Perfect Rome Itinerary?

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Original Poster:

95 posts

80 months

Monday 24th July 2017
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It's my girlfriends 30th Birthday in March next year and I plan to celebrate by taking her away to Rome.

She bought me a rather lovely Tag Heuer for my 30th and threw a big party. She doesn't want a gift as such, but I know she'd rather have an experience like this. This means that I'm happy to go all out.

I'm interested to know from those who've been, what your ideal itinerary would be.

Hotel is sorted.

Restaurants: I plan to treat her to the tasting menu at Aroma Restaurant on the eve of her birthday because it looks over the Colosseum... and she saw it on Facebook once. I also plan to go to the rooftop restaurant in The Forum Hotel.

Sights: I heard that they run a night tour at the Colosseum, worth it?. There's the the Roman Forum, Trevvi Fountain, Vatican, etc.

Other stuff: We just got back from Barcelona & finished the trip in with a helicopter tour. I don't think they do this in Rome, but can anyone recommend anything really special we can do to really make it memorable?

So, if it were you, what would your ideal trip entail?



Edited by Username... on Monday 24th July 17:28

evsky

38 posts

125 months

Tuesday 25th July 2017
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Those annoying guide peddlers in and around the Vatican etc are actually a very very good idea; if you want to see the most popular sights without waiting then pay the money and take the guided tours from these guys.

This was the case when I was there in 2013/14, the wait time for the Sistine Chapel and grounds was around 5-6 hours; we were flagged down by many of these tour operators and ended up caving in because they promised us quicker entry - 30 mins later and we were inside being told about all of the artwork and stories behind them; well worth the relatively little extra money you pay.

Not sure on how long you are visiting, I had a week there and walked to pretty much everything, it was a joy to discover everything on foot, I will never forget walking through all the backstreets from the Trevi Fountain and coming out to see the Pantheon for the first time - it was truly a jaw dropping unforgettable sight.

So I recommend walking everywhere if you have the time and stamina - stop and walk into the random churches along the way - they are all open and amazing. On our last day we took the guided tour bus to revisit all the sights and managed to see everything in one day just to refresh the mind and hear some more stories behind the monuments etc.

The Capuchin Crypt is pretty interested and unique - highly recommended.


Fastchas

2,640 posts

120 months

Tuesday 25th July 2017
quotequote all
evsky said:
Those annoying guide peddlers in and around the Vatican etc are actually a very very good idea; if you want to see the most popular sights without waiting then pay the money and take the guided tours from these guys.

This was the case when I was there in 2013/14, the wait time for the Sistine Chapel and grounds was around 5-6 hours; we were flagged down by many of these tour operators and ended up caving in because they promised us quicker entry - 30 mins later and we were inside being told about all of the artwork and stories behind them; well worth the relatively little extra money you pay.

Not sure on how long you are visiting, I had a week there and walked to pretty much everything, it was a joy to discover everything on foot, I will never forget walking through all the backstreets from the Trevi Fountain and coming out to see the Pantheon for the first time - it was truly a jaw dropping unforgettable sight.

So I recommend walking everywhere if you have the time and stamina - stop and walk into the random churches along the way - they are all open and amazing. On our last day we took the guided tour bus to revisit all the sights and managed to see everything in one day just to refresh the mind and hear some more stories behind the monuments etc.

The Capuchin Crypt is pretty interested and unique - highly recommended.
This. I was going to post exactly the same thing. I took my GF for her 30th and stayed in the Hotel Regno on Via Del Corsa. We ate in one of the alley restaurants and walked down through them. Very narrow streetways which suddenly opened up into a square in which we stopped, mouth open, looking at the Pantheon.
To this day it is still the most breathtaking thing I've ever seen.
The forum is interesting and if you're lucky you may find a book in one of the tourist shops which has photos of the ruins but has translucent overlays which overlap the photos so you can see what is was like 2000 years ago.


BoRED S2upid

19,641 posts

239 months

Tuesday 25th July 2017
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As above Walk everywhere the bus tours are pointless it's such a small city and the must see sights are very close to each other our itinerary was along the lines of a 2k slow walk seeing sights in the morning lunch another hour walk glass of wine in a cafe /bar people watching maybe another sight then retreat for dinner repeat for a couple of days and you've pretty much dineRome.

As for the Vatican do everything and anything to avoid the stupidly large que or don't bother.

Great city to explore.

123Tricky

23 posts

80 months

Tuesday 25th July 2017
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i'll ditto the pantheon advice.

amazing. i love modernist design and architecture...this place has a self supporting dome of 2000 yr-old concrete...absolutely ace.

eveningswise, there are a few old style cabaret/jazz bar with dining that are pretty cool

this one was v enjoyable in the cellar...an older crowd than 30s, perhaps, but you,ll enjoy...

http://alexanderplatzjazzclub.com/

as someone else said, its quite a small city - especially for a capital, so just enjoy a stroll and see what presents itself.

a bit scruffy in plces...i never know what to make of italy...gdp similar to ours, all of august off and most of july too....but possible an economic shambles....perhaps we work too hard here.

dont know, but grass and weeds growing out of the pavements and graffitti everywhere...reminds me of english cities in the 80s....i'm there every 18 months or so...makes me a bit nostalgic for my youth in liverpool, actually

either way, you'll enjoy

jmorgan

36,010 posts

283 months

Wednesday 26th July 2017
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Think Rome was where we first tried to set an itinerary. Normally we just went with the flow. Itinerary went out the window very quickly. Rome ain’t going anywhere soon, you can go back quite easily.

Just enjoy the place. e.g we went to the forum. If history is your thing then that took us all afternoon and we still missed bits. If history is not your thing then it is a pile of mouldy old bricks and an hour tops.




Gary C

12,313 posts

178 months

Wednesday 26th July 2017
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Just on way home from Rome.

Eat in trestavere, it used to be rougher and working class, but seems to be coming up and very popular and it's much cheaper to each.

DO NOT eat in piazza nuvona, it wil brankrupt you smile

It's very hot at the moment, so go out early to see the sights, then snooze mid day then out as it begins to cool.

Pantheon, forum etc are worth a visit if you like ancient things. Sistine chapel is ok. Trevi fountain is spectacular (and has a nice ice cream shop) and the Fontana hotel is very quirky and odd but good to stay at as it's the only hotel in the world with that view.

We've been so often now, we just wonder around the streets eating and drinking.

TheGuru

744 posts

100 months

Wednesday 26th July 2017
quotequote all
evsky said:
Those annoying guide peddlers in and around the Vatican etc are actually a very very good idea; if you want to see the most popular sights without waiting then pay the money and take the guided tours from these guys.

This was the case when I was there in 2013/14, the wait time for the Sistine Chapel and grounds was around 5-6 hours; we were flagged down by many of these tour operators and ended up caving in because they promised us quicker entry - 30 mins later and we were inside being told about all of the artwork and stories behind them; well worth the relatively little extra money you pay
You can book online for the Vatican museums and just walk straight in, no waiting at all.

Also for the Colliseum buy tickets from the huts at the side that also sell the Forum tickets, virtually no queue.

For something special maybe a private Vatican tour and dinner:

https://m.viator.com/tour/Rome/Vatican-Night-Tour-...

danzltiu

585 posts

201 months

Wednesday 26th July 2017
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You can also book online for the Colleseum, print your tickets and go right to the front in a separate line. Did it this March. Vatican can be a bit of a queue but St peters is amazing and worth the wait. Whatever your itinerary recommend you get there early and do Vatican/Colleseum separate days. I didn`t bother with the bus tour this visit. Recommend the Borgognoni hotel, reasonable price and located between the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. Just walk around and enjoy. Just remembered don't wear shorts if going to the Vatican you may be refused entry.

wibble cb

3,586 posts

206 months

Wednesday 26th July 2017
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Do go for Pizza to Pizzeria Ai Marmi , on Via Trastevere, it won't bankrupt you, if you end up inside as its quite busy, sit and marvel at the 3 man pizza building operation, there's no time for tossing pizza crust, they build 18+ pizzas at a go, and know exactly what they are doing...


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The bierra was ok as well!


|https://thumbsnap.com/8cmk9CXU[/url]

Do try and do an Aperitivo one night, go to a bar order pre dinner drinks circa 5 -5.30 and they will bring you snacks, round after round, we had to tell them to stop after 5, as we were going for dinner at some point, you usually only get charged for the drinks!

Do the forum, St Peters, see the Trevi and Spanish Steps, oh, and the Collisuem, the guided tours are expensive, but worth it for the added information you will get from the guides.

We stayed in Trastevere itself and walked most places, even to the Colliseum

Gary C

12,313 posts

178 months

Thursday 27th July 2017
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Oh and use the white taxis as they are city approved and run at a fixed rate. Should be about 8 euros for what would take 40 minutes to walk, so not cheap but you won't get totally fleeced.

Oh, and round the corner from the colosseum, in a little shop run by a Chinese man, please open his fridge take out a bottle of fizzy water, poke it and find its totally flat and obviously been refilled from a tap, then put it back in ! (Top tip check the fizzy bottles and make sure they are not refilling all of them)

Little tt had a go at my wife as we walked away and would have got flattened if the wife hadn't then tore into him in her best Napoli Italian (he thought she was English !) and dragged me away.

His face was a picture smile

aquarianone

498 posts

176 months

Friday 28th July 2017
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Head to Capri for a bit of a break from the hustle and bustle....we took the ferry. (via Naples) but there's a few more interesting options

http://www.capri.com/en/transfers

g3org3y

20,606 posts

190 months

Sunday 30th July 2017
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- Colosseum
- Trevi Fountain
- Pantheon
- Piazza Navona
- Piazza del Popolo
- Worthwhile seeing the Vatican imo, some epic art on show including the Sistine Chapel.
- Roman Forum

If you're planning to see a lot of stuff, might be worthwhile investing in the Roma Card.

As mentioned above, you can walk to everything.

Nezquick

1,453 posts

125 months

Sunday 30th July 2017
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Do the Scavi tour of the Vatican if you can. Well worth it. You have to email them directly to arrange a time.