Should we see more than Rome

It's very well possible to spend a week in Rome without one moment of boredom, especially when you make some day trips, such as to Tivoli or Orvieto (both around 1 hr away by train).
But for first (and hopefully not last!) time visitors, it would be a pity. Why not break your stay with a few nights in Siena? As a city I find it much more agreeable than Florence, which is only some 1 hr away by bus.

You need to create your own itinerary since we have no idea what you like or dislike. Buy the guide book for Italy, go to you local library and check out books and DVDs on Rome and surrounding area and decide what is important to you. With seven nights you might consider going first to Florence or perhaps Venice for three and then return to Rome for four nights. Make your own priority list for what is important to you.

I would stick with Rome and some close by day trips given it's your first European trip. As an alternative, pick another base city to see after you've determined that Rome and side trips will not take up all your time (I would take the first option and see Rome very leisurely). No need to be conflicted over seeing every possible thing because that isn't possible even if you spend your whole time in Rome. There are plenty of guidebooks with sample itineraries outlined, so just visit your local library and pick one out and see what sites are most appealing to you.

We didn't go to Rome till our 4th trip to Italy and didn't spend any sustained time in Florence till our second trip. I am a big fan of spending time in a place and really exploring it. That first trip we spend a week in Venice, a week in the Tuscan countryside at an apartment in a village and a week in the Cinque Terre and Lake Maggiore. This was 30 years ago and it remains a vivid and wonderful memory. Two weeks is lovely for Paris. A week would be lovely for Rome with side trips to Tivoli for Villa Adriana, Ostia Antica, or perhaps Orvieto or Tarquinia and Cervetari for Etruscan tomb villages. There is more than enough in Rome for the time you have and the bonus is that you will probably be much more motivated to return if you don't run yourself ragged changing towns and hotels and rushing from city to city. See if you can book reservations for the Scavi tour under St. Peters (on official Vatican web site) and get your Vatican museum tickets ahead so you avoid that line. And then take the time to explore Rome.

Stay in Rome but plan 2 all day trips one North to Orvieto and one South to Pompeii
If you would prefer breaking up your stay/nights with a 2nd destination: I would do a 2 or 3 night stay somewhere not an overnight.
Siena as mentioned would be a great option for North for 2 nights or go south to Sorrento or an Amalfi Coast town for 3 nights.

To relax - I recommend 1 night in Orvieto or 2 nights in Assisi. going to Siena for 2 nights is a good choice as well. There is a lot in Rome. But, Rome can be tiring as well. You can go to Orvieto for two nights and visit Civita Di Bagnoregio. Do a little research. I would like to see you spend 1-2 nights outside of Rome to relax and see a different side of Italy. If you do decide to park yourselves in Rome only - you will be able to see much. It 's your call. The train system makes it easy to go other places. Just check trenitalia.com and look in the column showing train ride duration and connections. This makes selecting a train time much easier.

After several visits, Rome is still not my favorite city. I've never felt tempted to spend a week there, though I've happily done that in London, Paris, Vienna, and Venice. How much time do you want to focus on ancient ruins; are they your thing? The Vatican Museum is great but crowded, so you won't spend the time there that you might spend in Paris' Louvre Museum, for instance. While you would not run out of things to do in Rome, you get more variety by including other regions and sizes of towns. Day-tripping gives you some of that but an overnight stay gives you more of what any location has to offer. Orvieto and Siena would be high on my list, too, and Siena does require a night or two, since it's about 3.5 hours from Rome and has plenty to see.

We love Rome and have spent a total of several weeks there over a couple of trips. It would be a great place to settle in for a week and take a couple of day trips once you've gotten acclimated to foreign money, transport systems and whatnot. Italy's trains are great and very easy to figure out (we'll help!) As suggested, you could go to Orvieto or the ruins at Ostia Antica on the coast or even take a super-speedy train to Florence for a long day; the really fast ones can get you there in just 90 minutes. There are lots of options...

But gosh, there's so much just in Rome itself, and you'll have the luxury of time to just sit street or piazza-side now and again and soak up the atmosphere; something people with very busy itineraries miss out on, and half the fun for us. You'll also be able to explore corners that the majority of tourists with tight schedules don't make it to and get to know the city pretty well. It isn't everyone's style, for sure, but we've found over time that less can very definitely be more and so our trips focus on quality over quantity these days.

Rome can also take a little time to grow on you. People I know who didn't care for it usually didn't give it a fair chance; did a handful of the most-visited attractions - and so spent all of their time buried in the tourist mob - and then moved on. You may be surprised to find that what you'll end up enjoying the most may very well not be anything at all on the top 10 lists!

I don't usually recommend apartments for first-timers as 24/7 desk services at hotels can be comforting should one have questions or a problem that needs assistance but that doesn't mean you wouldn't be perfectly fine in one. And there's no wrong answer as far as one city or two; it's all about what works for YOU.

Not sure where you're flying in from and how long your journey to Rome is but I'm squarely in the camp of not wanting to spend a week in Rome. There's plenty to see there but it's definitely not my favorite city. If your inbound journey is not too long, you could head somewhere else for your first 3 nights and then back to Rome for you last 4. That would give you a nice look at Rome and somewhere else as well. Venice is my favorite but Florence and Siena are fine choices too. Venice is 4 hours by train so that's a bit harder.
What time do you arrive in Rome and where are you coming from?

I'd also opt for about 5 nights in Rome and then spend the balance of the trip somewhere else.

Siena is not a bad choice to spend three nights, but I think the city itself is really only a one day destination tops. It is an ideal stepping stone for some of the areas around it though. I think anywhere North of Siena is probably just too far to seriously consider.

Going down to Sorrento/Amalfi would likely be at the top of my list. That said, temperatures would probably be just a tad too cold for ideal beach weather, but Pompeii is amazing and there is certainly enough to do in the area to keep you more than occupied for three nights..

I would spend 5 days in Rome and 3 days in Venice. Venice is an amazing city unlike any city in the world.

I love Rome. Spent 3 days during fist Italy trip and a week on 2nd trip. For suggestions on an itinerary, Please share with us your interests, what do you enjoy doing on vacation? Others have offered day trips. My favorite Orvieto.

I assume you have 8 nights in Italy. If you arrive early in the day, you could get a fast train to Florence or Orvieto for 2-3 nights, then spend the rest of your time in Rome, so you are close to the airport on your last night. But if you have an afternoon or evening flight on the 10th, start in Rome. Then spend your last 2-3 nights in Florence or Orvieto. You can then take a fast train to Rome and transfer to the Leonardo Express to the airport. I'd recommend Orvieto, since it is so different from Rome, with lovely views of the Umbrian countryside and a small town with a low-key atmosphere. Florence will be crowded and always has a "big city" feel, though not as much as Rome.

If you want to spend your first and last nights in Rome, then staying overnight means changing hotels twice in a week, too much hassle.

Roma IS my favorite city in the world. I have lived there and visited every time I go to Italy. But it depends on what you like. I might spend two nights in Orvieto or Assisi, or daytrip to the Castelli Romani for a change of pace.

October is a great time re weather and crowds.

If you do decide to split your time, start at your furthest point e.g. Venice or Florence or whatever and then finish in Rome to be there for your flight home. NEVER plan to travel back to your flyout city on the day of the flight. You must get there the day before and that blows a day of your travels. So use the first miserable jet lag day to get to the furthest point; since hotels do check in in late afternoon that gets you there in time to get your room and makes use of this wasted day.

with only a week though, staying put and doing a day trip or two makes the most sense.

We're in the planning stages of doing exactly that, spending between 8-10 days in Rome next February or March. It will be our third trip to Italy, and in the past have only spent 2+ days there.

Interesting how for some it's their favorite place in Italy, others not so much. Sure, we'll probably take a daytrip to Orvieto, or if we're wild & crazy I'd love to either revisit Pompeii--spectacular--or maybe hit that Archeological Museum in Naples. But we want to experience Rome off-season, without the tourist hordes, which can really ruin it for me. It's not necessarily their fault--I just don't like crowds. And, we befriended a Chicago couple at a Salerno B&B last year who spend their winters in Rome--he is a native--and it will be fun for them to show us some of the hidden, non-attraction stuff.

I want to offer a different sequence for you. My family and I recently did this ourselves. If you fly into Rome, start your vacation in Rome. Spend 4-5 nights in Rome (Lots of churches, roman ruins, a few lovely piazzas.). Then, spend 1-2 nights in either Orvieto or Assisi. Both places are easily reached by train. On your last night, take a late afternoon train (i.e. 3 pm -5 pm) back to Rome. You will be in Rome by 8 pm. Get a hotel near Termini Train station that you can walk to. Just go to the hotel and get organized for going to the airport the next day. Get a good night's rest. The next day, you can just walk back to termini to catch a cab to the airport for €48 flat rate or take the express train to airport. This way, you spend your last day outside of Rome and will have plenty of time to see a couple of sights. This makes for a relaxing day and delivers you back to Rome to catch your plane the next day.