Trip Notes: One Full Day in Rome

Some additional tips:

• We chose a hotel around Termini. Termini is a very practical choice for a short visit like this. Less time wasted getting to your hotel from the airport, and the reverse. Yes, Termini itself is lame and has its haters, but we didn’t spend any time there. See it as good base for convenient access to the major sites on a short trip.

• The Leonardo Express (the express FCO-Termini train) was very easy and convenient. Note that ticket machines don’t seem to take US credit cards (which don’t have PINs); we tried 3 different ones, and also read that this was the case. We ended up using our ATM debit card when we arrived. The ticket offices can take non-PIN US credit cards; we bought our return tickets from them.

• The St Peter’s Basilica security line at 5:30-6pm (in early May) took about 15-20 minutes. We’d read various musings about the lines being better either first thing in the morning (7am) or in the late afternoon. From our data point, it seems that the very late afternoon is a good time to visit.

• We didn’t buy tickets, make timed reservations, etc. for any of the sites. We made that decision in order to not waste time in lines and to not hassle with having to be at specific sites at specific times. In fact, St Peter’s Basilica was the only thing we waited in any line for. Of course, this means we didn’t go inside the Coliseum or the Vatican Museums.

• Monday night seems like a fairly dead night in Rome. Other than the tourist trap restaurants in the main tourist spots with English menus that hawkers are shoving in your face, the restaurants and bars that we walked by seemed very quiet.

This was my wife’s first time in Rome, and my second time in Rome after visiting as a kid on family trip in 1994. In 25 years, the most notable difference to me is that the major sites have pretty much been “ruined” by mass tourism. The second biggest difference is that the Vespas have essentially disappeared from the streets of Rome. Then, the streets were filled with loud, smoggy Vespas. Now, there are probably more smart cars than Vespas. Another big difference is that African and South Asian mafias have replaced the gypsies as the touts and scammers running all the shenanigans at the major tourist sites. We’ll see what happens in another 25 years…

We found if you quickly learn to navigate the bus system (and metro system) of Rome, you can move around promptly and efficiently. It is a city that'll walk you to death.

The second biggest difference is that the Vespas have essentially disappeared from the streets of Rome.

Thank God! If there's one thing I hate it's noisy, dirty, smelly Vespas and their cousins, Lambrettas. There's nothing worse than being stuck behind a convoy of 'Mod scooter enthusiasts' out en mass on a weekend jaunt, even with the windows closed and the air con switched off the fumes still make their way into your car.

I plan to stay one night by Termini in November. I can tell you that the hotel we choose looks to be quite nice, in fact, well reviewed on Booking.com, includes a breakfast and is SUPER inexpensive. In the RS guide, he discusses a couple markets/food stalls in the train station that do sound promising.

Termini gets a bad rap, but essentially, it is fine.

So far, I've been twice to Rome; stayed around Termini with no issues. Walked to and from at various times (at night) in the Termini neighborhood - but usually returning from somewhere else. (What I did find is the uncertainty of walkways, curbs and protruding cobblestone. For that, I was glad I had a little LED flashlight to guide me in the darker or dim areas.)

As with any big city, just keep your wits, keep an awareness, watch your bags, don't flaunt expensive stuff or wads of cash.

In and around Termini, there are police and the military standing guard. So, that can be considered a precaution; a deterrent. Yep, an incident or two may have happened to someone being ripped off or their bag stolen. But, that can happen other places too.

In Termini, if you're paying attention to the crowd, you can spot the ones who seem out of character. They are watching you, maybe, but the police are watching them too. They can't catch them all. So, in many situations, we are our own best defense.

Don't make it easy or tempting for anyone to scout you as an easy target.

a couple markets/food stalls in the train station that do sound promising.

Jules, a walk through Termini Station can be a fun experience. Lots of the expected hustle bustle. The food stalls and food court are interesting. One night, I walked through and a lot of the food court eateries were giving out samples of their cheeses and meats. I didn't take any, but the "cheese guy" was cute, lol, and I was almost tempted. Hmm, a good looking guy asking in Italian if you'd like to taste the cheese....umm....

We found if you quickly learn to navigate the bus system (and metro system) of Rome, you can move around promptly and efficiently. It is a city that'll walk you to death.

We don't mind being walked to death. ;) Anyway, for our purposes of our short trip, there really would have been no need for us to take public transportation. Other than getting to/from the Vatican, most sites were 5-10 minutes apart from each other and walking to bus/metro stops and waiting there would have taken longer. Plus, seeing things along the way and making random detours is part of the fun.

Agree. If you can walk the city, I say go for it. Rome is a walking museum; a little surprise around every corner and down every street. The architecture of many buildings alone is worth it.

In the evening, we bought a bottle of wine from a market and drank it on a bench in Plaza Navona.

One of my great memories is buying a Panino and sweets at The Coop; making my way to Navona; finding a bench near one of the fountains and took to people watching. While enjoying the sandwich, in the near distance, I heard the street musicians play (the same guys I discovered while exiting The Pantheon another day.) The music, the fountains as my backdrop, the hustle of people, my Coop sandwich, lol, nice....

I use the public transportation as much as it makes sense for me, personally. When it saves time or when my feet and back are sore, absolutely! But, sometimes you spend a bit of your time just waiting for a tram/metro/etc., if I'm up for a walk, I walk it. I see much more that way anyway. I have often walked 16-22 miles a day on vacation.

Thanks for posting this. I totally agree that if you have is a day (day and a half, whatever) it is still worthwhile to visit places - even major cities like Rome. Of course it's not ideal, and someplace like Rome "deserves" much more time but a whirlwind visit can be very enjoyable and totally worthwhile. A couple of years ago on a 'fast' visit to Italy with a friend who had never been, we decided mid trip to add in a day and a half in Rome and had a great time. I think it does help if at least one person in the group has been there before and certainly a visit like this requires the ability to walk a lot. I'm impressed that you did 26 miles, I consider myself to walk more than most people (I average 9-10 miles a day on trips) and I have never even done 20 miles in one day. I posted our world wind trip on my blog - https://andiamo.zenfolio.com/blog/2017/5/italy-through-new-eyes-part-3-rome

A new Eataly has replaced the McDoanalds at Termini (you couldn't ask for a better replacement!) and whilst on the expensive side it does provide fantastic food and plenty of goodies to take home although if you're flying with just carry on your options are going to be limited.

I've never had a problem with the area around Termini, ok it's a bit rough around the edges but so is much of Rome. I didn't feel it to be less safe than any other part of Rome. It's the major transport hub of Rome, show me a city that doesn't look a bit shabby around its central transport hub?

Thanks for the report.