Rome in November

Not quite what you are asking, but here is one previous thread with people's lists of favorite things to do in Rome beyond the major ones:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/8-days-in-rome-off-the-beaten-path-recommendations

Our family of 12 (10 adults…2 small children) will be in Rome for 8 days over Thanksgiving this year….11/24 through December 2. We are gathering together from Ohio, Virginia, Utah, Colorado, and Oxford England…yes, we are really spread out!
All of us except 2 have been to Rome…some of us numerous times.
Everyone has their flights booked…I have confirmed airport transfers to our apartments with Stefano of Rome Cabs. https://www.romecabs.com/contact-us.html
I have booked 3 apartments in the building where we always stay when in Rome… https://www.floraliahomes.com/. The apartments and the location cannot be beat.
Everyone has different interests so we have set up a spread sheet to try to keep track of everyone’s preferences. My adult daughter (who used to live in Rome) and I (who attended college in Florence, visit Italy annually with my husband, and speak fairly fluent Italian) are doing all the planning. We have already booked several things that we know people definitely wanted to do.

1. Five are avid cyclists and have booked a 7 hour bike tour of Rome (with an alternate rain date). http://topbikerental.com/
2. Seven want to visit the Vatican Museums…I bought general admission tickets for that this past weekend…late afternoon on Saturday as we always find that time of day the least crowded…but still crowded. General admission tickets are now available for purchase through the end of the year…guided tours look like they are still only bookable 60 days out.
3. Eight want to take the Scavi tour under St. Peter’s Basilica…I sent in our request to the Scavi Offices for that yesterday which is earlier than I normally would, but the Scavi is closed most of August, September, and October this year due to renovations. I am keeping my fingers crossed on this one…we have always been able to get tickets in the past. If you have any interest in this, I would definitely recommend it! http://www.scavi.va/content/scavi/en.html
4. All 10 adults are taking a cooking class from 5-10pm one evening with a chef we know…we will have a babysitter for the 2 little ones. https://cookingclassesinrome.com/
So far that is all we have booked. Other places various people want to visit, but which we have not yet booked, are:
The Colosseum (Having done the underground tour, I would not be concerned if you are unable to get tickets for that as you can see the majority of it from above. We toured the Belvedere level (4th and 5th levels) several years ago..we found that very interesting and the views over Rome are lovely if it is a nice day…it is now referred to as the Attic level. I would prefer that to the Underground level. Tickets for the Colosseum are bookable 30 days out). https://ticketing.colosseo.it/en/categorie/singoli-1-8-persone/
Borghese Gallery (If you happen to be there on the first Sunday of December, it is “free Sunday”. Usually I would try to avoid any place on a free Sunday due to the crowds, but since admissions here are restricted, I am going to try to get tickets).

Day trip to Florence…some to visit the Accademia…some to visit the Ufizzi. Our daughter-in-law is an artist, so she wants to visit both. Others of us just like to wander Florence.
Day trip to Naples for a Diego Maradona tour…our son-in-law and his dad are huge soccer fans.
Underground tour of the aqueducts that feed the Trevi Fountain. None of us have done this, but our daughter-in-law heard that it is a really interesting tour. We shall see! https://www.vicuscaprarius.com/en/visits/
Pantheon…5 euro tickets now required, but I have heard it is easy just to buy them onsite when you go. Last time we visited in 2022, I bought these tickets in advance.
Other places we have visited in past trips, but which are not on our radar this year, are the Domus Aurea and the Domus Romane…both very, very interesting. https://ticketing.colosseo.it/en/eventi/domus-aurea/
https://www.palazzovalentini.it/en/.
I have reached my word limit…lol!

Thanks for all of these great suggestions. I referred to my kid (which she is) but she is also 19 : ) and our niece 20. We are actually staying in Trastevere (where our niece will be living), so I love the suggestion of seeing the Santa Maria Church. We will also look into the Church of Gesu as I don't know that we saw that on our past visit. Thanks also for the info about the Attic, maybe that is the way to go. Do you need a guide for this? and to buy special tickets? Also, any thoughts on days to go to the Vatican, it sounds like late in the day is best. We have been before (2002) but did not have a guided tour and was able to see everything including the Sistene chapel. Do you think a guide is necessary in this day and age? It will be November so maybe less crowded (but still crowded). Any other thoughts would be most appreciated.

Is your niece, by chance, attending John Cabot University in Trastevere? Our daughter attended college there for a semester almost 20 years ago and also lived in Trastevere.
Take a look at the official site I mentioned above for Colosseum tickets…you can see the various options that are offered…Underground, Attic, Arena, general admission…plus the options for a guided tour if that interests you. Tickets are available for purchase 30 days in advance.
https://ticketing.colosseo.it/en/categorie/singoli-1-8-persone/

Vatican Museum general admission tickets for November are available to purchase now…guided tour tickets usually become available 60 days in advance.
https://tickets.museivaticani.va/home/fromtag/4/1730520000000/Biglietti-Musei

This is so helpful! We will go to the Jewish Ghetto area. We have explored areas such as this in other cities and found it fascinating and the food options intrigue us. We will look into Testaccio too as I don't think we went there on our last trip. And yes, she is going with John Cabot University! Thanks for the information regarding the Vatican and Colosseum. Any favorite restaurants you have? We ate in some amazing places on our last visit (Rick Steves recommendations), one near Piazza Navona another near the Vatican but it was so long ago. I have no idea what they were called and may be long gone. Thanks again for your input.

To me, Rome is bar none the most fascinating city on the planet. First trip, a 3 day, 2 night look-see as part of a longer Italy journey, was not impressive at all. We did the Hop On Hop Off thing, checked off the requisite sights. A little meh.

It wasn't until our last trip, in 2017, when we decided to spend a week at a walk-up apartment overlooking the Campo de' Fiori market, that the magic seeped in. It being late February, it was cool temp-wise and tourist-free. I'd wake up to the sounds of the vendors dragging the carts across the cobblestones for the day, saying hello to their friends, with catcalls & laughs in Italian. Got dressed, hurried downstairs and out onto the piazza, where I'd take a brisk walk down by the Tiber, circle around and stop for a quick caffe before shopping the market. Brought fruits, breads, cheeses back to the apartment where my wife and I would dine, drinking Lavazza coffee through a Melitta filter we brought, and deciding what to do that day.

One day it would be taking the Metra and bus over to St. Peter in Chains, another day it was to visit the underrated Baths of Diocletian & Roman Museum directly across from Termini station. We had met some new friends--also from Chicago--in a B&B in Salerno on a previous trip, and they have dual citizenship and spent the winter at an apartment in north Rome. We visited them and a whole new world of history beckoned. Great mosaic at 3rd century churches--none in any guidebooks, and also Villa Torlonia, a somewhat-dilapidated estate that was the Roman home of Mussolini when he was in power in World War II. You could almost see him on the portico, arms crossed. Again, not in any guidebook.

We want to be like our friends and--one winter--spend it in Rome as a base. It definitely feels right.