The Wingfield's Tips on Rome

For some reason, we know of a lot of people going to Rome in the coming months. I decided to just type up our suggestions 1. to help others plan their trip and 2. so I don't have to repeat them several times :)

Keep in mind that we did this trip in January when there were no lines. If you are going during a busier season you might want to do better research about if signing up for a tour would help you get to the front of the line faster. We were there for four full days and that was plenty. I was tired of touring and spending money by the end of it. However, there are so many things to do, we could easily fill another trip if we went back again. Be very, very aware of pickpockets. The night before we left I was having wine with five other girlfriends. Of the five girls, four of them had been pick pocketed while in Rome. The pickpockets are professionals and know exactly how to slip their hands all around without you noticing.

Hotel: We stayed at a great hotel that I would highly recommend – The Hotel Montecarlo www.hotelmontecarlo.it It was not right in the middle of town, but it had very fair rates, was nicer than the typical shoebox European hotel we usually stay in, included a free (but not spectacular) breakfast, and was close to both metro lines (and the main train station).

Metro: Rome does not have a great metro system because every time they try to build more they run into ruins and have to stop the process. That being said, we did use it at least twice a day to get around. Apparently the bus system is good, but we never tried to figure it out, we just walked. We just bought a 1-euro metro ticket each time we needed it, and in hindsight we were glad we didn’t waste money buying the three-day ticket.

Sights:
The Coliseum was definitely worth a visit. Do not buy a tour from outside the gates, but instead enter the gates and take one of the tours the coliseum offers (3.50 per person compared to 11 outside). Look up online ahead of time to see when they offer English tours (it’s about once an hour, at least during the mornings). Also be alert that you might be able to walk to the front of the line if you are buying a tour ticket rather than just a regular entrance ticket. Palatine Hill is right next to the Coliseum and is included in the ticket price for the Coliseum. We didn’t think it was that great, but since it was included we went to it for 10 minutes. If you bought the slightly cheaper ticket for just the Coliseum and skipped Palatine, you wouldn’t really be missing anything. The Roman Forum (as opposed to a few other forums in town) is basically a football field’s worth of ruins and crumbled columns. It is right next to the Coliseum and is free. If you have time to spare, you could go to both of these but if you are in a rush, you won’t really miss that much.

Seeing the Vatican Museum and St. Peter’s Basilica took us the better part of a day, by the time we got there, bought tickets and wandered around (and we didn’t have to wait in a long line at either place). Take the metro there and get off at the Ottaviano stop. The Vatican Museum was good but had the worst map in the world. It was very hard to figure out if we had seen everything or not. We rented the audio guides and that was a good choice. See if any travel book has a good map of the museum and you might not be as frustrated as we were. The Sistine Chapel was good but crowded. There are a pizza shop and a cafeteria in the museum if you don’t want to waste time leaving Vatican City for lunch. We did not do the Vatican Gardens just because we didn’t have time. The Pope might give a mass or a blessing on a certain day, but I am not sure when.

St. Peter’s Basilica was incredible and free. Be aware that you need to cover your shoulders and there is some rule about how short your shorts can be to enter. We did rent an audio guide and it had long descriptions on all the different sculptures – count on an hour or hour and a half if you want to listen to most of the information. *Check the times of when it and the climb to the top close. Climbing to the top gave good views but it was a lot of stairs (about 300, even if you pay 2 euros extra for an elevator to skip some stairs) and I imagine it would be really hot in the summer.

The Villa Borghese was the perfect museum. It had a wide variety of types of art but was not so big that you got overwhelmed. You must reserve tickets online before you go, usually at least a week in advance, because they only let in a certain number of people at a time, in two-hour blocks. This helps to ensure that it is never overly crowded. Get the audioguide. Give yourself enough time to get there b/c you have to walk a ways from the metro through the park.

The Spanish Steps were not that great, but worth a visit.
Trevi Fountain was really pretty to see – a definite must.
The bridge in front of Castel Sant’ Angelo was pretty but we didn’t go into the actual Castel.

Another good half day activity is to wander around near the Campo de Fiori and especially Piazza Navona. It was really fun to walk around the neighborhoods there and get a true Italy feel. From there walk to the Pantheon. There was no entry fee there and it only took about 10 minutes to get the feeling for the whole thing.

Two incredible churches to visit near the Pantheon were the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi and the Gesu Church. Definitely see them.


Food and Drinks:
My friend Beth sent us a great list of places. We weren't able to make it to them all, but here are her suggesions.
A great wine bar and restaurant that was right near the Trevi Fountains was Il Chianti.
Via del Lavatore, 81
www.vineriailchianti.com

On the Piazza Navona get drinks or gelato at the Tre Scalinin (Piazza Navona 30)
T
here's also this other restaurant my mom and I went to for lunch one day that was simply wonderful. They have a restaurant section and also a pizza buffet, which is supposed to be very, very good. (They also have a bunch of restaurants right there, an osteria, which serves traditional Roman food, and a seafood place that also have a cool winebar/café):
‘Gusto Piazza Augusto Imperatore , 9 http://www.frommers.com/destinations/rome/D33611.html

This is a hip hangout for dinner near Repubblica that my parents and I found the last time we were in Rome. We went back this second time, and it was as amazing as we remembered. Very good food. Very pretty people.
Target
Via Torino, 33

For a cheap lunch on the go: Antico Forno Marco Roscioli Via dei Chiavari, 34 http://www.anticofornoroscioli.com/Roscioli_Eng/homepage_eng.htm
This is just a little food store near Campo di Fiori, but they are famous for their pizza bianco (white pizza), which is pretty much just bread -- but AMAZING bread. I ate it for lunch one day. They also have pizza by the kilo, like Mama Roma. People apparently come from all over Rome for their pizza. Closed Sunday

For a great lunch, you can also try their main restaurant, just down the street:
Antico Forno RoscioliVia dei Giubbonari 21 http://www.diningcity.com/rome/ristoranteanticofornoroscioli21/index_eng.jsp Their cacio e pepe pasta is the best I had in Rome -- and I ate it everywhere! Closed Sunday

And my favorite gelato place (near the Trevi Fountain): San Crispino Via Panetteria,42 http://www.ilgelatodisancrispino.com/