Would love some planning help for Rome

I doubt you will find much you can get into on Easter Sunday but there is still plenty to see and do! Just start walking! Rome is a magnificent walking city. Remember, if you get tired of one century all you have to do is go around a corner and you're suddenly in another century! Your Monday schedule seems a bit light especially since all three items are quite close to each other. If you miss something on Sunday, you'd be able to catch up on Monday without any problems. Trevi Fountain is under rehab, so there isn't much reason to spend a lot of time there. The Pantheon is my favorite for the afternoon or later - as wonderful as the building is, the piazza is a destination unto itself! Find a table for a drink, snack/dinner and watch the people. Head over to Piazza Navona and people watch there with a gelato in hand (after dinner is the best time). Spanish Steps? Aren't they under rehab too? I don't particularly find that area all that interesting so I'm not the person to ask. Check out Trastevere for wonderful churches to visit, walks, restaurants. St Peter's Square is always open and can be a great place to sit. The museum is amazing but a 13 yr old might find it sensory overload. He probably will be happier at Pompeii.

Orvieto is an easy day trip from Rome and is a very pleasant place to visit. Lots of shopping, great local wines and foods. Your son might like the 'underground'. The Duomo isn't as awesome as the one in Siena, but it's worth a visit.

Sorrento? If it's warm enough, your son might like to go swimming while you do some shopping. Also, take a bus or boat from Sorrento to Amalfi Town and then return the other way. Bus is exciting, boat is relaxing and you see more at the same time.

Have a wonderful trip!

When you say underground, do you mean the catacombs in Rome?

Orvieto has an underground tour, I think that's the reference in the previous post. It is not for the claustrophobic.

In Rome, there is a section of the ancient wall that can be climbed and walked, it's the Museum of the Wall. There are catacombs in the northern part of Rome, those of Priscilla, if you are too pressed for time to go to the larger ones in the southern part. However, at the southern part of the city is Aqueduct Park, which your son might enjoy.

Your 4/6 itinerary can be done in a morning or afternoon, or on the day you arrive.

tb,

Hopefully all the sights will be open over Easter. St. Peters will probably be very busy, and not sure what their hours will be. A few thoughts...

• 4/5 - Colosseum and Forum should be possible. You could get a Combo ticket which covers the Colosseum, Forum and Palatine Hill. Details in the guidebook.
• 4/6 - Pantheon and Spanish Steps will be easy, but AFAIK the Trevi Fountain will still be closed for renovations, so there won't be much to see if it's covered in scaffolding.
• 4/7 - St. Peters, etc. - shouldn't be a problem but again check on the hours.
• 4/8 - Orvieto or Civita - Orvieto is an easy day trip from Rome (about an hour each way by train), but if travelling by public transit Civita is possible but will be more difficult. There's lots to see in Orvieto, so might be better to spend your time there. In additiion to the Underground Tour, there's also the incredible Duomo with the Signorelli Frescoes and St. Patrick's Well (a remarkable engineering feat in its time).

With only 3 full days in Rome I would skip the day trip. You're going to find the sites very busy because of the holiday so I would use the last day to visit things you might not have gotten to. There are hundreds of sites in Rome and your list is only a very basic list of sites. I would suggest getting a guide book and having your son read through it. Ask him to make a list of what he wants to see and do. You may find he has other things he wishes to see. .

Some things you may look into would be the underground colosseum tour, the Palazzo Valentini or the Crypt of the Capucchin monks.

Donna

Thank you everyone. Does anyone have any experience with the golf cart tours of Rome? A co-worker said her neighbor's family did one and they raved about it. They were able to see so much and zip around the city and the nice part there was only the four of them on the tour.

Hire a tour guide, walking tours are fun and the best way to hit the highlights. Lots of docents in Rome and Florence. Google them.

We did an evening golf cart tour last May. It really is a golf cart so there will be just your family and the driver. We have probably spent 3 weeks in Rome over the last few years and we thought the golf cart tour was just great. You can see a lot in a short time with someone telling you the back stories on everything you are interested. You also get a lot of input into where exactly you go. Also this..........you are NOT walking. We rated our golf cart tour as one of the 2 or 3 most fun things we have done in Europe.

Kate, which company did you use for the golf cart tour? I was looking into mybesttour.com as they get amazing reviews on Tripadvisor. Rome in Limo gets good reviews as well but is a little more expensive.

Your 4/6 day is very light: Trevi and the Steps are just walk-bys - I often recommend doing those at night after other attractions have closed - and you won't spend probably more than 1/2 hour or so in the Pantheon.

And I'll agree with Donna that your son will get a lot more out of your Italian destinations if he's engaged before the trip. If he doesn't know WHY what he's looking at is important, all he'll see are piles of rocks and another bunch of churches, paintings and sculptures. The library and internet are full of age-appropriate material, and having his own guidebook is a good idea as well. Homework is what every good tourist does before a trip, and so you have a teachable opportunity in learning the fine art of traveling!

Speaking of churches, I'd put some of the best of those on your list as they're glorious.

We all travel differently but I'd personally eschew the golf cart for exploring the city on your own feet. Rome is a wonderful city to walk, and especially fun to wander at will - especially if you aren't interested in hitting all the museums. With a map and guidebook, you can easily find the bigger attractions but take roundabout ways of getting there, and stop into intriguing churches and whatnot along the way. See a curious little street or alley? Go see where it leads: probably somewhere interesting. I've never been good at "zipping" about Italian cities as there are always too many fascinating things to stop and look at!

The Pantheon is open until sunset so that would make the suggestion to see some of the sights in the evening/night easy.

Colosseum/Roman Forum suggestion. Go to Roman Forum first. Use side entrance on Via Fiori Imperiali (spelling?). Go around 2 pm or later. Get a combo. ticket. Use the free Rick Steve audio download and plan on about 1 hour for the forum. If entering from Imperiali, you will need to back track to the left to start the audio. tour. Go to Colosseum after 3 pm. There is a one-way exit gate behind the Basilica of Constantine to cut over. After 3 pm, it's easy to enter the Colosseum without standing in a long line. Plus, you can skip the ticket line with your combo. ticket. You may want to check out Romapass as well.
Pantheon area - piazza Navona, Sopra Di Minerva, largo torre Argentina, churches, are all very close together. You can easily stroll between them.
Trevi should be skipped unless you are going to McDonald's anyway. It's all under scaffolding and there is no water in the fountain.
Consider Santa Prassede and Santa Maria Maggiore. They are next to each other and excellent sites.