Roma Itinerary advice!

Dinners:
Armando al Pantheon, Fabulous. Book ahead online immediately.
Trattoria la Rosetta, near Pantheon, wonderful. Seafood.

Go over to the nearby Monti neighborhood for meals.

Go to the top of the victor Emanuel (wedding cake) monument for amazing views of the city. Also for more amazing views take the elevator up to the roof of St Peter’s. There is also a lovely cafe and gift shop.

Suki, Armando's was at the top of our list but unfortunately will be closed while we're in Rome. Such is the trade off for basically having the entire month of August to travel! Hopefully we can go at a different time of year and try it at some point.

Barbara, thank you! I had not heard of your first recommendation so will check it out. We were actually considering taking the stairs to the top of the dome depending on the heat. The last time we were in Italy we sort of made it a "thing" to climb as many tall things as we could.

Check here (the official website) for Vatican Museum ticket availability. https://tickets.museivaticani.va/home

General information is here: https://www.museivaticani.va/content/dam/museivaticani/pdf/popup/covidmuseivaticanien.pdf

That second webpage indicates that the last entry time on Thursdays is 4:30 PM. Friday and Saturday nights are the ones with late entry options, until 8:30 PM.

Sounds like you have some great ideas so far! We spent a week in Rome in 2017 and skipped many of the big sites since we had nene before. I really loved the Taste of Testaccio food tour and think exploring Trastavere sounds like a great option. I also recommend the Heart of Rome walk that goes from Campo di Fiori to the Spanish Steps. I prefer to do it at night, as it’s a beautiful way to see the city. I like to stop for gelato at Giolitti along the way.

We also enjoyed going out to Ostia Antica. We spent a few hours exploring the ruins, and then went over to the beach, rented some beach chairs, and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing. Enjoy your trip!

For wine and pastries/snacks try the enoteca where all the locals who work at the court as legal staff take their breaks,

Antonini Roma

https://antoniniroma.it/contatti/

https://www.facebook.com/antoniniroma/

Good for practicing your Italian and for checking out current fashion among working professionals.

Per recommendations here, we ate at Trattoria Der Pallaro near Campo de Fiori. No real menu, just eat whatever Paola cooks that day. It was fun seeing each course come out and guessing. We also had great pizza at Dar Poeta in Trastevere. PS, I love climbing bell towers, church domes, etc for great views.

Thank you so much everyone

You have plans to visit the Coliseum, but not the Forum and Nero's buried palace? You can spend an entire day just doing this.

Also, going to see the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel and St. Peters's including climbing the dome and going on the roof will take a huge chunk of the day. Also, consider the Castel St. Angleo, Hadrian's Mausoleum on the Tiber.

Also, consider going to Trajan's Forum, near Trajan's Column, near the church with the original steps from Jerusalem that Christ walked on.

Yes, go to the Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain and Piazza Navona. Consider visiting the Capitoline Hill Museum as well.
There is still much more to see in Rome.

Recommend a good guidebook.

We haven't ruled out going to the forum etc., but in the August heat we may not prioritize it. We will see. Our Colosseum ticket gains us entry so we have the option should we so choose. Trying to strike a good balance of culture and relaxation on this first trip--I'm 100% certain we will return.

Rick Steve’s IT book is what you need to purchase and you can download an electronic version from his app. He has self-guided walking tours that are excellent in Rome. If you take these tours, you’ll see it all. My favorite square in Rome is the Piazza del Popolo which is where one of Rick’s self-guided tours begins. The Pantheon is also on one these walks.
I especially liked seeing the Colosseum at night when it’s illuminated, the view is stunning. I would also spend a day in Vatican City.
My favorite Rome neighborhood is Trastevere. Rick has a self-guided walk here too, it’s very bohemian like and it sound like it’s right up your alley. You also want to have a meal or two there.

If you are going to get a guidebook for Rome, Rick Steves does four versions. If you look at https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/guidebooks/italy and then click through you can get a good description of what's inside each book. There's also a "Is This The Right Book For Me" tab within the book description discussing what I say here.

The Italy book is quite thick and heavy, and discusses many places in Italy (but leave out quite a lot too, there is only so much space) but at a relatively broader, less detailed level. So while there certainly is quite a lot about Rome in the Italy book, my suggestion would be to get the Rome book. Much much more detail than the Italy book could ever have, much more about meal places, and more about accommodation.

The Pocket Guide is a light overview, and the Best of Italy book is similar - excerpts for a light overview or if you don't want to read and make choices.

If I were in your shoes I'd consider both the Italy and Rome guidebooks.

Thanks everyone--I do have a couple of guidebooks so I'm all set there. We're not planning on rushing from site to site on this trip.

I definitely would not do the colosseum and the Vatican on the same day! You will be tired and hot just from the colosseum tour! I would suggest actually putting a slower day in between. St. Peter’s is great - we loved taking the elevator to the roof and then climbing the stairs to the dome. Absolutely best views and totally worth it in my opinion. You can also explore the crypts and when we went we did an underground tour. Amazing! You do have to make an appointment for that though.
I second Dar Poeta for pizza in trastevere. There were lots of good places in that area. I also second the heart of Rome walk in ricks book. We really took our time with it though and spent some time at each of the sites.
Even though you don’t like art, I have to suggest galleria borghese. Our friends who were with us are the same and they loved it, I think because it’s mostly amazing sculptures, they found that more interesting than paintings. It’s a timed entry that you have to make reservations for and you only get 2 hours, so no worries of getting lost in a huge art museum. Also, even if you don’t go inside the capitoline museum, at least go and check out the piazza - if you walk behind the buildings you get a great view of the Roman forum from above. I think it makes more sense that way rather than walking inside the Roman forum.
Whatever you do, it will be great! Rome is amazing!

Decided to book the Vatican Museums for Friday evening... thinking maybe it will be a bit less crowded by 7pm? Could be wishful thinking though! :)