For anyone who has done this 2 recommended walks across Rome - what is the best time to start? Should we eat dinner before/ after/ during? I know for the night walk Rick recommends a restaurant at the beginning, but to eat there one would have to eat much earlier than the 8:00 or 9:00 that most Italians eat. Please correct me if I am wrong. I have no concept as to how long the walks take (assuming you are not going at a super fast pace, but "strolling"). Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.
Posted by
OP
Pittsburgh, PA, United States
22 posts
Also, forgot to ask - how long does one need to plan for dinner? I know in Germany we would go out and be there at least 2 hours - figuring that Italy is the same this would certainly also be a factor in the "walk" start time.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
1317 posts
We generally start with the walk and finish with dinner. Depending on your walking speed and how much you stop, I'd allow about 90 minutes for a nice, leisurely pace. The historical center of Rome is relatively compact and doesn't take too long to cover. I think we reached the Spanish Steps (we did the walk in reverse) around 5:30 or 6 as the sun set -- this was in November. We made it to dinner down by Piazza Navona around 7:30 or so, after a gelato break and a long time wandering around the Pantheon, plus getting slightly lost trying to get to Piazza Navona.
Figure a minimum of two hours for dinner in Italy as well, possibly longer depending on how many courses and glasses of wine you have!
Posted by
OP
Pittsburgh, PA, United States
22 posts
Nice!! I never thought about doing the walk in reverse. This will give us more to think about.