Rome Itinerary Help-

You mention a lot of different walks but don't include what they contain and what sites you'll see.

The spanish steps are covered in scaffolding and will be for the next year or more.

As far as the itinerary, Saturday is the only option for visiting the Vatican museums so what you have listed is fine.

Donna

The itinerary Rick Steves has for the "Caeser Shuffle" included the Colosseo, Palatino & Foro Romano, easily 4 hours. Be sure you have a great guidebook or audio tour unless you plan on hiring a guide.

The Spanish Steps, Trevi and Piazza Navona are covered on Rick's "Heart of Rome" walk, an easy 75-90 minutes. San Giovanni in Laterano is a bit out of your way, although easy by Metro. Instead, I might recommend popping into San Luigi dei Francesi, which is not far from the Pantheon or Piazza Navona (an easy detour on your walk but check hours), and Santa Maria Sopra Minerva. Both are fascinating churches in the center. Piazza del Popolo is less important or interesting, although it is not a bad walk in the evening, so you might do the "Dolce Vita Stroll" before dinner, OR go to Trastevere and follow Rick's guided walk over there before dinner. We love Pizzeria Dar Poeta in Trastevere, so you could combine an inexpensive pizza dinner with the walk.

You cannot do everything in Rome in 1 1/2 days, so satisfy yourselves with what you can do, and this is a pretty full day-and-a-half.

After spending the afternoon at the Vatican, you can take the Metro over to the Spanish Steps (Take the Ottaviano metro stop just north of the Vatican to the Spagna metro stop). The Spanish Steps are right outside of the metro station and il Gabrillo is right around the corner from the Spanish Steps. Then, you could take an easy walk to either Piazza Popolo or the Trevi Fountain.
The next night you can go into Trastevere to spend the evening.

Where is your hotel located?

We were in Rome last October and they had just closed the Spanish Steps for renovation/preservation work. The Piazza is open but the steps aren't scheduled to re-open until sometime this spring. Adding time for typical delays, I would say mid-summer at the earliest...

Piazza Navona can be quite lively in the mid to late evening and there's a pretty nice gelato stand on the north end.

Thank you for the replies and recommendations. We are staying near Termini Station.

Staying near Termini is a great place to stay when you're only in Rome for a short amount of time. You can easily get onto the Metro and head over to the Vatican once you arrive. Then, you can take the metro from the Vatican to the Spanish Steps (the Piazza Popolo is close by), have dinner at il Gabrillo and walk back to your hotel from there. You may be able to see the Four Fountains on your way back depending on where your hotel is.

Sunday you can walk or take the Metro again to the Colosseum. Start early in the morning to avoid the mid-day heat. The Caesar Shuffle could take up to 3-4 hours depending on how long you stay. From there, you can cross the bridge and spend a few hours walking in Trastevere. Then, head back towards the train station and have dinner near the Trevi Fountain.

Thank you Jenna. That is kinda what I thought so it helps solidify my plan. -Amanda