Hi everyone
i am going to Rome at the end of November, :)
wondered if any of you had been and could recommend places to visit besides the obvious. ???
Cheers
CK
Eldest daughter went in July. She loved it and did all the usual things.. Coliseum etc. She also took her book by Dan Brown.... Angels and Demons, and visited all the places mentioned in the story line.
Yes we have been to Rome 4 times WONDERFUL i shall PM you tomorrow CK. :)
Rome is wonderful am very jealous. I went on an A level art trip (little while ago now!). There is the ancient ruins of an old town on the outskirts which used to be the main port in roman times - I cannot for the life of me think what it is called - can anyone help me out?!
Depending on if you have a spare day it is well worth the visit, we spent 3 days there drawing and generally soaking up the atmosphere. Parts of the old ampitheatre, latrines, some houses etc.. are still partially intact etc.. so you can get a real sense of the old city.
Or - you could check out the new TV series - not sure how much of a resemblance it has! ;D
I only did a day. Get the equivilent of a daily travel card. Good fun. Don't eat near the Vatican as it's twice the price of anywhere else.
Go to the Vatican...
been to Rome but did not get there, missed out, others did and it was the highlight (no matter re religion)
The Vatican without a doubt =- allow at least one full day tho and take your time, first time we "did it" ourselves but went back with a guide and found that much better.
The Villa Borghese too - the gardens are fantastic. but the most unusal trip was to the Catacombs - different - and, again, as with the Vatican, it didn't matter that we are not religious.
Just sit down somewhere (doesn't have to be a seat!!) and watch the world go by.............
Surprisingly the obvious are enough to keep you occupied! Consider that Rome has three elements, the Roman Empire, and the Renaissance element, with the religious side as well ...
Have a wonderful time !
Derekthefox :D
Quote from: BAGGY on October 25, 2005, 22:21:05
Don't eat near the Vatican as it's twice the price of anywhere else.
Would agree with that, and what we had was awful compared with everywhere else!
OH and I had a wonderful time wandering through the area around the Piazza Navona, just soaking up the atmosphere.
Watch yourself if you take the bus though, OH caught someone trying to pick his pocket.
Have a great time!
give the collosseum a miss. it's not worth it, in my opinion! and not cheap, either. i wish we had spent the time we wasted there exploring the palatine hill (??) instead - it's next to the forum romanum which is also deffo worth a visit.
bring good walking shoes and give the bus and tube system a miss - rome is not that big and you can walk most places no problem. bring time. you can always bus or tube back at the end of the day when the feet hurt. :)
the forum augustinum (??) is also lovely - it's the old market place (forum romanum being a more gentrified politcal venue)
for renaissance stuff, go to piazza navona, the pantheon (marvel of concrete engineering way back when), trevi fountain etc
dont forget to dance on the roof of st peter's :) if you want to see the vatican museum collection then be there at 10am - i think it's only open from 10 til 1pm every day (or something like that!)
once you are on the vatican side of the river, stroll down towards travestere - there is a gorgeous church there called santa maria in trastevere (i think) which has the most amazing romanesque mosaics! much much prettier than renaissance stuff! and the little square outside with the fountain is cute too. lovely restaurants also in trastevere.
if you are going for a special occasion (we did for our honeymoon), you might want to contemplate bankrupting yourself with a meal at the five star Hassler hotel (rooftop restaurant - atop the spanish steps) which has a lovely view over rome and excellent food - we dined in the company of some cadinals etc - but bring an empty credit card! it was a lovely ending to our trip though :)
we spent four days there which was about right timewise. have fun :)
If you manage to make a trip outside of Rome I strongly recommend a trip to a garden called Ninfa. Beautiful place. It is a 50 minute train journey from Rome, but well worth it! I worked in the gardens there 3 years ago and fell in love with the place. Got a feeling the gardens are only open from April to October...shame. Oh well I strongly recommend it to anyone visiting during those dates!
http://www.italyheaven.co.uk/lazio/ninfa.html
Was there for a week in August 2000 - can't wait to go back.
I preferred Trevi Fountain after dark - kitsch but who cares? All the fountains are wonderful - look out for them on street corners they seem to be everywhere and most are fed by springs.(We refilled our water bottles at them every day)
We took a short train trip (less than an hour if memory serves) to Frascati one evening where we wandered round the town and sampled the local vino. I assume we got the train back later... ??? :-\ ;)
I reckon the best way to see the city is to just get lost in it - try to keep map in pocket and follow your nose - i remember stumbling upon wonderful churches (I'm not remotely religious) little shops and remains of ancient buildings - you can't get too far from civilisation so just explore.
Enjoy enjoy enjoy :)
Licorice ice cream. mmmm
Use taxi driver recommendations re eating - found brill places each time have been.
Walk and then taxi back to hotel - you get further - and they are an experience ...
Trastevere is great for meandering on foot.
See whatever major sites you fancy, but there can be nasty queues.
Look out for beggar children who will rob you if you get too close.
If you are there for a week or more - Pompeii is mind boggling.
Just enjoy it.
Thanks everyone for your comments
i am really looking forward to it now..pity there are several weeks of work in between now and then! Still, just bought some stuff for the lot, so that should keep me busy till i go!
::)
CK
Quote from: daisymay on October 25, 2005, 21:35:28
Rome is wonderful am very jealous. I went on an A level art trip (little while ago now!). There is the ancient ruins of an old town on the outskirts which used to be the main port in roman times - I cannot for the life of me think what it is called - can anyone help me out?!
It used to be called Ostia in Roman times. Dunno what it is now.