Walking required to see Rome sites

[mickym]

Our friends will be leaving in Aug for a cruise that includes Rome. This friend has mobility issues and is trying to decide if he would be able to handle the walking required in seeing the main sites in Rome. How far apart are the main sites and how much walking would be required? Any information would be very helpful. Thanks a bunch.

[dolittle]

There is A lot of walking but some things are close to each other. I dont know your friends condition but the streets and sidewalks are hard for some one who has trouble trouble walking .There are stone and blocks and high sidewalks A lot of things to trip over most places are not handicap friendly.

[Azulann]

I would figure out what you want to see: The Vatican museum, St. Peter's, Roman forum, the different piazza with beautiful fountains and out door cafes.Take a taxi to the site. Inside a building it will be easier to walk. Also remember that in

August, rome will be rally hot!! So go slow and enjoy .

[CruiserBruce]

The main sites are about a mile a part, give or take. Spanish Steps to the north, Colosseum to the South, with Trevi, Pantheon along the way, sort of. Near the Coloseum is the Forum, which we found as impressive as any other site. Both the Forum and the Colosseum are large sites, in which you can walk for hours. The Vatican is not included in this, it is out of the main area.

 

Get a good map. I recommend Rick Steves. Taxis are quite available to help, if your friend needs assistance.

[ksps cruise fan]

In a thread about touring with children, one of the posters mentioned her family would be touring Rome with a company that uses golf carts for transportation. That seems like a great solution for your friend.

 

Netta7 is the poster who has made these arrangements so she might be able to provide info about the specific company she has hired. Even if you can't connect with Netta7, do a search. Out of curiosity, I did and my search turned up a couple of names.

[D4]

DH has walking difficulties so I can sympathize. Rome involves a lot of walking on uneven surfaces. We go in April and stay for 2+ weeks, so he sightsees a few hours each day. Then I wander on my own for hours each day. We also don't have the heat your friends will have.

 

If Rome is a port for them, how do they plan to get to/from Rome? The best way for them would be to book a private tour. They could try to find people on their roll call with similar issues to share a private tour. It's important that they let others know of their less active plans before agreeing to share a tour. (I tried to find others like DH on our Med cruise, but was unsuccessful.) Since then, we just spend a couple weeks in Rome at a time.

 

I definitely don't recommend the train because of the liklihood of lots of steps at Civi.

 

I wouldn't recommend golf cart tours. I've never seen them, but in August they will need air conditioning.

 

If they don't book a private tour, they should consider taking taxis between most sites to conserve his energy.

 

Rome is awesome, so as long as they plan realistically and not try to do too much, they should have a great time.

[KayAnnie]

In this situation, I would suggest booking a private tour where the driver can drop them off right at the doorstep. As others said, many of the sites are clustered together like the Ancient sites and the Vatican sites. The Pantheon is pretty much out on its own. It is a few blocks from the Trevi Fountain, which would take some walking to get to if they felt like they had to see it.

[Keith1010]

I agree with KayAnnie, there is not only a lot of walking between sites but a lot of walking at each site. I would arrange for a private car and whatever other equipment might be needed.

 

Keith

[mickym]

Does anyone have a private tour company that they can recommend?

[Keith1010]

We have done very well with Rome Cabs which is at http://www.romecabs.com

 

Keith

[cruisemom42]

I have been mulling this over trying to decide what I would recommend to someone with mobility issues -- it's hard to say, given that we don't really know what those issues are. Is walking a few blocks at a time a problem? If so, then I think a private tour is really the only way to have a meaningful day of sightseeing.

 

On the other hand, if the person can do more than that, but just cannot be on their feet all day long, I suggest it might be possible to put together a reasonable itinerary with maybe 2-3 stops and taking a taxi (or other transportation) in between to cut out some of the longer walks. Of course, this assumes, the folks in question would be comfortable doing this on their own.

 

Probably the two sites that require the longest amounts of time on your feet to tour the sites themselves would be:

 

1) the Vatican Museum, where it's about a 20-30 minute walk just to get to the Sistine Chapel and -- if you don't take the shortcut into St Peters -- another equally long walk back to the entrance; and

 

2) the Roman Forum, which is larger than you might think and in addition doesn't have the best footing. It is probably best just viewed from above (street level) for someone with mobility issues.

 

 

Cruises sometimes offer "Panoramic" city tours, which usually means that it is predominantly a bus drive around to certain key sites with maybe a couple of short stops along the way. If mobility is pretty limited and the cost of a private tour is just too high, this would be an option (but probably would be my last choice.)

[CathyCruises]

Another option, although also not MY first choice, would be the Ho-Ho--you can get FAIRLY close to the main sites, see the Colosseum from the bus, etc. It is about $20 or so pp.

[mickym]

Thank you all so much. You are so helpful!!! My next question is, if they do one of these things once they get to Rome, what is the best means of getting from the port to Rome on their own. It was already stated that the train might be a problem due to the steps. Any suggestions?

[cruisemom42]

Thank you all so much. You are so helpful!!! My next question is, if they do one of these things once they get to Rome, what is the best means of getting from the port to Rome on their own. It was already stated that the train might be a problem due to the steps. Any suggestions?

 

If they take a private tour, such as those frequently mentioned on these boards (RomeCabs, RomeInLimo, etc), it includes transportation to and from port. On the downside, the cost will be around 500 euro.

 

Cruiselines usually offer a bus to and from Rome; it will be called something like "Rome on Your Own". The cost might be $60-70 per person. Also, they'd need to figure out where the dropoff and pickup spots are in Rome and how that would work with their schedule.