OT - Tips on Rome

If you are wanting to go to the Vatican, go early in the morning - the queues get very long, very quickly, although it was height of tourist season when I went. Make sure you eat in the smaller back streets - will save you a lot of money compared to eating in the main square. The Colosseum and the Forum are practically next to each other and a must see. They did have one of those hop on, hop off city tour buses when I went (about 7 years ago) which is a good way to get about reasonably quickly if you are only there for a few days, but I loved walking around and finding my way with a map. You'll have a great time, it's a really amazing city.

If you are using the Metro watch your pockets bags etc pickpockets are rife and very nimble, my H caught someone trying to get into his coat pocket and a woman in our hotel had her purse nicked from her backpack and it was in a zipped pocket .

The tourist bus is good to get around, covers all the "must sees" and you can hop on and off, we walked everywhere but if you only have a few days there is little point tiring yourself out.

oh and if you want a white knuckle ride....get a taxi in the rush hour!

Hiya Jupp2b

I got back only last week from Rome. I hate to say but it is SUPER expensive. Do not eat or buy goods within the Vatican we bought a beer and hot chocolate and it cost us 28Euros. Wednesday the pope comes out so it is caos in the Vatican. Look for resturants down the side streets and look to see where the Italians go rather then tourists as these are normally better and cheaper. Metro's/Buses are 1Euro for 75 mins and this worked really well with us. Most places are in walking distance so take comfy shoes. Take ur sun glasses!! sounds silly but even when it is freezing it is normally super sunny.

We did in 3 days: Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, St Peters, Castle St Angelo, Pantheun, Colloseum and lots of other little bits. The Cistine Chapel is VERY expensize so might b worth looking online first.

Have a great time xxxx

I have been to Rome twice over the past few years and it's a brilliant place. If I remember correctly, for the colloseum - if you take some form of ID (passport/driving license) and show that you are part of the EU you get a discounted entrance fee.

We went to Rome last September and we loved it so much!

The big 'attractions' aren't that expensive. St Peter's and the pantheon are both free, and the trevi fountain is obviously free. The Castel Sant Angelo is 5 euro each. For the forum, palatine hill and the colloseum its worth buying the all in one ticket which is something like 11 euro each but absolutely worth it.

We didn't go into the vatican museum, its expensive, the queues were really long and i'm not interested in art. It would have been nice to see the cistine chapel but i wasn't going to pay so much money for just one chapel. St Peter's Basilica is gorgeous, the queues might be long but don't worry about it. When we got in the queue it went all the way round the square and we got through security in less than half an hour. If you do go into any churches your legs and shoulders MUST be covered or they will either stop you going in or ask you to cover up or leave. Have a wonder into some of the smaller churches as you pass them. They are so beautiful and also free. The Pantheon is also absolutely fascinating and was one of my favourites.

If you go to the forum and the colloseum, I would personally start in the forum and palatine hill. It is absolutely huge and took us a good few hours to do. Then we went into the colloseum later in the afternoon, around 4pm when there were no queues and we got to skip the queue for those waiting to buy tickets. It was still busy but much quieter than it had been earlier in the day. I would say you could do the colloseum in less than two hours easily.

Castel Sant Angelo is bigger than it looks and is quite a lot of walking. It can be quite steep in parts, making your way up it. If its a very hot day avoid going up in the middle of the day as once you reach the state rooms at the top it is absolutely stifling. We went on the hottest day and we missed out on the amazing views from the roof because it was so hot it was unbearable and we had to leave the roof.

Don't eat immediately near the tourist attractions, they are overpriced for the same food served in the smaller places. Stick to the small places in the back streets. We found the food was amazing no matter where we went in Rome. Be clear about what you want or they just keep bringing stuff to the table and your bill goes right up. If they bring you a glass of clear liquid with your espresso its more than likely NOT water, its more like white spirit and just horrific.

Watch out for the street sellers. If someone tries to sell you a rose just walk away, don't take it out of their hand as they will demand a ridiculous amount of money. Poor D ended up paying 3euro for 1 rose! and it wilted quickly

You will see little water spouts on almost every street. Take a water bottle and fill them up from there, its free and clean water and actually tastes really nice. I was a bit funny about it at first as I have a thing about water being clean but it was fine and much cheaper than buying bottles of water. They are also really useful for dampening your hands and face when its really hot. We saw some tourists even washing their feet at the ones where it pours straight down the drain!

My sister and I are off to Rome on 19th Feb so this info is really useful - thanks

I love Rome! Like the others said it can be expensive. We stayed in the outskirts and got a taxi into the main city part and managed to have a very helpful taxi driver who took us to a reasonably priced "locals" restaurant which was soooo yummy. H2b and me paid for guided tours which really helped as we are abit clueless!! The Vatician is good and if you go on the last sunday of the month its free (in the morning only and get there early and get the audio tour) https://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/info/tutti-gli-orari.html

Don't do as i did and buy a lovely dress and killer heels, its mostly cobble streets and i nearly broke my neck!

We've just booked to go in May so some great ideas here. Juppy let us know your tips when you get back.

I love Rome! We went last October for OHs 30th and are going back this September for my 30th and i cant wait!!!

It is very expensive.... 2 euros for a bottle of water from the street venders!!! Just buy the one bottle and keep filling it at the water fountains throughout the day... you will need it if its hot!! The hop on, hop off bus tickets are well worth it, and you get wee earphones to listen to the tourist info as you go round.

We went to the Vatican museums the last time, they were very expensive to get into and not all that interesting, and we waited so long to get in and get round it that we didnt get into the Basillica , so that will be my first stop this year. It was amazing being in the Sistine Chapel though... that was worth it If you do go into any churches etc make sure you are covered up or you may not get in.

My favorite part was The Trevi Fountain... i loved that area! Theres tonnes off wee pavement restaurants, not too badly priced, and the most amazing Ice Cream Parlour called Blue Ice!! Get the Nutella and White Chocolate ice cream.... total heaven!! Piazza Navona was great too, but we didnt get a lot of time there either so will be concentrating on that more next time.

Spanish Steps were cool, and if you stand at the top and look straight down the street in front of you.... thats where all the designer shops are

Ignore street venders and watch your pockets... lots of people trying to do you out of their cash!!

Have an amazing time

I'm off to Rome this weekend so will let you know what I would recommend. Hopefully the snow won't cause us any problems.

I have never been before and am getting very exited!

3 nights, eh? I would suggest doing an entire day in the forum area- if you're not familiar with ancient Rome, it's well worth it to have a guided tour, as it can be difficult to visualize just how grand and awesome the roman forum and imperial fora would have been. Don't miss Trajan's column! And the gardens are wonderful to wander through if the weather's alright. I can't imagine there's be flowers out in Feb, but it's still nice.

It's possible to walk through the forum and go up to the capitoline hill at the far end of it- which is where the medieval Roman senate was reconstituted, and was later redesigned by Michelangelo, and some of the best ancient and medieval treasures of Rome are in the Capitoline Museums if you like that kind of thing.

If it were me, I would devote my first morning to ancient rome, bleeding into medieval in the afternoon at the capitoline hill, ending the day walking around randomly to find the other [imo over-rated] places like the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps. Even better finds seemingly random, are the Quattro Fontane, and the nearby Church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane is probably the most striking little baroque treasure of a church. I love it. Then the 2nd day I would go FIRST THING to the Vatican. I think it's even more important to do a guided tour in the Vatican as there's just so much stuff there. And when you go through into the Sistine Chapel and everyone is craning their heads up to see Michelangelo's ceiling, I suggest looking instead at the amazing Last Judgement he painted, and try to spot his self-portrait in the skin of Saint Bartholomew! If you get tired of the museums (IMPOSSIBLE!!), walking from the Vatican back over to the other side of Rome, walking along the river, past castel sant'angelo, across the bridge and over to the Villa Borghese and the Villa Giulia, it's a beautiful park through there, and the Villa Giulia will bring you back full circle to the beginning of Roman history as it's the Etruscan museum.

But that's an avid art history buff version of Rome, and there are far less museum-heavy things to do. A light, snack-like museum is the very modernist set-up of the Ara Pacis, which is beautiful as well, and much less to take in than the others.

Ooo lucky you!!! We went a few years ago and LOVED it!!! Take good walking shoes cos there's loads to see and lots of it you can walk to. Colloseum, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Forum, fabulous churches, opera, ballet and then you have St Peters's and the Vatican - amazing - get there early to avoid queues and try not to visit on a weekend day! We took taxis everywhere and they weren't too expensive but their underground train service is excellent.

on the row of resteraunts look at the colloseum ythe chrage for you to sit down....thats before buying drinks!

Amazing City though.

Thanks everyone for your tips ill let you know how i get on and include a few pics when i get back xx

I'm just back from an amazing weekend in Rome! even with the snow it was definitely one of the best weekends away we have ever had.

Not sure where you are staying but my recommendation would be to get one of the tour buses and hop on a off to see the sights. Ours cost 10 euros and that way we got to travel close to the sights and enjoy seeing some of Rome as well.

You have to do the Vatican Museum which is only open until 4pm when we were there so go there first thing. You will have to pay to get in but it's so worth it and then you get to see the Sistine Chapel. Entrance is free into the Basilica but the queue moves very quickly and you can also get to the top and the view is supposed to be amazing, however it was closed due to the snow for us.

I loved the Trevi Fountain and the Piazza Venezia

To save money on eating out try not to eat next to the tourist attractions as you will pay a lot more. we found a lovely restaurant about a 5 min walk from the Vatican ( by the tram stop) which we could drink the house red which was delicious for 7 euro per litre where as another bar was charging 14 euro per half bottle.

Happy to share some more ideas if you want them!

have a wonderful time x

A lady I work with lived in Rome for 20 years and she wrote this for my in laws to be.....

All of the following are in the Centro Storico – the historic centre of the city.

‘Montecarlo’, Vicolo Savelli (a small side street off Corse Vittorio Emanuele, walking from Largo Argentina down towards St Peter’s): a cheap n’ cheerful place for the classic thin-crust Roman pizza (as opposed to the thicker Neapolitan version) – no frills so not a place to linger over a meal but very good pizza. Best to get there before 7.30pm or after 10.30pm as it gets busy. Try the ‘olive ascolano’ and ‘supplí’ as a starter. Most Italians drink beer with pizza but the house wine here is ok (or used to be….).

‘l’Insalata Ricca’ a chain of salad places – one very central, near Piazza Campo dei Fiori, just off Corso Vittorio Emanuele – a huge variety of excellent salads with every imaginable ingredient. Good for lunch or as a change from pasta.

‘Spaghetteria l’Archetto’, Via dell’Archetto: only sells spaghetti but has an enormous variety of sauces/accompaniments (about 8 pages of them if I remember correctly!)

‘Due Ladroni’, Piazza Nicosia 24: bit of walk to this one but more of a varied menu than many of the places slightly more central.

‘Fortunato al Pantheon’, Via del Pantheon: a bit more expensive/smart than others but nice for a more special dinner. Dress up a bit for better service. Good fish dishes.

‘Bar della Pace’ Via della Pace (close to Piazza Navona), quaint, historic bar, good to sit outside for a coffee or aperitivo (traditionally a glass of prosecco).

Ice-cream: available everywhere but worth knowing the good places.

‘Blue Ice’ – a chain (one round corner from Trevi Fountain, another in Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere), be sure to order at least 3 flavours whatever size you choose!

‘Gelateria della Palma’, Via della Maddalena: walk straight up from the Pantheon, it’s on the left.

Across the river in Trastevere (take tram no 8 or walk):

Load of small bars and restaurants in a lively area full of winding streets.

‘Cave Canem’, Piazza San Callisto: has pizzas and lots of other dishes. A short walk from Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere (going in opposite direction from the river).

A word of warning: Rome isn’t a cheap place but to avoid being totally ripped-off do not sit outside any bars in main historic squares such as Piazza Navona, Piazza del Pantheon: they charge on a tier basis ie. lowest price standing inside, middle price sitting inside, extortionately elevated price for sitting outside in the piazza.

Exception to this is Campo de’ Fiori where many people go and sit outside for a pre-dinner drink (gets a bit rowdy after about 9pm).

Also, there are lots of pickpockets in tourist areas and especially on public transport so carry money in an inside pocket when possible and watch out for the gypsy women and children.

HTH xx

We booked our tour of the Vatican and Sistine chapel online before we went and I can't say we found it expensive, we went in the morning and our tour was about 20 people, it wasn't that busy at all. DO NOT eat anywhere near the vatican, we went into a pizza place across the road and paid a fortune for pizza which wasn't great.

We booked our tour of the Vatican and Sistine chapel online before we went and I can't say we found it expensive, we went in the morning and our tour was about 20 people, it wasn't that busy at all. DO NOT eat anywhere near the vatican, we went into a pizza place across the road and paid a fortune for pizza which wasn't great.

Wow had an amazing time in Rome. Thanks everyone for there tips. Ive got loads of tips for anyone going in the near future. xx