building our itinerary for a day in Rome

[nzdisneymom]

Hi all. I've been reading through the threads here and have poured through Rick Steves' Mediterranean Cruise Ports book to make a short-list of things we would like to see when we are ported in Rome this summer.

 

We have a reservation with Rome in Limo for a day (we will be there on a Tuesday in June) and have sent the following list to Jany to use to form our itinerary, but we left it such that if there were other things we wanted to see / do in addition (or in replacement of) for our limited time, we would let them know.

 

So here's what we have on our list:

 

 

We have been there once before and saw these highlights with a tour guide on an excursion booked through the cruiseilne:

the Colosseum (inside tour), Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and as much of the Vatican as we cared to see. So we don't need to see those again.

 

On our list so far, we have the Forum/Palantine Hill, Circus Maximus, and the Mamertine Prison, the Spanish Steps, and maybe go to the Victor Emmanuel Monument which has an elevator that takes you up so you can see Rome from the sky.

 

Our pick-up time at Civitavecchia is 8 a.m. and we want to be back at the port at 4:30 p.m. (We have a 6:30 p.m. departure time and want to allow plenty of time should there be transportation delays beyond our control. One of our children is nervous about doing a non-cruiseship sponsored tour so to calm his anxiety about it, we agreed to come back in plenty of time.) We know that this limits the amount of time we'll have in the city but will also enjoy seeing the scenery both going and coming back - last time we were on a train and barely able to see anything out the windows - plus our children (ages 9 and 11 at the time) slept the whole way there and back.

 

We are doing this tour with just the four of us rather than combining with others so that we can spend as much or little time at a place as we want and so we can drop something off the itinerary if we need to without impacting someone else's desire to spend more time somewhere.

 

So, what else? What different? We threw our coins in the Trevi Fountain so we could go back to Rome some day and here we are, going back - again for a day - so what would you suggest we see? I know you all don't know us or our interests, but you guys can point us in the direction of things to look into as options that we can explore. There's just so much in Rome that it's hard to narrow down just from guidebooks and as much as I respect Rick Steves' and Fodors and Frommers, I find that the folks who have been there, done that offer ideas that we'd totally miss just from the guidebooks (or might not even be in the guidebooks).

 

FWIW, we will definitely come back and post our experiences when we get back this summer. And contniue to read here!

[texancruzer]

Well I can say that I was SEVERLY disappointed in the Circus Maximus. It was basically a large rectangular hole in the ground.

 

Now, a few other places I would go to before there are:

 

Castel St. Angelo - great views from up there too

 

Baths of Caracala - haven't gotten there YET in 5 visits to Rome but I will get there in October !

 

and lastly you walk down from the Spanish steps to Piazza Popolo - climb the steps there to Borghese Gardens. Actually that is a really nice place to have an impromptu picnic for lunch.....pick up some paninis, chips and drinks :)

 

Just a couple of ideas. Have fun and if possible - throw your coin in again ... we always do and we keep comin' back !

[cruisemom42]

Actually, you can get a really good (probably the best) view of the Circus Maximus from Palatine Hill, so you can kill two birds with a single stone.

 

Your kids might enjoy a stop at the "Mouth of Truth" if the line isn't too long: http://www.italyguides.it/us/roma/rome/aventine/santa_maria_in_cosmedin/the_mouth_of_truth/bocca_della_verita.htm

 

I'd also recommend Piazza Navona over the Spanish Steps in terms of a lively place your kids might enjoy, also a good place to grab some food (or gelato).

[D4]

Have your kids read "Angels and Demons" or seen the movie? If not, there is plenty of time before your trip. I recommend making a list of the key Rome sites from the book/movie and go to all of them.

[bonsai3s]

...a visit to Piazza Navona. Former site of chariot races...now you can enjoy it with gelato at the incomparable "Tre Scallini".

[euro cruiser]

Kids seem to like the Time Elevator:

[nzdisneymom]

Thank you for the replies so far - I'm jotting these ideas down to explore! My boys are taking Latin this year, so they are willing to see / do / explore things they might not otherwise have been interested in. Which makes me think the Baths of Caracalla may make the cut :) The Borghese Gardens look interesting, too, but I may be vetoed by the rest of the fam. Definitely want to see the Mouth of Truth now that I looked it up!

 

DH and I watched Angels and Demons but the boys haven't. Our cruiseline is offering an Angels and Demons excursion.

[mydreamvacation]

circus maximus to me is nothing more than driving by an empty soccer field - I think the kids would be bored with that. The spanish steps are also no big deal unless you are into high fashion. I would definately go to the piazza navona probably one of my favorite places in Rome (great Pizza off the piazza at La Foccacia) the Carpucchin Crypts would probably thrill kids, as would the Ferrari showroom and the secret keyhole at orange park

There is a piazza, the name escapes me at the moment that is a sanctuary for homeless cats that is pretty cool, Castal St Angelo is neat and you can have something to eat or drink at the top while looking at the armour etc

[buggins0402]

There is a piazza, the name escapes me at the moment that is a sanctuary for homeless cats that is pretty cool,

 

Largo Argentina - Also known as the place where Caesar bit the dust. :)

[Deebs2]

Mouth of truth and Piazza Navona were great ideas!!!

[Deebs2]

Crypt of manchurian monks was pretty cool

[nzdisneymom]

Thanks for all the additional ideas! DH is actually the one who wants to see Circus Maximus so I think we can placate him by a view from afar and maybe a drive-by :)

 

I ordered a street-map of Rome today so we can plot out the places that we have an interest in and see where they are in relation to each other so we can have reasonable expectations of what we might be able to see and do in our limited time - I know that RIL will do a great job in putting together an itinerary that will work for us, but we do want to give them enough to work with for what we want to see.

 

Thanks for the pizza tip!

[cruisemom42]

Crypt of manchurian monks was pretty cool

 

:confused::confused:

 

Are you refering to the crypt of the Capuchin monks?

[texancruzer]

:confused::confused:

 

Are you refering to the crypt of the Capuchin monks?

 

OK, that was good for a hefty morning chuckle.......... no offense I hope.

[1josh777]

Thanks for the info.

 

I will be staying in Rome for 11 days in July and have been looking into all the attractions in this city, which seem to be many. From another thread I read about Ostia Antica. I'm not sure if its a possible option with the time limits but perhaps this would be something that might interest you.

 

http://www.ostia-antica.org/

[Suzieanna]

I was going to suggest Cappucin crypt. that is the one place I am looking forward to when I go next month.. (not on a cruise a 4 day mini break)

 

Do you like religious stuff? You might want to see Santa Scala which is the steps that Jesus bled on when he was being sentenced by P. Pilate.

 

There is a great statue in Borgese where a man is gripping a womans thigh his fingers have really sunk into her skin. Dont know what its called, but will be canvassing lots to go and see that.

 

St Peter in chains

 

if you like angels and demons you could go and see the manhole cover that the earth cardinal was in?? that looks quite cool.

 

The pyramid at Pyramide?

 

Dont forget to stop, look around and breathe in ROME!!!!

[euro cruiser]

There is a great statue in Borgese where a man is gripping a womans thigh his fingers have really sunk into her skin. Dont know what its called, but will be canvassing lots to go and see that.

The sculpture you're thinking of is Bernini's "Pluto and Proserpina".

http://www.galleriaborghese.it/opere/maxi/proserp.jpg

[nzdisneymom]

Great ideas - thanks again for them.

[Ctaycruiser]

Have you been already to the Baths of Caracalla? We found it to be pretty impressive....it's not far from Circus Maximus.