recommendations in/around Rome

8

88aero

250+ Posts
I am looking for a good place or places to stay in or around Rome. I'll be in Naples for a conference in May, and I'm taking a week of vacation afterward.

Any suggestions?
 
I know several people who have stayed at the Hotel Lancelot - 3 star hotel located a short walk from the Colosseum and a bus/subway stop.
The Link

It's a few blocks from some good friends so we know the neighborhood is nice.
 
My wife and I stayed at Hotel Diplomate in February. I had also stayed there in 2003. Great place, reasonably priced. Complimentary breakfast. It's fairly close to the Vatican, and about a 10-15 minute walk to the Forum.

Just a note, while in Naples, hit Pompeii, but make sure if you take the train, you get off at the right stop! One is the new Pompeii, about a 10-15 minute walk to the ruins (but not any signs directing you that way), the other drops you off literally at the entrance.
 
if you buy a round-trip train ticket from Naples to Pompeii, MAKE SURE you VALIDATE YOUR TICKET before going back. You have to stick it in one of these small, unmarked machines to get the time/date stamped on it. If you don't, they'll likely bust you when you get back to Naples and fine you like $100. Happened to me a couple years ago.
 
I stayed at the Hotel Atlante Star a few years ago and found it to be very nice. The decor is a bit garish for my taste, but the location is outstanding. It is in the Borga just a couple of blocks from the Vatican. The best part is the roof-top garden and restaurant. The food is good, if unexceptional. But the view is unmatched in all of Rome.

St. Peter's Basilica opens at 7:00 and I highly recommend getting there shortly after it opens. I got there around 7:15, and I was the only tourist in the place. There were about a dozen priests and maybe a dozen more nuns walking around, and that was it. It was amazing to be able to walk around the Basilica without being harassed by the hordes of tourists that start to decend on the square by about 8:00.

My favorite Roman experience is to just sit at one of the cafes on the piazza that faces the Pantheon and have a light supper and a bottle of wine. The people watching is great, and it is amazing to just sit there and ponder the inscription on the facade of the Pantheon: "M. Agrippa L. f. cos. Tertium. fecit"--roughly translated as "Marcus Agrippa built this."

The Museo e Galleria Borghese is (aside from the Vatican Museum) the best combination of art and architecture in Rome. It's a pain in the *** to get into because you have to go and get a ticket and then come back at an appointed time. The best bet is to go in the late morning and get a ticket for early afternoon and then go get lunch in the interim. But as I look at their website, it looks as though you may be able to book tickets online. I suspect this is the way to go, because as the website states, admission is limited to only 360 people every two hours.

Finally, when you go to the Coloseum (because everyone has to go to the Coloseum. It's tremendously disappointing but you still have to go), be sure not to overlook the Arch of Titus, which is just next to the Coloseum and commemorates the Sack of Jerusalem in 70. The frieze of the triumph following the end of the Jewish War, in which the Romans paraded inter alia the menorah from the Second Temple through Rome is particularly amazing.
 
To build upon your comments, the arch of Titus is in the Roman Forum. If you decide to go into the forum, make it a point to go up to the Palatine Hill. Most people overlook this area of the forum even though it is the most peaceful and a great area for a picnic. This is the area where the emperors lived and is worth exploring. Also, and I could be wrong on this but, I believe if you buy a ticket to go to the Forum (or the Palatine... one of the two), you can get into the Colosseum without standing in line for tickets. You might want to confirm this.

I personally think the Colosseum is fascinating - the place is nearly 2000 years old and, if you look carefully, you can observe that our modern stadiums are laid out the same way. Ramps to go to seats, orderly structure, marked gates to enter into the Colosseum... it's all very fascinating. Also consider that the whole thing would be standing had the popes not ransacked the marble and stone for their own construction plans.
 
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