've visited/will visit, but I will make a point to see Trajan's column/forum and Nero's palace as I think those can be squeezed in!

Posted by
28249 posts

Yes, English throughout the Van Gogh exhibition. I should have mentioned that