Rome Hop On Hop Off Bus questions

Most of the stops are close enough for pictures except for the Vatican which you need to walk into. BUT I would discourage a on/off bus the first day. We did that once -- sitting down with the motion of the bus just put us to sleep. To fight jet lag one needs to be activity and that means walking in the sun.

Sheron,

The Italy Guidebook has a good description of the Hop On/Hop Off Bus tours in Rome. The RedBus Tours have two routes (A & B) and I believe you can switch between them.

I have to agree with a previous post in that taking a Bus tour on your first day may not be the best idea. It would probably put me to sleep also!

I found that I was able to get some good photos of various sites (including the Vatican) from the top deck of the Bus. It's important to choose your seat carefully though (try for an outside seat, preferably close to the front so that other passengers don't obstruct your view.

I often find myself moving from side-to-side on the Bus, depending on which sites are coming into view. If you also tend to do that, keep in mind that there's usually a CCTV Camera on the top deck, and the Drivers prefer passengers to be seated when the Bus is moving.

You might want to take your own Headphones, as the goofy red-coloured models they provide aren't that good. I've found that the audio systems don't always work at every seat, so I often just concentrate on photos and don't worry about the commentary.

Happy travels!

Ken's reply is right on and I can only share just a little additional advice that I was given before we left that worked perfect, both in Rome and Paris. Use the Hop On, Hop Off busses in this way.

1) Take the complete circle of the tour, which takes about 2 1/2 hours on both lines. Use this time to listen on the earphones to the explanation of what you're seeing, not only at the major sights themselves, but in between them as well. As you do this you will be able to determine what you want to get off and explore, and what you don't.

2) Buy a two-day pass to give you a little more flexibility. There is much to see there and you can do the complete circle (and some sights) when you first arrive, and the rest the next dayt.

One of the side benefits of this is that bus stops at the major sights which are only a few blocks from restaurants, museums, etc. and that will save you lots of money in cab fares.

All busses are based at the Termini Station and you can look at the maps they will show you to chose the company whose route most accurately matches what you want to see. You'll find the entire transportation over there is so much more advanced than ours that you won't believe it. Have a great trip.

Thanks for the great advice everyone. I appreciate the suggestions.

I apologize, I cannot remember the names of the two bus companies that are in Rome(both are red), but there is a HUGE difference. One bus company will be at each stop every 20 minutes and the other every 40 minutes. Big difference when you are waiting for a bus to come and you see two of the other bus companies show up and leave all the while you are stuck waiting and missing out on all the action. I want to say the "110" bus thing is the one to take. Ask when you are buying your passes how often they arrive/depart from each stop.

Good luck!

I second using the 110 service, it is far more frequent. I expect we just struck lucky but never had to wait more than 5 minutes after arriving at a stop for a 110 to turn up!

I was in Rome last week and bus 110 seemed to have the most buses running.