Rome!

[jeanine]

Have visited Rome a few times over the years. Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica twice. Suggestions for something new and different to see and do while there for 2 days

[MarkieMarkNYC]

Have visited Rome a few times over the years. Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica twice. Suggestions for something new and different to see and do while there for 2 days

Have you visited the Galleria Borghese? I was blown away by it.

It's relatively small but packed with amazing art. The Venus Victrix is there - it's a sculpture by Canova and is one of my favorite works of art.

[warburg]

Greetings from South Beach, Jeanine. How about spending some time in the neighborhood of the Spanish Steps? The steps themselves are a masterpiece. If you have any interest in John Keats, he died in 26 Piazza di Spagna in 1821. His room is preserved and the apartment is worth seeing. Get hours and admission details from your concierge. The shops around the Piazza are popular with locals and tourists. Walk the neighborhood. Find a cafe, Stop for a drink. Another winner is the Piazzo Navona. If you like gelato, go to Tre Scalini and order a Tartufo. Sit awhile and enjoy the wonderful environment. We go there on every Roman visit. Enjoy!

Mary

Edited April 10, 2018 by warburg

[Iamthesea]

Have you visited the Galleria Borghese? I was blown away by it.

It's relatively small but packed with amazing art. The Venus Victrix is there - it's a sculpture by Canova and is one of my favorite works of art.

 

The grounds are also very pretty. Took me two visits to Rome to find the Borghese lake.

 

Plenty to see in Rome. I have been 6-8 trips and still find something new to do on each trip. One of our favorites are day trips outside of the city. We have taken a train to Florence, and private tours to Orvieto and Montepulciano.

[jeanine]

Thank you for your great suggestions, We are staying on the Pantheon Piazza, so close to all of the above!! Grazie

[RJ2002]

We were just in Rome in February, and were in a similar situation. We decided to visit the well preserved archaeological site of Ostia Antica.

 

https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/ostia-antica-near-rome

 

It was a fascinating experience. Easy to get to from central Rome by train, about an hour from where you are staying. We spent about 3-4 hours there, including a late lunch at the onsite cafe.

[Jon StroudUK]

The Scavi Tour under St Peters is well worth doing. You have to book in advance but my family found it fascinating and a real insight into some of Rome’s history.

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/institutions_connected/uffscavi/documents/rc_ic_uffscavi_doc_gen-information_20090216_en.html

 

 

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[Pet Nit Noy]

Have visited Rome a few times over the years. Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica twice. Suggestions for something new and different to see and do while there for 2 days

 

Have you done the underground tour of the Colosseum? Fascinating. You'll see the rooms where the gladiators lived and the cages where the animals were stored. If you guide is good, he/she will even explain the holes in the ground which were parts of the elevator for lifting the animals onto the fighting floor of the amphitheatre. Reservations required.

 

Have you done the underground tour of the Vatican (the Scavi)? Fascinating! Said to include the tomb of St. Peter. Reservations required. Hint: Do not send repeat emails to the Scavi office asking the whereabouts of your tickets. The "word" is that people who write often irritate the people distributing the tickets and you'll end up with nothing. Just write a polite request for tickets including any special reasons why you should get the tickets, FAX your request and don't hold your breath. http://www.scavi.va/content/scavi/en/ufficio-scavi.html

 

ETA: I see that the previous poster also recommended the Scavi.

[jeanine]

Has anyone seen the Catacombs under Rome? I remember seeing St. Peter's tomb at one time, Also the tomb of the most recent pope to die, must have taken the Scavi Tour

[Lovetotravel7559]

How about a golf cart tour? Expensive but a great way to see lots of things in a short period of time! https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g187791-d1723897-r209273026-Gioia_Private_Tours_Trips-Rome_Lazio.html

[JPR]

Half day or full day trip to Ostia Antica and/or Tivoli and Villa d’Este.

[Tansy Mews]

Have you visited the Galleria Borghese? I was blown away by it.

It's relatively small but packed with amazing art. The Venus Victrix is there - it's a sculpture by Canova and is one of my favorite works of art.

 

You must book. And you get 2 hours only and then you must leave. Fraught experience even though the art was great.

[Tansy Mews]

For art, we loved the Capitoline Museums (great sculpture) and the National Museum of Rome.

https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g187791-d190989-Reviews-Museo_****onale_Romano_Palazzo_Massimo_alle_Terme-Rome_Lazio.html

 

Great free lookout over the Forum area from the Capitoline.

Neither are busy and both central.

If you want hurly burly, go to Trastevere, especially at night.

I agree with a trip to Ostia Antica. Easy to get to and worthwhile.

We spent two and a half weeks in Rome there and we didn't see everything we wanted to see. Need to go back!

[Caroldoll]

Also a Foodie Tour. See Viatour

[the mice]

Villa Farnesina with its Raphael frescoes in Trastevere

San Clemente basilica with its many layers of Roman history

Day trip to Hadrian's Villa and Villa D'este with its wonderful fountains

The French church near the Piazza Navona - San Luigi dei Francesi with its 3 Caravaggios of St. Matthew

Santa Maria Maggiore with its gilded ceiling said to be made from the first gold brought back from the New World

San Giovanni in Laterno

The Baths of Diocletian

The Borghese Gallery - but you must ticket in advance

The Underground and 3rd Ring Tour of the Colosseum - tough tickets to get - see TripAdvisor forums for advice

And allow time for walking and wandering - and enjoying gelato!

[Pet Nit Noy]

Also a Foodie Tour. See Viatour

 

Viatour is a booking agent. Convenient, yes. But nothing more. I like to book directly with the company that is offering the service. I can get my questions answered and, possibly, customize the experience. With very little detective work comparing Food Tour listings on both Viatour and TripAdvisor, a person can easily identify the name of the actual company providing the tour. The name of the tour tends to be exactly the same and the marketing photograph tends to be the same. In five minutes of looking, I found actual provider of four of the tours sold by Viatour.

 

The photograph for the Rome Food Tour by Sunset Around the Prati District is the same on both Trip Advisor and Viatour. The difference is that TripAdvisor lists the actual tour provider: The Roman Food Tour, including the website URL.

 

Ditto for the photos for Private Roman Food Tour: 10 Tastings. Provider: Amsterdam with Locals. (Yes, you read that right.) Link to the company URL.

 

Dittos for the photos for Cooking Class in Rome: Make Your Own Pizza. Provider: Eat and Walk Italy.

 

Ditto for the photos for Hidden Rome Food Tour in Trastevere with Dinner and Wine. Provider: The Roman Guy

 

There's more overlap, but those few examples represent a start.

[ronrick1943]

Have you done a private tour of the Vatican, we've done the Vatican many times. But until we did a private tour (a bit pricey ) but you really haven't seen the Vatican until you do a private tour. Never new they had one---but all you can say is WOW!

When I say private I mean 8 people and most of the tour is after the Vatican is closed.

[sammiedawg]

Excellent suggestions so far. We’ve spent a lot of time in Rome and are never bored.

Guided Walking tours are great as Rome is fairly compact. Edenwalks.com offers some good ones.

[4Lakes Lady]

All great suggestions! I agree the Borghese Gallery was a highlight for me!

Also loved the private tour of the Vatican Gardens - but again you must get tickets ahead of time.

 

 

 

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[Loracpin2]

Michelangelo's statue of Moses at St. Peter in Chains Church which is near the Coliseum. We had no idea it existed until the Concierge at our hotel recommended we see it.

[potterhill]

Deleted.

[papa B me]

We will be in Rome for 3 days in August. I found a tour company called, "Walks inside Rome". They get great reviews. If you google their website they offer both private and small group tours. We have booked 3 tours with them including a foodie tour that ends with a sit down pasta dinner, early morning Vatican tour and Ancient and Christian Rome that includes the Colliseum, Forum, then out to the Catacombs. We are doing all private tours and they are picking us up right in the lobby of our hotel. Their website has a lot of interesting tour ideas. They have been extremely responsive in quoting and booking

[Pet Nit Noy]

You must book. And you get 2 hours only and then you must leave. Fraught experience even though the art was great.

 

A couple more details to emphasize how fraught the visit can be;

o Your two hour window begins when the ticket says it begins whether or not you are at the museum and ready to go.

 

o You will not be allowed to carry anything with you into the museum. That includes checking a purse. I was not a happy camper when I had to surrender my purse with credit cards and money. If I had known that in advance, I might have brought a neck wallet to keep things on my person the way my husband does. Arrive early enough to take care of these check-in details and not cut into your two hour window.

 

Some reassurance: the art was worth the stress.

[MarkieMarkNYC]

A couple more details to emphasize how fraught the visit can be;

o Your two hour window begins when the ticket says it begins whether or not you are at the museum and ready to go.

 

o You will not be allowed to carry anything with you into the museum. That includes checking a purse. I was not a happy camper when I had to surrender my purse with credit cards and money. If I had known that in advance, I might have brought a neck wallet to keep things on my person the way my husband does. Arrive early enough to take care of these check-in details and not cut into your two hour window.

 

Some reassurance: the art was worth the stress.

I would counter that making plans ahead of time and showing up on time is not particularly stressful. But agree that the art is worth any perceived stress.

The benefit of pre-purchased, timed tickets is that they effectively control the number of visitors. When we arrived there was an incredibly long ling and I was worried that the place would be too crowded to allow enjoyment of the art. But once they start letting the line in they seamlessly direct segments of the line to different starting points. It was subtly done and the museum never really felt crowded. Also, most people zip through quickly.

 

I love to linger and read descriptions and circle back to look at pieces a second and third time - and this was easily accomplished in the 2 hours.

If you enjoy amazing art in a stunning setting, I think you'll be pleased!

[Pet Nit Noy]

I would counter that making plans ahead of time and showing up on time is not particularly stressful. But agree that the art is worth any perceived stress.

 

I first went to the Borghese in 1997, within a couple of weeks of its re-opening after 13 years of renovation. The information about the strict 2-hour window was part of the details about timed ticket purchases, but the information about purses needing to be surrendered was not. It's easy to write "making plans ahead of time is not particularly stressful" 21 years into the Galleria's modern existence when policies have been well codified and communicated. When the museum first re-opened there was a lot of ad hoc rule making/rule enforcing.

 

Even now, someone planning DIY visits to Rome, may well lose track of some of the idiosyncrasies of days of operation, opening times, backpack policies, camera policies, size of the handbag/all-handbag surrender, etc. Since handbags carry many important items, a reminder about the Borghese's policy is worthwhile.