My husband and I are going to Italy for the first time in May. We would love your advice for an itinerary for five days in Rome. I will have an extra day by myself at the beginning of the trip and would love your advice for that as well (what would be good for me to do alone that my husband could survive missing? Or what could I do twice--once alone and once with him?)
Here's the breakdown:
Tuesday May 16: I arrive in Rome in the evening.
Wednesday May 17: Day alone in Rome for me.
Thursday May 18: Husband arrives 7:30 a.m.
Friday May 19
Saturday May 20
Sunday May 21
Monday May 22
Tuesday May 23: In the morning we'll travel to Florence
Posted by
Chicago
8019 posts
Wednesday May 17:
Day alone in Rome for me. Go see the Collisieum from the outside twice--once alone and once with him.
And just walk the city pop in to a church there are lot of great churches.
Thursday May 18: Husband arrives 7:30 a.m.
Buy a escorted Tour to see Vatican Museums and St Peters
Friday May 19
Tour the Historic Center on foot Castel St Angelo, Piazza Navona, Pantheon and Spanish Steps.
Saturday May 20
Tour Coliseum and the Forum
Sunday May 21
Tour Trastevere
Monday May 22
Day Trip Villa d'Este tour Tivoli Gardens
Tuesday May 23: In the morning we'll travel to Florence
Posted by
OP
23 posts
Thank you, Jazz+Travels, that sounds like a wonderful plan! Is there a specific tour guide you would recommend for the Vatican museums?
Posted by
Brooklyn, NY
3946 posts
It would probably depend on you and your husband's interests. Are you into museums? You could go the Borghese and have a tour and spend the day at the park afterwards. Are you more religious? Wednesday is Papal audience day. You could see the Pope and spend an afternoon at St.Peter's with an audio guide and climb the dome. You could spend the day on the HOHO bus getting off at Churches or sights your husband doesn't mind missing. There are so many possibilities.
I would make a list of sights that interest you, have your husband decide which he wants to see and which ones he could miss and go from there. If all else fails, you could spend the day shopping. A much better excursion done alone sometimes.
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11455 posts
When your husband arrives on the 18th, is it on an overseas flight, e.g., will he be jetlagged? Best bet for arrival day is to be outdoors as much as possible, but allow for a late afternoon nap (no more than 2 hours), then dinner and bed by 10:00PM so by 6:00AM the next day he is morre-or-less on local time.
I agree your day in Rome alone should be more wandering, popping into a church or two, shopping. Just get a feel for Rome and the neighborhood so you can be the guide when he arrives.
Rick Steves' has an excellent itinerary planning article for Rome here. Maybe it will help you get started.
Posted by
Toledo, Ohio, US
11613 posts
I agree with Laurel. Consider an early entry Vatican tour with Walks of Italy (Pristine Sistine) a few days later, when your husband isn't coming in from a long (?) flight.
Posted by
Brisbane, Australia
7175 posts
Wednesday
Rome's 'other' churches
Trastevere
Thursday
Trevi Fountain
Spanish Steps
Piazza del Popolo
Borghese
Friday
Day trip to Tivoli & Hadrians Villa
Saturday
Colosseum & Forum (BOOK)
Vittorio Emmanuel
Campidoglio
Campo Di Fiori
Sunday
St Peters Basilica
Vatican Museums (BOOK)
Castel San Angelo
Piazza Navona
Monday
Day trip to Orvieto
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16007 posts
Switch Sunday with another day on David's proposed itinerary above; the Vatican museums are closed on Sunday. Galleria Borghese must also be booked in advance.
Posted by
Memphis
26 posts
We just returned from Rome. You are going to have the best time. I would suggest doing a day trips o Orvieto (or maybe even Sorrento -- there is a company than can arrange a day trip to Pompeii/Sorrento from Rome, but it is a 3 hr round trip, so you'd have to be OK with the drive). Another option is to leave Rom a day early, and spend a night in Sienna and see the Tuscan countryside on your way to Florence -- this is what we did, and we couldn't have been happier that we decided to do it! Whatever you do, it will be fabulous!