Four days in Rome - what to do?

[perthgirl]

This might be a big ask or way too challenging but.... if you had 4 days in Rome with DH and DD aged 10, what would you do? And if you could bear in mind it will be July (so really busy) even better!

 

Any advice would be great

[Longin2cruise]

Just returned from a 1 day pre-cruise & a 4 day post cruise stay in Rome. It was absolutely wonderful. We are 2 older ladies & needed something not too strenuous. We had reserved a private driver/guide for a 4 hour orientation driving tour for the day of our arrival. By the way, he was absolutely marvelous. We went to the Colloseum, Arch of Constantine, Circus Maximus, Forum, Castle St. Angelo, St. Peter's square, Pantheon, Golden House of Nero, Victor Emanuel Momument, the church of St. Peter in Chains. The guide also took us to some places we had never heard of for beautiful panoramic views of Rome. I recommend this type tour for your first day because it lets you see the sights & then you can determine what you want to go back & visit in more depth.

 

For our first day post cruise stay, we booked a night time tour of Rome with the same driver/guide. We saw the sames sights illuminated plus Trevi Fountain, Borghessi (spelling??)Garden, tomb of Caesar Agustus, & Spanish Stepps. Then the guide took us to a wonderful authentic Roman restaurant where we had a delicious late night dinner.

 

On the 2nd day post cruise, we had the same driver/guide & went on a tour to Castle Gandolpho, summer home of the Pope. It is a short distance from Rome & there was a beautiful lake & great scenery. On the way there, we went to the remains of the original Appian Way, saw the acquaducts & ruins of a noble Roman home. Another delicious lunch at an authentic Italian restaurant.

 

3rd day post cruise we went to St. Peter's Bascillica & Vatican museum. It was wonderful, but very very crowded even though it was only May.

 

4th day post cruise we went to the Benedictine Abby of Monte Cassino, about 1 1/2 hours from Rome with our private driver/guide. This abby figured prominently in WWII & we were interested in that as we have childhood memories of that battle. It is on top of a mountain & is extremely beautiful.

Another delicious authentic Italian lunch.

 

I suggest that you buy a Frommer's guide book or go to their web site as he has suggestions for 1, 2, 3 & 4 day stays in Rome. I also suggest that you get a private driver/guide if at all possible. It is much, much more satisfactory than bus tours. It is more expensive, but with 2 of us sharing costs it was ok. If you're interested I have the name of our fantastic driver/guide.

 

Hope you have a wonderful visit to Rome.

[Susan-M]

I like Frommer's online as a starting point when planning a trip:

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/rome/0064010007.html

 

Scroll through the index on the left .... lots of great ideas!

[zaandam_2]

if you click on the link in my signature to my blog, you can see what i did. i highly recommend rick steve's rome guidebook.

[perthgirl]

I'd love the contact details, thanks.

[perthgirl]

Thanks for the suggestions so far

[suzy671]

Like the above recommended, we also used a private tour company (Romecabs.com) and he was absolutely fantastic. They took us to places that you would never have known to visit.

[Longin2cruise]

Stefano Constantino is the owner of Rome Cabs. His e-mail address is romecabs@yahoo.com. I think that Stefano himself stays booked with long standing clients, but he assigned an associate,Marco, as our driver/guide. Marco was absolutely marvelous & I can't say enough nice things about him. He really enjoys pleasing his clients & goes out of his way to make sure you have a wonderful time. You can e-mail Stefano at the address above, tell him what tours you want or ask for suggestions & he will reply promptly with a quote. Most of the time he responds the same day, but 1 day was the latest I ever waited to hear from him & I suspect that was due to the time difference between Rome & Texas. I read on another thread that Rome Cabs was already booked for the month of June, so if you're interested I suggest that you contact Stefano as soon as possible.