Rome Sightseeing Itinerary

I think you have a good plan, and the biggest risk would be if something happened to delay your flight and you missed your Borghese reservation. The Borghese is not overly large and you are limited to a 2 hour window, so I think it's doable even on the first day, especially if you are staying somewhere in the Termini or Borghese area. If you are staying out in Trastevere or somewhere, it might be a bit more challenging to get from the airport to your hotel and up to the gallery in time.

Finding the Borghese can be a bit tricky & they're strict about you missing your time slot, so as neither of you are familiar with Rome I would suggest taking a taxi from your hotel to the gallery.

Everyone will have their own opinion concerning tour groups vs. DIY. With audio tours, podcasts, and guidebooks a tour isn't strictly necessary for most of the places you'll visit, but a tour guide can really heighten the experience. The Vatican museum in particular can benefit from a knowledgeable guide, but some people have complained about crowds and the hurried pace. I would say it depends more on your personal travel style (do you like groups or not?) and how much you want to spend.

This looks like a good itinerary for a short stay. I would definitely suggest a tour group of the Vatican at the very least. You could spend 4 hours or more in line just trying to get in. I am also inclined to suggest a tour group for Ancient Rome. If not, what you see, with the exception of the Colosseum might not mean much to you. I suggest Context travel. They offer small group tours and are exceptional at what they do.

Consider adding the Pantheon to your itinerary. Read about it on this very website:
http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/italy/pantheon.htm

We did something very similar - we arrived last Thursday at 10:25 am and went to Borghese Gallery at 5. Liz is so right about how difficult it is to get to. So a lot depends on how good of a plan you have for transportation and how well you orient yourselves to getting around Rome.

Fortunately we got out of airport and to our apartment in Vatican area by noon. We both showered and rested a bit before wandering out. We ended up walking to Vatican and then bought our Roma Pass at the tourist information office near Castel Sant Angelo and asked the person there the best way to get to BG. We walked across the Pont Sant Angelo and found lunch quick and then walked to bus area at Piazza San Silvestro where we took bus that brought us very close to BG (I think it was bus 62). We were there in plenty of time that we picked up our tickets that our landlord reserved and our Roma pass covered, went to bathroom and then sat on a bench on lower level near snack bar where I nearly fell asleep (I am not kidding).

We did get into the Gallery at 5 and the two hours was plenty of time for us. We went upstairs to the paintings first and then back downstairs. It was more crowded downstairs.

We then tried to find the bus back and that was a bit of a challenge to find bus stop for bus 62 back to San Silvestro and waited to then get bus back to Vatican area. We finally found someone who spoke enough English to recommend that we take the 492. We were both so exhausted - I don't even remember if we ate dinner. I think we just went to bed! The next day we did go to Colosseum and Forum and it was a Friday and I had pre-reserved the NIght at the Vatican museum which I highly recommend.

If you are planning on Vatican on a Friday see if you can get the night museum tickets. It was wonderfully uncrowded and the lighting in the museum and over the courtyard and gardens was beautiful. We actually were able to sit on both sides of the Sistine Chapel easily and admire it

Amy, I wish I had known about the night at the Vatican Museum tour when I was there a few years ago. We took an early morning "Skip the Lines Tour", and we still had to wait in very long lines. The museum was crowded and we were herded though. Awful!

I liked Rick's audio guides for the Colosseum and the Forum.

I second the recommendation to reserve Vatican Museum tickets online. It is definitely worth a couple of euros to avoid standing in line for an hour or more.

Rick's Vatican audio guide had some good tip as does Ron-in-Rome's website.

Thanks for all the execellent tips! I think we'll put off the Gallery our first night and instead take one of those "overview of Rome" bus tours that only takes a couple of hours.

I would suggest doing the Colosseum and Ancient Rome on the day you fly in. Being outside helped me with my jet lag more than if I was doing a museum. Plus, I didn't feel quilty about not showering after our long flight.

Brenda,

Sorry to be hitchhiking on your question but I have the same one. I will be in Rome next April. I have seen the night tours of the Vatican (look at Dark Tours for an example) but I'm concerned the natural light won't be good.

I hope you have a great trip Brenda! It sounds wonderful.

Sorry! Meant to ask in all that if someone had thoughts on early AM vs evening tours? Do you have time and money to do both Brenda? :-)

I'm addressing Lisa more than Brenda, but here's another factor re evening times or tours at the Vatican. One of the things I love the best about visiting Italy is spending time at a cafe (outdoors) in the evening, followed by a leisurely Italian dinner. I would miss out on that if I took an evening tour of the Vatican museums.

On our second-to-last visit to Rome, we took a Vatican tour of the Vatican museums. It was informative, but I felt a bit rushed, and there were pieces I would have spent more time on, but the tour moved on.

On our most recent trip to Rome, we were able to purchase tickets for the Vatican museums ahead of time, and did not take a tour. We had a 9 am entry time. We got to skip the lines outside the museum and walked right in. There were many people in the museums, but it wasn't packed (except for the Sistine Chapel). We used both the Rick Steves guide and the Blue Guide as references for our visit. The Sistine Chapel was packed, but as the pictures are on the upper walls and ceiling, it wasn't like anyone was obstructing our view!

Thanks!
Brenda, I hope you and your finance have a great wedding as well as trip ~

Good itenary- Borghese gallery 5pm tour is the best-as others have suggested, take a taxi to and from the gallery to your hotel.
We went to Italy in June for the first time, and had a great time on our own- in my opinion tours are not necessary. Do carry RS guide book in you backpack and hopefully you have his audioguide/MP3downloads on your ipod- that is all that is needed..

Have fun!!

We just got back from 15 days in Italy and spent three days in Rome. Here are a couple thoughts: you really don't need a guide at the Colosseum and the Forum, although it is worth buying a quick guide or downloading Rick Steves' audio tour; whatever else you do, make plans in advance for a tour of the Vatican, as the lines can be crazy and there is so much to see that a good guide can be invaluable. We used ArtViva and had a fabulous guide who usually does Vatican after-hours tours, something he highly recommends and I have read great things about even though they're expensive; if you're interested in the Appian Way and the catacombs, consider hiring a driver if you want to try to do it quickly as public transportation takes forever (we wish we had done the ArtViva driver/guide package to that as we really wasted a ton of time waiting for the bus and never actually made it); definitely try to wander in the Trevi Fountain/Spanish Steps/Pantheon area in the early evening as they're full of people wandering (mostly tourists) and really pretty. Bottom line: I'd schedule some time with guides and some time just wandering and doing it yourself. Be careful of that first day. My guess is that you'll be exhausted and whatever you do that first day will sort of just wash over you but if you only have three days I know you'll want to pack as much as you can in. One warning: do be careful on the Metro. Unlike anywhere else we experienced in Italy, there were lots of pickpockets and overwhelming crowds. Have a great time!

Carrie-

Thank you for sharing your thoughts, epecially since you just returned home! They are very helpful.

Brenda,
We booked a tour of the Vatician and the catacombs with a company called Dark Rome and had great tour guides. All the guides were native English speakers and really knew their stuff. We took a couple of tours with them, and a couple with another company. They were better by a long shot.