Hello fellow travelers,
Would you please critique my 7 day Rome itinerary for October 2026? Two travelers, husband and wife. Husband has never seen Rome. Wife has. Consequently wife is trying to squeeze in some things she never got to see and may have created an overly ambitious draft. Also it would be more typical to see Vatican and the Coliseum and Forum earlier in a 1st trip to Rome, but I moved them closer to the end so they fall on slower mid week days for crowd avoidance. October is pretty busy. But if that is a bad idea tell me. See below.
My 1st try itinerary - 7 days in Rome
Friday
Arrive early AM jet lagged and red eyed. Check in. Room not ready til 2pm.
Do light sight seeing Between check in at 8-9 am and 2pm.
I assume it’s best to just play this by ear based on how we feel but I also don’t want to spend 4 hours sitting in a hotel lobby because that’s such a waste. So….
Maybe do golf cart tour or do a self guided walk to get the lay of the land?
Spanish steps? Pantheon? Piazza navona?
Maybe try to get into the Domus Aurea?
Maybe visit largo Argentina (site of Julius Caesar’s assassination) and its newish museums and/or the baths of Caracalla if we feel up to it?
Saturday.
Villa borghese.
Villa torlonia (I think this would be interesting to see if we could fit it somewhere in the 7 day trip)
National museum/baths of diolcletian.
(Synagogue closed.)
Question. Is 3 sights Too much? Doable? Order of operations suggestions?
Sunday 10/11
Early: St. Paul’s outside the walls. (I know it’s not a typical “must see” but I think it would be very meaningful for my husband given his particular devotion to this saint)
Afternoon: Appian way, catacombs, and aqueduct park. If budget permits, an e-bike or golf cart tour along the appian way seems like it could make sense.
Evening: Dinner in the EUR (I never saw the EUR)
(Vatican museums closed.)
Monday. 10/12..
romantic Day trip to Castel Gandolfo and the gardens or other town in Castilli Romani ?
…… Or should we try to do something in the city like see San clemente, St. Peter’s in chains, the Lateran, Maria maggiore, st Theresa in ecstasy , etc….? Or can these sights be “squeezed in” at other times ?
(National museums closed. Ostia antica closed. Super sight House of Augustus on palatine closed. )
Tuesday
Early. St. Peter’s. Maybe try the petros emin exhibit.
Castel sant’angelo (I never saw the inside)
Ara Pacis (I love this monument and I think it’s a quick one to squeeze in if we feel up to it, but if we don’t I can let it go, as I’ve visited it a lot)
Trastevere: Jewish ghetto and villa fanseia (Raphaels) (I never visited either before)
(Super sight house of Livia closed)
Wednesday.
Early. Vatican museum and gardens.
Afternoon: recover.
Evening: aventino (I could skip the aventine but I think this is doable if we feel up to it)
Thursday.
Ancient Rome day.
Coliseum (I never went inside before )
Roman forum and Super sights: Livias house. House of Augustus. Trajans market. (Saw the forum but not these sights)
If we haven’t visited largo Argentina and baths of Caracalla, do so.
Capitoline museum.
- Question: is this too much for one day? Is this too much ancient Rome all at once ? Does it behoove us to get a guide because I think seeing the ancient sights requires a little imagination.
Friday. Last day. Hoping to fly out in the afternoon or evening for Vienna.
Maybe squeeze in an early trip to the trevi fountain (and if we have time the Barberini villa), before checking out of hotel and saying bye to Rome.