Things to do in Rome

ICBM

thomasross20 said:

I wonder if I'll be ok in jeans lol..

You'd blend in better in chinos or a suit .

Although it is about fifteen years since I was in Italy so I may be a little out of date there...

thomasross20

I'll be the worst-dressed man there lol

Gassage

If you see a fire, fiddle.

It's a tradition.

Hootsmon

hanging from lamp posts was popular once

rocktron

Jeans would be fine, as long as they are not ripped and tatty. Remember to remove your hat/baseball cap when entering St. Peter's Basilica. 

There is so much history there that I recommend you do some reading up before going. For example, I found that the Vatican Museum had so much to see that it was difficult to take it all in.

I visited the Santa Maria Maggiore church which is the oldest and largest Roman Catholic church in Rome, and possibly the world. Various Popes "stole" its artifacts and marble to put into St. Peter's Basilica. You can obtain a vial of holy water. Purchase the vial (bottle) from the bookshop, and take it to the sacristy to get the water. They do not take money for the holy water, but you can make a small donation to the church. 

You will see large holes on the Coliseum wall. These were where iron bar clamps were anchored into the stonework for structural strength. The iron was stolen.throughout the centuries, leaving the gaping holes.

Many of Rome's monuments are currently undergoing cleaning, restoration, and refurbishment. I hope this does not detract from your enjoyment. The area around the Piazza de Spagna (Spanish Steps) was under scaffolding, and so was the Trevi Fountain.  

The exchange rate is £1 = 1.35 Euro, so it is a great time for UK tourists to go to Euroland.

I have lots of photos of Rome, but perhaps it is best not to post them here, because you will feel that you have already visited the place.

samzadgan

Ok...i think you got a pretty good run down from @rocktron...Rome is my favourite city and the best thing is walking and getting lost in the local areas!

But one place i recomend to everyone is a little restaurant that is absolutely amazing its called the Library and its in a really nice area too; heres the link...you should not leave rome without having dinner in this place...

http://www.thelibrary.it/thelibrary.htm

thomasross20

Thanks, all - all copied into my phone so I can reference when there 8)

Emp_Fab

Flink_Poyd said:

Set out for Australia in 1999 and ended up in Asia for 10 years.

I'd have a stern word with the Travel Agent if I were you.

Flanging_Fred

I went last year. The zoo was a nice change of pace from all the ruins. The bus tour thing is a good idea from the train station. Oh and there is a cool guitar shop on the main road between the station and Coliseum, packed with fancy pedals.

chillidoggy

There's some bloke that wears a white garb and skull cap who's supposed to be quite popular. He's easier to get an audience with than RHC but then Rome's not exactly Wimbledon, is it?

Snap

Hey Tom,

 i know Rome well, been working there for about a year, I was there a couple of weeks ago, and a couple before that. Its a fantastic city.one of my favourite in the world, if not number one.

if you haven't got a transfer from the airport yet, pre book online, its 45 euro each way, takes about 40 minutes from Ciampino. just google rome airport transfers.

In Rome itself:

If you want to do the Vatican, prebook a tour of the Vatican museums and the Basilica. Otherwise you will have to queue for ages. Tours are about 40 quid each tops and take about 3 hours. Well worth it. If you pre book, you meet round the corner from St Peters Sqaure and will go straight into the museums and after the tour, you go straight into the Basilica. Without the tour, you have to come bakc out and queue again to get through metal detectors for the church. Seriously, of oyu want to do the Vatican, book a tour, its not much more than tickets on the door, and infinitely better. And the Vatican is incredible. jaw dropping.

Pantheon - free, and impressive.

Colisseum, Roman Forum etc- again pre book a ticket on line, otherwise you could be queing up. Fantastic too.

Il Vittorio - walk up the steps and have a look round the Pataline Gardens, designed by Michelangelo. Ace. You can do this on the way to ancient Rome.

Trastevere - just a super cool area, good bars, restaurants, vibe. PIazza Di Santa Maria is the main square, but the bars/restaurans on there are a little steep. Via Scala is worht checking out for good food and beer, cheaper too.

Worth going there during the day, and walking up Via Garibaldi, into Gianicolo (big hill and park). Follow the road up the hill and after it veers round to the left, go up the road on your right to the top, and up the stairs to the very top, walk on to your right, to the Garibaldi monument at the top for the absolute best views of the whole city. IF you cross the road back away from the city, at the top, you get a cracking view of the Vatican too. COming back down, towards Trastever, you will see a great monument on your right, at the top, big fountains and that, overlooks the Spanish embassy.

Trevi Fountain is OK, but at the moment its under refurb, so its dry and a bit crap really. Shame.

Piazza Navonna is cool, but again, a bit steep to eat and drink in, but worth a nine euro beer just to wath people and soak it all up. Streets around and about are cheaper.

Spanish Steps is interesing too, great views from the top. If you come down the steps and head up the road to your right, you will end up at Piazza Poppolo, which is very impressive - the historical entrance to Rome and site of public executions. a good place to catch a bite and a beer.

As has been said though, its simple an ace sity to amble round, so beautiful.

Castel Di Sant Angelo - that's worth a visit. Was built as Hadrian's Mausoleum in 6 AD and has been used as a prison and the safe haven for the Pope when Rome as invaded. HUge and interesting.

Weather wise, should be fine, but take a light waterproof maybe. YOu can get the odd shower. I was there at the beginning of the month - couple of days it was 25 degrees and sunny, last day it chucked it down and was 8. You should be good now though.

Be aware, Rome isnt cheap, but the food is great.

Pub - if you like fancy beer, check out Open Baladin, on Via Della Specchi. Its just the other side of Ponte Sisto to Trastevere, near Campo Di Fiori (lively square, has food and flower market til about 3pm, after that its an open air pub really)

What else to tell you.......traffic is mental, really funny. Everyone seems to be on a scooter or in a smartcar, and doing whatever the heck they like.

Best advice I could give you is to get the Rough Guide for Rome, its great. Invaluable.

I'm envious, we've finished our contract there and I really would like to go back. I'm sure you'll love it!

thomasross20

Here now, knackered as was up at 3am.
Restaurant "taverna varrone" has been recommended for tea, supposedly any place. serving dinner before 7.30pm isn't worth eating in?

thomasross20

Girlfriend booked many things before the flight. - I prefer tours but don't think we're having many guided tours. We plan... Vatican,colloseum, St peters, sistine chapel - think they're pre-booked. I defo want to check out trastevere, good food places and maybe villa Borghese.
I wouldn't recommend the bus tour, it's the "earplug" version. Best bus tour I ever had was in London where the guide was enthusiastic and tips you the history over the mic.
Really looking forward to the food lol

Blueingreen

I'm thinking of going back very soon to try and exorcise my worst ever holiday there a couple of decades ago.  

I had flu, our hotel was shit and it rained solidly for almost the entire week (in November).  I also found the locals cynical attitude to tourists extremely wearing, being routinely short-changed and overcharged and getting into constant rows about it while ill.

Hopefully this time round it's sunshine, art, sightseeing and great food.  And a nice hotel (I can afford to spend a bit more this time).

bloodandtears

have fun... going in July, this discussion is great..

Snap

where are you staying? If you are in Cenro Storico or thereabouts, easiest way into Trastevere is across Ponte Sisto, go straight over, over the road and theres a little sqaure of sorts, right on the crossing. Take any of the 3 roads in front of you. If you go straight over, there's a good pub called Big Hilda's, and further on, turn left into Via Scala. Nice restaurants there. Caffe Scala is good, and cheap, cracking home food. Domasi, the same. They are all good though, can't afford not to be. Have an amble, have a Peroni Doppio Malto.,

Cafes - be aware that there's two charges for a coffee - cheapest is if you stand at the bar and drink it, or it costs you a euro or two more to drink at a table.

The crossing at the end of Via Veneto, looking out at Il Vittorio, is a great place to have a drink at a table outside - you have a stageside view of the lunatic traffic, and the people, with ancient Rome in the background and the majestic Vittorio in front of you.

Ace.

Typical Roman food you should try - pizza bianchi, artichokes, offal (if you like that sort of thing, barf...). They do all that really well. Amitriciana sauce, that's local stuff too.

Trastevere and Gianicolo though, I love that area, lovely walk upto the top too.

You'll find you can cover quite a lot of ground as Rome isn't a big city, and its very walkable.

thomasross20

Relais dei Papi. Close to Vatican etc.
Right, going to head out in a bit - thanks for all the tips!

thomasross20

Oh, one last thing! Many of the best places to eat on TripAdvisor seem to be street food joints!

Heartfeltdawn

Did you check out any bunga bunga parties? 

thomasross20

I'll admit first few days I wasn't enamoured - nice enough, though! I think largely because we were on that bus tour I wasn't keen on. But we did see lots. The Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel etc - all amazing. I like the modern art.  The last two days were the best and made me want to stay! We went to Travastere - the "authentic" (?) bit where lots of people hung around, lots of authentic restaurants (I ate LOTS and it was good), cool little side streets etc. Really enjoyed it - and all on foot so we got to see a bit more of the city. Then the last day we checked out Villa Borghese to the north which had the most amazing park!!! The weather throughout was glorious - it was like some perfect scene out of a Woody Allen film. Obviously loads more happened... I can write more if interested. I never realised there were 4 American uni's there... hence the huge number of Americans I kept hearing! The traffic - oh man! It was SO busy in the centre... I mean ridiculously busy. And people just walk onto the road to cross, traffice lights (of which there were very few) or no lol!