<p>I’m going to Rome for the first time (first time in Europe also) with my family. What are some places besides the usual attractions we should check out? Money-saving tips, esp. for meals, are especially welcome. If possible, we’d also like to take a day excursion to Florence, so tips on how to go about doing that would be great. Any good travel guides/websites? I want to read everything about Rome before I go.</p>
<p>i dunno how much you are trying to save on meals, but generally the cheapest options are to go to a grocery store / small market and buy stuff… then you can eat it wherever you want.</p>
<p>You can definitely take a day trip to Florence… there are tons of trains. The ride is about 90 minutes or so (on the eurostar… longer, in the 3 hour range, if you take a slower train). The tickets look like they are roughly $60 each way. European trains are super convenient… drop off / pick up in the middle of the cities.</p>
<p>I recommend you read through the forums on tripadvisor here: [Rome</a> Forum, Travel Discussion for Rome - TripAdvisor](<a href=“http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g187791-i22-Rome_Lazio.html]Rome”>http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g187791-i22-Rome_Lazio.html)</p>
<p>as for places to go… I would make sure to hit all the ancient ruins (you can buy a joint ticket to the colosseum and the forum), the vatican, trevi fountain, castle de saint angelo, the pantheon… also the museo capitolini (i don’t know what this translates to, lol… it has the famous romulus/remus+wolf statue). Spanish steps are also there… though if you are choosing things to skip, I suggest you skip them (they are also in the opposite direction from the ancient stuff)</p>
<p>best time to see trevi fountain is the morning… any other time it is crowded. Can easily spend an entire day at the vatican with the museum.</p>
<p>My favorite place to visit in Rome is really just outside of Rome–Ostia Antica. it is a huge archeological excavation of the old seaport of Rome. It was the least crowded place we went in Italy and the most fascinating. You can walk all over and into the ruins.</p>
<p>My favorite museum in Rome is the Borghese Gallery–the Bernini sculptures are fabulous. Buy your tickets in advance (before you even leave home) to make sure you can get in. And if you go to Florence, buy tickets in advance for the museums there, too. The travel guides I find most helpful are the Rick Steves guides.</p>
<p>This was my favorite side trip while in Rome: [Villa</a> d’Este, Tivoli, (Rome) - Italy - Official Site -](<a href=“http://www.villadestetivoli.info/storiae.htm]Villa”>http://www.villadestetivoli.info/storiae.htm). It is unbelievably beautiful at night. To get an idea, google images. This one has a few photos" <a href=“lifeis.it”>lifeis.it;
<p>Nychomie - My family is going to Rome and Europe for the first time too! We are going to visit Rome and then somehow make our way to Barcelona. I am also looking for travel tips, particularly places to visit, inexpensive lodgings, and suggestions on routes and inexpensive transportation (not cars) between Rome and Barcelona.</p>
<p>DreamMom, my D just did that leg and for her it was cheaper to fly to Barcelona. I’ll try to find her itinerary for the low cost airline they used. </p>
<p>BTW I asked her about the train from Florence to Rome and she was thinking 35-40 euros. (their is a train expert on tripadvisor that advises buying the tickets early. They bought their tickets in Rome about 2 weeks before they used them.)</p>
<p>Rome must be a hot spot! H & I are going to Rome (& Tuscany, Florence, & Milan) in October. We’ve been to Rome once before, so I’m interested in suggestions for things to see/places to go other than the usual. And yes, definitely buy museum tickets before leaving home.</p>
<p>The Vatican Museum, the Borghese Museum, the Forum, the Domus Aurae, the Pantheon, the Baths of Caracalla, and as many churches as you can fit in. That’s where all the great art is. My all-time favorite–Apollo and Daphne–is in the Borghese. There is a fabulous gelato place right by the Pantheon–Della Palme, I think, we walked there EVERY DAY for our fix.</p>
<p>(I’m a Roman history buff, but this is written from memory from my two trips to Rome, so some of the historical dates may be off by a few years)</p>
<p>Gossipy Details Beyond the Guidebooks to Pay Attention to When in Rome:</p>
<p>In The Forum</p>
<p>The Arch of Titus
The Romans built arches to commemorate some great military triumph. The Arc D’ Triomphe in Paris is a modern imitation of a Roman arch that was built by Napoleon. At one end of the Forum is the Arch of Septimius Severus - an emperor who was born in Leptis Magna (modern day Tripoli, Libya) and ruled in the early 200s A.D. At the other end is the Arch of Constantine - the first Christian emperor who lived about a hundred years later than Septimius. But in the middle of the Forum is a smaller but rather neat little arch - the Arch of Titus. </p>
<p>Titus was an able general and was also the son of the emperor Vespasian - a general himself who became emperor in the turmoil that ensued after the assassination of Nero in about A.D. 67. The arch was built to honor Titus’ victory over the Jews from their revolt in AD 68 - 70. As you walk under the arch, notice the carvings on the underside showing soldiers carrying booty out of the temple in Jerusalem - the huge menorah and other Jewish stuff. It was possibly during this sack of the temple that the Ark of Covenant finally disappeared, without which we wouldn’t have had all those Raiders of the Lost Ark movies 2000 years later. The sale of the booty from Jerusalem and the temple helped to finance the construction of the Colosseum, which was started in the reign of Vespasian and completed 8 years later in the reign of Titus. To this day, Jews will not walk under the Arch of Titus since it celebrates the destruction of their temple, which has never been rebuilt. The Wailing Wall in Jerusalem is the last vestige of the temple that Titus’ troops destroyed. </p>
<p>Titus later succeeded his father and became emperor himself. Like his dad he was honest and upright and a good administrator, but he died under possibly mysterious circumstances after only three years in office - the main suspect being his evil younger brother Domitian who succeeded him. The destruction of Pompeii by the eruption of Vesuvius happened during the brief reign of Titus. </p>
<p>The Temple of Antoninus Pius and Faustina
Antoninus Pius was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors who ruled Rome from approximately AD 100 to AD 200 - forming the absolute golden age of ancient Rome. The stalwart Faustina was the emperor’s beloved wife and she actually died first. He built this temple in her honor. When he died some years later his name was added to the inscription as well. They are described as DIVAE and DIVI respectively - the feminine and masculine forms of the Latin for “divine” indicating that both were elevated to be gods after they died. Only psycho emperors like Caligula and Nero had themselves made gods during their own lifetimes. But it soon became routine to deify any halfway good emperor after his death.<br>
Notice the Christian church which was later built right inside the ruins of the pagan temple. It was built in about the 6th century. And those huge bronze doors you see there are the originals, having stood there on their hinges for over 15 centuries</p>
<p>Inscriptions
Notice that many of the ancient inscriptions on arches in the forum and elsewhere contain the abbreviation SPQR. This stands for Senatus PopulusQue Romanum, meaning “(In the name of) The Senate and People of Rome.” It means it has the official stamp of the government. It is still used today - you see it in Rome on modern public works such as manhole covers and fire hydrants. </p>
<p>The Pantheon
Not to be confused with the Parthenon in Athens, the Pantheon is unique in that it is a temple dedicated to all the gods (pan = “all or every” + theos = “god”) instead of honoring the gods one at a time as was the usual custom. The temple you see was built by Hadrian (the third of the Five Good Emperors) to replace an earlier pantheon that burned down. The original was built ~130 or so years earlier by Marcus Agrippa, the emperor Augustus’s favorite general and side kick. The odd thing is that the inscription you see on the front of the building still credits Agrippa and not Hadrian, even though the structure that Agrippa built is long gone. It says: MAGRIPPA FECIT = “M(arcus) Agrippa made this.” (“Fecit” is pronounced “fekit”).</p>
<p>The wonderful thing about the Pantheon is that it is made almost entirely of concrete - very similar in composition to modern concrete. The Romans invented concrete and used it to great advantage. But like much of their advanced technology, the recipe for concrete was lost in the dark ages and was not reinvented for many centuries.
Many scholars believe that the current Pantheon was designed by Hadrian himself, since he was known to be a talented architect. </p>
<p>Hadrian was an interesting character - very talented, very literate. But he didn’t get along with his difficult wife Sabina. All agree that Sabina was a very disagreeable person, but the whole situation was helped by the fact that Hadrian seemed to prefer the company of good-looking young men. His favorite boy-toy was a Greek youth named Antinuous, who died under mysterious circumstances in Egypt during a trip down the Nile with Hadrian. Some suspect that one of Hadrian’s ministers or generals pushed the lad overboard. Some say it was suicide. It’s still a mystery to this day. Hadrian never really recovered from his grief over the loss. At Tivoli, the ruins of Hadrian’s villa outside of Rome, they have dug up dozens of statues of Antinuous in various heroic guises: Antinuous as Pharaoh, Antinuous as Hercules, Antinuous as Apollo, etc.</p>
<p>The amazing thing about the Pantheon is the dome. Thanks to the use of concrete and some very clever design features, it was for centuries the largest unsupported (i.e. no interior columns holding it up) dome in the world from the time it was finished in the second century A.D. until 1965 when the Astro Dome was completed. Engineers in the middle ages were completely baffled as to how the Romans did it. How could that dome possibly stand up? In fact some medieval Church leaders proposed that, since the Pantheon was originally a pagan temple, demons must be holding the dome up. This despite the fact that the Pantheon was converted into a Catholic church in the middle ages. It was the only possible explanation.</p>
<p>The Spanish Steps
If you walk up the Spanish Steps and head to the right, you will pass by the building in which the poet Keats died. It has been made over into a museum to him and some of the other 18th and 19th century literary figures who lived in the Piazza Di Spagna area - Keats, Shelley, Byron, etc.</p>
<p>The Spanish Steps area is a popular hang-out for tourists, especially kids on backpacking tours. Panhandlers there can beg for your money in over a dozen different languages. I once got panhandled in Finnish because I was wearing a “Finland” t-shirt, but he immediately switched to English when he saw I didn’t understand. </p>
<p>Beware of pickpockets there too. In fact, beware of pickpockets all over Rome, especially gangs of little Gypsy kids. They will approach you waving things at you and making a lot of racket to distract you, while they surround you and one of them lifts your wallet. If you see a gang of Gypsy kids approaching, cross to the other side of the street. Do not let them get within 20 feet of you.</p>
<p>Food
You can get great Italian food pretty much anywhere in Rome. Be sure to try a pizza. They do the crust differently there. It’s very thin and crispy, almost like a cracker. Restaurants always give you a basket of great tasting bread called a rosetti - a loaf that is roughly flower-shaped. It is identical to the charred bread found still on the tables of Pompeii, served nearly 2000 years ago.</p>
<p>Also try the linguini in white clam sauce. It’s wonderful in Rome. I’ve searched in vain for years to find a US restaurant that makes it half so good as they make it in Rome. I’m not sure if it is still true, but when I was there it can be hard to find a restaurant open on Sundays. If your hotel doesn’t have food service, you could be pretty much staring at McDonalds. There is one in Piazza Di Spagna. They are probably all over the place by now. Order a “torta de melle calda” and you will get a McDonalds hot apple pie</p>
<p>I envy you for your trip. I love Rome.</p>
<p>Giolitti’s is the wonderful gelato place near the Pantheon. [url=<a href=“http://www.giolitti.it/]GIOLITTI[/url”>http://www.giolitti.it/]GIOLITTI[/url</a>]</p>
<p>While there, check out San Eustachio coffee place (to right of Pantheon as you look at the front of the Pantheon), where Romans stand and drink their (wonderful) coffee. [url=<a href="http://www.santeustachioilcaffe.it/]Sant’Eustachio">http://www.santeustachioilcaffe.it/]Sant’Eustachio</a> Il Caff</p>
<p>This depends on how soon you are going…</p>
<p>The Vatican has a tour of its underground crypt where St. Peter is suppose to be buried. It’s not a tour that is highly publicized because they only take 200 people a day. You have to email the Vatican and ask for tickets. They tend to book up quickly. You get get them 90 days in advance. It was one of the coolest things we did in Rome.</p>
<p>Here’s the link:
[The</a> Vatican Necropolis - Scavi](<a href=“http://saintpetersbasilica.org/Necropolis/ScaviTour.htm]The”>http://saintpetersbasilica.org/Necropolis/ScaviTour.htm)</p>
<p>Don’t miss the Ara Pacis.
[Ara</a> Pacis Museum, Rome, Italy](<a href=“http://www.ara-pacis-museum.com/]Ara”>http://www.ara-pacis-museum.com/)</p>
<p>So much to see in Rome, that I wouldnt bother with a day trip elsewhere, with the exception of nearby Tivoli or Ostia Antica. I’ve been on a half dozen trips to Rome and still I’ve only scratched the surface.
If you enjoy art, try and see all the Caravaggios in Rome. That quest alone will lead you into some fantastic churches and museums. [Caravaggio</a> - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caravaggio]Caravaggio”>Caravaggio - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>Can’t offer the level of scholarship that coureur provided (and thank you, coureur!), but here are a few suggestions:</p>
<p>St. Peter’s: It is well worth it to take the elevator part way up, then climb to the dome. Absolutely incredible view of Rome! Also, you can see the interior of the dome, at a height a little above the inscription, “Tu es Petrus et super hanc Petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam et tibi dabo claves regni caelorum” (“You are Peter and on this rock I shall build my church and I shall give to you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven”–Latin from memory, could be some errors). We got the most incredible photo of the sun shining through the stained glass window of the heaven-descending dove, from the interior of the dome, high up. Also, if you are Christian, visit the crypt.</p>
<p>Additional churches that I’d highly recommend: St. John’s Lateran, the Basilica di San Paolo fuori le Mura (wonderful! and usually not so crowded, even in August), the church of Santa Maria in Trastavere, and Santa Maria Maggiore. There are small churches throughout Rome. I have a memory of one in a little courtyard from a visit about 40 years ago–no idea where it is, but beautiful and quiet.</p>
<p>Aside from the Forum of Augustus, Trajan’s forum is also interesting. There is a fantastic carved column near it, and another column a bit south of the Pantheon (near Santa Maria degli Angeli?), both incredible.</p>
<p>One of the great things about Rome is that you will practically trip over incredible antiquities everywhere you go.</p>
<p>I am very fond of the Ara Pacis (Altar of Peace)–approximately across the river from the Castle St. Angelo. The altar is a large structure–maybe 12-15 feet high, rectangular, open on the interior, with carved panels showing processions; it is in a new museum of a design that has proven somewhat controversial, but it is really impressive and really memorable. Nearby is the Mausoleum of Augustus. Apparently, it was supposed to be overgrown with grass. The contrast between the Mausoleum of Augustus and St. Peter’s is striking.</p>
<p>The Capitoline Museum is very definitely worth a visit of several hours (or longer). One hall has the wolf suckling Romulus and Remus, a Hercules, an emperor on horseback (is it Hadrian? I believe that it was initially thought to be Marcus Aurelius, and so was well preserved, but it turned out to be a different emperor). </p>
<p>The church of Quo Vadis, Domine, out on the Via Appia is interesting symbolically. It is peaceful and less ornate than many others–maintained by an order of Polish nuns. The Via Appia provides a striking contrast to the heart of Rome.</p>
<p>I agree with the suggestion of Ostia Antica–you can reach it easily by train (from the Pyramid station, I think). There are fantastic mosaics there, an amphitheater, and a shop area, as well as apartments. The whole thing gives a great impression of the size of a Roman port city. The large white dogs lying around the ruins are just sleeping!!</p>
<p>A side trip to the Villa d’Este and Hadrian’s Villa is offered by several different tour companies, and it is well worth taking.</p>
<p>For a long time, I have wanted to go to the Caffe Greco for coffee. It is near the Spanish Steps and was apparently visited by Goethe? But it is closed in August. The Sant’ Eustachio mentioned on this thread is another famous locale for coffee. Women in your party may like Babington’s tea room, just to the left of the Spanish Steps, if you are facing the steps. (It is on the expensive side, and has almost exclusively tourists, but it is an old British-style tea room for expatriate Brits.) Also somewhat nearby is a restaurant called Otello’s. When we were there, it seemed to have an Italian family clientele–so quite a nice atmosphere, and not expensive for its location.</p>
<p>The Ferrari shop is in that general area, and offers great modern souvenir items (though expensive).</p>
<p>Finally, do watch out for pickpockets, especially at Termini. They are unbelievably skillful! I was very nearly pickpocketed there, while boarding the Eurostar for Florence. Although the attempt was only partially completed, I had to admire the deftness of the pickpocket–it could very easily have worked, because I noticed nothing until my wallet was about 60% out.</p>
<p>oh yah…I second (or third?) the Pantheon. Possibly the most important and impressive
building in the world.</p>
<p>Just thought of another place: the Largo Argentina
(if you like cats)
Old ruins, well below the modern street level, inhabited by a very large number of cats.</p>
<p>And agreeing with musicamusica and other contributors above: the Pantheon. If you took Latin, you can get a photo of the oculus that is <em>exactly</em> like the one in your Latin book.</p>
<p>Try and see the catacombs. They are really impressive. I never knew that they were so expansive. The last time I was in Rome I was with my 78 year old mother. The catacombs were the one place that she was really amazed with. She loved all of the old beautiful churches. Attending Mass at St. Peter’s was a highlight. However, it was the catacombs that she talked about the most. </p>
<p>When I was in Rome with her, we did the on and off tour bus. There was a bus every hour, so we got to see the things that she wanted to see, and still get a good sense of the city.</p>
<p>Agree that the tour buses are a great way to get an overview of the city, on a first trip. There is a red or yellow hop-on, hop-off bus, which goes to the main sights of the city, and a green bus for archeological stops. The main tour bus is amusing for the anti-Northern European sentiments expressed in the recorded spiel on it. (The Northern Europeans are ruining Trastavere!) You go to a hill overlooking Rome, the Gianiculum (spelling?), where St. Peter was martyred, I believe.</p>
<p>Thanks everybody for your input, especially those who typed up detailed notes. For now, I think want to check out the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Vatican, the catacombs, the baths (of Caracalla?), and Ostia Antica.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, I also heard there are many pickpockets in Rome and daring ones too (supposedly some will even play tug-o-war with your bag).</p>
<p>I second the suggestion for Ostia (my favorite Roman ruins) and Villa d’Este. There used to be great gelato near the Pantheon and the Pantheon itself is of course worth seeing. I like the baroque churches such as [San</a> Carlo alle Quattro Fontane - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Carlo_alle_Quattro_Fontane]San”>San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane - Wikipedia) or [Sant’Ignazio</a> - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sant’Ignazio]Sant’Ignazio”>Sant'Ignazio, Rome - Wikipedia) or [Santa</a> Maria della Vittoria - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_della_Vittoria]Santa”>Santa Maria della Vittoria - Wikipedia) which is particularly memorable because it has the St. Teresa in Ecstasy by Bernini.</p>