My wife and I along with four of our older children (22,21,20 & 17) will be in Rome on New Years Day. I has researched quite a bit and it looks like most site, museums are closed. Would anyone recommend something to do? We will be coming from Paris on December 31. Another option is change our plans and travel from Paris to Rome on January 1st. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. My wife have I have been to Rome 10 years ago but this is the first international trio for our kids.
Posted by
Charleston, SC, USA
927 posts
Download the RS Audio Europe app and get the Heart of Rome, Jewish Ghetto and Trastavere walks. These should keep you occupied for most of the day. Most of what you will see is outside and open.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16211 posts
It's a slow day. Most Italians eat a huge luncheon with their extended family at home on Jan 1. Then in the afternoon, after eating like pigs for 3-4 hours, some might have the stamina to crawl out of their dining room and take a stroll downtown to digest the feast. Going to the movies is a popular activity also on the afternoon of NE day, but yes, many things (museums, palaces, shops) are closed.
Some churches should be open to visit.
Restaurants, bars, gelaterie, should be open, at least in the city center.
Streets and piazzas will be open, and Rome is an open air museum, so strolling with the Romans is something you could do.
Many shops may be closed but you can window shop.
If the above options aren't good, then you can use that day to travel from Paris to Rome.
Posted by
Colorado Mountains, USA
8046 posts
Hi T.T. - this doesn't directly answer your question, but for what it's worth, we were in Sorrento on New Year's Day 2013. The ruins at Pompeii were supposed to be closed, but we found out the day before that they would be open limited hours, until 1PM, so we were able to visit the site for part of the day, and it wasn't very crowded, except for one large Russian tour group, from which we tried to keep our distance. So, even if something's officially not going to be open in Rome, maybe it will be?
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23653 posts
Our experience is that things really shut down on Christmas day and New years day. For both we laid in a supply of wine, cheese, fruits, bread etc. to have our dinner on each day. Our hotels had gardens so that we set up our picnic in. In wondering about we noticed that some restaurants - especially those associated with hotels -- and bars were open but less than half. As a result most were packed with tourists trying to find something to eat. It is a good day to a lot of outside, open air sightseeing. Most public transit (if not all) was not running either. You need to be very flexible and ask your hotel for suggestions as they know who and what is open around them. Not completely different than what you find in most of the USA.
Posted by
OP
California
20 posts
Thanks for the suggestions. I am thinking that maybe to do our traveling on New Years Day to maximize our time. But I do agree, there are many outside sites to take in.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
If you do like the idea of a movie on New Year's Day, beware that it's very hard to find a subtitled one in Rome - almost all of them are dubbed. So, even if you do want to celebrate the holiday as Romans do, your options will be limited, unless you speak enough Italian to enjoy a movie in that language.