Hey all

Going to Rome in April for 10 days. Any recommendations on hotels and must see places??? LOVE history!! Any hidden gems? Thanks in advance!

Cindy
I highly recommend reading Dan Brown’s “Angels and Demons” before you go. It makes a lot of places, including the Vatican, so much more interesting! I also read historical fiction “John” and “The Last Disciple “ which gives incredible insight into what went on in the Colosseum. I don’t remember which one of the two went into such vivid description but I’m sure it would say on the jacket. Or find another book along these lines. You won’t regret it!!

Cindy I was just thinking I want to read books with history in them!!! Thanks so much!!

Depending on when in April, a couple of things to consider....if you are there over Easter break, Easter is April 12 and will coincide with Spring break. This happened to us last year and we adjusted some plans because of it. If your hotel is anywhere on the processional route from the Vatican to the Coliseum on Good Friday, you will be locked in place. We left that day and took the train to Florence. Line ups will be very long, even the pay ahead lines were minimum an hour wait or longer. The Vatican has many closure times to the public over Easter weekend, plan accordingly if that is on your list. We mistakenly went 3 times and waited in lines before we were turned away because of shortened hours or closures. I understand that people did not get correct info from tour companies, but we were there last year and we experienced the closures. Do your research. I had been there a number of times but it was my nieces first time. If I had it to do with her again, I would have planned to not be there over easter break, unless thats your hope.

Darlene we are arriving April 9th and leaving the 20th. Would any of the Easter activities or closures be around then? Thanks so so much for the tips!!

Amanda, yes, if you are there over Easter there will be times that the Vatican will not be open to visitors and some places will be challenging to get to on Good Friday during the processional on that route form Coliseum to Vatican.

This is a beautiful place to stay! Absolutely my fav place to stay in Rome. Tell Lili I said hi

Depending on your style, when I went I felt 7 days in Rome was too long, my max would be 3-4 days to see everything, so I would suggest day trips you can catch by train or heading to Florence for a few days which is amazing, Tuscany as well.

I walked around every day when I was there, with no direction, and was amazed EVERYWHERE I ended up. But of course the Coliseum!

This tour is a lot of fun. My friends and I did the twilight Trastevere one and LOVED it. We also did an early access into the Sistine Chapel - totally worth it.
https://www.eatingeurope.com/rome/

Also, buy advance tickets to everything possible. The queues for just purchasing tix are ridiculous. (And refuse to be rushed through St. Peter's. The security tries to move people through their one-way system but stay as long as you need to.)

When we arrive in a new city we book the big red bus tour, or similar, this gives us an idea of where everything is in proximity to our hotel , then we go back and see the things that really interested us. They are reasonably priced and have different day options
otherwise I use trip advisor to look and plan , search the forums they have good advice . I’ve booked tickets standing in line for attractions and paid less, or bypassed the line with my tickets on my phone. Lots of places have free internet so you don’t have to turn your on . Some places like the Vatican you’ll want to book before you go , lines were long last year do go with lots of time to spare , have a great time , it’s a beautiful city

I’d say get out of the city and visit the towns. So special.

Go walk the Via Appia. There was something really special about walking on a road that was built over 2000 years ago.

At night take a walk down to the Fume (river) it’s an amazing area full of shops tourists restaurants and it’s all along the river. Been there twice and found this on my last day. Wish I found it earlier. So to see

San Clemente is a wonder to behold. Three layers of excavated buildings. And inexpensive to tour.

I was there in 2014 and found Wed. was a good day for the Vatican. In the morning the Pope is in the square speaking to the masses so it’s not too busy inside. As soon as he is finished it becomes very crowded inside.

And make sure your shoulders and knees are covered or the Swiss Guard will not let you enter the chapel. All churches have this rule and you can find scarf vendors near a lot of them.

Roma Boutique hotel. We've stayed there twice now and LOVE it.

Spend the money and take a guided tour of both the Coliseum and the Forum, it's worth it to have the tour guide!

Church of St Peter in Chains.

Also airbnb is way cheaper than the hotels. But if you get a hotel, find something close to Trevi fountain, pantheon area or colosseum cause you know public transportation is close.

I'm heading back September for my 4th visit to Rome. You can't get enough of this place. This time we stay at an airbnb and it's by the Colosseum. Last few times we stayed out of the way for about $200 a night compared to airbnb at more than half that.

Heyyy, us too! Gonna steal some of these ideas.

Sienna. Orvieto

Hotel Golden

Definitely take their metro but be very cautious for pickpockets. If you can, take in a football (soccer) game. It really is like nothing else.

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Gallerie Borghese is so amazing - make sure you go there. Colosseum night tour is great (watch for pick pockets). Make sure you stay close to the subway as that is only real way to get around.

I really second the Borghese Gallery. Despite having been to gallery after gallery, this was our last stop and we were amazed at the Bernini sculptures. Book ahead a times slot - our hotel did it for us.

You HAVE to book this one early!!!!

Italy walking tours of Pompeii!!! It’s a full day outing but worth it.

You will love it. We stayed in an awesome vrbo near the Coliseum complete with AC and garden patio. I assume you know all the big sites and recommend seeing them all. We followed a Rick Steeves walk that included Piazza Navarro and Pantheon ( awesome ice coffee shop near that's to die for). Also amazing pizza place near Vatican I saw on Anthony Bourdain .

In April the line ups are pretty reasonable. We too did a self tour bus which you catch at the major bus station in Rome. You pay about $40 and jump off and on the bus at every major touristic spot. You get earphones and a self guided tour. The signage when you take this bus is excellent and you have all day to get on and off the bus with your ticket. Its great, its cheap, its at your own pace and no crowds. Go to the coliseum tour and walk the forum you'll love it! It's a little bit extra but pay the bit extra to see it! Enjoy

The Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel, along with St. Peter's is a great tour - we used Angel Tours and found them phenomenal. Our daughter used them last year and other relatives this September and had only good to say about them. They can be booked ahead of time online.

Get the Omni card from Costco. It's your best investment. You will have to go to the church (via public transportation) and get the card activated. It includes the Vatican and basilica and a couple other big tours. You skip the long line to the Colosseum. You book that ahead. You can use it for the Borghese gallery again book it when you are activating the cards. You get the hop on off the whole time the card is activated. It's great. $150 for 3 days and all this is included.
For the Vatican, we motored through there then after go into the main square to get to the Basilica to see the mummified past popes. There is a skip the long line there too. It's worth the wait to go through.
The pantheon is great to visit, go in the morning cause they close for a couple hours in the afternoon .... But stay there for lunch cause they end up with entertainers playing in the square.
Take a day trip and enjoy the almalfi coast, breaks up the vast amount of walking and the sites are beautiful and different from Rome. I love Roma tours is a good one for these days trips.

Tour people lied all the time about when everything closed. Eg the last Vatican tour is 2:30 or the Coliseum closes at 6 :30. Luckily we found out that they were lying but they were very convincingly. The hop on hop off bus will show you a lot. 3 days in Rome is lots. The people are very rude pointing and saying over there and walking away, even airline pilots in the airport if you asked where something was. It was never " over there". Unless it was way to far to possibly see. Not a nice people!!!

https://foodtoursofrome.com/ this food tour was a highlight from our three weeks in italy. Loads of history and amazing food!!