Eleven days in Rome

October 4

I booked the Premium Colosseum Tour with Roman Forum & Palatine Hill with City Experiences. I would rate this tour just okay. The group size was large, and even though our guide told us to feel free to ask questions, she rambled on incessantly and never even stopped to ask if we had any questions. We covered a lot of stuff that I was glad to see, but I don't think I would recommend this tour. By the way, RS suggests seeing the Colosseum from outside and not bothering to go inside. I think in retrospect that would be a good plan. I didn't find the interior of the Colosseum to be particularly interesting.

Afterwards, I walked to the Monti neighborhood to visit a few churches. The highlight was Michelangelo's Moses at the Basilica of Saint Peter in Chains, but Chiesa di Santa Maria ai Monti and Basilica dei Santi Silvestro e Martino ai Monti were also impressive.

Then I had an amazingly good panini at Fuorinorma, very close to Santa Maria ai Monti. It was very crowded and I waited at least 20 minutes, but it was so worth it!

Afterwards I walked up to Piazza del Campidoglio. I was thinking of visiting the Capitoline Museum, and there was no line to get in, but because the upcoming Sunday was free museum day, I decided to wait til then. So I walked to the Mouth of Truth and stood in line for a half hour to get my photo taken. My hand was not bitten off.

That night I had my first experience of Pizza al Taglio, from Striscia la Pizza in Trastevere. Outstanding!

October 5

I prebooked a visit to Palazzo Colonna for the morning. On the way there I stopped at Largo di Torre Argentina, and then the Gesu Church. After Palazzo Colonna I went to Palazzo Doria Pamphilj. And I ended with Basilica of Sant'Andrea della Valle.

I started to realize on this day that I prefer Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque art and architecture to ancient stuff.

October 6

This was Free Museum Sunday in Rome, so I headed to the Capitoline Museum early, but there was already a fairly long line, and I wished I'd gone the other day when I was here. But it really wasn't too crowded inside.

This was probably my biggest walking day. From there I walked to the Baths of Caracalla. Also had to wait in line here. There was some kind of art exhibit inside. And this was the day I started to realize that I like to see ancient things unspoiled by modern things.

From here I walked up to Aventine Hill and saw a few of the churches there. The line for the famous keyhole view of St. Peter's was ridiculously long, so I skipped that.

I actually got back to Trastevere in time for a late lunch and a tiramisu at Tiramisu Merisú, which was disappointing.

Then I visited Chiesa di San Francesco a Ripa, which has a Bernini sculpture, Beata Ludovica Albertoni, one of his final works.

That evening I went for a walk along the Tiber, and then walked up to Fontana dell'Acqua Paola for a nice view of the city.

October 7

I had booked the Key Master's Tour of the Vatican for this morning. This was very expensive but so worth it! Walking through the galleries in the dark, opening doors and turning on lights, just our group of I think 20 people. And when we got to the Sistine Chapel, we were allowed to take photos.

The tour started at 6am and ended when the museum opened at 8am. We were welcome to stay as long as we wanted, and I spent three more hours there.

My original plan was to do Saint Peter's after that, but the line was crazy long. It seemed to fill St. Peter's Square. So I postponed that until another day. Instead, I went to the Pantheon.

October 8

I prebooked a tour of the Jewish ghetto this morning with Micaela Pavoncello. Micaela is featured in one of Rick's videos of Rome. This was one of the all time best walking tours I've ever taken. She was absolutely wonderful.

During the tour Micaela told us about the Nazi raid on the ghetto and about a boy named Emanuele who escaped by riding on the streetcar for several days with the help of the conductors. At the end of the tour we encountered Emanuele, now in his 90s. And we visited a bookstore where I bought the book about Emanuele (Il Bambino del Tram) and he signed it for me. What a treasure!

That evening I had a pasta making class I booked with Devour Tours. Highly recommended.

October 9

I planned this day badly. I'd booked a 3pm entry to the Borghese Gallery, but they emailed me a few days prior to ask if I could come at 5pm instead. So I had a long day open. One of my planned activities for the day was to visit the Villa Medici, but I neglected to check ahead of time, or I would have known that visits there are by guided tour only, and there was no available time slot that would have worked for me. So I just hung out in the park for a few hours.

This was the day I really fell in love with the work of Bernini. I'm just in awe thinking about it and looking at my photos again. I tried using the guided tour in the RS guidebook, but everything has been moved since it was published. And disappointedly, most of the upstairs was closed for renovation.

October 10

I'd prebooked a small group tour to Ostia Antica today through Viator. But two days earlier I got a message from Viator that the tour operator wanted to switch me to two days later, and I already had plans, so I ended up going to Ostia Antica on my own. (Viator quickly issued a refund.)

I toured Ostia Antica using the RS audio guide, and I've already been taken to task in an earlier post for my negative comments about Lisa. So I'll just say that in spite of my personal feelings, the tour was helpful.

That evening I took a Food and Wine tour of Trastevere with Devour Tours. Highly recommended.

Thanks for the report, Lane. We’re currently on an OAT trip in Vietnam, with an independent trip to Cambodia afterwards, in a few days. As you said, things don’t always go exactly as planned.

Glad you got to utilize a Free Museum First Sunday in Rome. In the end, you don’t save a million Euros in admission fees, and crowds can affect the overall value, but it’s still a deal. My one time, in early October a couple of years ago, was at the Borghese Gallery. Because they limit admissions every day, the Sunday free visitors didn’t overwhelm the place, and lines were nonexistent. The Venanzo Crocetti museum, also in the park, was also free that day, and had hardly any visitors, so it was a bonus.

October 11

I finally made it to Saint Peter's today. I went very early, and even though there was a line to go through security, when I walked into the church it was nearly empty. Sadly, the altar was covered with scaffolding. Still, this was a wow experience.

I should have booked a skip-the-line tour to climb the dome. I ended up waiting over an hour. It's definitely worth doing. For me I think the highlight wasn't the view, which was impressive. I really loved seeing the mosaics up close.

I had planned to visit Castel Sant'Angelo afterwards, but I needed some down time, because that night I had a ticket for the opera, Peter Grimes at Teatro dell'Opera di Roma (https://www.operaroma.it/). It was a brilliant production.

October 12

I hired a driver to take me to Tivoli today. I used Scoot Around Rome (https://www.scootaroundrome.com/visit-rome-tours/rome-day-trip/tivoli/). Highly recommended. On the way out of town, we passed Aventine Hill, and I mentioned the long line to see the keyhole view. So he drove me up there, and at 8am there was no one there, so I got to see it. Hard to take photos, though.

First stop in Tivoli was Hadrian's Villa, and then Villa d'Este. I enjoyed seeing both of these places, but in retrospect, I wish I'd used today for a day trip to Orvieto.

October 13

I had an early flight to Athens this morning. Welcome Pickups was right on time.

Overall, a great time in Rome!

Great report. Thanks for posting. How very cool that you got to meet the grown up boy that escaped on the trolley cars. Had not heard that story before.

Another trip I followed with interest on your blog. Thanks for the planning as I will be using many of your ideas for our long stay in Rome in 2026.

Excellent trip report of Rome! Nicely summarized but also included good details. Good info on your different walking tours. I’ve been to Rome twice and definitely want to go back and try some of the places and restaurants you described. I had to smile when I read your matter-of-fact statement that your hand survived the Mouth of Truth!

Lane, I so enjoyed your trip report! Thanks for posting.

‘I started to realize on this day that I prefer Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque art and architecture to ancient stuff.’

Me too! I sort of feel guilty saying it out loud in Rome of all places. But give me a Caravaggio in a Roman church over ancient ruins any day. It was sort of a surprise when I came to that conclusion.

And I loved the info on the tours you did and what an amazing story of the boy that survived by staying on the tram. Wow.

I just want to express thanks for the kind and generous responses.

I have a travel blog, and that's where I do most of my writing about my travels, but I wanted write a trip report here because I have gotten so much value from all of you on this forum. I am so glad to know you enjoyed reading this.

Bookmarked! What a wonderful trip Lane. The early tour of the Vatican museums is expensive but would be worth it for me too.
I’m hoping for a return trip to Rome with just my husband and myself. Last trip we were 3 couples. Even though we had fun and many laughs, we sightsee better with just the two of us.

I started to realize on this day that I prefer Medieval, Renaissance,
and Baroque art and architecture to ancient stuff.

This brought back a memory of my first European adventure in 2014. We went to Rome which I didn't even know I wanted to go to until my wife told me I did. We hit all the popular tourist spots including the Vatican. I learned I'm not into the actual renaissance art but thanks to our guide who was an art historian, it opened up a whole new interest to me in the history of religion and specifically the reformation. I'm glad I still go to sites where I suspect I may not have an interest because you never know what will spark a fascination.

I agree with you about the interior of the Colosseum. Once again I'm glad I went but we preferred the Forum and Palatine Hill significantly more. Having said that, next time I hope to be able to get tickets to the underground tour, because you never know what will spark an interest.

3 couples. Even though we had fun and many laughs, we sightsee better
with just the two of us.

We learned that too. No regrets, but expectations have to be different.

Your well-written and organized report is a pleasure to read. It's concise, while still including key details and a sense of what you enjoyed. Rome is a great city. We enjoyed our 7 full days there in 2017--but I wish I had read your report before we went, because I would have taken some of your recommended tours!