5 Days in Rome

[Sharky61]

We are in the process of planning a few days in Rome and are seeking some advice and thoughts on what we are thinking of doing:

 

This is the basic plan to date:

 

Day 1 - Saturday - 3 hour tour of the Vatican Museums etc and just wondering the city.

Day 2 - Sunday - High speed train to Florence and then utilizing the hop on hop off bus before returning to Rome late in the day.

Day 3 - Monday - quieter day with a 3 hour guided tour of the Colesseum & Palantine Hill and then spend the rest of the day wandering area the other great sites in this area - Trevi Fountain etc

Day 4 - Tuesday - Tour to Odeslcalchi Castle and Lake Bracciano,

Day 5 - Wednesday - Open to suggestions. We have to book out of or accommodation on this day so we planned to store our luggage at Termini Station before finding something to do until we catch the train to the airport around 5pm.

 

Open to some suggestions as we have not ventured to this part of the world before. We were thinking of using Dark Rome to book most of our tours as their reviews and pricing seems pretty good.

 

Any advice/thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Traveling in October.

 

Cheers Grant.:):):)

[cruisemom42]

Well, a few initial thoughts:

 

It's frequently recommended (with good reason) not to try to do the Vatican marathon tour on the day you arrive UNLESS you know that you handle jet-lag well. There may be better days of the week to do this anyway (from the perspective of crowds....).

 

Considering that you say "5 days in Rome" you really are only spending parts of three days in Rome (one of those days being your arrival and the other your departure days....) It seems like you're really short-changing Rome.

 

If you feel you MUST do the day in Florence (I assume you aren't going there on your cruise?) then do it. (But skip the HOHO -- not really useful in the center of Florence which is almost entirely pedestrian.)

 

However, unless you have some really specific desire or reason to see it, the daytrip to Lake Bracciano and Odescalchi Castle seems an odd choice.

Edited August 1, 2016 by cruisemom42

[2specialkidsforme]

Two suggestions from what I did in Rome:

 

1. Take a cooking class. I found one on viator - it was so fun and something I normally do not do.

 

2. Segway tour of the Borghese Gardens. I loved this tour. The grounds are beautiful. I also found this tour on viator.

 

Have a great trip!

[Sharky61]

Sorry should have been more specific. We actually disembark on the Friday so we should be fresh by Saturday. We were looking at the trip to the castle just as a short trip to seen some of the country side around Rome with a little bit of history thrown in - thanks for you advice. Grant

[Sharky61]

Thanks 2specialkidsforme will have a look at those.

[kuldalai]

Forget Firenze, and that weird lake - do Rome properly.

 

Not mentioned in your ideas Roman musts:

 

Piazza Navona (Berninis three great fountains) , the Pantheon, Castel de St Angelo, Roman ruins at Ostia Antica, the Spanish Steps, Villa Borghese .

[LondonTowner]

I would also forego the trip to Florence as much as I love it. Bracciano is pretty, and not at all weird, but your time could be better spent.

 

If you want to go outside Rome, then what about the Castelli, with a trip to Frascati, famous for wine?

 

Do a bit more research and also look on Tripadvisor. I wouldn't bother booking excursions with Viatour, they are a third party reseller owned by Tripadvisor. Also, if it is your first trip to Rome, I wouldn't waste time doing a cookery class.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Funny, we also have about 5 days in Rome coming up, and are planning a much more desultory approach to it.

 

First afternoon (jetlagged), wander around our neighbourhood a bit and perhaps see a couple of sights like Bocca del Verita and the weekend food market near Circus Maximus. We're flying Business so we hope to be decently well-rested.

 

First full day, Colosseum, Forum and Palatine Hill, at our own pace, with lunch somewhere in the middle. If we don't manage the Palatine Hill part, we will defer it until the next day (two day ticket.)

 

Second day, San Clemente excavations morning, lunch, then perhaps Palatine Hill if we pooped out the day before. If not wander and see some general sights in the Centro Storico (lots of great piazzas and churches.)

 

Third day, Vatican Museums first thing in the morning. Lunch near Piazza del Risorgimento, then St Peter's in the afternoon. Wander over to Trastevere for dinner perhaps.

 

Fourth day, not planned yet, but probably the iconic sights--Trevi, Piazza Navona, Santa Maria del Popolo, perhaps the Borghese Gardens and/or Gallery (will look at the Segue tour, thanks!)

 

Fifth (half day), wander and catch up on sights close to our hotel before taking the train to the cruise port in the afternoon.

 

Our day trip out of Rome, if we decide to fit one in, would probably be to Tivoli to see Villa Borghese and Villa Adriana, but I doubt we will have time for it.

 

Ours tends to be a "slow down and smell the roses" one.

Edited August 1, 2016 by Wendy The Wanderer

[Sharky61]

Thanks Wendy. Might be in for a rethink. Thanks for your advice.

Edited August 1, 2016 by Sharky61

[LondonTowner]

I think Wendy's itinerary far better and realistic.

[marazul]

Instead of the castello Odescalchi, go to Trevi for the Villa Borghese and the Villa Adriana. Save the castello for a port day in Civitavecchia some other time.

 

Too much to see in Rome to waste a long day going to Florence. You will not do justice to either one. Save Florence for another trip.

 

The Castelli Romani are some of our favorite villages, but you really need to rent a car and do them at leisure. Save them for another trip.

 

Wendy has a good plan.

[cruisemom42]

Instead of the castello Odescalchi, go to Trevi for the Villa Borghese and the Villa Adriana. Save the castello for a port day in Civitavecchia some other time.

 

 

 

Wendy has a good plan.

 

Did you mean to say "go to Tivoli for the Villa d'Este and Villa Adriana"? (Not nitpicking, just for clarity.)

[Sharky61]

Thanks for all the advice - plan A - out. Plan B - a work in progress. It pays to ask :)

[hun]

When in Rome for a week, we really enjoyed taking the train to Ostia Antica for the day.

[marazul]

Did you mean to say "go to Tivoli for the Villa d'Este and Villa Adriana"? (Not nitpicking, just for clarity.)

 

Of course I did. That would be quite a trick if I moved the Borghese to Tivoli!!!! Or the Trevi to the Villa Adriana.

No more posting after 10 pm.

Edited August 2, 2016 by marazul

[Wendy The Wanderer]

When in Rome for a week, we really enjoyed taking the train to Ostia Antica for the day.

 

We would definitely be adding this to our itinerary if we weren't going to be doing Pompeii a few days later while cruising. It sounds fascinating, easily accessible I believe by public transit, although it might be worthy of a guided tour.