Rome with an 18 year old on his first trip to Europe

St. Peter's basilica is a must. The massive church will wow anyone. You can do the dome climb. Some light hearted sightseeing like walking around the Pantheon area. If your teen likes Italian food - the EatingItaly walking tours are fun. If your teen has some funds and likes designer clothes - a half day of shopping in the "fashion" area near the Spanish Steps may work.

I think street markets in general would be appealing.

My son enjoyed St. Peter's but not the crowded and dull to him Vatican museum. He did enjoy the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and the trip to Ostia Antica. Personally, the first thing I would do is to get him a Rome guide book so he can see what he'd be interested in and let him make the choices.

We took a great bike tour of Rome which is recommended in the Rick Steves' book. It is a fun way to see a lot of the city and get out and be active. You will cover many sites and then decide which ones you would like to revisit. It is an easy cycle....we were the oldest in our group by 20 years and had no problems. Here is the link: http://www.topbikerental.com/nuovosito/eng/rome-bike-tours.php
Also, the tour under St. Peter's might peek his interest.

Have you asked him what he's interested in? Involving him in the trip planning may be the best way to increase the chance of a positive outcome you're hoping for.

Thanks everyone so far! I have sent him some information to look at and we are meeting next weekend to discuss specific ideas of things he would like to do. So far the only thing confirmed is he is interested in the Colosseum in Rome and the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Although he did not know much about other things to see in each city yet. Also he is excited about trying the food. My niece this past summer when outlining her already in the works plans for her trip next year said she thought my nephew would like a cooking class but didn't have a specific reason why.
My niece watched several seasons worth of RS shows to come up with her trip so she may be giving my nephew some ideas now that we have the locations figured out. I want to be prepared for next weekend with any additional ideas I may not have thought about or done on my previous trips.

Hi Christina,
My family of 4 (two 21 y.o. twins) are travelling to Italy next June and during our planning sessions they were very excited about the Colosseum Underground Tour (The Roman Guy) and the Ancient Appian Way Bike Tour (Top Bike Rentals) Mom and Dad on Electric Bikes ;) You can also visit Basilica di San Clemente right near Top Bike Rentals before your ride.

One more thought, visit Trastevere at night for dinner. You could do a Twilight Trastevere Food Tour with www.eatingitalyfoodtours.com. We're strongly considering this for ourselves next June.

Of course it depends on your nephew's interests, but for my 2 teen-aged boys, they have always enjoyed Roman stuff (they haven't been to Rome yet, but we've had 3 trips to the UK and France). I agree that the Forum and the colleseum would be hits. I think the key to traveling with teens is pacing. Don't plan on hours in a museum -- plan on an hour and pick one section of particular interest. Same with churches. Do one church and then something else. I have actually dragged my kids to many churches and they have actually enjoyed them! If your nephew is overloaded with new things, you can always do pizza and gelato!

If your nephew is showing any interest in galleries and art I would recommend a visit to the Borghese. http://www.galleriaborghese.it/eng/galleriaBorghese.html.
Though I love the Vatican Museum, the crowds can be overwhelming. The 2 hour controlled Borghese visit offer would offer you a chance to see some of the finest sculpture and painting in Europe in a much more appealing environment. Also if you are in Rome during finer weather you can book your entry or exit time for midday and enjoy a picnic in the park. The setting of the palace/gallery in the park is unique and offers a more relaxed setting. Remember you must prebook your entry time with the gallery, through http://www.tosc.it/tickets.htm?affiliate=T2C&sort_by=event_datum&sort_direction=asc&fun=erdetail&doc=erdetaila&erid=912678&language=en and show up 30 minutes before that time to collect your tickets.

He can watch Rick's Rome videos here (scroll down and click "Italy"): https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show

I'll be following this thread to see what your nephew decides. We'll be on the Venice, Florence and Rome tour in May with our 19-year-old son. He went to London and Paris with us last year and had a wonderful time. He was especially taken with the historic architecture all around us. I think he'll find a little of that in Italy, as well. ;-)

Of course put him in charge of identifying his top several priorities. My kids as young adults loved the Scavi Tour of St. Peters -- it is harder to book than it was 20 years ago but still possible well in advance. My son wanted to see the Aqueduct Parc which we did as well as the Colosseum, Palatine, Forum and the Pantheon.

Hi Christina, You didn't say when you were going. You may want to check the Vatican website and see if there will be any general papal audiences during your stay. Seeing Pope Francis during one of his Wednesday morning audiences was one of the highlights of 5 days we spent in Rome a few years ago. No, we aren't Catholic but it is an amazing experience even if you aren't Catholic.

I traveled to Rome with my nephews who were 20 and 25 at the time. I was shocked that they liked the Vatican Museum (and the younger one totally shocked me by telling me about Raphael's School of Athens before the guide could) and in particular the Sistine. They were appalled at the crowds (we DO live in a teeny town in N. Idaho) and at the guards shouting but appreciated the art. They also enjoyed the Basilica of San Clemente as someone else mentioned.

I had organized an airport pickup for us that included a 1.5 hour driving tour of Rome and the guide took us to the Aventine keyhole. The guys liked that so much the 2 of them and I had to go back and find it during our stay. If you are in the Circus Maximus area, I'd recommend walking up the hill thru the rose garden to take a look thru the keyhole.

Take a look at this recent thread as well. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/circus-maximus This is now on my list for the next trip to Rome and it might not be in guide books yet.

Have a wonderful, wonderful time!

How about finding a concert he might be interested in? My wife and I always try to see someone on tour in another country. We even been to a concert in the Tower of London moat. Very cool.

If you decide to go the cooking class route a good one is http://www.cookwithusinrome.com/

It starts out in Campo de' Fiori for a walk through the market and then off to the cooking class. It was great fun.

Last year I took my 14-year-old grandson to Rome. We spent four nights in a centrally-located convent on Quirinal Hill before traveling on to Germany.

He played an active role in planning the itinerary. A few months before the trip I gave him a guidebook of Rome and a DVD of Rick Steves videos, and had him work on a list of things he wanted to see. He was already in his third year of Latin in school, and had built a model of the Circus Maximus for a class project, so he was excited to see Rome first-hand.

After landing at Fiumicino we took the train not to Termini, which would have been closer to our lodging, but to Ostiense, for a more dramatic entry into the city (our luggage was just one backpack each). His first sight of Rome was Piazza San Paolo (where Italian partigiani battled invading Nazis in 1943), with the Pyramid of Cestius and the Aurelian wall flanking it. We walked along the wall past the Baths of Caracalla, then to Circus Maximus and the Coliseum before reaching the convent.

During our stay we saw many ancient and medieval sites, as well as significant WW2 landmarks. We walked everywhere, except taking the Metro to the Vatican and the Lido train to Ostia Antica.

Photos here: https://goo.gl/photos/PHEE9LdegHPyq6BN6

I would skip the Vatican, it's incredibly crowded and hot during the summer. My husband hated it, visitors are treated like cattle being pushed through the galleries; we couldn't really stop and appreciate anything. If he is open to seeing at least one art museum make it the Villa Borghese. It's small, and you're only allowed in for 2 hours, so it's very organized and manageable. You must reserve in advance.

The coliseum is good for younger adults, it's fun and cool.
I also recommend walking around Trastevere (the more bohemian neighborhood in Rome) and looking at the vendor stalls. It's full of younger Italians and busy during the day and night.

Another good place for people watching is the Spanish steps and Piazza Navona, both close to each other and centrally located.

I'd also factor in a few hours a day just for eating and sampling the food and drink in Rome.

I'd push to have him research a lot more if all he can come up with on his own is the Colosseum. It's to his benefit so he sees some things that really interest him or finds activities that he really would like to do. And he should look at other sources in addition to Rick Steves (while his videos are very good, his target demographic is not an 18 year old) I'd at least have him look at the Rome City Guide video produced by Globe Trekker. I'd also recommend looking for 1 or 2 things to do that stray a bit off the standard tourist track. He can look over the listings for Rome on the website, Atlas Obscura, which has things like Gladiator School and (my personal favorite whether I was 11, 18 or middle aged) the Capuchin monk bone crypts at Santa Maria della Concezione. You could also consider something like a tour of Rome by Vespa.

Thanks for all of the comments so far! We had been debating time frame between mid June and April and we are going during the first 2 weeks of April. I gave him an assignment to look into places and my mom is got him some non RS info to look at as well. We are meeting again this week to see if he has made in Rome decisions. So far he has only narrowed down some ideas for London.