The best order to visit 3+ sites in Rome

[PGV]

That is wonderful advice from everyone! Thanks so much... I really appreciate it as it is our first time in Rome and I feel a little overwhelmed by it all! :)

 

Now to the Athens board...

 

PGV

[rmurray847]

That is wonderful advice from everyone! Thanks so much... I really appreciate it as it is our first time in Rome and I feel a little overwhelmed by it all! :)

 

You've gotten lots of great advice (some conflicting, but not necessarily WRONG...there's more than one way to handle most things). I will say this about Rome, though. It was actually remarkably easy to get around in. I found it MUCH easier than Athens. And I was frankly surprised how close some things were to each other. Most of the maps don't give a great sense of scale.

 

I understand feeling overwhelmed. When my wife and I showed up last year, we felt the same way...even with planning. But darned if withing an hour of starting walk around, we were doing GREAT and having a wonderful time, not only seeing historic sites but enjoying the atmosphere of the city. It was great.

[rexabbot]

Yes you are right. Our Rome day was a Wednesday & we could not visit St Peter Bassilica as we were there in the morning. Not a mistake I would repeat.:rolleyes:

Your schedule is perfect. Have a wonderful time. ( The geletto was

heavenly :D).

 

How were the crowds at the Museum in the morning on Wednesday? We may skip St. Peters.

How long did it take you to go through the museum and the Sistine Chapel?

 

Thanks

[Chloe1500]

Unfortunately on my iPad I am unable to see your route maps! Can you tell me which bridge is the nicest/ best to cross the river towards St Peters square?

Our plans for June with 2 children on a pre-cruise stay are...

Colosseum

Trevi fountain

Pantheon

Pizza Navona

St Peters square

... but not necessarily in that order!

We are staying near Terminii so we will be coming from that direction.

Due to having the children age 11 and 16 with us we don't want to over do it and will need lots of stops.

Any advice?

 

Thanks

 

PGV :)

 

If you are staying near Termini and don't want to over do, you can easily get the Metro for the Colisseum and on the other end, there is a stop near the Spanish Steps. Also, at Termini are the buses that you could take to St Peters and to the Pantheon. (If I recall correctly, it's the same bus route.) Even if taking public transportation, you will still be walking and enjoying the city.

[BratDet]

High speed train into Rome (reserved seat planned to avoid return trip lack of seating). Get off at Roma Ostiense stop...go one or two subway stops to Colloseo exit...

(according to a good map, the first stop would let us off at Palantine Hill...so we might start there.)

I had prepurchased tix. Downloaded Rick Steves free audio tours...

 

then Pantheon....over to Spanish Steps and Trevi...forgot the correct order. I think we end at Spanish steps because we will subway from there to S. Pietro for the Vatican museums for 1PM- we have tickets). Then Sistine, St. Peter's Bascilica..then train home...(avoiding the long walk to the tracks from the station at Termini.

 

food stop will be fit in depending on how our time goes...Hoping to eat near Vatican...will have drink and snacks to hold us till we want to stop for a bit

 

YES, it will be a hugeday...just getting a taste of everything..but it will be our most intense day.

 

My brother said we will be exhausted, and I pointed out, "It's not like I have to go to work the next day! ;)

Too excited...we leave Friday!!

 

Bernadette

 

Brnadette

[euro cruiser]

High speed train into Rome (reserved seat planned to avoid return trip lack of seating).

Bernadette, I'm curious about this choice. Does your ship arrive and leave later than is typical (7 AM - 7 PM)? If not, you are choosing to give up about an hour in Rome (measuring the first IC train of the day vs. the first regional train you could reliably get) in order to have a seat? Your sentence makes it sound like your real concern is a seat on the return trip ... you could take the earlier regional train in the morning and the reserved IC train in the afternoon, there's no reason you need to use the same class of train each way since you won't be using the BIRG ticket.

 

Also, it sounds like you plan to end your day at the Vatican, yet you'd need to get to either Termini or Ostiense for the IC train back to Civitavecchia, which will further eat into your time in Rome. It might work better for you to reverse your day, if you can exchange your Vatican tickets for morning ones.

[ksps cruise fan]

Unfortunately on my iPad I am unable to see your route maps! Can you tell me which bridge is the nicest/ best to cross the river towards St Peters square?

 

In my opinion, best and nicest bring up two different answers.

 

Nicest is the Ponte St. Angelo, the bridge that has already been mentioned as being decorated with Bernini sculputures. It leads directly to Castel St. Angelo which would be a benefit your case since your children should love the fort including great panoramic views from several levels. Whether or not you visit the Castel, walk south-east along the river (along Lungotevere Vaticano) and turn east onto Via dei Conciliazione, a stright shot to St. Peter's Square.

 

The Ponte Vittorio Emanuelle bridge is slightly south of the Angel bridge and cuts a diagonal so there's a bit less walking, but there's little to recommend it visually.

[euro cruiser]

In my opinion, best and nicest bring up two different answers.

 

Nicest is the Ponte St. Angelo, the bridge that has already been mentioned as being decorated with Bernini sculputures. It leads directly to Castel St. Angelo which would be a benefit your case since your children should love the fort including great panoramic views from several levels. Whether or not you visit the Castel, walk south-east along the river (along Lungotevere Vaticano) and turn east onto Via dei Conciliazione, a stright shot to St. Peter's Square.

 

The Ponte Vittorio Emanuelle bridge is slightly south of the Angel bridge and cuts a diagonal so there's a bit less walking, but there's little to recommend it visually.

The biggest benefit of using the Ponte Sant' Angelo is that it is a pedestrian bridge, while with any of the others you'd be sharing the bridge with cars, buses, etc.