Myself and the wife have some leave in Dec and were thinking of spending a week in Rome. If there’s enough to keep us occupied then we can stay there the whole week but we’d be happy to stay/day trip out in the country as well.

Any hints on where to stay in the city would be appreciated as there seems to be a lot of options. I’d prefer a smaller hotel than the generic multinational.

Thanks in advance!

We just walked around and had loads of fun, so much to see, everywhere.

Founded by twins, Romulus and Remus who were brought up by a she-wolf – apparently………..

Had a long weekend there about a year ago. Barely scratched the surface.
If I were to go back I would look to stay in or near the Trastavere area. We stayed in a nice little B&B type place but it was up in the busisness district so lacked atmosphere.

If you have a week there stay near the station and go and see some of the rest of italy. Naples is only 2 hours by train and then only a very short train journey to pompei and/or sorrento/capri. Within the city there is tons to do, the vatican, the markets, all the historical squares, the forum etc etc, the people watching is also great.

Amazing if you like history. Vatican is immense as a museum even if not a religious site.

Rome was cool though except after a while the sheer numbers of conmen and dodgy characters started to get to me.

Just returned from my third trip to the eternal city.
It was absolutely mobbed, but always a good trip.
I’d say:
1) a week is probably too long. Although there is so much to see, you’d be best off limiting yourself to about four nights there, and three nights somewhere else.
2) I’d normally say don’t stay in the centre, but December should be a lot quieter and there could be some good deals (I stay in an apartment rather than hotel, check out the OhRome website).
3) Book your tickets to the Vatican museum online beforehand, to avoid the queues.

Surprising amount of cats milling about.

We enjoyed walking aimlessly.

Don’t stand at the side of the road at a crossing waiting for the cars to stop – they won’t. Ignore instinct and step out into the road and watch them all come to sudden, screeching halts.

Crossing the road I adopted the motto – BE BRAVE!

We loved it (wife and I). Stayed for 3 nights but could have stayed a little longer and as mentioned above traveled to Pompeii etc.

We bought a hop on hop off pass for 3 days on one of the tourist buses. This worked well with lots of walking in between.
We stayed near the station – http://www.hotelmorgana.com
Hotel was ok but room facing the street was noisy and breakfast not great so would not really recommend.

Enjoy the trip

Mrs Pickers and I were there just last week – some good advice here.

Don’t stand at the side of the road at a crossing waiting for the cars to stop – they won’t. Ignore instinct and step out into the road and watch them all come to sudden, screeching halts.

but don’t forget to change back to English when you get home!
Do visit the obvious stuff. Don’t do organised tours. Do spend 5 Euros each and walk to the top of the dome in the Vatican (551 steps, quite a good view). 90% of the places are close enough together to walk between them. Do reserve some time to sit outside a cafe (or Spanish Steps) and watch the world go by. The Trevi Fountain is covered by roadworks at the moment, not much to see there, good excuse to go back.

Vatican,
Walk everywhere,
Coliseum,
Forum,
Pantheon – my favourite building of the Roman era as the christian church is grafted onto the front of a pagan church – sums it all up to me !

Outside Rome – Tivoli – summer residence of Hadrian

Agreed a week is poss a touch to long, maybe 2 venues ?

Remarkably easy to get to, what with all roads leading there.

tomhoward – Member
Remarkably easy to get to, what with all roads leading there.

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And if you do a tour (proper one) or know your history you’ll realise why this is an accurate fact!!!

Do a nighttime Segway tour – amazing experience, learnt loads, went back and hired segways the following day and went off on our own.

Find a hotel around pantheon area. Middle of it all, bring walking comfy shoes . And dont believe them saying that a week is so long,… I can sit and dine all day with the pantheon in front of me, but then again I tend to savor experience while/when I can 😉 .. We have 8days holiday last autumn planning to visit rome and venice, but overwhelmed how beautiful rome is and just stayed there.. Will be in venice soon though..

Get or join a guide if going vatican, its nice to hear stories behind some paintings etc.. Rather than look and go. Have fun.

Watch out for pickpockets!

They sold lager in McDonald’s.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Simple. 🙄

Eat at Da Augusto’s.

Splendid rustic stuff. Get there early or queue. Be prepared to have to share a table, the wine list is red or white, the menu is simple and looks extensive enough until you notice that some dishes are only available certain days but what is there will be fresh.

Bills are written onto your table cloth as you order, to pay, tear off your bill and go to the till, splendid stuff. Not posh, just great food.

Last time we went there the place was rammed when we left, there was a queue of about 20 people in the rain and the other 4 or 5 restaurants in the square were practically empty.

Lots of pickpockets when I went. Amazing place, but preferred Florence.

It wasn’t built in a day.

MrsMomo and I went last year for 4 nights, we stayed at Hotel Regno, great central location, easy walk to all the major sites. The in-laws went this year and took the rest of the family, they stayed in the same hotel based on our recommendation.

We will be going back again as we only just scratched the surface really, it’s a fascinating place!

Wonderful place to visit, just walking around and you find something new at every turn…

You could certainly spend a week there, but I’d probably head down to Naples for a night or two and see Pompeii. I wouldn’t go to Florence, but then I hate Florence and with a bit of luck will never have to return 🙂 If you do want to head to Umbria/Tuscany I’d go to Siena, it’s a lot less touristy and far nicer to visit. Another possibility would be to hire a car and see the Villa Adria near Tivoli, although it’s all outdoors and you’d need good weather.

Don’t stand at the side of the road at a crossing waiting for the cars to stop – they won’t. Ignore instinct and step out into the road and watch them all come to sudden, screeching halts.

The advice I had for Naples was to stand at the side of the road, pick an approaching car, make eye contact with the driver and step out in front of them. Works most of the tme.
Make sure to visit the San’t Ignazio (off the via Corsa so nice and central) to check out the roof fresco by Pozzi. For additional brownie points, tell the Mrs to look down when you enter the chhurch, take her to the bronze disk in the middle of the church and tell her to look up.
San Giovanni in Laterno is worth a visit. A bit away from the most of the rest of the good stuff, but a bus from via Cosa will set you back a euro or so each way, so not that far. It’s also next to a secton of the city walls, not sure if you walk on the walls or not

Naples is only 2 hours by train

Actually, 1hr 10min on the awesome 200 mph (mach 2.5) FrecciaRossa. If you do Naples, Pompeii or Herculaneum (not both, too much for one short trip) and the Christo Velato in the Capello San Severano (google it) are musts, as is a wander along via dei Tribunali, the old Roman high street.

Go to the Villa Borghese for a more chilled out day, with a top notch museum also. Walk there via the Piazza del Popolo and stick your head in the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo for some cracking works of art including a very impressive Caravaggio.

I think Rome for a week would be fine, maybe do a day trip outside, but in 4 very busy days we didn’t get around anything like it all.

stick your head in the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo for some cracking works of art including a two very impressive Caravaggios.

FTFY – Conversion On The Way To Damascus AND Crucifixtion of St Peter.

Orvieto is just over an hour by train north of Rome and is well worth a visit, St Patrick’s well built to survive a siege is supposed to be staggering.

Orvieto is just over an hour by train north of Rome

+1 for Orvieto, lovely place with an amazing cathedral.

Campo de’ Fiori is a nice little square just outside the centre that has a little food market. It’s nice for a wander, and the square/side streets are lined with bars/food places.

Formula 1, for me, is the best pizzeria bar none in Rome. Very basic, very Italian, great pizza and great starters – Via degli Equi 13, 00185 Rome, Italy. Jump in a cab from the train station – takes about 3 minutes.

Sad I know but the best bit for me was seeing the municipal logo on the manhole covers

SPQR

That’s a branding that the people who dreamt up “What’s it called?…Cumbernauld” couldn’t even begin to imagine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPQR

‘d probably head down to Naples for a night or two and see Pompeii.

definitely worth doing. that and Herculaneum. You can also drive 2/3 of the way up Vesuvius, park up, and walk right up to the crater rim. done that. had a week in Sorrento, lovely place.
Capri is nice but I’m not sure it’s worth the boat trip TBH, unless of course you like boat trips.

re Rome – if you want to see the Colosseum, better to queue for tickets round the corner at the Forum, rather than at the Colosseum itself.

If you want to see the Sistine Chapel, definitely worth booking online beforehand, as mentioned above. we didn’t know that, never got near it in the short time we had available, so we went to the Basilica instead. Awesome architecture & artwork but I didn’t get any kind of spiritual feeling from the place, compared with say Chartres cathedral (or even Wakefield!)

some pics here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnhooper_drum/sets/72157645170034827/

Got to say folks, you’ve came through! Plenty of ideas and stuff to look into!

Thank you!

The hawkers annoyed the **** out of me.
The ice cream just about made up for them.

Don’t ask the locals what they’ve ever done for you

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