Rome in 2 days- what not to miss

You already know of the big ones: The Forum, Colosseum (others might disagree, but with a limited time, I'd skip the interior), go in the Pantheon, spend some time at Trevi Fountain, walk through Piazza Navona & enjoy Bernini's sculptures & Borromini's church, walk over the Ponte San Angelo, then by Castle San Angelo, then the Vatican (I'd recommend buying tickets to walk to the top of the dome & the roof & overlook the plaza).

My favorite museum, and biggest surprise for me, was the Galleria Borghese (I think it's near Piazza Del Popolo). It has some amazing sculptures by Bernini.

Also, spend some time just wandering the streets. There's so much more than destinations, wandering allows you to experience the culture. I'd recommend Trastevere, just south of the river.

I skipped a lot of stuff, I'm sure others will jump in with suggestions.

If you haven't read Angels & Demons by Dan Brown, most of it takes place in Rome. Reading it made me nostalgic.

If the Pope is in town you can go to St Peter's square and he comes to the window to pray the Angelus with the gathered crowd and give a short homily and blessing on Sunday at 1pmWith such a short time it might be worthwhile to take a spin on the Hop on Hop off bus. It goes to all the major sites you can get off then get back on. Your ticket is good for 24 or 48 hours. There's a running tour commentary as you go. It would give you a nice overview of the historic areas and provide you transportation around the city. The Rick Steves evening walk is fun and gives you a nice view of the historic district in the evening.

Antuany, I read Angels and Demons while we were in Rome. It was SO cool reading about it while I was seeing all the sites! And it's a great book to travel with anyway since it's so small!

I agree with Antuany. You don't need to go inside the Collesseum if you are pressed for time. To his suggestions I would add the Spanish Steps and Capitoline Hill. RS recommends an awesome night walking tour that takes you to Piazza Novana, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps and others.

The Borghese is also my favorite Roman art gallery but you should make reservations because the lines are long.

If you are worried about things being closed on Sunday, save the piazzas and other things that you see by walking by for that day. If you can, get Francesca Caruso for a tour guide. She is amazing and really makes Rome come alive. Email: chris.fra at mclink.it

Dont miss the Borghese gallery, Forum and the vatican!

Get reservations for the Borghese gallery. The Spanish steps are close by so you can see them at the same time. I would than have dinner near the Trivi fountain. Lots of good resturants in that ares.

The next morning go to the forum. The colliseum is right there but you really dont need to go inside if pressed for time. In the afternoon hit St. Peters adn as Rick Steve's guide book suggests the vatican museum in the later afternoon. We walked right in on a saturday at 3:00 the day before palm sunday. You just need to enter before 4.

thank you all.
I'll make sure I read the book before leaving, and with everyones help we should be able to cover everything.

I think James is on the right track, except the Vatican is only open one sunday a month. If it is open on the sunday you are there, fine, otherwise flip-flop the 2 days itinerary he suggested. Try to climb to the top of St. Peter's dome, if you can handle that many stairs. It is quite an experience.

I have contacted couple of organized tour companies, has anyone use: Through Eternity or Tours of Rome?
prices are very different, Is there a good reason?
any help would be appriciated, slowly I'm feeling aa bit overwhelmed.

I have read excellent things about Through Eternity tours and Rick recommends them (among a few other companies) in his Rome tourbook. They offer a 20% Rick Steves discount if you book by phone or internet so that may help with the price! I have booked 2 tours with Through Eternity for my upcoming trip but unfortunately I can't tell you from personal experience how good they are. I haven't read any negative comments about them. I booked my tours through e-mail and their communication was always prompt. Happy travels.

Thanks James! I will be in Rome for just 2 days too (right in the middle of the G8 Summit!) and was wondering how to go about it all. I was thinking about 1 day in Ancient Rome and 1 day in the Vatican. I was also thinking about skipping the Vatican and going on a day trip to Pompeii instead. However, I think I like your plan, and probably will use that as a template.

I was in Rome for a very short time as well, the last week of May. The trevi fountain was nice, but it was a mob scene on a hot day and not too impressive during daylight, I would save that one for evening/night. The spanish steps was a staircase, very boring and out of the way for me. I absolutely loved Travestere- if you want to visit somewhere that is authentic and not crowded with tourists, this is it! We were there on a Thursday night and it was packed with young, hip locals as well as an older crowd. There are tons of places to eat-all of them good, all of them pretty cheap. Dar Poeta is the big pizza place that also has Nutella and Marscapone calzones- but there are a 1 hr wait when we were there....(get there early). I would recommend getting one of those hop on/hop off bus things, at least to save some time. There is a tram that goes into the Travestere neighborhood as well as some buses- dont be afraid to use public transport, just ask the bus drivers for help.