Rome in 24 hours..

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iplaydrums

100+ Posts
I will be in Rome for only 24 hours over Easter Sunday, before I fly back to Austin on the next Monday morning. Does anyone have any tips of things that must be done (sites, restaurants, shops) and that are open on Sundays? I'm also looking for a hotel in central Rome, I was (and can still) stay at the Westin, but was looking for something i guess...more local? Thanks in advance!
 
There are walking tours that start at the Colosseum, go by the Forum, and take you past some other signifcant landmarks (Trajan's Column) and onto St. Peter's Cathedral. (I think that the Trevi Fountain is nearby.)
The Sistine Chapel is part of the Vatican Complex. Check out St. Peter's (if you can get in on Easter weekend) and try to see the Sistine Chapel.

If you do what I've told you, you won't see everything (Spanish Steps might or might not be part of the tour + The Pantheon) that Rome has to offer, but you will have made the most of your 24 hours.

Rome Walks is one tour company, but I would book now if you want a tour. I prefer them because you learn so much more per minute with a tour guide than any other option when seeing a city.
 
Colosseum and Forum are in one area, along with Capitol Hill Museum and Trajan's Column...somewhat close to the Pantheon as well. This would be #1 on my list and really takes quite a bit of the day. This is in the S/SE part of town.

Vatican and the Vatican museum will likely not be possible on Easter Sunday. I wouldn't even waste my time.

Trevi and the Spanish Steps are on the N side of town but fairly close to one another. From the Colosseum you'll have to ride the subway up to the Termini stop and take the other line a couple stops. All in all about a 15 minute trip. Or you can attempt to get on the buses, but we preferred the subway.

If you're going to try to hit a lot of the sights, get the Roma Pass (but don't buy it at the Colosseum due to the lines). It'll allow you to get into the Colosseum MUCH more quickly. I think you have to hit 3 of the stops to make it worthwhile, but that's not that hard if you're trying to fill a day.

The Roma Pass will also get you free subways and buses...so it's a pretty good deal if you're gonna use it.

It's 20 euro, and gets you free admission to the first two places...so make the Colosseum one of those since it's 11 euro itself if I remember correctly. And if you plan on spending quite a bit of your day in the Colosseum/Forum area, do NOT miss going up on Palantine Hill. Not as many ppl go up there and it's very neat.

We spent 3 weeks in Italy in November, our last 5 days in Rome, and we can't wait to go back. The country is amazing, and Rome is just so full of things to do and see.

Have fun!

Edit: I have no idea if the sights will be open on Easter Sunday, but I would be fairly surprised if they weren't simply due to the amount of people who will be in town.
 
I highly recommend doing one of the walking tours. Here's the website for it: The Link

I did the tour where you go to the Colesseum, Panthenon, Trevi Fountain, and others, and it was awesome. It took about 3-3.5 hours.

Definitely use the subway. I was on the other side of Rome and I was able to get to St. Peter's in about 15-20 minutes.

As for food, the gelatto there pwns. Get some of that. For a good restaurant, go to a place called Before. I had Argentine beef fillet in a jack daniels sauce that was ridiculous.

Let me know if you need more help.
 
just got back from Rome...did it in two days. the Holy Week/Easter crowd is going to make the lines suck suck suck. pick what you want to see the most, and get there at the butt crack of dawn.

palatine hill is awesome, and the museum at the top of capitoline hill is also awesome. if you're a Christian, the mamertine prison is adjacent to the forum...peter and paul were (supposedly) both held there before they were executed. right up the hill from the colosseum, you can see the chains that (again, supposedly) held peter in that prison at san pietro in vincoli. as mentioned above, trajan's column, forum, and market are all right across the street from the original forum. if you move quickly, and if the lines are forgiving, you can conceivably see all of the above by lunch. if you're not a girl, or with a girl, you can probably skip the spanish steps and the bocca della veritas. you probably don't have time to do both the vatican and the borghese (bernini sculptures and renaissance stuff).

if you choose the vatican, i'd highly recommend getting a guide (we used context tours... rome.contexttravel.com ...they are pricy, but our tour was excellent). they can make reservations for entry, and help you hit the high points. you could spend years in the vatican. it's ridiculous. the borghese requires reservations, and only lets people in at predetermined times. otherwise you have to go early and hope for a no-show.

be aware that the last entry to the colosseum is at 4:00 pm now, for some weird reason. also, many of the sights are being renovated (the spanish steps, the fountain at piazza navona, and a few others)...scaffolding everywhere.

i'd probably end the day at the pantheon, then walk over to piazza navona for dinner at a place called "cul de sac," (actually one block west off the south end of the piazza). afterwards, you can grab some gelato and hit the sack. you're going to be tired.

someone may have already mentioned it (edit: I skipped over JohnnyM's post), but if you get a roma pass (20 euro), your entry to the first two participating sights are free (many good choices), and free access to the buses/metro/tram.

have fun!
 
First and foremost, I don't care if the restaurant was devoid of tourists or not, absolutely positively don't go to an Argentine restaurant. If you're there for a week... fine. But for a day? That's like checking out a popular Mexican restaurant while in Paris for a day. Not a good call.

So, you are going to be in Rome during the peak of the high season. Museums and the main sights are going to be packed. If it were me, I would avoid the Vatican (it's going to be a madhouse) and tourist traps like the Trevi Fountain. You should definitely see the Pantheon, Piazza Navona and Campo De' Fiori so I would arrange my day around wandering the area around the rioni of Campo Marzio, Ponte, Parione, Pigna and Sant'Eustachio.

That sounds like a lot but you can wander through those rioni for day. Wander around the old Jewish ghetto and stop at Da Giggetto (near the Portico D'Ottavia) for a traditional Roman meal. Walk through the old streets and just soak in the history. If you're going to hit any museums, I would stick to less touristy ones like Palazzo Spada or the one in Palazzo Venezia. They may be "lesser" museums (very relative) but they are stunning in their own right. They will also be less crowded. If you want to hit one of the more popular museums, pick one on the Campidoglio. Expect crowds.

I would imagine the Colosseum and the Forum are going to be packed. So, if you want to say an ancient site without the big crowds, go to Trajan's Markets. Also, not too far from the Torre Argentina is a good underground museum - the Cripta Balbi on the Via Delle Botteghe Oscure. I might guarantee that there won't be many people there.

Lastly, check out Piazza Fontanella Borghese if you want to buy an antique print from Rome - you can find inexpensive reproductions, 18th century scenes of Rome or 17th century Biblical illustrations - you name it.
 
And if you pass a store, you should buy something. ESPECIALLY if it something that you want. Because even if it costs more than it would cost in the States (when I was there Rome was VERY cheap), you can always answer the question of "Where did you get that?" with...
"This? Oh, I got it in Rome."

smokin.gif
 
Well, I would agree that Rome used to be cheap but those days are long gone. It might be less expensive relative to other European cities (not hotel-wise) but it's not the bargain it used to be. In the Lira days, I would spend like crazy in Rome. When they switched to the Euro, prices immediately spiked but wages stayed the same. With the weak dollar, prices just keep going up up up.

Still, Nap offers good advice - you'll only be there for a day. If you see something cool that you want, get it. You'll regret passing it up later.
 
If you haven't been since the Lira days, you wouldn't recognize prices. The days you speak of were cheap cheap cheap. In fact, the Euro ended up being pegged at 1,960 Lira or so to the Euro. Then what happened was this...

Shopkeeper: "Hmmm... I'm selling this item for 2,000 Lira but today we switch to the Euro... well, we'll just switch it 2 Euro."

...and *poof* prices on some items doubled.
 
I had a pretty interesting time. Also, I had a meeting I had to go to last minute in Munich on Monday (even though it was a German holiday! ah). I just got back into Austin late this evening, so give me a few days to give some updates. I really do appreciate all the recs.
 
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