Rome?

Don’t use the free wi-fi in the Coliseum.

Beware the purse-snatching gypsies!

If you want to

I always thought Nov or Dec would be a nice time to visit - more comfortable temps, a lot less crowds and start of Christmas season.

I'll never understand why people go during the Summer. The only place to go in the Summer is the Nordic countries IMO.

I'll never understand Xmas tourism, R4

Evidently, R5 has a functional family.

We were there last in late November before a cruise to Florida. The weather was perfect (60’s - 70’s) and it wasn’t nearly as crowded. You could walk up to the Trevi Fountain. The Borghese Gardens were spectacular, too.

R5 - I'm not talking about going to Rome for the Christmas lights - but Christmas decorations makes every city more lively during the winter. OP is going early Dec - not Xmas week. It just happens to be there during that time.

I would think early December would be one of the best times to go - very few people take vacations then - anywhere in the world.

Isn't this year supposed to be crazy, in Rome in particular, due to the Catholic Church Jubilee (or whatever it's called)?

R9, it was supposed to be, but I was in Rome twice this year and didn't find it overwhelming as had been predicted. Many media accounts reported smaller than expected Jubilee (every 25 years) crowds.

Rome is crowded with tourists always in recent years, but it's a relative handful of sites that get the throngs, while a lot of other tourist attractions are easily visited and navigated, often with galleries to yourself or nearly so.

The beauty of Rome never disappoints.

[quote]I'll never understand Xmas tourism,

Why exactly?

It's a great time to visit an Italian city. In December, the towns and cities of Italy are lively, beautifully decorated and in full swing with cultural events.

[quote]I'll never understand Xmas tourism,

It can be great. We went to Vienna and Budapest over Christmas back in 2022. It was beautiful, though a little cold. Vienna had snow flurries every day, but it just added to the atmosphere, with Christmas markets and all the beautiful music. We saw La Bohème on Christmas day in Budapest. I'm glad we did it, and it was a wonderful trip, but I did miss Christmas at home too.

Have you been to Rome before OP? I lived there for two years (Florence now) and can give you a ton of suggestions. I just had a bunch of family come in for my birthday through Rome. So I stopped down there to play tour guide for a couple of days.

Rome is a beautiful city to discover on foot, it just unfolds in front of you. Just spend a day to wander around. You really don't have to pay for any guided tours because you can see everything pretty much for free, everything from the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica to the Roman Forums. You shouldn't be contending with too many lines at that time of year, so I would pay the 5euros just to step inside the Pantheon.

If you were going to pay for anything, I always advise people to go to the Galleria Borghese. It is a beautiful museum with Caravaggio and Bernini pieces. It's small enough to really take it in without becoming fatigued like you might at the Vatican Museum.

Rome is HUGE by foot with seven famous hills, but there are more than that. Wearing comfortable shoes you can walk around in. You will be doing a lot of walking. I would definitely check out Trastevere, but go deeper in. If you are there on a Sunday, and want a real Roman experience, I would check out the Porta Portese open air flee market just south of Trastevere. I'd check out Pigneto if you like a hipstery Friday night bar hop.

You'll read a lot of the same recommendations from the million travel content pages focusing on Rome. So I am trying to give you some very off the beaten path stuff you might not come across. The street art in San Lorenzo, lunch at the top of Rinescente.

OH, and the churches in Rome are the most beautiful ones you will see. They are museums in and of themselves. Just any random church, just wander in. They are free and their beauty is unmatched. I like San Pietro in Vincoli. They have the chains that supposedly held Peter and they have Michelangelo's massive Moses sculpture. My favorite thing is that they have a 400+ year old organ that costs just 2 euros to play for about 15 minutes. Whenever I go, I pay for that and then just walk around taking everything in.

As far as food, there are a ton of places, but finding good ones isn't as easy as you would think. There are four Roman pastas and you might as well try them all while you are there, (well at least 3) - Amatriciana, Carbonara, Al Gricia and Cacio e Pepe. Roscioli, even though on everyone's list as an amazing Carbonara. Have lunch at the classic Matriciana. I adore La Taverna Fori Imperiali with Claudia and Aldo (brother and sister who took over family restaurant). And definitely get aperitivo at Ciampini over by the Louis Vuitton. In December you'll have to try their hot chocolate they are famous for. But that spot is a little enclave right in the heart of the city. Real Italians, monied Italians go there with their families. It's great people watching and a fun experience.

I could go on. If I think of anything else I'll let you know. So for any typos, I don't have time to proofread. But if you have any questions, just ask.

OP, why did you put a question mark after “Rome”?

OP, I have the best advice. You’re going in December? That gives you five months to learn Italian. If you can carry on basic conversations, it will totally transform your experience there. And Italian is relatively speaking an easy language for English speakers to learn.

Oops

Italian is, relatively speaking, an easy language for English speakers to learn.

Non sono sicuro. Italiano è abbastanza difficile. Ci vogliono più di cinque mesi per avere una conversazione, anche se è solo di base.

actually if you're going to Rome you just have to learn - Daje!. Cazzo! or Che Cazzo Fai? or Sticazzi! or 'Taci Tuoi! and wave you're hands around a bunch.

Very true, R17. But it's always nice to be able to speak the basics, (please, thank you, excuse me, I'd like, etc). Every country I've been to always appreciated the attempt. The only place I didn't try was SE Asia. We always had a tour guide. We did smile, nod, and say thank you when the occasion arose.

Italians will usually go out of their way to help you if you don't speak Italian.

Italy is not France.

Yes, r19, learning basic things is easy enough. And Italians do appreciate it. I was just pointing out you will not be having "conversations" at any level after five months. You can and should learn pleasantries as you pointed out. And two things on top of that, anytime you enter and leave store, acknowledge whoever is working. Buongiorno, Salve or Ciao - the Good day, Hello or Hi of their world. I always just say Salve if it's that odd in-between early afternoon time. No one says Buon pomeriggio, and they usually start saying buonasera around 3pm.

R13 Many thanks for these great tips and insights!

Apparently there are people called Vandals who damaged the city recently. They are violent Germans. Be careful!

La dolce Vita

Invest in comfortable walking shoes that don’t look like sneakers. Italians are still very well-dressed and invest in footwear.

Lose 10 pounds before your trip so you can gain it back on your trip.

[quote]Lose 10 pounds before your trip so you can gain it back on your trip.

You will not gain it back on your trip.

You will gain it back when you are back in the USA.

R13, are you the one defending Meloni in several threads? If not, sorry.

Op, the capitolini museum is great and wil be mostly emprty. You can follow to the roman forumn, weather permitting. It is a city never exhausted, will be going myself on November. M sorry that i will miss the Caravaggio exhibition. Eat well.

Ya gotta love Americans pointing fingers at Meloni....

He has a weird-shaped head like Bert on Sesame Street.

Tickets for almost any museum, historic site, or exhibition may be bought in advance online. Take some pains to know that you are buying from the official site, not one of the myriad repackagers and resellers who offer more expensive and occasionally counterfeit or worthless tickets. There is no universal site for all tickets, you will have to do some poking around.

The Vatican Museums and the (much easier) Pantheon are crawling with people, there is no way to avoid them other than timing the visit well, even then you will feel herded like cattle at some point at least. But both are incomparable experiences, if you don't know these spaces, make the point to see them. There are some special tours of the Vatican Museums, including at an ungodly early tour where the key keeper of the museums unlocks the door to an empty Sistine Chapel, they are expensive, but more than that beware that they are guided tours and usually only two hours in length (six or eight hours is required to see most of the museum at a brisk but reasonably thorough pace), so make sure you can jump from your guided tour to a self-tour at some point.

Next I would prioritize the Palazzo Barberini/Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica and the Galeria Borghese. See them on separate days if you can. Both have phenomenal collections in beautiful settings. Also on a separate day, plan to see the Capitolino museums, a cluster of fantastic buildings and equal collections from which you have some of the best views of Rome.

There are untold tours of greatly varying quality it would seem of the Colosseum and the Foro Romano, though it's quite possible to get an excellent view for free and without a tour.

If you have a serious appetite for paintings and for marble busts, the Palazzo Altemps is a more intimate experience in a beautiful museum you will largely to itself. It's near the beautiful Via dei Coronari that extends to the Tiber with a view of the brooding and atmospheric Castel Sant'Angelo (Hadrian`s mausoleum). Also recommended for sculpture and architecture, a sister institution to the Palazzo Altemps (your admission is good both places) Museo Nazionale Romano and Palazzo Massimo created from the impressive ruins of the Diocletian Baths (near the Termini Station), again you see only a handful of other visitors on a busy day.

If you want to see a private palazzo, I recommended the Palazzo Colonna or the Palazzo/Galleria Doria Pamphilj. Each has its own reservation system, but the architecture and collections are more than impressive.

There seem to be some decent tour companies that specialize in architecture, or the legitimate arcana of the streets of Rome. There are also many that seem in the business of herding cattle and passing along the most basic of information and some misinformation. Take some care if selection a tour provider if you go that route.

I've been to Rome many times and for at least a week or a few weeks each time. If you are fascinated with art, architecture, or history, it's a glorious and almost inexhaustible place whether to tick off lists at breakneck pace or to see a few exhibits and simply wander about. It's a sprawling city, but easy to manage if you make some effort to avoid huge amounts of backtracking. Avoid influencers' lists of restaurants and the "Top Ten Best Cacio e pepe in Rome" advice, instead look for Google reviews, written in Italian, by people describing a local favorite. If you see a guy standing in front of a restaurant with a menu in hand keep walking a couple blocks until you don't see the hawkers.

As said, a few Italian words of greeting and courtesy go very far. The population of Italy is 60M and there are maybe 75M Italian speakers in the world; no one is going to expect that you have mastered the world's 26th most popular language. A great many Italians speak English or some basic English and there's always someone near who does speak English. Even if they don't, a question for directions or whatever is usually met with kindness and a desire to help.

[quote]Take some pains to know that you are buying from the official site, not one of the myriad repackagers and resellers who offer more expensive and occasionally counterfeit or worthless tickets. There is no universal site for all tickets, you will have to do some poking around.

My trick for doing this is just to google the place you are looking for and go to the google maps contact info that pops up. The Google Maps description will have the official site for whatever it is you want to see.

R27, no I am not the person defending Meloni on other threads.

Stay at The Hotel Locarno near the Piazza del Popolo. It's my (and Isabella Rossellini's) favorite hotel.

and if not The Hotel Locrano, try the 15 Keys Hotel in Monti. Monti is a great area as a jumping off base. You can really walk anywhere from there or just stay in the neighbourhood. There are a lot of great shops and restaurants. It is the originally suburb and where Julius Caesar was born. It is Rione 1 for Rome. There are only 15 rooms and the rooms are setup more like apartments than hotel rooms. I have stayed there a couple of times, and they have a great staff, great breakfast in the morning. It's usually rated one of the best boutique hotels in room. But it's not stuffy.

R33 - R32 Lovely designer places but those prices are crazy. You can do so much better in Rome. Do they have Italian clientele or just well-heeled foreign tourists?

Check out the monastary stays for a cool genuine experience. Or the small family owned hotels.

I think u can pick up some cheap Persian trade in one of the plazas

[quote] Check out the monastary stays for a cool genuine experience.

Names and/or links please. Thanks.

[quote[ try the 15 Keys Hotel in Monti.

At over $800 a night, you have to be nuts.

[quote] try the 15 Keys Hotel in Monti.

At over $800 a night, you have to be nuts.

We flew to Rome in February and it was nice because there were fewer crowds meaning shorter lines. Rome is special to us because 15 years ago we bought our rings at the Cartier store on the Via Condotti (sort of the Rodeo Drive of Rome) and exchanged them at the top of the Spanish steps. We go back every 5 years to celebrate. If you’re a fan of the film “Roman Holiday” you should take a tour of the Palazzo Colonna. It’s where they filmed the last scene in which Gregory Peck walks down the gorgeous art filled gallery after saying goodbye to Audrey Hepburn. We’re crazy about that movie so we we’re thrilled to be in that room. It is also one of the last palazzos still inhabited by the original family. When we toured their gardens we saw one of the Colonna family walking through his gardens all in black. If you’re looking for an authentic Roman Italian restaurant go to Ristorante ‘34’. It’s a family owned and operated restaurant that’s authentic. There’s not a Cacio Pepe on the menu! All in all - try not to cram your visit with so much that you can’t enjoy the simple beauty and atmosphere that is Roma. Have a fabulous time!

I find it very odd that Giulietta Massina would be asking for tips on what to do in Rome.

Go in August and stay in a pensione without air conditioning.

Get the train out to Ostia Antica, which was the ancient port of Rome. It is a huge site with well preserved buildings, giving you a real sense of what life was like. Many of the buildings have mosaics showing the businesses that traded there. If you are into Ancient Roman history you will love it.

$800 a night? Wow! I didn’t know. We stayed there four years ago when we moved to Italy and were looking for an apartment. It was hardly that expensive. But they have been winning a lot of awards, so the price has gone up. It was during the end of Covid and it was barely $250 a night. We actually found out we were the FIRST guest to stay there after opening back up after Covid.

Anyone been to Castel Gandolfo, slightly outside of Rome? It's the summer papal palace & apparently our new Pope is hanging out there

[quote] I always thought Nov or Dec would be a nice time to visit - more comfortable temps, a lot less crowds and start of Christmas season.

With the exception of foggy Venice, I found Italy to be pretty mopey and lifeless in December.

R45, if you come closer to Christmas, it is absolutely beautiful with the cities lit up stem to stern with Christmas lights and all of the Holiday Markets. The lights usually get turned on around Immaculate Conception, which this year is Dec. 8. Florence is like a jewelry box. Rome is similar except it is more spread out with concentrated areas of lights. But in general, the Christmas season is really beautiful in Italy.

.... if you want to

Maybe abstain from making cartwheels in the interrogation room if you get arrested for something?

Search the underground catacombs for hookups.

I had good luck in the Roman forum.

Somebody mentioned it but I have to second it. The museum at Villa Borgese. Jaw dropping. I went years ago so I just bought my ticket and walked in. Two hour time limit but I didn't know. I had done only the first floor in those two hours and there was a whole other floor. I was furious. Everybody left but me. I was alone with the guard who was telling me to leave. I started arguing with him in Italian very angrily. In such a typical Italian gesture he shrugged his shoulders looking at me like I was Un Pazzo! Probably my bad Italian. Anyway he walked away and I went upstairs. I was completely alone and for two hours all that great art was mine.

But now plan in advance and get tickets!

Sorry Villa Borghese. I should know better.

One advice regarding Roman homos – don't. Preening, vicious mama's boys. Just don't.

Oh, and the traffic's the shittiest in Europe, with some possible exceptions in the Balkans. I've never heard so much honking in my entire life as I did in one day in Rome. They hunt pedestrians with cars over there, like people in other countries hunt wild game.

Advice: invest half an hour a day to learn Italian. To even know just a little Italian (which you will manage by Dec if you start now) will give you more cultural insight and more connection than anything else. Watch a couple of history documentaries about Rome, Italian music, architecture, art history etc to establish a solid grid. Then, find out what interests you in particular. Are you a movie history buff who wants to retrace the places where the scenery lent itself to famous movies? Are you interested in church history. In sculptures, in architecture or are you a foodie? Whatever it isz be openminded but dive deeper in what interests you in particular and you will find out what you want to see when you'll finally get there.

I had a Roman friend with a vespa. We were Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck(platonic, he was straight) and he took me to visit most of the fountains of Rome. We were weaving in and out of traffic at a hectic pace without helmets. An unbelievably exhilarating experience.

Check out this lovely small hotel at the top of the Spanish Steps. It was years ago, but I loved it.

I went to Rome and Naples in December a couple years ago. The Vatican Christmas tree looks beautiful lit up in St. Peter's Square and the crowds are thinner when the sun goes down.

RomeWise is an excellent YouTube channel for helpful tips and trip planning.

[quote] With the exception of foggy Venice, I found Italy to be pretty mopey and lifeless in December.

Naples was extremely crowded and lively when I was there over Christmas. It's not for everyone, but I thoroughly enjoyed visiting all the churches to see their amazing presepe (nativity scenes).

R56 I don't even want to look at the prices now. I would cry. But it looks wonderful.

You can get a table at the best restaurants in Milan, since the rich folks take off early for the Dolomites.

The prices do give me pause. We stayed at the Eden by the Spanish Steps ten years ago. About 300€ a night then but it had a great reputation and it’s a great location. Great restaurant, too, with gorgeous views.

I just looked at their website. $1265 a night during the first week of December, a slow time of year.

Rome hotels can be very expensive, but there seems to be quite a wide range of prices for an interesting range of options, much more range in both accommodations and price than in other cities.

If a hotel has been featured in a Conde Nast list of Top Ten or so much as mentioned in a popular publication, the price will be hefty indeed. But often there are other 4-star quality rooms with much character -the equal or better than the Best Of lists- at very attractive prices. But Rome takes a lot of hunting around if you don't want you pay >€600 a night for the simplest room in a well-known place.

$1265 a night during the first week of December, a slow time of year.

Now I'm weeping.

OP Check out Duca D'Alba. I had a cousin stay there recently and she enjoyed it. It is in the heart of Monti, so it's every easy access to everything walking and here is a metro stop there too. Or Hotel Palatino I have heard was nice in the same area. Although it was the exact hotel the first cases of Covid in all of Italy were reported. I remember walking past there every day and thinking that. But overall it seems like a nice place. The Covid wasn't their fault.