Roman Holiday tour

[sherifa]

I would appreciate advice from the very knowledgable people here on CC. On our port day in Civitavecchia we are planning to take the train to Rome to visit the places where the 1953 film, "Roman Holiday," (one of my favorites) was filmed. I can't find a tour to book but did find a DIY and would like advice on how to best navigate this. We will see the Spanish Steps the night before the cruise. (Via Margutta, #51=apartment of Joe Bradley) Here are the other locations:

 

Via Condotti (widow shopping scene)

Trevi Fountain

The Pantheon (sidewalk cafe scene filmed to the right)

Ponte Sant'Angelo (the barge dance scene)

church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin (Mouth of Truth)

The Roman Forum (original meeting place of Joe Bradley and Princess Anne)

The Colosseum (we may wait for this until our post cruise stay in Rome)

Palazzo Colonna (last scene: interview)

 

Thanks for any advice on how to accomplish this tour. It will be our first visit to Rome.

 

Sheri

[euro cruiser]

Here's a good resource if you haven't already come across it: http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/rome/vs_roman_holiday.htm

[ksps cruise fan]

On our port day in Civitavecchia we are planning to take the train to Rome to visit the places where the 1953 film, "Roman Holiday," ... would like advice on how to best navigate this. We will see the Spanish Steps the night before the cruise. (Via Margutta, #51=apartment of Joe Bradley) Here are the other locations:

 

Via Condotti (widow shopping scene)

Trevi Fountain

The Pantheon (sidewalk cafe scene filmed to the right)

Ponte Sant'Angelo (the barge dance scene)

church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin (Mouth of Truth)

The Roman Forum (original meeting place of Joe Bradley and Princess Anne)

The Colosseum (we may wait for this until our post cruise stay in Rome)

Palazzo Colonna (last scene: interview)

 

Get a copy of a guidebook that groups sites in Rome according to neighborhood. The DK Eyewitness Guide is a personal and board favorite.

 

You'll discover which items on this list are located close to one another which will help you shape your itinerary. For example, Via Condotti is close to the Spanish Steps which means you should see both those places the night before the cruise. Depending on the amount of time you'll have on your arrival day, you might even want to include the Trevi Fountain since it is reasonably close to Via Condotti.

 

Trevi to the Pantheon is a do-able walk, but I'm assuming this is your arrival day so you'll probably hit your limit with the three sites I've already identified. In addition, I don't know how much you want to visit the sites in their own right. That may shape your planning.

 

The Trevi Fountain is well lit so a night-time visit is an appealing stop. The Pantheon shuts its doors at 7:00 p.m. If you only care about seeing the piazza outside the Pantheon, this won't matter.

 

As for the cafe to the right of the Pantheon, please remember that the movie company had filming rights and likely dressed the set to put the cafe in precisely the place it needed for the shot. Yes, there really are cafes ringing the piazza Rotonda which is where the Pantheon is located, but my visual memory tells me there is none up close to the Pantheon.

[sherifa]

Thank-you for your reply. That is the site where I got the DIY tour sites. It was the only one I could find. I was looking for the best way to get from point to point covering those sites. Actually HAL offers the tour, but not on our cruise:(

[sherifa]

Ksps cruise fan,

Thank-you for the guidebook suggestion and other comments. I'm sure you are correct in thinking the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain will be about all we can do the evening we arrive. Viewing it lit at night sounds very appealing! We may return there or begin with the Pantheon when we are in port for the day mid-cruise and we want to tour it as well. I'm sure you are right about the "movie magic" and that some of the scenes were sets. Another example is the barge where they went dancing-- the barge is not there but one can see the area on the river where it was filmed. If you have any other suggestions or insights on the other points of interest I mentioned or directions for how to best move from point to point I would appreciate any advice as to how to navigate this route efficiently. Sheri

[ksps cruise fan]

Another example is the barge where they went dancing-- the barge is not there but one can see the area on the river where it was filmed. If you have any other suggestions or insights on the other points of interest I mentioned or directions for how to best move from point to point I would appreciate any advice as to how to navigate this route efficiently. Sheri

 

Walking the bridge (Ponte) will be a really wonderful experience in its own right; Ponte S. Angelo is a pedestrian bridge lined with sculptures of angels carved by the sculptor Bernini. Here's a link to a Google search for images of the bridge: http://www.google.com/search?q=images+ponte+St.+Angelo&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-Address&rlz=1I7ADRA_en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=3vIcUISCNOqA2AWnuIDQBw&ved=0CFkQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=613

 

In the photographs, you'll see a large round fortress-like building at the end of the bridge. This is the Castel S.Angelo which is worth a visit even if it has nothing to do with Roman Holiday. The structure itself is interesting and the views across the city from the two terraces are amazing. (If you know opera, this building is the place where the fictional Norma committed suicide by throwing herself off the balcony.)

 

You ask how to navigate to your destinations. I walk to most places, but I've visited Rome upwards of a dozen times, staying a minimum of three days each time. I love to see the city at a pedestrian's pace.

 

From your list, I'd link a visit to the Pantheon with a walk to the Piazza Navona to see another great fountain, The Fountain of the Four Rivers. (Depending on time, you could also make a one-block detour to see the three Caravaggio paintings in the French Church of S. Luigi Church.) Walk north out of Piazza Navona and, using a map, make your way to Largo Febo. (A lot of streets come together right here, so I can't offer more precise directions.) Via dei Coronari heads west off the Largo Febo. This is a beautiful pedestrian street, always decorated with flowers, where the antique district is located. When Via Coronari ends, you'll have one more turn to make before you arrive at the Tiber River, 50 feet away from the beginning of the Ponte S. Angelo. (You'll be able to see which way you need to turn to get to the river.)

 

The Forum and Colosseum are neighbors so that's a logical pairing. The Boca is essentially on the other side of the Capitoline Hill -- east-south-east from the Colosseum. I know the popular place to visit is the Boca, and you'll want to do this for its movie connections, but, in reality, the place is nothing more than the main drain from the sewage system of ancient Rome. The ancient Romans were not sticking their hands in the sewer hole!

 

S. Maria in Cosmedin is a wonderful church because it contains a choir stall from the early medieval period (note the location is different from later choir stalls) and because it is located over an ancient Roman crypt. Please make time to visit the church.

 

If you have lots of energy, get an early start to the day, and have lots of daylight hours, you could visit everything I've listed in one day. You would have to take a taxi back to your hotel and your brain might be overloaded. Still, it is do-able.

 

For the day I've described, I'd probably start with a visit to the Colosseum including a paid tour. You probably won't have time to include a second tour of the underground Colosseum which is a very special experience, but you can save that for another visit. I'd next visit the Forum, taking some sort of tour, including a Rick Steves audio tour. When you visit the Forum you're seeing the foundations of buildings that never stood together in reality. You need a tour's explanation to make sense of which buildings were built by which emperor.

[sherifa]

Walking the bridge (Ponte) will be a really wonderful experience in its own right; Ponte S. Angelo is a pedestrian bridge lined with sculptures of angels carved by the sculptor Bernini. Here's a link to a Google search for images of the bridge: http://www.google.com/search?q=images+ponte+St.+Angelo&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-Address&rlz=1I7ADRA_en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=3vIcUISCNOqA2AWnuIDQBw&ved=0CFkQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=613

 

In the photographs, you'll see a large round fortress-like building at the end of the bridge. This is the Castel S.Angelo which is worth a visit even if it has nothing to do with Roman Holiday. The structure itself is interesting and the views across the city from the two terraces are amazing. (If you know opera, this building is the place where the fictional Norma committed suicide by throwing herself off the balcony.)

 

You ask how to navigate to your destinations. I walk to most places, but I've visited Rome upwards of a dozen times, staying a minimum of three days each time. I love to see the city at a pedestrian's pace.

 

From your list, I'd link a visit to the Pantheon with a walk to the Piazza Navona to see another great fountain, The Fountain of the Four Rivers. (Depending on time, you could also make a one-block detour to see the three Caravaggio paintings in the French Church of S. Luigi Church.) Walk north out of Piazza Navona and, using a map, make your way to Largo Febo. (A lot of streets come together right here, so I can't offer more precise directions.) Via dei Coronari heads west off the Largo Febo. This is a beautiful pedestrian street, always decorated with flowers, where the antique district is located. When Via Coronari ends, you'll have one more turn to make before you arrive at the Tiber River, 50 feet away from the beginning of the Ponte S. Angelo. (You'll be able to see which way you need to turn to get to the river.)

 

The Forum and Colosseum are neighbors so that's a logical pairing. The Boca is essentially on the other side of the Capitoline Hill -- east-south-east from the Colosseum. I know the popular place to visit is the Boca, and you'll want to do this for its movie connections, but, in reality, the place is nothing more than the main drain from the sewage system of ancient Rome. The ancient Romans were not sticking their hands in the sewer hole!

 

S. Maria in Cosmedin is a wonderful church because it contains a choir stall from the early medieval period (note the location is different from later choir stalls) and because it is located over an ancient Roman crypt. Please make time to visit the church.

 

If you have lots of energy, get an early start to the day, and have lots of daylight hours, you could visit everything I've listed in one day. You would have to take a taxi back to your hotel and your brain might be overloaded. Still, it is do-able.

 

For the day I've described, I'd probably start with a visit to the Colosseum including a paid tour. You probably won't have time to include a second tour of the underground Colosseum which is a very special experience, but you can save that for another visit. I'd next visit the Forum, taking some sort of tour, including a Rick Steves audio tour. When you visit the Forum you're seeing the foundations of buildings that never stood together in reality. You need a tour's explanation to make sense of which buildings were built by which emperor.

Again, thank-you so much! You have given us so much great information that will greatly enhance our visit. I failed to mention that we will be staying in Rome for 4 nights post cruise with friends from Germany who have booked a couple of tours for the four of us-The Vatican Museum Tour for one. I will email them to see if he booked a Colosseum tour including the underground or a Forum tour. I think both of those can wait until post cruise so we don't overload! We, also like to walk and "drink in" the sights (anyone for a cappuccino?) which reminds me that we do need to allow time for a gelato, coffee and perhaps a quick lunch! Any other suggestions or recommendations for food or whatever are very welcome. I really appreciate the time you people spend answering all these questions and offering insights. :-)

[kevdds]

I have been trying to do the same thing. I came across this one: http://www.stefanorometours.com/tours/vacanze-romane/ but I don't know anything about it other than what's on the website.