Three days in Rome is the right amount. One day and you see the highlights and nothing else, two days means sprinting, and four starts to drag for most people. I first came to Rome in 1995, and I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been back since. Three days is the length I keep returning to: it gives you the city’s essentials, the Vatican, the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the great squares and fountains, at a pace where you can still stop for a long lunch and watch Rome go by.
You won’t see everything, but you’ll see the highlights if you plan well. This is the exact itinerary Jess and I follow when we’re showing someone Rome for the first time, and plenty of readers have written in over the years to say it held up for them too.
Jess and I in St Peter’s Square. We’ve been coming back to Rome together for years, and the city still pulls us in every time.
This guide lays out each day as a logical route, so you’re not wasting time crisscrossing the city. Day 1 keeps you in the walkable historic centre, Day 2 is the Vatican, and Day 3 is Ancient Rome.
After the itinerary itself, the post is full of practical advice on tickets, passes, transport and where to stay, plus an optional section of quieter sights for anyone who’s been to Rome before or has a fourth day to fill.
To get the most out of your trip, you’ll need to do some forward planning and book your entry times to the key attractions. The Vatican Museums and the Colosseum in particular need advance booking, otherwise you’ll waste time in queues or miss out entirely. We explain everything as we go.
If you’re visiting Europe on a longer trip, this guide to 3 days in Rome fits in perfectly with our 2 week Europe itinerary, which you might also want to check out for ideas and advice on travelling in Europe. We also have a 10 day Italy itinerary to help you plan further adventures in Italy.
If you have less time, see our guides to 2 days in Rome or one day in Rome. We also have a general guide to things to do in Rome if you want more ideas.
Here’s how we’d spend the three days.
Table of Contents:
At a Glance: 3 Day Rome Itinerary Overview
Here’s how the three days break down before we get into the detail. The route is built so each day stays in one part of the city, with the two sights that need pre-booking, the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum, each given a morning of their own.
Day 1: Rome’s Historic Centre and Trastevere
- Morning: Piazza del Popolo and the Spanish Steps
- Midday: the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon, with lunch in the historic centre
- Afternoon: Campo de’ Fiori and Piazza Navona
- Evening: across the river to Trastevere for dinner
Day 2: Vatican City
- 9am: Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel (pre-booked entry)
- Late morning: St. Peter’s Basilica and the dome climb
- Lunch near the Vatican
- Afternoon: Castel Sant’Angelo
Day 3: Ancient Rome
- 9am: Colosseum (pre-booked timed entry)
- Late morning: Roman Forum and Palatine Hill
- Lunch near the Colosseum
- Afternoon: Piazza Venezia, the Capitoline Hill and the Mouth of Truth
- Evening: dinner in Monti
Been to Rome before, or have a fourth day? Skip ahead to our optional section for the Appian Way, the Catacombs, the Baths of Caracalla and a few more of our own favourite corners of the city.
Plan Rome in 60 Seconds
If you only read one section before you go, make it this one. Four decisions set up the whole trip, and here’s where we land on each after years of doing it.
| The decision | What we’d do |
|---|---|
| Where to base yourself | The historic centre, roughly between Piazza Navona, Piazza Venezia and Piazza del Popolo. It puts all of Day 1 and Day 3 on foot, with the Vatican a short hop away. More on specific areas and hotels under Where to Stay, below. |
| Getting around | Walk the centre. For the longer hops the metro is cheap and simple, and Line C finally reaches the Colosseum (it opened in December 2025). A single bus or metro ticket is €1.50. |
| Which pass, if any | Most first-timers don’t need one. Booking individual skip-the-line tickets usually works out cheaper. If you want a single card for the Vatican and the city, the Omnia is the only one worth a look. Our Rome pass guide runs the full break-even. |
| What to pre-book | The Vatican Museums and the Colosseum. Both need advance, timed, named-ticket entry, and both sell out. Add the Borghese Gallery too, if you want it. Almost everything else you can walk up to. |
This itinerary is written for a first visit, but it flexes. If you’ve been to Rome before and already done the Vatican and the Colosseum, swap in the quieter stops from our “Been to Rome Before, or Have a Fourth Day?” section further down.
And if you’d rather take it slowly, treat each day as a menu rather than a checklist: drop a stop, sit longer over lunch, and let Rome happen at its own pace.
Detailed 3 Day Rome Itinerary
This guide to Rome is quite full, so do feel free to adjust it to meet your own interests. It’s possible to do everything in this guide in three days, and you can see the comments at the end of the post for feedback from visitors who have used this guide to do just that. If you’d prefer a more relaxed itinerary, you can drop some stops or spread things out.
Day 1 in Rome: Rome’s Historic Centre and Trastevere
We start in the historic centre, and there’s a reason for that. Day 1 is the day you’re most likely to be arriving, jet-lagged or fresh off a train, and it’s the one day with nothing time-bound to miss. There are no pre-booked slots here. You can walk the whole day at your own speed, start late if you need to, and simply enjoy being in Rome.
The route runs roughly north to south through the centre, from Piazza del Popolo down through Rome’s most famous squares and fountains, and finishes across the river in Trastevere for dinner. It’s very walkable. Expect to be on your feet, but you’re never far from a café or a patch of shade.
Piazza del Popolo (allow 15 to 20 minutes)
Piazza del Popolo is where we’d start your first day.
This was the location of the northern gate of Rome, and is where, for countless years before trains, planes and cars, travellers would arrive into Rome.
From here, three roads span southwards in a trident formation, with the central road, the Via del Corso, running dead straight through the centre of Rome to the Piazza Venezia. Originally this would have been the route from the northern gate of Rome to the Roman Forum.
In the centre of the Piazza is an Egyptian obelisk, dating from the rule of Ramses II, which was brought to Rome in 10BC and put in this plaza in the 16th century. On the south side of the Piazza are the twin churches of Santa Maria in Montesanto and Santa Maria dei Miracoli, sitting either side of Via del Corso.
Spanish Steps (allow 15 to 20 minutes)
From Piazza del Popolo, it’s a short walk south-east to the Spanish Steps, the first of a few of Rome’s highlights that you can take as long or as little time over as you wish.
This 135-step staircase was opened in 1725 to link the Spanish Embassy near the bottom of the steps to the Trinita dei Monti church at the top. They’re a popular spot to stop and watch the world go by, and were made particularly popular in the 1953 movie Roman Holiday, starring Audrey Hepburn.
Note that it’s no longer permitted to sit on the Spanish Steps as they have been classified as a monument, and there’s the potential of being fined if you do so.
Trevi Fountain (allow 15 to 30 minutes)
A short walk on from the Spanish Steps is the Trevi Fountain. This is the world’s largest Baroque fountain, and is always a popular location whatever time of day (or night) you visit. Built in the early 18th century, it’s said that if you throw a coin into the fountain you’re guaranteed to return to Rome.
Over three thousand euros’ worth of coins are thrown into the fountain each day, and these go to a charity that helps those in need purchase food.
As of February 2026, there’s a €2 fee to access the basin area close to the fountain during the day (9am to 10pm). Payment is by card only, and there’s a cap of 400 people at a time, which means it’s actually a nicer experience than it used to be as it’s far less crowded.
You can still admire the fountain from a few feet back for free, and there’s no charge before 9am, after 10pm or for Rome residents.
If you want to visit it without the crowds, come here early in the morning when central Rome tends to be quieter. And if you fancy a gelato nearby, Il Gelato di San Crispino on Via della Panetteria is a two minute walk away. It’s the one that turns up in Eat Pray Love, and they’re purists about it: cups only, no cones, so the cone never gets in the way of the flavour.
The Pantheon (allow 20 to 30 minutes)
A short walk from the Trevi Fountain is the incredible Pantheon. This building, which has been standing for almost 2,000 years, is the best preserved Ancient Roman monument in Rome.
The dome is the real marvel: two thousand years on, it still holds the record as the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome. Standing under the oculus and looking up is one of those Rome moments you remember.
Originally built as a temple to the Roman gods, the Pantheon was converted for use as a Christian church in 609 AD, which is the main reason it survives in such excellent condition today. It’s also notable for being home to the graves of a number of important folk, including the painter Raphael and two Italian Kings.
Entry to the Pantheon costs €7 (the fee rose from €5 on 1 July 2026). You can pay this on-site, or buy it online in advance. Tickets with an audioguide are available from GetYourGuide here, and from the official site here (you’ll need to create an account).
We think it’s very much worth the small fee, as we’ve never failed to be impressed by this building when we’ve visited it.
Lunch in the Historic Centre (around 1pm)
By now you’ll have earned a good lunch. The streets right on the famous squares charge for the location, so as a rule it’s worth walking a couple of streets back, where the food is usually better and the prices fairer.
If you want a proper sit-down Roman lunch and you can book ahead, Armando al Pantheon is our pick. It’s a tiny, family-run place a few steps from the Pantheon, run by the Gargioli family since 1961, and it does the Roman classics, cacio e pepe, carbonara, saltimbocca, the way they’re meant to be done.
It made the 2026 Michelin Guide and still isn’t fancy or expensive, just very good. They close on Sundays and Saturday evenings, and the handful of tables go fast, so reserve.
If you’d rather keep it loose, the streets around the Pantheon and Piazza Navona are full of options, from a slice of pizza al taglio eaten on your feet to a plate of pasta in a quiet side-street trattoria.
Campo de’ Fiori (allow 20 to 30 minutes)
Between the Pantheon and the river is Campo de’ Fiori, a square with two very different personalities. In the morning it holds one of Rome’s longest-running markets, with stalls of fruit, vegetables, flowers and spices. By evening the market clears away, the bars around the edges fill up, and it becomes one of the busiest spots for a drink in the centre.
In the middle stands a statue of the philosopher Giordano Bruno, who was executed on this spot in 1600. It’s worth a pause. The square is also a natural place to stop for a coffee or an aperitivo as you make your way through the afternoon.
Piazza Navona (allow 30 to 45 minutes)
A couple of minutes’ walk from Campo de’ Fiori is the Piazza Navona. It’s been a public space since the 15th century, originally laid out on the footprint of a Roman stadium, which is why it has that distinctive elongated oval shape. The Baroque facades that line it today are the third or fourth layer of architectural history on the same spot. Its most famous feature is Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers at its centre, which dates from 1651.
The Piazza is a fun place to be, and often features street performers and markets depending on the time of day and week. We always enjoy sitting and watching the fun here.
There are a lot of options for a drink or a snack, although bear in mind that you always pay more in Rome at the more popular locations, especially if they have a terrace or view. Our current favourite café in Piazza Navona is Ai Tre Tartufi, which has friendly staff and a good selection of drinks and food.
We’ve also eaten at Caffè Domiziano, which has two seating areas. When we last visited it was cheaper to sit in the section on Corsia Agonale rather than on the main square, something to keep in mind if you’re on a budget. The food is the same, just the price is different.
For gelato, walk a couple of minutes off the square to Frigidarium on Via del Governo Vecchio. It’s been going since 1988, and the trick here’s that they dip the whole thing in a shell of dark chocolate before they hand it over.
My father-in-law isn’t easily impressed by gelato, and the mango at Frigidarium is the one that finally won him round! It’s the gelato we come back to every time we’re in this part of the city.
Trastevere (evening)
Finish your first day across the river in Trastevere. This is one of Rome’s oldest neighbourhoods, a tangle of narrow cobbled lanes, ivy-covered houses and small piazzas that feels a world away from the monuments you have spent the day among. It’s become more popular over the years, but it’s still one of our favourite parts of the city to spend an evening.
It’s an easy walk from Campo de’ Fiori, crossing the Tiber on one of the bridges near the Isola Tiberina. Once you’re over the river, there’s no real agenda here. The point of Trastevere is to wander, find a piazza, and settle in somewhere for dinner.
The heart of the neighbourhood is the Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere, with its church, one of the oldest in Rome, and a fountain that people gather around in the evening. The streets around it are full of trattorias, wine bars and gelato. As everywhere in Rome, the places right on the main squares charge for the location, so it’s worth walking a few streets back for better value, and often better food.
Two we keep going back to are Da Lucia, a proper old Trastevere trattoria on Vicolo del Mattonato that the same family has run since 1938, and Osteria der Belli on Piazza di Sant’Apollonia, which leans Roman and Sardinian and is the one to pick if you’re in the mood for seafood. Both close on Mondays, so if your first night lands on a Monday, plan around it.
And if you’d rather start with a glass of wine and watch the evening unfold before you commit to dinner, Latteria Trastevere on Vicolo della Scala pours a careful list of natural wines.
If you’d rather have your first evening planned for you, this is also where we’d point you towards a food tour. We’ve taken a lot of food tours in Rome over the years, and the Trastevere at Sunset food and wine tour from Devour is one we’ve enjoyed more than once.
It runs in the evening, walks you through the neighbourhood, and takes care of dinner while a guide explains what you’re eating. See our complete guide to food tours in Rome for more options.
Now, time to rest before day two of our three day Rome itinerary.
Optional: The Borghese Gallery and Villa Borghese (allow 2 to 3 hours)
If you’d like to add a gallery to your first day, the Borghese Gallery is a short walk north of Piazza del Popolo and the Spanish Steps, in the Villa Borghese gardens. It houses the Borghese collection, easily one of the finest collections of art in Rome, with pieces from the likes of Raphael, Bernini and Caravaggio. It’s Jessica’s favourite art gallery in the city.
It’s not huge, spread across two floors and twenty rooms, but the high quality of work on display means that everything you see is a masterpiece. It’s also guaranteed not to be too crowded, as they only allow 360 people in at a time. Compare this to the 30,000 visitors a day that the Vatican Museums host, and you’ll appreciate being able to breathe whilst you enjoy the art.
The Borghese Gallery has timed entry and reservation is mandatory. Once you enter, you have two hours to see the Gallery, so it works best as a booked morning slot before the historic-centre walk, rather than something you squeeze in.
You can book via the official website here. A standard adult ticket is €16, plus the €2 mandatory reservation fee, so €18 all in. Reductions apply for under-25s, and the last slot of the day is discounted. Alternatively, if you wanted to do a guided tour like this, your tour company will arrange the time for you. You can read about our experience touring the Borghese Gallery with Take Walks here.
The Borghese Gallery is closed on Mondays, but is otherwise open every day from 9am to 7pm.
Once you’re done with the Gallery, the rest of the Villa Borghese gardens are worth a wander, and the view from the Terrazza del Pincio overlooking the Piazza del Popolo is one of our favourite views in Rome, especially at sunset. If you’d prefer a quiet sunset to a Trastevere dinner, this makes a lovely alternative end to Day 1.
Day 2 in Rome: Vatican City
Day 2 is given over entirely to Vatican City. It’s a country of its own, inside Rome, and is home to world-famous sites including the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica. There’s one big booking to make for today, the Vatican Museums, and once that’s done the rest of the day flows on foot through the Vatican and Borgo area.
Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel (9am, allow 2.5 to 3 hours)
We recommend you come to the Vatican early and head straight for the Vatican Museums with your pre-booked ticket. All Vatican Museum tickets are now personalised, so you’ll need to provide your name and bring government-issued ID with you on the day.
There are several ways to get skip-the-line entry. We round up the main sellers in our guide to where to buy attraction tickets online. If you buy the Omnia Rome and Vatican pass, you’ll have the option to pre-book a timeslot for your skip-the-line entry.
If you don’t want a pass, you can book your tickets online directly. Standard tickets are €25 online (€20 if you buy on-site, though that means queueing). You can buy tickets with GetYourGuide here or Tiqets here. You can also book tickets directly from the Vatican. Prices and availability fluctuate, so do check all options. The Vatican site is usually the best value but not always.
Doors to the Vatican Museums open at 9am, so we recommend you arrange your entry for as close to then as you can. The Vatican Museums get very crowded as the day progresses, so getting here early will let you enjoy them before they get too busy.
You can also book a tour which gets you early entry to the Vatican before the doors open for general admission. This tour on Tiqets starts at 7.30am and includes breakfast in the Vatican, as does the Pristine Sistine tour from Take Walks.
We’ve done the Pristine Sistine tour ourselves and can very much recommend it. The guides are excellent and really bring what you’re seeing to life.
For an even more exclusive experience, you might consider the VIP Vatican Key Master’s Tour. This is a premium tour where you enter the Vatican at 6am and accompany the Key Masters as they open the museums. It’s an incredible experience, and one we thoroughly enjoyed.
It has limited availability (the Vatican sometimes allows up to two groups of around 20 people) and it’s more of an experience than a tour. You can check it out with Take Walks here.
There’s loads to see in the Vatican Museums, which span 7km of exhibits, so you could spend a whole lot of time here. Our favourites include the Map Room, the Sistine Chapel and the fabulous double helix exit stairwell, but we’re sure you’ll discover treasures of your own.
See our guide to visiting the Vatican for everything you need to know, including all the highlights. The Vatican Museums are closed on Sundays and some other days. You can see all opening times and days on the official website here.
St. Peter’s Basilica and Dome (allow 1.5 to 2 hours)
Once you’re done in the Museums, it’s back outside and on to St. Peter’s Basilica, allowing another 30 minutes if you climb the dome.
St. Peter’s Basilica doesn’t have an entry fee. However, you can now book a dedicated entry time slot which gets you access to a faster security line. The best option is to book it directly on the Vatican website here. At busier times of year this is well worth it, but in the off season you can usually manage without.
Another option, if you prefer a guided experience, is to invest in a tour like one of these on Tiqets. Some tours of the Vatican, like this one, also include skip-the-line access to St. Peter’s Basilica, which can be a good all-in-one option.
Once inside, you’ll be able to enjoy visiting the world’s largest church, and one of the holiest shrines in Catholicism. With designers including Bramante, Raphael and Michelangelo, it’s a work of art in itself before you even start to consider all the artworks within.
If you’re up to it, we highly recommend the climb to the top of the dome. This offers superb views across the city, as well as the chance to see the Basilica from above. It’s one of my favourite views of Rome and well worth the effort. Tickets for the dome can be purchased on-site (€8 for stairs, €10 for lift and stairs) or online in advance (€17 or €22, which includes a basilica audio guide).
Be aware that St. Peter’s Basilica doesn’t open until early afternoon on some Wednesdays, when the Pope holds an audience in St. Peter’s Square.
TIP: If you’re an early bird, come to St. Peter’s Basilica at opening time. It normally opens around 7am, and if you come here at this time there’ll be barely anyone else about, and no lines to worry about. You can explore in peace, and then head over to the Vatican Museums when they open.
Lunch Near the Vatican (around 1pm)
After a morning in the Vatican, you’ll be ready for a proper lunch. The streets immediately around the Vatican are full of tourist-trap restaurants, so walk a few minutes to eat better.
One of the best options in this area is Pizzarium Bonci on Via della Meloria, about a ten minute walk north of the Vatican walls. It’s the best pizza al taglio (pizza by the slice) we’ve found in Rome, and the quality of the toppings is on another level compared to most places. Expect a queue, but it moves fast, and prices are very reasonable. It’s a standing or takeaway place only.
Castel Sant’Angelo (allow around 1 hour)
Originally built as a mausoleum for the Emperor Hadrian, Castel Sant’Angelo has been sitting on the banks of the river Tiber for nearly two thousand years. In that time it’s evolved from its initial role as a tomb, becoming a fortress, a castle and finally a museum. It’s an easy walk from St. Peter’s, back along the river.
Today it’s open to the public, and you can climb right to the top for gorgeous views of the city. You’ll also be able to marvel at the building techniques that have allowed it to survive for two millennia.
The Castel is closed on Mondays, but is otherwise open every day from 9am to 7.30pm, with some holiday exceptions. See more on the official site here.
You can buy tickets in person, from the official ticket site here (currently €16 for a full-price adult ticket), or from GetYourGuide here or Tiqets here. It’s always worth comparing as prices vary; in most cases the official site will be the best value.
That’s a full day in Vatican City. For dinner, the Prati neighbourhood just north of the Vatican is full of good, less touristy options, and it’s an easy walk back from the Castel.
Day 3 in Rome: Ancient Rome
Day 3 stays in the Ancient Rome core, the cluster of ruins and monuments at the heart of the old city. Like Day 2, it’s built around one morning booking, the Colosseum, and the rest of the day is walkable from there.
Colosseum (9am, allow 1.5 to 2 hours)
Your final day starts with the sight that, for a lot of people, is the whole reason they came to Rome: the Colosseum. Built in Roman times as a space for holding public spectacles, the Colosseum is most famous for being the home of gladiators, who would battle it out in front of audiences that could number as many as 80,000 people.
The Colosseum is the largest amphitheatre in the world, and despite suffering some damage in its two thousand years of existence, is still hugely impressive to visit. It had nearly 15 million visitors in 2024, making it one of the most visited attractions in the world.
It’s also one of the most popular destinations in Rome, so our advice is to come as early as you can and take advantage of advance ticket purchase options so you can go straight to the security line. You can reach the Colosseum easily on the Metro. The Colosseo station is served by both Line B and the new Line C, which opened in December 2025.
You can book entry to the Colosseum directly from the official website here, which tends to offer the best value for standard entry tickets. All Colosseum tickets are issued in the name of the person visiting, and you need to bring ID with you.
The standard ticket is €18, plus a small online reservation fee. It now includes the Imperial Fora and is valid for 24 hours from your Colosseum timeslot, so you can visit the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill the same day or the following morning.
If you decide to get a standard entry ticket rather than taking a guided tour, we recommend downloading the free MyColosseum app (iOS and Android), which is the official audio guide and will really help you make sense of what you’re seeing. Alternatively, pick up a pocket guidebook like this one from Rick Steves.
There are also a range of Colosseum entry options on Tiqets here. These include tours and tickets with add-ons like multimedia guides or bundles with other attractions. They’re going to be a little more expensive but can be worth it if you want a tour or will take advantage of the bundled products.
If you’re interested in purchasing an attraction pass, skip-the-line access for the Colosseum is included on the Omnia Rome and Vatican Card and the Roma Pass. Note that even with a pass, you still need to make a separate reservation for your Colosseum timeslot.
We highly recommend taking a tour of the Colosseum like this one or this one if your budget allows, as it’s a complex site with a lot of history. If you book a guided tour, you don’t need to book a separate ticket or timeslot for the Colosseum.
Before you go, have a read of our detailed guide to visiting the Colosseum, which will help you make the most of your visit and not waste time in queues, as well as understand the rules around passes, time slots and so on.
The Colosseum is open every day, with times varying depending on the time of year. You can see more information on the official Colosseum website here. We’d suggest you’re going to want to spend between 90 minutes and 2 hours on site.
Roman Forum and Palatine Hill (allow 1.5 to 2 hours)
Your Colosseum ticket is also good for entry to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, which is conveniently located right next door.
So what’s special about the Forum? This was the seat of power during the reign of the Roman Empire, as well as the central marketplace and business district. Roman life for centuries revolved around this area, and no visit to the city is complete without walking these ancient ruins.
The Forum is open every day. You can see full opening hours here.
Most people visit the Forum using their Colosseum ticket, which gives access to the main parts of the Forum. There’s also a “SUPER FORUM PASS” ticket, which can be purchased separately on the official site here. This gives access to additional sites inside the Forum including the Palatine Museum, House of Augustus, Curia Iulia and Domus Tiberiana. The exact sites vary depending on archaeological works.
We’d suggest allocating around 90 minutes to 2 hours to exploring the Roman Forum.
Lunch (around 1pm)
By now you’ll be more than ready for lunch. The streets around the Colosseum are full of tourist-trap restaurants, so it’s worth walking a few minutes. Luzzi on Via di San Giovanni in Laterano is a well-known local trattoria that has been serving Roman classics for decades. It’s nothing fancy, but the portions are generous, the prices are fair and it’s popular with locals, which is always a good sign. If you want something quicker, the Celio neighbourhood just south of the Colosseum has a few smaller cafes and bakeries.
Piazza Venezia and the Capitoline Hill (allow 30 minutes to 1 hour)
Walking back towards the city centre from the Forum, you pass through Piazza Venezia, the busy square at the foot of the enormous white monument to Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of a unified Italy. Romans have various nicknames for it, the wedding cake and the typewriter among them, and once you’ve seen it you’ll understand why.
You can go inside and ride a lift up to a terrace at the top, which gives you one of the best views over the Forum and the rooftops of Rome.
Just behind it’s the Capitoline Hill, the smallest of Rome’s seven hills and historically the most important. The elegant square at the top, the Piazza del Campidoglio, was designed by Michelangelo, and the surrounding palaces house the Capitoline Museums.
The museums hold some of the city’s most famous ancient sculpture and are well worth an hour if you have the energy, though after a morning at the Colosseum and Forum many people are happy just to enjoy the square and the views and move on.
Mouth of Truth (allow 15 minutes)
Time for a bit of fun, and a short walk south towards the river. If you’ve seen the movie Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn, you’ll remember that Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn pop their hands into the mouth of this massive stone figure, which is said to bite off the hands of liars.
You can visit the Bocca della Verita and pop your own hand in for a photo opportunity. You’ll find it outside the entrance to the Santa Maria in Cosmedin church, which is also worth visiting. It can get busy in the summer months, but the line moves fairly quickly.
For your final evening in Rome, the Monti neighbourhood is worth exploring for dinner. It’s full of small independent restaurants and wine bars, and an easy walk from the Forum. Ai Tre Scalini on Via Panisperna is a good spot for a glass of wine and an aperitivo, and the streets around it are full of options for dinner. Find yourself some delicious food, perhaps a gelato, and congratulate yourself on three excellent days in Rome!
Rome 3 Day Itinerary Map
Here’s a map of the above itinerary showing all the attractions across the three days you’ll be in Rome. You can click here to see this map on Google.
Been to Rome Before, or Have a Fourth Day?
The three days above cover Rome’s essentials, the sights that make a first trip to the city. But Rome rewards repeat visits, and some of our own favourite corners of the city are not on that first-timer list at all.
If you’ve been to Rome before and have already done the Vatican and the Colosseum, or if you have a fourth day to fill, this is where we’d send you. These stops trade the headline monuments for something quieter: an ancient road, a vast ruined bath complex, the oldest basilica in the city, a pyramid. They take a little more effort to reach, and that’s why they stay peaceful. You can swap any of them into the three days above, or treat them as a day of their own.
The Appian Way and the Catacombs (allow 3 to 4 hours)
The Appian Way is the one we’d point you to first. Built in 312BC, it’s one of the oldest surviving roads in the world, and was of enormous importance to the Roman Empire, linking the capital to southern settlements including Naples and Brindisi and allowing for the quick movement of troops and goods.
At the time, it was the widest and longest road in the world, and the quality of the construction shows: much of what you can see today is still original stonework. The Appian Way was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2024.
There are a variety of attractions to see along the Appian Way, and the key sights are to be found along the first ten miles of the road, in the Parco dell’Appia Antica.
You can visit the road yourself, or you can take a tour. We recommend the Catacombs and Appian Way tour from Take Walks, and there are other options including this bike tour on GetYourGuide. Most tours focus on the Appian Way and Catacombs.
If you decide to visit yourself, you’ll want to head to the start point of the road, the Porta San Sebastiano. You can reach this via public transport from the city. From here, it’s a ten minute walk to the first major sight on the Appian Way, the Church of Domine Quo Vadis, which dates from the 9th century. Alternatively, as the walk along the first part can be a bit tricky, you can take the bus a little bit further.
After the Church, there are two Catacombs you can visit: the Catacombs of St. Callixtus and the Catacombs of St. Sebastian. The former are slightly larger and were the burial place of 16 popes, numerous Christians and a number of martyrs.
Both catacombs can only be visited on a guided tour, each closes one day a week, and both shut for a maintenance period in winter, so check the official sites and book ahead before you plan a day around them.
Following on from the Catacombs, you can continue your journey along the Appian Way to the tomb of Cecilia Metella and the Circus Maxentius, which are about another 10 to 15 minutes’ walk.
All in all, from the Porta San Sebastiano to the tomb of Cecilia Metella, you’re looking at about a thirty minute walk, with plenty of attractions along the way.
Baths of Caracalla (allow 45 minutes to 1 hour)
Those Romans really liked to build things on a big scale. The Baths of Caracalla are no different. This vast bathing complex could accommodate up to 1,600 bathers at one time, in a complex that covered over 62 acres.
Whilst time has taken its toll on the Baths, they’re still open to visitors. You can wander between the mighty walls and appreciate the vast scale of the operation and the millions of bricks that were used to construct them, as well as some of the surviving details like the mosaic floors.
It’s not at the top of most visitors’ lists for Rome, but it’s one of our favourite spots to visit in the city, so we urge you to include it if you have the time, especially as it’s in the same part of the city as the Appian Way.
The Baths of Caracalla are open every day except Christmas Day. Opening hours vary by time of year. You can see more here.
St. John in the Lateran (allow 30 to 45 minutes)
The Papal Archbasilica of St. John in the Lateran is the cathedral church of Rome and the seat of the Pope in the city, and as such is one of the most important churches in Rome. Whilst nearly everyone makes it to St. Peter’s Basilica, fewer people make it out here, to what is in fact the oldest Basilica in the city, making this a quieter and more relaxing place to visit.
Highlights include the Lateran Obelisk, the largest standing Egyptian obelisk in the world, the Borromini-designed nave, the Cloister and the Scala Sancta. These last are a stairway of 28 steps, found in a building just across the road from the Basilica itself, which are said to be the same steps that Jesus walked up on his way to trial in Jerusalem. Today, pilgrims can be seen climbing the stairs on their knees, which is the only way you’re allowed to ascend.
Note that St. John in the Lateran is closed on Sundays.
Pyramid of Caius Cestius (allow 20 to 30 minutes)
Did you know that Rome has a two-thousand-year-old Egyptian style Pyramid? The Pyramid of Cestius was built around 12BC, at a time when Rome was obsessed with all things Egypt, to serve as the tomb for a wealthy Roman.
The tomb has since been looted and little is known about its original occupant, but the marble-covered 36 metre high pyramid is the only one of its kind in Europe, and we think is definitely worth your time to visit. Whenever we visit Rome with friends or family, we love taking them to see this, as it’s such an unexpected sight in the city!
It’s now incorporated into the Aurelian Walls of the city, which helped to ensure its preservation, and one of the best places to see it from is the non-Catholic cemetery of Rome. Whilst you’re at the cemetery, which is a beautifully peaceful spot, do take the time to visit the grave of the English poet Keats, one whose “name is writ in water”, who died in Rome at the young age of 25.
The Pyramid sits on the edge of Testaccio, which is one of the best parts of Rome for eating. It’s a working-class neighbourhood with a strong food tradition. Da Felice a Testaccio is well known for its cacio e pepe, and Checchino dal 1887 has been serving traditional Roman food since (you guessed it) 1887.
How We Plan a Rome Trip These Days
We’ve visited Rome many times over the years, in different seasons and with different people, and a few things have come to guide how we plan a trip here. None of it is complicated, but it’s the difference between a smooth three days and a stressful one.
Book the big sights the moment you have your dates. The Vatican Museums and the Colosseum do sell out, and the Borghese Gallery only admits a fixed number of people each slot. Everything else on this itinerary you can be relaxed about, but those bookings come first.
Plan by neighbourhood, not by the clock. The reason this itinerary works is that each day stays in one part of the city. You’re walking from one sight to the next, not crossing Rome and back. Build your own changes around that idea and the days stay calm.
Leave room in the day. Rome is best enjoyed with a long lunch and time to sit in a piazza and watch it go by. We’ve built this itinerary to be full but not frantic, and if you’re travelling at a gentler pace, dropping a stop or two costs you nothing.
Avoid the free-entry Sunday if you can. State museums in Rome, including the Colosseum and Forum, are free on the first Sunday of each month. It sounds like a saving, but the crowds are enormous and you can’t pre-book, which on this itinerary causes more problems than it solves.
Think about the season. Rome in August is hot and crowded, and many smaller restaurants close. April, May, September and October are our favourite months here. Whenever you come, the middle of the day is for indoor sights and shaded lunches, not for queuing in the sun.
How to Save Money and Skip the Lines in Rome
Rome has a number of passes that give you free and discounted admission, as well as skip-the-line privileges at key attractions. For most people doing our three day itinerary, you don’t really need one: booking individual skip-the-line tickets works out a little cheaper, and you avoid the markup on the reseller “tourist card” bundles that crowd the search results.
The one pass worth a proper look is the Omnia Rome and Vatican Card, which is the only card that covers both the Vatican and the city in one. We work through the full break-even for every Rome pass in our guide to which Rome pass is worth it.
The Rome Tourist Card and Other Reseller Bundles
Search “Rome pass” and you’ll see bundles with names like the Rome Tourist Card, Turbopass or the “Rome Essentials Pass,” sold through ticket marketplaces. They repackage the same Colosseum, Vatican and St. Peter’s tickets you can book yourself, usually with a markup, and wrap them up as one purchase.
The convenience is real, but you’re paying for it, and none of them is the official Roma Pass. For a three day first-timer trip we’d skip them: book the individual tickets, or, if you want one card for the Vatican and the city, get the Omnia below.
Omnia Rome and Vatican Card
If you plan on doing everything in our itinerary, the Omnia Rome and Vatican Card is worth considering.
It costs €149 for the 72-hour adult card, and includes skip-the-line entry to the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, free entry to two out of six listed attractions (including the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Castel Sant’Angelo), a 72 hour travelcard for Rome’s public transport, a 3 day hop-on hop-off bus ticket, and discounted entry at over thirty other sites.
The main downsides are that it’s more expensive, you still need to book your Colosseum timeslot separately, and it doesn’t include skip-the-line access to St. Peter’s Basilica.
Based on our itinerary, if you get this card, we recommend using your two free entries for Castel Sant’Angelo and the combined Colosseum and Roman Forum ticket, which will save you the most money.
Important: If entry to the Colosseum is important for you, check availability on the official website here before purchasing the Omnia Card. Check for Roma Pass reservation availability, as this comes from a different pool than general tickets and is often available even when general tickets show as sold out.
Which Pass Makes Sense for You
Whether a pass saves you money depends entirely on what you plan to see. Here’s how the numbers tend to work out for this itinerary. As a reference, the individual online ticket prices for the main paid sights are the Vatican Museums at €25, the combined Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine ticket at around €20 including the reservation fee, Castel Sant’Angelo at €16, and the Pantheon at €7.
| Your situation | The cost picture | What we’d do |
|---|---|---|
| You’re only doing the two big sights, the Vatican and the Colosseum | Around €45 in tickets, booked individually | Skip the pass. Just book the two tickets directly. |
| You’re doing the full first-timer itinerary: Vatican, Colosseum, Castel Sant’Angelo and the Pantheon | Around €66 in tickets individually, cheaper than bundling them into a pass | Buy the individual tickets. A pass only makes sense if you add more paid sites, or want the Omnia’s bundled transport and hop-on bus. |
| You’ll use public transport heavily and want a hop-on hop-off bus | The Omnia Card is €149 and bundles tickets, 72 hours of transport and a 3 day sightseeing bus | The Omnia Card starts to make sense here, as long as you’ll actually use the bus and the transport. |
| You’re travelling with children | Under-18s get reduced or free entry at many Roman sites | Buying individual tickets usually wins for families. Check the price for each site before assuming a pass saves money. |
| You’re short on time and want everything arranged for you | A pass costs roughly €30 to €40 more than individual tickets | Worth it. You’re paying for pre-booked slots, skipped queues and not having to manage five separate bookings. |
For most people following this itinerary, buying tickets individually works out a little cheaper than either pass. What the passes buy you is convenience and time. If that’s worth €30 to €40 to you, and for a lot of first-time visitors it is, a pass is a reasonable choice. If you’re happy to do the booking yourself, you don’t need one.
Other Pass Options
The Roma Pass can also be purchased separately (it comes included with the Omnia Card). It includes free or discounted admission to many of Rome’s attractions plus a transport card, but notably doesn’t include the Vatican attractions.
The Best of Rome pass on GetYourGuide is another option, bundling fast-track entry to the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, Colosseum and Roman Forum. GetYourGuide has changed what this pass includes more than once, so check the current inclusions on the pass page before you buy.
Of course, you don’t have to buy a pass. For many visitors, booking tickets individually for specific attractions will be more economical. If you go this route, make sure you book well in advance, as most attractions in Rome are very popular and do sell out. You can book Vatican tickets here and Colosseum tickets directly here.
Getting Around Rome
Rome is easy to get around, with much of it very walkable. The itinerary we have laid out is designed to be logical, so you won’t waste time getting from place to place. Getting from each location to the next should be a short walk, or a single bus or metro ride away.
Rome has three metro lines. Line A and Line B cover most of the central attractions, and the new Line C (which opened to the Colosseo station in December 2025) adds another option for reaching the Colosseum area.
If you buy the Omnia Rome and Vatican Card, it includes free public transport for your three days in Rome, as well as the hop-on hop-off bus.
Alternatively, you can buy a travelcard or just buy tickets as you go. A one-way ticket (known as a “B.I.T”) costs €1.50 and is valid for 100 minutes from when you activate it. You can change transport types as you go, with the exception being that you can’t re-enter the metro system if you leave it. These tickets can be bought from metro stations and convenience stores, and need to be activated with a timestamp when you board the first transport.
Many Rome buses now have contactless payment terminals, so you can just tap your contactless card to pay as you board. This is convenient if you don’t want to worry about buying paper tickets.
Not stamping your ticket (or not tapping to pay) is the same as travelling without a ticket, and you can be penalised for this.
How to Get into Rome from the Airport
Rome has two major international airports: Rome Fiumicino (FCO) and Rome Ciampino (CIA). Flights from North America usually arrive at Fiumicino, whilst flights from Europe may arrive at either.
From Rome Fiumicino, you can take the train, bus or taxi. There’s a train station on site which will get you into the city centre in around 30 minutes to an hour. We recommend you take the fast Leonardo Express. There’s also the slower FL1, which doesn’t go directly to Termini; it goes to Rome Trastevere, and then you’d need to change onto the FL5.
There are also bus options which cost from around €5, take around 50 minutes to an hour and go to Termini station. You can also arrange a shared shuttle or a private transfer service.
From Rome Ciampino, there’s no on-site train station, but there’s a local train station a short bus ride away. There are also buses from Ciampino which cost around €5. You can book a shared shuttle or a private transfer in advance.
Where to Stay in Rome for 3 Days
Rome has no shortage of places to stay. For this three day itinerary, we’d suggest staying somewhere central to make accessing all the attractions as easy as possible. For us that means the area between the Piazza Navona, Piazza Venezia and Piazza del Popolo.
For some options close to the historical city centre and all the sights in our itinerary, consider the following. These are ordered approximately by price, from low to high, but do always check prices for your dates as they can vary.
- The RomeHello: found just a few moments from Rome’s Termini Station, this hostel features a range of room types from dormitories to private en-suite rooms. There’s free WiFi, strong reviews, and it’s great value.
- Di Rienzo Pantheon Palace: a very well reviewed guesthouse option right in central Rome, just moments from the Pantheon and other attractions. The building is a 16th century property, and rooms feature en-suite facilities, free WiFi and breakfast.
- The Mimosa Pantheon Hotel: right next to the Pantheon and therefore well placed for the city’s attractions. Rooms feature private bathrooms, air conditioning and free WiFi. A solid budget choice.
- The Navona Theatre Hotel: just five minutes’ walk from Piazza Navona, this is a very well rated 3-star hotel within easy walking distance of most of Rome’s main attractions.
- The Hotel Navona: another well reviewed 3-star hotel in central Rome near Piazza Navona. This hotel is in a restored 15th century building with original frescoes. Rooms have en-suite facilities, air conditioning and free WiFi.
- Hotel Valentino Palace: a mid-range 3-star property just 150 yards from the train station.
- Gioberti Art Hotel: 50 yards from Termini Station, a well rated 4-star hotel.
- NH Collection Palazzo Cinquecento: a 5-star hotel just steps from the train station.
Of course, there are many more options. We tend to use Booking.com for most of our accommodation when we travel. They have a wide selection of options, with everything from hostels to apartments to hotels.
The review system makes it easy to pick a good option, and they have an excellent cancellation policy.
If you prefer an apartment, we recommend either Plum Guide or Vrbo. Plum Guide carefully curate their listings so their options tend to be of a very high quality whilst still being available at a range of price points.
We’ve stayed at a number of their properties around the world, and you can see our review of the Plum Guide here. See their listings for Rome here.
If you can’t find what you want from the above choices, we wrote a whole post on the best alternatives to AirBnB which you should check out. We also have a page full of travel resources, which includes our tips for getting the best deals on accommodation.
When to Visit Rome
With a Mediterranean climate, Rome is a city that can be visited throughout the year. It does get very busy and very hot in the summer months though, especially in August, so we’d advise avoiding August if you can.
We’ve visited Rome at all times of year, and our favourite time to visit is April or May, which we think offers a good balance between nice weather and less crowded attractions.
Be aware that many museums and attractions are closed on Mondays. Also, there’s free entry to lots of key attractions on the first Sunday of every month. We’d suggest avoiding this day if you possibly can.
Practical Essentials for Rome
A handful of smaller practical things, grouped here rather than given a section each.
In many visits to Rome we’ve never had a safety problem, though pickpocketing is common in the busy tourist spots. Keep your valuables out of sight, don’t carry large amounts of cash, and stick to official taxis.
Rome’s churches, including St. Peter’s and the Vatican Museums, enforce a dress code that covers knees and shoulders for everyone, so in summer carry a scarf or a light layer you can put on at the door.
Italy uses the 220v standard with the two-pin European plug, so travellers from the UK, the US and elsewhere will need a travel adapter like this, and US visitors should check their devices handle 220v. Our guide to the best travel adapters has more.
WiFi is widely available, but if you’re coming from outside Europe an eSIM is the simplest way to stay online before you even land: see our Airalo eSIM review and our guide to getting online when travelling.
Rome is in the Eurozone, cards are accepted almost everywhere, and we lean on one with no foreign transaction fee rather than carrying much cash. The tap water is safe and good, and you can refill all day from the nasoni, the little cast-iron street fountains all over the city, so bring a reusable water bottle (we use a Klean Kanteen).
One last thing, luggage. If you arrive before check-in or leave after checkout, your hotel will usually hold your bags, and many Rome attractions won’t let you carry larger bags in anyway. If you need somewhere else, this luggage service has spots at Termini, the Pantheon and around the city.
Tours We Recommend in Rome
We’ve taken a number of tours in Rome, and can recommend these if you’re looking for a guided experience.
For walking tours, the companies we recommend are:
- Take Walks: our favourite walking tour company. We’ve taken tours with them in cities around the world.
- Context Travel: very small group, highly focused tours.
- Devour Tours: focuses on food tours. We’ve done a lot of their food tours including many in Rome and they have all been excellent.
With Take Walks, the two we’ve done and would happily do again are the Pristine Sistine tour, which gets you into the Vatican Museums before they open to the public, and their Colosseum and Roman Forum tour, which makes far more sense of that site than walking in cold.
If you prefer your tours to include food and wine, we can recommend Devour Tours. In Rome, one of our favourite Devour tours is the Trastevere at Sunset food and wine tour, which we thought was excellent.
As this tour runs in the evening, you can include it on most days of our itinerary. See our complete guide to Rome food tours here for more ideas.
There are of course other options for tours in Rome, including all the tours on this page, which offers a variety of things to do from different providers.
Where to Go After Rome
If you want to explore Italy further after Rome, we’d suggest visiting cities like Florence and Venice.
The easiest way to get to these is the fast train service. These run frequently and are very quick. Tickets are cheapest when booked well in advance, plus booking in advance usually guarantees a seat reservation. You can book train travel in Italy (and Europe in general) on Trainline.com.
Another option, if you’d rather base yourself in Rome, is to take a day tour. Some popular day trip options include:
- A day tour to Tivoli where you can visit Hadrian’s Villa and Villa D’Este
- A day tour of the Tuscan countryside
- A day trip to Pompeii. See more on visiting Pompeii here.
- A day tour to Venice
See our detailed Italy itinerary for more ideas.
Further Reading for your Trip
As well as the above, we have a number of other resources to help you plan your Rome trip.
- If you’re in Rome for a shorter amount of time, check out our guide to spending 2 days in Rome, or a day in Rome, which will give you other options for your visit. We also have a guide to things to do in Rome for general sightseeing advice.
- We’ve taken a number of tours in Rome. You can read about our experience at the Borghese Gallery here and our VIP Key Master’s Tour of the Vatican here.
- If you’re planning on visiting Rome in summer, read our tips for visiting a European city in summer.
- We have a detailed guide to visiting the Colosseum and a guide to visiting the Vatican.
- You’ll want to eat gelato in Rome. Check out our guide to the best gelato in Rome. For more food ideas, see our guide to the best food tours in Rome.
- Looking to visit more of Italy? Check out our content on Venice, Milan and Florence. We also have a detailed 10 day Italy itinerary.
- If you’re looking for a guidebook, we recommend the Rick Steves Rome guide for this trip, or the broader Rick Steves Italy guide if you’re travelling on around the country.
That’s our three-day Rome itinerary. If you’ve followed it (or a version of it) on your own trip, we’d love to hear what worked and what you’d change in the comments below.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is 3 days enough to see Rome?
Three days is enough to see all of Rome’s major highlights, including the Vatican, the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain and more. You won’t be able to see everything the city has to offer, but with good planning and advance ticket booking you can comfortably cover the most important sights.
We’ve followed this itinerary ourselves, and hundreds of readers have confirmed over the years that it works well.
Do I need to book attractions in advance in Rome?
Yes. The Vatican Museums and the Colosseum both require advance booking, and both will sell out if you try to buy tickets on the day, especially in the busy months. The Borghese Gallery also requires a timed reservation.
We recommend booking all three of these as soon as you have your travel dates confirmed. St. Peter’s Basilica is free to enter, but you can book a paid fast-track security entry to avoid the queues.
What is the best area to stay in Rome for 3 days?
For a three day visit following our itinerary, we recommend staying in the historic centre, in the area between Piazza Navona, Piazza Venezia and Piazza del Popolo. This puts you within walking distance of your whole first day, and within easy reach of transport links to the Vatican and Ancient Rome.
The area around Termini station is also a good budget option, with excellent metro access to the rest of the city.
How much does it cost to visit Rome for 3 days?
Budget around €50 to €80 per person per day for attraction entry fees if you’re visiting most of the sites in this itinerary. An attraction pass like the Omnia Card spreads that cost differently and saves time with skip-the-line access, though for most three day trips individual tickets work out a little cheaper.
On top of that, budget for accommodation, food and transport. Rome has options for every budget, from hostels at €30 a night to luxury hotels at €300 and up.
Is a Rome city pass worth it?
For most people following our full three day itinerary, buying individual tickets works out slightly cheaper than any pass.
What a pass buys you is convenience: pre-booked timeslots, skip-the-line access at the Vatican and Colosseum, and one purchase instead of several. If that’s worth roughly €30 to €40 to you, a pass is a reasonable choice. If you’re happy to book everything yourself, you don’t need one.
Can I visit the Vatican and the Colosseum on the same day?
You can, but on this three day itinerary you don’t need to. We give the Vatican its own day and the Colosseum its own day, which is one of the main advantages of having three days in the city.
If you’re tight on time, both can be done in a single long day with pre-booked tickets. Our guides to spending one day in Rome and two days in Rome show how to fit them in.
What is the best way to see Rome in 3 days?
The most efficient way to see Rome in three days is to plan each day around one part of the city, so you’re walking between sights rather than crossing town. Our itinerary does exactly that: the historic centre on Day 1, Vatican City on Day 2, and Ancient Rome on Day 3.
It also helps to put the two sights that need pre-booked entry, the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum, on separate mornings, so you’re never rushing to make a timed slot.
How many days do you need in Rome?
Three days is the right amount of time for a first visit. It gives you time for the major highlights at a comfortable pace, with room for long lunches and a bit of wandering.
One day only really works for a stopover, and two days means moving quickly. Four or more days lets you add the quieter sights, like the Appian Way and the Baths of Caracalla, or take a day trip out of the city.
What should you not miss in Rome?
On a first trip, the sights we wouldn’t skip are the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain. Between them they cover Ancient Rome, the Vatican and the city’s Baroque heart.
Beyond the monuments, leave time simply to be in Rome: an evening in Trastevere, a coffee in a piazza, a gelato on a warm evening. Those moments are as much a part of the city as the big sights.
Is the Rome Tourist Card or the Omnia Card better?
For most three day trips, neither. The Rome Tourist Card is a reseller bundle that repackages tickets you can buy yourself, usually with a markup, so we’d book the big sights individually instead.
The Omnia Card (€149) is the pass worth considering, because it adds 72 hours of public transport and a hop-on hop-off bus and is the only card covering both the Vatican and the city. It pays off only if you’ll use that transport and do the full Vatican programme.
If you plan to walk, as our itinerary is designed for, you’re better off with individual tickets. Our Rome pass guide has the full comparison.
Is Trastevere worth visiting?
Yes. Trastevere is one of Rome’s oldest and most atmospheric neighbourhoods, a maze of cobbled lanes and small piazzas across the river from the historic centre. It’s one of our favourite parts of the city for an evening.
We’ve built it into Day 1 of this itinerary as the place to have dinner. There are no headline monuments here, which is the point. You come to Trastevere to wander, eat well and enjoy the atmosphere.
How do I get from Rome’s airport to the city centre?
From Rome Fiumicino, the fastest option is the Leonardo Express train, which runs to Termini station in around 30 minutes. There are also cheaper buses that take a little under an hour, and private transfers if you’d rather be driven.
Rome Ciampino has no train station of its own, but buses run to Termini for around €5, and transfers are available. We cover all the options in the airport section above.
Is Rome easy to get around on foot?
Rome’s historic centre is very walkable, and our itinerary is built around that. Most days you’ll walk from one sight to the next.
You’ll want public transport for a few stretches, mainly reaching the Vatican and the Colosseum, and the metro and buses make that easy. A one-way ticket costs €1.50, and many buses now accept contactless payment.
What is the best time of year to visit Rome?
April, May, September and October are our favourite months in Rome. The weather is pleasant and the crowds are smaller than in peak summer.
We’d avoid August if you can, as it’s hot, very busy, and many smaller restaurants close for the holidays. Rome can be visited year-round, though, and winter has its own quiet appeal.
What should I wear to visit the Vatican and Rome’s churches?
Rome’s churches, including St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museums, have a dress code that requires your knees and shoulders to be covered. This applies to everyone.
In summer this catches a lot of visitors out, so if you’re wearing shorts or a tank top, carry a scarf or a light layer you can put on at the entrance.
Can you see Rome in 3 days without booking a tour?
Yes. This itinerary is designed to be followed independently, and you can do all of it with self-booked tickets and no guided tours at all.
Even so, a guided tour can add a lot at a complex site like the Colosseum or the Vatican Museums, where the history is hard to take in on your own. We mention specific tours we’ve enjoyed throughout the guide, but they’re optional.
What can I do with a fourth day in Rome?
If you have a fourth day, spend it on the quieter side of Rome. Our “Been to Rome Before, or Have a Fourth Day?” section above covers the Appian Way and its Catacombs, the Baths of Caracalla, the Pyramid of Caius Cestius and the basilica of St. John in the Lateran.
A fourth day is also enough time for a day trip. Pompeii, Tivoli and the Tuscan countryside are all within easy reach of the city.
Pete says
Laurence and Jessica,
We just recently came back from Rome. I can’t thank you enough for all of your information. Your recommendations has made our trip truly amazing. The Vatican Key Master Tour recommendation was great! It was the our most memorable tour. To have the Vatican experience with only 15 tourist in the complex was truly an amazing experience. Keep up the great work and recommations!
Laurence Norah says
Hi Pete,
It’s my pleasure, we’re delighted you had a great time in Rome! We loved the Vatican Key Master tour as well and I’m so pleased you enjoyed it too 🙂
Safe travels!
Laurence
Racio says
thank you for taking your time and provide us with this helpful post
we are traveling to Rome soon
Laurence Norah says
My pleasure Racio, have a great time in Rome!
Charles Slane says
Thanks for such an interesting and comprehensive itinerary.
I’ll be in Rome for 4 days, so I’m hoping to use your suggestions, however I’d also like to see a classical concert or two in the evenings. What time would you think would be reasonable to expect to complete the itinerary each day? Would it be in time to see a concert at 7 or 8pm?
Thanks!
Laurence Norah says
Hi Charles,
My pleasure. So yes, you should definitely finish each day in plenty of time to take in an evening concert. Obviously the exact finishing time will vary depending on how long you spend at each location, but I’d say you would have plenty of time to see a concert at 7 or 8 on all three days.
Have a great time in Rome!
Laurence
Divya says
Hi there, I’ve literally been eating up everything in your blog to plan our trip to Rome this September. I was trying to look for Take Walks ‘Tours from home’ tours but couldn’t find them on their website. It looks like they no longer offer those? Unless I’m looking in the wrong spot.
Laurence Norah says
Hi Divya,
Lovely to hear from you and I’m delighted you have found the blog useful! We’re actually in Italy right now and have been doing various tours with Take Walks as well. You are correct, I reached out to my Walks contact when I got your comment (hence the slightly slower response). They confirmed that they have recently removed the Tours from Home. It was something they started when travel wasn’t possible, but they are now refocusing on their in person tours. So I have updated the content. Context Travel are still running their online program though, so that is an option. You can see what they offer here.
Have a great time in Rome and let me know if you have any more questions, we’re happy to help!
Laurence
Imelda Morgan says
Hi, we just found out we are going to be invited to a wedding in Rome Sept 6th!! We think we would like to explore Rome for 2/3 days before wedding! I have been going mad googling what to do etc and came across your site and it’s brilliant!! We, my husband and I, while we are definitely not in our dotage years!! , We do like things like booking tours etc to be straight forward and simple! I know you have loads of info and options of tours etc on your site , I was just wondering which ones you would recommend for us, we would love to visit Vatican, Trevi fountain and colleseum.
We think we would be touring 3rd 4th and 5 th September , wedding is on the 6th,!!
Thank you
Imelda Morgan
Laurence Norah says
Hi Imelda!
Wow, that sounds like a fantastic place to go for a wedding!
To answer your question, my favourite tours are with Take Walks, who were formerly known as Walks of Italy. They have some really amazing experiences in Rome, especially some of their early and exclusive access tours where you can get access to locations with far fewer people, which is a truly memorable experience. For example:
VIP Key Master’s Tour: Open The Sistine Chapel
VIP Pristine Sistine Vatican Tour with Museum Breakfast
VIP Colosseum At Night Tour With Underground & Arena Floor
Of course they have lots more options, (you can see all their Rome Tours here) and some of those are limited availability, but that would definitely be my first pick if looking for a tour in Rome.
I hope you have an awesome time, feel free to let me know if you have any more questions!
Laurence
Cat says
HI, l really found it helpful. Thanks. Question. DO you need to wear masks in all places? Are they specific kinds of masks of just any? I know a weird question but better to be prepared. I just bought the OMNIA PASS and so excited but I am not sure how to separate slot for the vatican.
Laurence Norah says
Hi Cat,
Thanks! So the mask rules have been changing over time, so it’s best to check with an official source. You can see the current regulations here. Currently you need to wear masks indoors. For the type of mask, certain places require FFP2 masks (similar to the US N95 standard), such as public transport and other venues.
For the Omnia Card you should have recieved information on how to book the Vatican. If for some reason you didn’t get that information with your purchase, I’d suggest reaching out to them on their website here: https://www.omniavaticanrome.org/en/contacts/new
Have a great trip!
Laurence
Sophie says
Hello! You have helped me with my itinerary for my visit in April and you have so much info on which passes to buy.
As we are hoping to do the majority of landmarks which pass would you recommend? We are there for 4 days and the majority of passes are only for 72 hours.
Thank you 😊
Laurence Norah says
Hi Sophie!
I’m glad you found our guide useful! So I would probably recommend the Omnia Rome and Vatican Card, because it has the most inclusions of all the passes. Just remember you still need to book a timeslot for the Colosseum with this pass.
I’d also add that there’s a bit of a workaround with this pass given you are coming for four days. The pass actually comes as two separate passes, the Omnia Card and the Roma Pass. You should be able to use these separately. So if you used the Omnia Card on your first day in Rome without using any elements of the Roma Pass, you could use your Roma pass for the next three days.
Altneratively, you could focus on using the passes for the first three days of your visit, and then either doing a day trip from the city or visiting the Appian Way on this day, as that area doesn’t have anything on the pass anyway.
I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any more questions, and have an awesome time in Rome!
Laurence
Sophie says
Hi both,
What a great blog! It’s making me very excited for my visit in April next year.
I am arriving mid morning on Friday 29th April and leaving on Tuesday 3rd May. With opening times etc which way round would you do your itinerary based on Saturday, Sunday and Monday being the main full days for exploring?
Thank you
Laurence Norah says
Hi Sophie!
Thanks very much 🙂 So at the moment (although you’ll want to check when you go because next year it might change!), attractions are closed as follows:
Vatican – Sundays
Castel Sant Angelo – Mondays
St. John in the Lateran – Sundays
Borghese Gallery – Mondays
The Appian Way is also nice on Sundays as it’s closed to traffic, and many attractions including the Catacombs of St. Callixtus, the Catacombs of St. Sebastian and the Tomb of Cecilia Metella should be open on Sundays. You can see opening hours of various attractions along the way on this site (you’ll need to translate it to English).
If you want to visit all the attractions I’ve mentioned, I’d probably suggest doing Day 1 almost as it is on the Saturday, but with the addition of the Borghese Gallery as it’s closed on Mondays. If you miss any of the other attractions as a result they are all open the other days.
You could then switch day 2 and 3 around, so you do the Appian Way on the Sunday, and everything from Day 2 on the Monday.
Hopefully that makes sense! Let me know if you have any more questions!
Laurence
Quynh Cao says
Hi Guys,
Thank you so much for sharing this guide with the internet. I am planning a solo trip for my 23rd birthday and am feeling quite overwhelmed as this with being my first solo trip and my first time being in the EU. This itinerary is very detailed and is a huge help in the planning of my trip! I look forward to reading more of your blogs!
Laurence Norah says
Thanks very much for your kind comment Quynh! If you have any questions at all as you plan your trip, don’t hesitate to reach out and we’ll do our best to help 🙂
Karen says
Hi.., i just want to ask im bit confused if i Buy the 72-hour Rome and Vatican City pass package whick cost 113€ i will get both Omnia card and Rome Pass or i will choose which one i want to activate?? Thank you
Laurence Norah says
Hi Karen,
You get both cards! One primarily covers the Vatican attractions and the other is for other attractions 🙂
Let me know if you have any more questions!
Laurence
Karen says
Thank you…, ❤️❤️❤️
Karen says
Hi.., i was confused again for the omnia card the St. Peter’s Basilica is included.., is it also included the entrance to the dome??? Thanks
Laurence Norah says
Hi Karen,
So yes, the Ommia Card includes St. Peter’s Basilica entry. It is worth noting that it is free to visit St. Peters Basilica, however the card gets you faster access without the usual line. I’m not sure at the moment how long the lines are though.
The card does not include dome access. Usually to get dome access, you would buy a ticket inside St. Peters itself. As you enter through the main doors, the ticket booth is to the right hand side before you enter the church itself. The price varies depending on if you want to take the stairs or the elevator. I can’t find any up to date information on whether it is currently open for visitors, but looking at recent instagram photos from the location it does appear to be 🙂
Let me know if you have any more questions!
Laurence
Branko says
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
Just spent 3 days in Rome with e-bike. Schedule was perfect!
Laurence Norah says
My pleasure Branko, delighted to have been able to help and I am so happy you had a great time in Rome!
Kimberly Tate says
Hello!
I’ve just found your blog and love the information. Do you know when they will allow visitors again?
Thank you
Kim Tate
Laurence Norah says
Hi Kim!
Thanks very much, delighted to be able to help. So this is a great question. Italy actually opened up on the 3rd June to EU visitors, however it has not been announced when there will be wider openings. It is thought further announcements will be made on the 15th June. The majority of the attractions are already open, including the Colosseum, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican Museum, Borghese Gallery, and the Castel Sant Angelo. So really it’s going to come down to where you are visiting from, and when they open more widely to the world!
Laurence
Diane says
I absolutely love your blog / website. I’m thrilled I stumbled onto it. My question is about the Omnia Rome & Vacation Card and the Vatican Museum – Sistine Chapel. I’m a bit confused. The Vatican Museum & Sistine Chapel are included in the Passes with the advantage of Skip-the-Line. What I’m confused by is when I went to the official Vatican website to look for the various tour options, I was going to have to pay 112 euros. When looking to purchasing tickets, I did not see an option to show the savings from the Omnia Rome Pass. How is this Pass cost effective for use at the Vatican? What am I missing or not understanding?
Laurence Norah says
Hi Diane,
Thanks very much! You are correct, entry to the Vatican Museum is included on the Omnia Rome and Vatican Card. You don’t need to book a separate tour or purchase separate tickets for the Vatican, it’s all included as part of the pass. When you buy your card, you will be given the opportunity to book your time for the Vatican.
The only attraction you need to pre-book entry at is the Colosseum, which you do at the official Colosseum site. Instructions for doing this with the pass are in this post.
Let me know if I can help any further,
Best
Laurence
Maria says
Hello,
Thank you for creating this wonderful guide, you’ve made planning this trip so much more exciting!
We are heading to Rome in May and have just tried to make the online reservation time slot for the Colosseum but it shows no availability beyond March…have these slots all gone already? Or are they not released yet?
Thank you in advance 🙂
Laurence Norah says
Hi Maria,
You are correct, the dates are released in phases rather than for the whole year. So you will want to check back regularly to see when your dates become available 🙂
Have a great trip!
Laurence
Jay says
Hi,
Just to let you know if you haven’t done yet, reservation for Colosseum with Roma Pass is now open up to June 2020.
Here’s the link:
https://ecm.coopculture.it/index.php?option=com_snapp&view=event&id=7D8772B8-1D4C-5766-0483-016CAFC55142&catalogid=BA91B33D-F6C8-9440-1EE6-016CE8AE143F&lang=en
Hope this helps. Looking forward to our trip in June.
Jay
Jay says
I already got my omnia card & roma pass 72 hrs. which I ordered using your site’s link. Looking at the pamphlet that came with it, it shows that the Omnia 72 includes the Vatican Museum,Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica, Basilica of St. John Lateran, St Paul Outside the Walls, Carcer Tulllianum & Open Bus 72h hop on hop off. Then the Roma Pass says free use of public transport for 72h, free entry to first 2 museums and concessionary tickets to all other museums. My question is can I start using each card independently from each other? Say I use the Roma Pass Fri, Sat, Sun and the Omnia Sun, Mon & Tues. or does the 72 hrs. for both cards start & end at the same time? I am trying to follow your itineraries although I have to make some adjustments as we cannot spend three successive days in Rome; there is a day where we will be doing a day trip from Rome and it has to be in between, but we still have 3 days to explore Rome. Our trip will still be in June, but I already booked the earliest time (9am) for the Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel. I guess one advantage with having the Omnia card is that at this time (January) you can already book your time for the Vatican for June. I tried going to the Vatican site and they still have not open booking for June, for now they have bookings available only til March. Next thing I’ll do is reserve our entry time for the Colosseum. Looking forward to our trip and thanks again for all the useful information you shared.
Laurence Norah says
Hi Jay!
Thanks for stopping by and also ordering through our links, it all makes a difference. To answer your question, the answer is yes, you can use each card entirely independently and you don’t need to activate them together. They are technically separate products which you can buy individually, so there’s no need to use them together as they cover different things.
Sounds like you are well organised – booking entrance times is super important. I’ve heard from folks in Rome at the moment that it’s busy even now, so you definitely want to be all booked well in advance.
Let me know if you have any more questions, otherwise have a wonderful time in Rome!
Laurence
Jay Joseph Avery says
Hi Laurence,
Hope you don’t mind my asking more questions. When I booked for the Vatican Museums/Sistine Chapel using my Omnia card, I picked the 0900 slot. When I chose the time for St. Peter’s Basilica my option was 1300 or 1500. I had a conversation with my wife as I wasn’t sure if 1300 was a little early. We want to take our time, not be in a hurry and have lunch before we do St. Peter’s, so we decided and got the 1500 time. Our 2 children (22 & 12) will be coming with us. I already mapped out our itinerary (using your 2 & 3 days in Rome as a guide, and adding a few churches) for our almost 4 full days in Rome (4 days for 3 of us and 3 days for our son). Took into account our booking times; that we are in the Vatican almost the whole day. So for the day we do the Vatican, after our visit to St. Peter’s, we only have Castel Sant’ Angelo, Piazza Navona, Pantheon which is kind of on the way to our AirBNB which is only 180 m (2 min. walk) from the Fontana di Trevi.
1) Do you think the 0900 Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel & 1500 St. Peter’s Basilica would work out? Can we go in St. Peter’s earlier than our scheduled 1500 (w/ Audioguide) just in case we are already done at the Museum/Sistine Chapel/lunch/pictures outside?
2) I have read in some blogs that going to St. Peter’s first, then the Museum/Sistine Chapel is one way of avoiding the huge crowd/tourists on buses. Does this strategy really work?
Thanks for your help.
Jay
Laurence Norah says
Hi Jay,
It’s my pleasure. So I’ve actually spoken with the pass people directly about this question as it’s quite a common one. What they have told me is that the time on the St. Peter’s Basilica isn’t that important. The important thing is to turn up on the right day. This isn’t the case for the other attractions where the timeslot is important, but St. Peter’s seems to be different. So I think once you are done with the Vatican you can just head to St. Peters and not worry about being exactly on time.
In my experience the Vatican starts off quieter and then gets busier and busier. It might be less busy in the later afternoon, but I’m not sure it’s worth waiting until then based on your schedule. Basically, it’s always pretty busy. The only way to see it without crowds is to take one of the special early access or late evening tours, but those are separately bookable.
Happy to help with any more questions 🙂
Laurence
Jill Marie Casey says
I am in the trenches of planning our trip to Italy for July. I have been feeling overwhelmed. Your blog has made me feel so much more comfortable! I am about to purchase my Omnia Vatican and Roma Card so I can book my Colosseum time slot. If I have questions, I hope you will not mind if I reach out in the future.
Laurence Norah says
Thanks very much Jill, and of course, you are more than welcome to reach out with any questions 🙂
Laurence
Roma says
This is such a helpful post, thank you for taking time to write it! I have a couple of questions if you have time to answer: with the Omnia pass do we have to pick it up – if so I prefer online the tourist card might be better as it’s all online. The thought of trying to track down where to pick up a card seems like a lot of time to waste when you don’t have much time!!! Also, I wondered if you could suggest some eating places and eating ideas – for example I have heard its cheaper to eat your biggest meal during the day rather than in the evening. We are travelling with two kids. Thanks so much!
Laurence Norah says
Hi Roma,
With the Omnia Pass yes, you do have to pick it up. I think there will be an option to mail it to you, but that can work out quite expensive and so negate the benefits of the pass. The online version might be an better option for you in this regard, as long as it covers everywhere.
For food, to be honest we don’t usually recommend a lot of restaurants. This is because the quality can change quickly! We generally suggest checking review websites like Google Maps and Tripadvisor and trying to find places with good recent reviews. We do however have some suggestions for gelato in Rome which we can highly recommend reading so you get the good stuff.
For meals in general, yes, in Europe generally lunch is a better time for a main meal as the prices for the lunch menus are usually much better value than the evening meals. So eating a main meal at lunch time can definitely save you some money.
Have an amazing time in Rome and do let me know if you have any more questions, I will do my best to help!
Laurence
Nicola says
Such a helpful post which I used for my recent trip! Thank you 🙂
Laurence Norah says
Thanks very much Nicola! If you have any photos or tips to share, we’d love to see them in our facebook group 😀
https://www.facebook.com/groups/travelloversandphotography/
Laura P. says
Hello again —
We will be in Rome from November 6-9 and have decided to do Walks of Italy for the Vatican and Collosseum/Forum. I noticed that several of their tours aren’t even available in November which makes me wonder how crowded the city and sights are at that time of year. Is the Pristine Sistine still recommended for November or do you think crowds during regular hours at that time of year are not an issue? Thank you
Laurence Norah says
Hi Laura,
November is definitely a quieter time of year, so you shouldn’t have too many crowds to worry about. Really the busiest times are the summer months. We’d still recommend a tour if you want to learn more about what you are seeing, but certainly it shouldn’t be necessary. We would however always recommend buying skip the line tickets anyway – you can get them from Vatican website directly for the best price 🙂 You will also definitely need to book your tickets in advance for the Coliseum as well, as that runs a timed entry system.
Have a great time in Rome!
Laurence
Shirley says
Hello I have been reading. Your blog and will be travelling in June 2020 . I love the 3day tour but will have to split the shortest day into 2 half day ( cruising in between) will be arriving to Rome early afternoon then on return my flight leaves late late that night any ideas ( I am staying near the Colessium so I was considering splitting that day up – would that work?
Shirley
Laurence Norah says
Hi Shirley,
Yes that would work. Once you have seen the Colosseum and Roman Forum you can see the highlights of central Rome on your first day. Just be sure to book your Coliseum entry time well in advance for whichever day you choose to visit, as June can be a busy month and the Coliseum can book up.
Have a great trip!
Laurence
Catherine says
Hi Laurence
I am really appreciating all the information you are providing in your blog. I have decided not to get the Roma or Omnia Pass as I don’t think we will get the value from it. I am trying to book Colosseum ticket through one of the sites you recommended but am a bit confused with the tours and costings. We want to do a tour as we would like to see all the levels but can’t work out if I can do it or work out if we pay for that in addition to entry. We will be a group of 7 with three adults and 4 children 16 years and younger.
Thanks
Laurence Norah says
Hi Catherine,
The tours I link to should all include your entry to the Colosseum 🙂 If you let me know which tour specifically you are looking at I can double check, but as far as I know entry is included with all the tours!
Best
Laurence
D Plummer says
Thank you for such an informative guide – making the museum and event reservations in advance were key to using our time wisely and having a perfect experience.
Well Done!
Laurence Norah says
My pleasure, I’m delighted you had a great time and thanks so much for coming by to let us know, it’s always wonderful to hear nice comments 😀
V says
Would you recommend hop-on hop-off bus in Rome? Or is the traffic far too bad for the bus transit?
Laurence Norah says
Hi V,
We have taken the hop on hop off bus a number of times in Rome and it was ok actually, although this will vary depending on the time of day. It isn’t necessarily the fastest and most direct way to get around, but it is a good option for visiting some of the sights for sure 🙂
Laurence
Paul Chasin says
one more question from paul chasin
if we use the omnia vatican card how do we get a reservation time for the vatican museums and sistine chapel without paying an additional 17.00E the web site for timed admissions on Nov 2, saturday has type of tickets all with prices but nothing that says if we have omnia card we can get a time without additional money thanks Paul C
Laurence Norah says
Hi Paul,
When you get the Omnia Vatican and Rome Card (assuming you buy it from the official site rather than Viator), you will be sent instructions on how to book the Vatican 🙂
Let me know if you have any problems!
Laurence
Laura says
I’ve been wondering about this — can you reserve your entry times to Vatican and Colliseum without activating your card? I want to do it now, but won’t start using the card until November. Thanks!
Laurence Norah says
HI Laura,
You absolutely can and I encourage you to do so as soon as you can so as to get the slots you want 🙂 The card won’t activate until you use it at the first attraction.
Have a great trip!
Laurence
paul Chasin says
regarding Omnia vatican and Rome card
1. do you need a specific time slot reservation for anything other than the colosseum ? as to the the vatican do we need a timed reservation even with the Omnia card
2. currently on your link to the on line reservation web site for colosseum it does not give us option for reservation with the roma pass. Is there another way to make a timed reservation
3. do all sites on omnia vatican and Rome include audioguides or is that extra?
Laurence Norah says
Hi Paul,
1 – Yes, for the Vatican, but you should get a link to book this when you buy the card
2 – It seems the official Colosseum website has changed in the last week or so! The new link is here Altneratively, if you go to the Colosseum ticket office home page here then on the right hand side under “Roma Pass” there is a small link there. So you should be able to make your timed reservation from that page. Alternatively, there is a phone number you can ring.
3 – This is usually extra
I will update my Rome content regarding the new process for booking Colosseum slots now, thanks for bringing that to my attention!
Laurence
paul chasin says
is the Rome museum galleria borghese open sunday november 3? several web sites have it Xd out in red as they do on all mondays when museum is always closed but one site had non refundable tickets for Nov 3 which i am worried is a scam Thanks Paul Chasin
Laurence Norah says
Hi Paul,
As far as we can tell the Borghese is open on the 3rd November. You definitely want to book via a reputable site – we list some recommit in our dedicated Borghese Gallery guide which you can see here:
https://independenttravelcats.com/exploring-art-borghese-gallery-in-rome/#How-to-Make-Reservations-and-Book-Tickets
Enjoy!
Laurence
Jenny Swingle says
I’m looking at the Omnia Pass and Roma Pass and feel like I’m missing something here. We are going to the following venues and it seems like buying tickets direct is cheaper than a pass?
–Colosseum $13.50 USD, includes Roman Forum
–Skip the Line Vatican and Sistine Chapel $31.50
–St Peters $16.86
–Castel Sant’Angelo $12
Your blog recommended to use the Omnia pass for free entry to the National Museum of Castel Sant’Angelo and the Colosseum / Roman Forum (value $25.50). Pass is $127. Or the Roma Pass gives free admission to the Colosseum OR Castel Sant’Angelo (value around $12-13). Pass is $45.
I understand the passes include transit and other discounts, but it again appears to be cheaper to just buy direct or get a travel pass. Am I missing something, or if we’re only going to these sites should we just buy tickets direct because the passes aren’t worth it unless you’re going more places? Thanks in advance! Your blog was REALLY helpful!!
Laurence Norah says
Hi Jenny!
Thanks very much!
So you are definitely correct, the Omnia Pass and the Roma Pass are definitely only worth it if you plan on using most of the features. If you only want to visit some specific attractions, then booking individual skip the line entry is definitely the way forward.
In terms of pricing, I would add that the price for the Vatican should be less than what you have quoted. If you buy it directly from the official Vatican website:
http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/visita-i-musei/tariffe-e-biglietti.html
The price is €17 + a €4 booking fee. Some websites will try to make it seem more expensive by calling it a skip the line ticket, or that it includes the Sistine Chapel. But if you buy the Vatican Museum ticket from the official website, the €4 fee gives you skip the line access, and all Vatican Museum tickets include the Sistine Chapel
http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/visita-i-musei/scegli-la-visita/musei-e-collezioni/musei-vaticani-e-cappella-sistina/visita-libera-musei-vaticani-e-cappella-sistina.html
If you really want to save money, St. Peters is actually free. However, skip the line access (which is what you pay for) can save you a lot of time if you are visiting at a busy time of year.
For what you are doing, I would definitely suggest that the pass would not be worth it, and you should just book direct with the official websites, which are
http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/visita-i-musei/scegli-la-visita.html
&
https://www.coopculture.it/en/colosseo-e-shop.cfm
I hope this helps and that you have a wonderful time in Rome. Do let me know if I can be of any more help too 😀
Laurence
Jenny Swingle says
Perfect, thank you so much!
Gabi says
Hi,
I will be in Rome in September for the third time, but it’ll be my son’s first time. 🙂
Thank you for all your wonderful tips. This is a truly fabulous article!
Gabi
Laurence Norah says
Our pleasure Gabi – have an amazing time!
Syaharom Abdullah says
Hi, Laurence !
My wife and I plan to visit Rome and Venice in mid December. If I were to follow your three day Rome itinerary, where would be the best location for me to stay? I have a budget of about 100 Euro a day for accommodation.
Thank you.
Laurence Norah says
Hi Syaharom
In Rome in December the prices are pretty reasonable, so you should have no trouble finding a location. I’d recommend staying near Piazza Navona as that is close to most of the sights in the city. Some options to consider:
https://www.booking.com/hotel/it/argentina-view.en-gb.html?aid=385205;label=FTU3DayRome
https://www.booking.com/hotel/it/navona-gallery-and-garden-suites.en-gb.html?aid=385205;label=FTU3DayRome
https://www.booking.com/hotel/it/b-amp-b-palazzo-lupardi.en-gb.html?aid=385205;label=FTU3DayRome
My suggestion would be to load up the booking.com site, and filter by your date, and then by price and rating. For example, this search already filters by your requirements, you just need to change the dates to your specific dates. Then you can hit the “map view” to see where they are. Have a great trip!
Laurence
Laurence
Syaharom Abdullah says
Dear Laurence
Thanks. I appreciate it.
paul chasin says
Question i read that “main museums and public monuments ” are free to seniors over 65 Which museums are these? are any of them the main tourist attractions like vatican city St Peter’s Basilica, or museo e galleria Borghese? thanks paul chasin
Laurence Norah says
Hi Paul,
It really varies depending on the attraction, but it is not common for entry to be free to seniors. In addition, the free access might only be for EU citizens. From the list you have provided, the Vatican doesn’t as far as I am able to tell. St. Peter’s Basilica is free, you only pay if you want to skip the line. The Borghese also has no senior discount.
Have a great time in Rome 🙂
Laurence
youssef sherif says
Hi laurence, I wanted to ask you a question , I don’t understand the difference between pre booking a regular admission ticket and pre booking a skip the line ticket , I mean in both cases I don’t have to stand in the ticket line and I go straight to the security check right? or did you mean that the line of visitors with skip the line tickets is usually much shorter than that with regular admission tickets? I also wanted to ask you about one more thing , If I bought a skip the line ticket from any website like tripadvisor I dont have to reserve a time slot on the official website right ?
Laurence Norah says
Hi Youssef,
This is correct for the most part, however it depends on the attraction. In general though:
– for the majority of attractions, there will always be some sort of security line
– some attractions have a separate fast track line for specific tickets, and a normal line for standard ticket holders. Depending on the ticket, you will join one of these lines for ticket validation and security checks
– there will also be a general line for those not in possession of a ticket. You want to try and avoid this line!
For the skip the line tickets on third party websites, if it includes a timed entrance then you should not have to book a time slot, however you definitely need to check the instructions of the ticket to be sure.
Have a great time in Rome!
Laurence
Kim Wood says
Hi,
I have Omina Vatican & Rome card and I make a big mistake to reservation the time slot on the wrong date on Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel – Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel, how can I change it?
Laurence Norah says
Hi Kim!
So for this you would need to contact the Omnia Vatican & Rome Card folds. I would suggest calling them – they have a UK call center and also a Skype contact number – you can see these here:
https://www.romeandvaticanpass.com/contact-rome-pass/
Best of luck,
Laurence
Alex says
Hi, back again, sorry.
Been trying since April to book that Colosseum entry time slot, with the Roma pass. Whenever I have tried to select my date to visit, in early July, there has not been a single date able to be selected after June.
Not full, just not yet able to be chosen. I wondered if I had to wait until June to be able to select dates in July, as there has simply been no possibility to choose dates within that month, until now.
Now that June has begun, I tried again, only to find that every single time slot on every single day until the end of August is fully booked.
I was unable to book before now because tickets were not available for purchase from July on, and now I cannot purchase because they are all seemingly sold out.
Can you tell me what this means for me, and possibly why this was the case? And am I unable to receive free entry on my Roma pass to the Colosseum because of this?
Thanks very much (once again)
Alex.
Laurence Norah says
Hi Alex – no problem at all!
So I have recently spoken to the Colosseum folks because I am getting a lot of questions about the Colosseum. So many in fact that I’ve written a whole guide to it, which is new since you last commented:
https://www.findingtheuniverse.com/colosseum-rome-guide/
In essence, the timeslot system has definitely resulted in a lot less availability for the Colosseum. When I spoke to the Colosseum ticket office, I was told that do release slots on a weekly basis, but I wasn’t given details as to when that happens exactly, how many they release at a time, and how far in advance they are for. You could try calling the ticket line, giving your specific dates, and asking if new timeslots are going to open up. The number is +39 06 399 67 700, and it’s option 2 for English. I recommend using something like Skype for cheaper calls.
Let’s get back to the other part of your question, in terms of what this actually means for you if the timeslots are not available.
First, yes, you won’t be able to use your Roma Pass for the Colosseum. This isn’t the end of the world, as you can use the free entry to another attraction.
I assume you do still want to visit the Colosseum, and the good news is that this will be possible, you will just have to go about it a different way. Generally, this will involve taking a slightly higher priced ticket, or booking a guided tour. I have outlined the main options in this section of my Colosseum guide:
https://www.findingtheuniverse.com/colosseum-rome-guide/#What-if-there-are-no-times-available-for-the-Colosseum
I hope this helps, the timed entry system is new for 2019 and I really don’t think anyone anticipated how much demand there was going to be, especially over the busier months!
Laurence
Darlene says
HI…thanks for a great site!!
I am thinking of taking my 20 yr old daughter on a Med. cruise that leaves Oct 1st…we could have 3 or 4 days in Rome before the cruise…what are the crowds like during this time and is the weather still nice?
Thank for your help.
Cheers,
Darlene
Laurence Norah says
Hi Darlene,
The crowds should be very manageable by October. i would still recommend booking your Colosseum ticket in advance just to avoid disappointment, but other than that I don’t think it will be too busy. Weather wise, it depends on how lucky you are! It could be mild and sunny, or it could be wet and cool. It’s unlikely to be extremely hot or extremely cold, so just some sensible clothing layers and some sort of waterproof or umbrella should suffice,
Have a great time!
Laurence
David T says
Hi,
Love your page! I bought the OMNIA Rome pass as you suggest. I want to do the VIP tour you suggested for the Colosseum, but am wondering whether I need to still purchase the Entrance pass (2 euros) with the Rome pass or does the VIP tour include the entrance as well?
Laurence Norah says
Thanks David! The VIP Colosseum / Caesars Palace tour includes your entry ticket and time slot to the Colosseum and Roman Forum, so no need to worry about reserving those if you book on the tour 🙂
Enjoy!
Laurence
Eva says
Hello, thank you for a great blog it really inn lauded all the information we needed and more. I just a question – I was going to buy tickets through the ticketbar website (you gave a link to it under basilica) but read a couple of entries at other sites saying not to use 3rd party vendors etc. is the website trustworthy for Vatican skip the line tickets. Omniscient would not work for us.
Many thanks in advance
Best
Eva
Laurence Norah says
Hi Eva,
For the Vatican we recommend (and directly link to in this post) that you book your skip the line tickets on the Vatican website directly. The only reason for this is cost, on the official website it’s €17 + €4 booking fee for a skip the line ticket, whilst most third party sellers are more expensive, and you generally end up getting the same thing, so there is no real value. The reason they are more expensive is just the way that the Vatican structures it’s prices to third parties. This is the same for the Coliseum – if you don’t use a pass, then it’s usually always cheaper to just book direct. The only thing to bear in mind is that some third parties do include addons like audioguides in the package price, which can make it more valuable.
We recommend ticketbar for many other products in cities around the world and have had no problems using them. For St. Peters Basilica for example they have a ticket, which as you mention we do suggest. This is because there is no actual entry fee to St. Peter’s Basilica, so you can’t buy a ticket from the official site. However, you can pay more to get a faster access and thus skip the long lines, which is what sites like ticketbar are able to provide.
Let me know if you have any more questions, I’m happy to help!
Laurence
Vishal says
Hi Laurence,
Thanks … this is very useful information and we will be relying on this to plan our trip.
Just wanted to check – if I buy the OMania card but need a guided tour of Vatican and Colosseum, is it possible to get a local guide to accompany us when we visit these 2 attractions? Where can I get a local guide . We are a group of 6.
Not planning a guided tour as I am already paying for the entry for both attractions when I purchase the card.
Thanks for your help.
Regards, VK
Laurence Norah says
Hi Vishal,
So I am sure that this is possible, but I am not sure where you would find this type of guide, as all the tours I can find already include entry. However, you can get an audioguide, which might be just as good, and also a lot cheaper!
Best
Laurence
Vishal says
Hi Laurance,
Thanks for your very prompt response. A couple of additional questions ( sorry about this but we are largely following your itinerary).
1. I have booked a guided tour for Vatican and Colosseum so will not opt for the Rome and Omania pass. Do you think it’s still worth to get a Roma pass (72 hr or 48 hr) for the rest of the attractions on your itinerary + the local transport flexibility it offers? We have 4 days and are a group of 6 (children, adults and seniors).
2. Borghese gallery is fully booked during the time I am in Rome and we will skip the Pyramid of Caius. What other attractions would you recommend we visit ?
Regards, VK
Laurence Norah says
Hi Vishal,
My pleasure, and no problem.
1 – it’s always hard to advise if something is worth it as folks have different ideas of value 🙂 I’d say for me it would be worth it and we usually advise it, but it will depend on the other attractions you visit and how much you plan to use the public transport to decide if it’s worth it for you. Without the Coliseum entry, it is less of a financially obvious case, but it depends what else you go and see.
2 – I’d suggest the Capucin Museum, which is quite interesting if a little creepy. You should also consider the Circo Maximums and the Capitoline Museums.
Best
Laurence
Christopher Darling says
Good morning
Thank you very much for such a really great and detailed travel guide.
I ordered the Omnia card, I was wondering if it was possible to change the time of the Vatican museum booking. When I booked my museum timing I wasn’t aware Saint Peter’s Basilica next timing was 4 hrs later.
Thank you for all of your help and your great guide.
Chris
Laurence Norah says
Hi Chris,
My pleasure. So for the Omnia Card, when I have queried about the timings in the past, I was told that the only important time is the Vatican time. Beyond that, as long as you show up on the right day for the St. Peter’s Basilica, you shouldn’t have any problem.
That said, I would also check with the Omnia card folks to confirm this, and also to see if you can change the time if you would still prefer to do that,
Best
Laurence
Alex Purvis says
Hi Lawrence and Jessica,
Thank you very much for this wonderful blog. I have a question about the Omnia card, which I have just purchased, if you can help me.
I haven’t yet been quite able to figure out how the discounts to attractions work. I assume, at least for the two free attractions, you just pick which two appeal, then join the security line to enter and declare while brandishing your Omnia card that this is one of your two chosen free entries. Is that correct?
However, for the other discounted attractions, is it the case that you must still join the ticket purchasing line, and show your Omnia card when you buy in order to receive the discount? In which case, you would be unable to skip the ticket lines for any other than the two free attractions (plus the Vatican). Is that how the discounts work?
One other small issue – when I follow the link in the email confirmation Omnia sent me to reserve time slots at the Vatican, it appears that I have to reserve separate time slots for all three of: Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica, and St. Peter’s Prison. Is that the case, and if I did not reserve times for all three, or was slightly late for a particular time slot, would I then be denied entry, or miss out on skip-the-queue?
I apologise for the length of this message, but I would be very grateful for any clarity you could provide!
Thanks Again!
Laurence Norah says
Hi Alex!
Our pleasure, we’re delighted you found it useful 🙂
So, assuming you bought the Omnia Card that we recommend in this post, it is actually two cards.
The Omnia part of it is what gives you access to the Vatican attractions, which include the Vatican Museum, St. Peters Basilica and so on. Those are all included, you don’t have to choose.
The other part of it is the Roma Pass, which is the one where you get free access to the 2/6 attractions, and then discounted admission. You are correct – the skip the line access only works for the free admission.
The main queues in Rome however are for St. Peters Basilica, the Vatican Museum (both of these you get skip the line access with the Omnia part of the card) and the Coliseum. The Coliseum however now operates a timed entry system, as explained in this post. I definitely recommend using the Coliseum for one of your free entries, and reserving your timeslot online using the process I outline in this post.
I have been told in the past by the Omnia Pass folks that the only timeslot that really matters is the Vatican Museum. For St. Peters Basilica, the important thing is that you choose the correct day, the actual timeslot is not an issue. I had not previously heard of a separate timeslot for the Sistine Chapel. I don’t see that this could be a thing as it’s actually inside the Vatican Museum, so you just visit it as part of that visit, I don’t believe there’s a separate entry process as far as I know, unless this has changed recently.
For St. Peters Prison, I have a feeling this will be the same as St. Peters Basilica, as long as pick the right day, the timing shouldn’t be a big issue. It’s not a massive attraction so there shouldn’t be any problem. Personally I would reserve all the times, but only worry about being on time for the Vatican Museum, which is one where you are escorted in by the Omnia Pass people in a special line.
Let me know if this all makes sense!
Laurence
Melissa says
My husband and I are planning a full 2 week trip to Italy in September 2019. Mainly because our son is stationed at the military base in Naples. We will be arriving early morning on a WED and will have most of the day WED and all day THU to spend in Rome, then we will take a train FRI morning to visit our son in Naples for a 4 day weekend. He will be showing us around Naples, Pompeii and Amalfi coast/Capri. We were then planning to either catch a train/plane from Naples to Florence then to Venice and then back to Rome early on a MON for another day before heading to airport for very early am flight on TUE. Or maybe taking a flight directly to Venice first then taking the train to florence and back towards Rome.
I’ve been researching a lot on how to go about doing this. It seems that the Omnicard would not be the most economical option since our “3-days in Rome” will not be consecutive. Any advise you can give me would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
Laurence Norah says
Hi Melissa,
You are correct, the 3 day pass wouldn’t work out so well for you. However, I have a solution. The 3 day Ommnia Rome and Vatican Card actually consists of two cards, an Omnia Card, and a Roma Pass. You can buy these separately, and thus activate them separately. The Omnia card will cover the Vatican attractions, and the Rome Pass will cover things like the Coliseum, Roman Forum and so on.
So my suggestion is to buy them individually, and to use the Roma Pass for the WED/THU, then the OMNIA pass for the Monday. I would suggest picking up the Omnia Pass when you arrive though, as you can then book your timeslots for the Vatican Museums.
You can buy the 24 hour Omnia Card here, and the 48 hour Roma Pass here.
Just be aware that for the Coliseum, even with a Roma Pass, you still need to reserve a timeslot. The process for doing so is explained in the post above (this is new as of March 2019, so many websites are still giving incorrect information that you don’t need to do this).
The only thing I would advise is just to make sure the various attractions you plan to visit are open on the days you are visiting. Based on the information you’ve given me it should be fine, but Rome has public holidays and so on, and I wouldn’t want you to buy a pass for a specific day that you then can’t use!
Let me know if I can be of any further help, and have a fantastic trip!
Laurence
Laurence Norah says
Just to add to this – if you don’t want the hop on hop off bus, you can also buy skip the line tickets for both St. Peters and the Vatican from that website, which might be a little cheaper than the Omnia Card.
Alan says
Hello,
Thank you so much for the extremely helpful information. I’m in Rome now mostly following your itinerary. My question is about food. I’m not sure If you already mentioned this anywhere n I missed it but what are the best places you would recommend to eat Italian food (restaurants or grap n go pies n stuff)? We are doing Vatican tomorrow (through Omnia with a guide). Any specific place to eat you recommend around there ?
Thanks
Laurence Norah says
Hi Alan!
To be honest, we haven’t put together a restaurant guide for Rome as yet. We rarely do food guides to be honest, because we like to be thorough, and it takes a lot of time to visit sufficient restaurants to come up with a good enough guide – especially in a city like Rome! We also find that restaurants are not like attractions, they tend to open and close more often, and it can be hard to keep a guide up to date.
When we travel, we usually look at resources like Google Maps or Yelp, as well a general blog posts on where to eat in a city from more focused food blogs. We try to make sure the reviews are recent and seem to also be from locals. Usually this works pretty well. Rome is pretty good for restaurants though, we’ve never had a particularly bad meal! But a little research will keep you away from the more touristy traps.
Sorry not to be of more specific help!
Laurence
Holly says
Hello!!
We will be traveling to Rome in May, and will be spending three days. I tried locating your google map itinerary but am having issue finding it. When I click the link to the map, it only opens my Google Map App without opening your itinerary map. Is there a way you could provide me the name or another link to the map?
Thank you! This was by far the most helpful in regards to planning a short visit in Rome – so many other blogs did not give precise direction on how/when to organize the trip!
Laurence Norah says
Hi Holly!
Thanks very much 🙂 So I have updated the link to the following:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1x5V1a95ajBmgBgXTOFCxNCgCEU4_84nF&ll=41.891275518815284%2C12.479531000000065&z=14
Can you let me know if that works for you? Google is a bit tricky when it comes to these things sometimes. If that doesn’t work, I would suggest trying on a desktop browser or in an incognito tab perhaps.
Let me know how it goes!
Laurence
Holly says
Thank you so much! That link worked for me! I appreciate it!
Laurence Norah says
Awesome 😀 I will update some of our other posts as well to the new link structure 🙂
gabriela honegger says
Hi Laurence and Jessica,
We will be arriving in Rome on June 20, 2019 and departing on June 24 out of Venice to France .
Could you advise us on how to get around and see Rome, Florence, and Venice in 4 days? Is this even possible? love your website!!!!
Laurence Norah says
Hi Gabriela,
So this is of course theoretically possible, but it will be quite rushed. I would probably try and focus on seeing two cities more fully, but I understand if you want to fit it all in.
I’m not sure what time you are arriving or leaving and if you have much time on the 24th or 20th. So this sort of assumes you don’t have much time on those days.
My advice be to spend a day in Rome, following our itinerary for a day in Rome. Then, take the train to Florence (book train tickets in advance on trenitalia to save money). Either go in the evening after exploring Rome, or early in the morning. Then explore Florence for a day, overnight in Florence, and then head to Venice on the train.
If you want to take a tour in any of these places, I can recommend this Rome in a Day tour and this Florence in a Day Tour 🙂
Let me know if you have any more questions!
Laurence
Luis says
Thank you. This is immensely helpful. I can tell it took a lot of thought and time and I truly appreciate it!
Laurence Norah says
My pleasure Luis – have a great trip!
Alana says
I love your website and how you are so helpful to those of us who have no idea what to expect when we arrive in Rome. Your 3 day itinerary is awesome. We plan to see at least the first two days of attractions. This is the best sight I’ve seen and the fact that you answer directly to us is amazing. Thank you in advance for your help.
I’m worried I may have done something wrong. We arrive in Rome on March 31st…we arrive early that morning so I thought we might want to see a few of the lesser sites or do the hop on hop off tour just to get familiar with the city that afternoon when we arrive. We plan to start our Vatican and Colosseum sightseeing early Monday morning April 1st.
I purchased the Omnia Vatican and Rome Card a couple of days ago. I picked the date of March 31, My thinking is that it will give us 3 days…March 31 – April 2. We leave early on April 3rd. Am I correct in my thinking that this pass will give us those 3 days of sightseeing and general transportation?
My second concern is I can’t find anywhere that allows me to pick time slots. We want to start at the Vatican as early as possible on Monday April 1. Can you help me figure out how to choose my time slots?
The Omnia Vatican and Rome Card is expensive and I can’t find a way to pick a time slot?
Thank you.
Laurence Norah says
Hi Alana,
Many thanks for your message. So the pass will activate on first use, the date you specified isn’t too important. If you start using it on the 31st it will work on the 31st,1st and 2nd.
For your second point I have been in contact with the folks who issue the pass about your issue. I have been told that you should have received an email with a link to book your times. However, you are the second person to contact me about this recently so I am wondering if something has changed. If you could forward me the email they sent you on purchase and any other confirmation to my email, laurence@findingtheuniverse.com, I’ll investigate further!
Thanks
Laurence
Alana says
Thank you Laurence,
I have forwarded the email to you. I really appreciate your help.
Laurence Norah says
Great Alana – happy to be of help 🙂 Have a great trip!
Leah says
Thank you so much for this easy to follow and very detailed guide.
I have one question though…. About the ticketbar purchase ~where can we redeem the cards and stuff for example from the airport in Rome?
Laurence Norah says
Hi Leah!
For the Rome Pass, the pickup locations are as follows:
PIT Castel S. Angelo, Piazza Pia (next to the gardens of Castel Sant’Angelo), 8.30am – 18.00pm till 24/03, 9.30am – 7.00pm till 27/10.
PIT Ciampino, Aeroporto G.B.Pastine – External area International Arrivals. 8.30am – 6.00pm.
PIT Cinque Lune, Piazza delle Cinque Lune (Piazza Navona). 9.30am – 7.00pm.
PIT Fiumicino, Aeroporto Leonardo Da Vinci – International Arrivals – Terminal T3. 8.00am – 8.45pm.
PIT Fori Imperiali, Visitor Center Via dei Fori Imperiali. 01 January-30 June and 01 September-31 December: 9.30am – 7.00pm – 01 July-31 August: 9.30am – 8.00 pm.
PIT Minghetti, Via Marco Minghetti (corner to Via del Corso). 9.30am – 7.00pm.
PIT Sonnino, Piazza Sidney Sonnino (Trastevere). 10.30am – 8.00pm.
PIT Termini, Stazione Termini – Via Giovanni Giolitti, 34, platform 24. 8.00am – 6.45pm.
So as you can see, lots of options 😀
Have a great trip!
Laurence
Leah says
Thank you so much!
Sandy s says
Hi Laurence. Hope you can answer a couple of queries for me.
1. Our flight lands at about 9pm and we were planning on getting the train/bus from the airport to termini. Just a bit concerned of what is the best option to get from termini to our hotel. Can we get a taxi outside the station and roughly how much would it cost? Our hotel is close to the Coliseum. the hotel does a shuttle from the airport but it is very expensive.
2. we have booked the Vatican museum etc with our omnia card. Did I see somewhere that we now have to book the coliseum as well in advance?
Ps loving the blog – planning on using the itinerary when we visit in 3 weeks!
Laurence Norah says
Hi Sandy!
So, from Termini to the Coliseum is only about half a mile, which is even walkable! However, there are also public buses you could take. I couldn’t tell you how much a taxi would cost, but it would not be very much for such a short distance.
For the Coliseum, yes, they have now (as of 1st March 2019, or today!), made it so that everyone, even holders of the Roma Pass / Omnia Card, have to book their Coliseum time. This costs €2 and is best done online. To do so, you will go here:
https://ecm.coopculture.it/index.php?option=com_snapp&view=event&id=6C207193-B1F0-4F69-70C4-016523BDE15E&catalogid=1B972393-F85A-9A73-1906-0167A81DA806&lang=en
And pick a date and time slot at the bottom. It is easier if you do this with “solo disponsibli” checked, as it will show you only available times. Once you pick a time, you should be able to choose a ticket type, and one of them will be “COL-FOR-PAL PREN.INGRESSO CON ROMA PASS
individuals entrance” at a price of €2. That is the one you want to buy.
I hope this helps! I’ll update our Rome content to reflect this as it’s all new for 2019.
Have a great trip
Laurence
Sandy S says
Hi Laurence
Thanks for the quick response. I was initially happy to walk from Termini but as it is going to be about 10pm I was just concerned about safety for two mature ladies visiting. I think a taxi might be best.
Laurence Norah says
Hi Sandy,
No worries. Rome is pretty safe, but it never hurts to take precautions, especially with all your baggage,
Have a wonderful time 🙂
Laurence
Debra says
Hello;
I have found your site to be very helpful when planning my visit to Rome. I will be traveling with a small dog and traveling in November so I hope the crowds will be less. I realize that dogs will not be allowed in the interior of most places, but I assume I will be able to walk on the outside of many of the sites you mentioned. Also, do you find Rome to be dog friendly?
I would also like to take a cooking class while in Rome….do you recommend any?
Thank you.
Laurence Norah says
Hi Debra!
So we haven’t travelled with a dog in Rome, so our advice is not from personal experience. However, you shouldn’t have any trouble on the outside of the attractions certainly. I’m not sure which attractions would allow dogs, if any, but I think overall Rome is dog friendly. However, again I must stress this is not based on first hand experience.
In terms of cooking classes, the only one we’ve done is this one. It was a great evening and lots of fun, but it was more of a pasta making evening and social event rather than a full-on cooking class, so it depends what you want 🙂
Have a wonderful trip!
Laurence
Deepak says
Thanks for the detailed itinerary. Really loved the way you have organised the content and shared your experience. We are planning for a 2.5 day trip to Rome in July. I had few questions
1. Since we land in Rome at 9am, we plan to start our sight seeing at 1PM after we check-in and take some rest. Given just half day, which of day of your 3 day itinerary do you suggest to do on our first day given we have only 0.5 day.
2. I plan to take guided tours to both Vatican Museums and Colloseum. Will you suggest I still take Roma Pass ?
3. Any suggestions on good authentic Italian food in Rome ?
4. We plan to take train to Naples on Day 4 for a trip to Pompeii. Any suggestions on Naples and Pompeii ?
Laurence Norah says
Hi Deepak!
So if you lose half a day you will possibly have to skip something, depending on how you arrange your time. However, you mention that you want to take a tour of the Vatican and Coliseum. So my suggestions is as follows:
1 – take the Rome in a Day tour from Take Walks, which includes both the Vatican and Coliseum, as well as the majority of sights in the city centre. For your half day, you could see what’s left on Day 2, then on your other full day you could do day 3.
2 – no, I don’t think you will get too many benefits of the Roma Pass, unless you want the transport.
3 – to be honest, we rarely recommend restaurants as they change so often, and the quality can vary. We recommend using Google maps or something similar, and looking for recent good reviews.
4 – this isn’t an area we’ve explored recently, so we don’t have any tips currently – sorry!
Have a great trip!
Laurence
Jeff Tokryman says
Hello
Thank you for the detailed info
We (2 of us) are looking for a guided group tour of Rome over a three day time frame to see the sites you mention. Vatican and related with skip the line access. We also want to go inside the Colosseum,
Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain. Context Travel has these split up. I am looking for a complete combo tour. We plan to visit Rome The 1st or 2nd week of MAY.
Laurence Norah says
Hi Jeff!
Have you taken a look at the tours available on the Take Walks site? They have a number of options. Or did you want a private tour?
Best
Laurence
Sally says
Hi,
I love your post about 3 days in Rome. I just purchased the Omnia Rome travel pass. I ordered the passes to be sent to me because I thought it would be one less thing I had to deal with when I arrived. They sent an email saying I can’t prebook my entry times until I have my tickets. I know you stated in your post that once you order the pss you can book your reservations. Do you know if something changed or did I book it wrong? Thank you.
Laurence Norah says
Hi Sally!
So my understanding was that as soon as you bought your pass you would be able to book your entry times at the following website:
https://booking.omniakit.org/en/categories/choose
However, it sounds like this might have changed. I have sent an e-mail to my contacts at the Omnia Rome pass to see what the current process is in case it has changed. In addition, for the Coliseum you also now need to book an entry time if you are visiting after the start of March 2019. However the process for how you actually do this with the pass is a bit unclear, so I have asked for clarity about that as well,
I’ll be in touch when I hear back!
Best
Laurence
Sally says
Thank you so much! I appreciate your help with my questions!
Laurence Norah says
My pleasure!
Suan Teo says
We are a group of 6 seniors travelling to Rome arriving Oct 14 and our cruise sets sail on Oct 20. Your 3-day Rome itinerary and 2-day in Florence is very helpful. Need recommendation on accommodation for 6….will you suggest VRBO and/or AirBnB. Thank you.
Laurence Norah says
Hi Suan,
I would certainly suggest for a larger party that an apartment is great option. We have a list of a range of apartment booking websites we suggest you look at, which you can see here.
Let me know if you have any more questions and I’ll try to help out!
Laurence
Sirod says
Hi Laurence & Jessica Norah,
thank you for this wonderful insight of Rome.
i am arriving in Rome Feb of this year Sunday noon and leaving Thursday morning to explore the City.
i honestly love the itinerary that you wrote but my “bad left knee” can’t endure the walks as stated.
my top priorities to visit are as follows.
The Vatican, The Museum, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica
(and maybe hear Mass and see a glimpse of our beloved Pope).
Piazza del Popolo, Spanish steps, Trevi fountain (wishing to visit again), Mouth of Truth (for the child/curiosity/fun @heart) and of course, The Colosseum & Roman Forum.
please help me out on how to achieve this in 3 1/2 days.
thank you in advance and more power to you two 🙂
Sirod
Laurence Norah says
Hi Sirod!
So based on your priorities I think you will be able to achieve what you want. As you say you want to see a Papal mass, we can arrange your visit around that. I’m not sure which part of February you are visiting, but you can see the papal mass timetable here:
http://www.vatican.va/various/prefettura/en/udienze_en.html
For the Wednesday mass, please be advised you have to get tickets in advance from the website I link to. Tickets are free, but are required for entry. You will also need to be there in person at least a couple of hours early in order to see mass. So this will take up most of the morning and some of the afternoon.
My advice for the rest of that day would be to visit the outside attractions, like Piazza del Popolo, the Spanish Steps and the Trevi fountain. From the vatican you can take a bus to the centre of the city. Alternatively, you could visit St. Peter’s on this afternoon as you are already there. I don’t think you’ll have time to see the Vatican as well.
So this would give you the Monday to see The Colosseum & Roman Forum. This would also be a good day to see the mouth of truth.
You could then dedicate the Tuesday to the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel.
Does that sound feasible?
Laurence
Sirod says
Thank you very much for your reply.
This will definitely be a short but wonderful stay in Rome.
More power to your “blog”
Laurence Norah says
My pleasure Sirod, do let me know if you have any more questions!
Laurence
caroline says
love your blog. Excited to go to Rome in a few days, however, there is one thing that we dont understand with the Omnia Card. Are you supposed to prebooked online all the attractions with the Omnia card or just show up ?
Thanks in advance,
Caroline
Laurence Norah says
Hi Caroline!
Thanks very much, and it’s my pleasure to be able to help 🙂
So when you have your card you can prebook your timeslots at the following website:
https://booking.omniakit.org/en/categories/choose
If you are picking the card up in person, you’ll make the bookings at the time you pick it up I think.
The only things you need to book the timeslots for are the Vatican Museum and St. Peter’s Basilica. However, for St. Peter’s, it’s an open ticket for the whole day – as long as you have a booking confirmation for the right day, the time doesn’t matter.
I hope this helps – let me know if you have any further questions or anything doesn’t make sense 🙂
Have a great trip!
Laurence
caroline says
Thanks Laurence, for taking the time to answer my question. This is very heelpful.
Pia says
I’m relieved to find the perfect Rome travel guide for me! It tends to be overwhelming during this planning phase as there’s a wide range of attractions to visit. But glad to havr come across your page.
My husband and I are booked for June 3-11, 2019. We have not booked any accommodation yet but we’re looking more into a bed & breakfast kind of place.
We’re inclined to tour around Italy for our 8 nights. We’re thinking of Rome, Milan, Venice and Florence. Do you think doing this would be too tight given our travel period? We’re slow paced travelers and would want to have ample time to appreciate the surroundings. We also love when we don’t need to rush from one point to the next.
Also, can you comment about taking taxis, uber, or private hired cars as mode of transportation? What’s our best option if we want to travel (day trip) to Milan or Venice or Florence or all?
Thank you in advance!
Laurence Norah says
Hi Pia!
Thanks very much 😀 So I would say that 8 days is definitely enough to see three cities. Four would be possible, but if you don’t want to feel rushed then you might want to drop one. My suggestion would be to go Rome -> Florence – Venice, and to take the fast train between them which will be the most cost effective and fastest way to travel. Tickets can be booked online in advance from the TrenItalia website, which has an English language version.
For transportation in the cities, much of the three cities I mention are entirely walkable, but Uber is available and likely going to be your best option. I’d also recommend the bus or other public transport options. Venice doesn’t have any vehicles, only water taxis.
I would personally advise that if you really want to appreciate Venice and Florence that you stay overnight in them. So with your eight nights, I’d suggest 3 in Rome, 3 in Florence with one of those days as a trip to Tuscany, and 2 nights in Venice. For your time in Florence, I’d suggest reading our guide to 2 days in Florence, which has some suggested tours to Tuscany: https://www.findingtheuniverse.com/highlights-of-florence-and-tuscany-two-days/
I don’t think you’ll need a hire car 🙂
Have a great trip – and do let me know if you have any more questions!
Laurence
Ken says
Laurence, what a great blog you guys have produced, well done! Great insight and hints!! My wife and I are going to Rome either over Easter (yea) or in July (UGGGH HOT) If we buy the individual tickets from the sites themselves do we get to skip the lines too? And if we buy them online before we fly over can we print the tickets at home and bring them with us or do they have to be mailed/shipped to us ?
Thanks so much!!
Laurence Norah says
Hi Ken!
Personally I’d go for Easter if I was you – July will not only be hot, but also very busy.
For the tickets, sorry to say this, but it very much depends on the site and the ticket. However, I will quickly run down for the main sites:
For the Vatican, yes, if you book it on the official Vatican Museum website this comes with skip the line access. Note whatever ticket you buy there is still a security line.
For St. Peter’s Basilica, there isn’t an entry ticket, so there is no official website to buy a ticket from. However, there is usually a long line for security here, and if you buy from one of the “skip the line” third party services, you get access to a shorter security line which can save you a lot of time on a busy day. Obviously the value of this is up to you! We recommend this one, but there are a few.
For the Coliseum, you can also buy skip the line tickets from the official website here. Personally I find this website a bit confusing 😉 There are a variety of ticket options, but as of 2018 they operate a timed entry system, so you have to pick a time slot. Until the end of 2018 they had something called an “open” ticket, which let you go in any time after 2pm, but that appears to have been discontinued, so you need to select a time.
For the tickets, I believe they are all of the print at home variety, however we nearly always use one of the various passes we mention as we just find them easier, so I do not have first hand knowledge to confirm that.
Finally, we can also recommend one of the walking tours as well if you want to avoid all the hassle as they sort all this stuff out for you. Obviously more expensive, but we find they can really help bring a location to life. We recommend Walks of Italy generally for Rome 🙂
Have a fantastic trip, and if you do decide to go for the online tickets, do let us know how it goes and if they can be printed at home so I know for future!
Best
Laurence
Ken says
Hi Laurence!
Thanks for the reply, and again great information!! Hope we can make it around Easter for sure. If we buy the tickets on line I’ll be sure to let you know if we’re able to print them at home.
Thanks again.
Ken
Lisa Herrmann says
LOVE this site and your plans. I will be there in March and can’t wait! I made my reservations for the Vatican Museums and the Basillica as suggested with my Omnia card. Do I need to print out the reservation or is it now linked to my Omnia card?
I am also planning on taking a train ride to Venice for a day. Any suggestions on a half day trip there?
THANKS SO MUCH!
Laurence Norah says
Thanks very much Lisa! I’m not 100% certain if you need to print out the confirmation. It should be linked with your card, but you might want to print it out just in case (we usually print things out just in case!).
For Venice, we have a guide to things to do in Venice for a day – I’d say that half a day would be enough to see the main sights like the Rialto Bridge, St Marks Square and so on 🙂
Have an awesome trip, and do pop back to let us know how it all went!
Laurence
Draj says
A very good guide and help.
Laurence Norah says
Thanks!
Nick says
Hi,
I just bought my Omnia Vatican and Rome pass for my trip at the end of November. It is being mailed to me. Do you know if I need to wait until the pass arrives so book my Sistine Chapel tickets? Or is there a portal I can go through to book them before actually having the pass? I wasn’t prompted to book the tickets during my Pass Purchasing process.
Thanks!
Laurence Norah says
Hi Nick,
So the last time I asked the Rome and Vatican Pass people about this, I was told that you should be sent a link by e-mail when you place your order. You might want to check your spam folder to be sure. If you haven’t received a link, please let me know, and I will check in with them in case the process has changed, and get back to you.
I do know that when you have the pass in hand you can book your timeslot using this website:
https://booking.omniakit.org/en/categories/choose
And the code that is printed on the card, however I appreciate you might want to get things arranged already, so just let me know if you’ve got any links sent by e-mail or not.
Also, just to be aware, for the Sistine Chapel it’s the Vatican Museum entry you need to book. You also need to book a timeslot for St. Peter’s, but it’s an open ticket for the whole day – as long as you have a booking confirmation for the right day, the time doesn’t matter.
I hope this helps!
laurence
SP says
Hi,
Firstly, I would like to appreciate you for the way you have written this blog. It’s beautiful and very useful. I am planning my trip based on your itinerary and have a few questions:
1. I will be visiting Rome from October 25th to 28th, 2018 and plan to visit the Vatican City on Friday, October 26th. My question, would they still be huge queues to visit the Vatican Muesuem and the Sistine Chapel. Do you recommend to buy any of the above passes or just buy a ticket from the official website of the Vatican museum.
2. In general, will the lines be too huge during my time of visit at other attractions like the Coliseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill? Just buying the ticket on the same day be recommended or should we buy any of the above mentioned passes?
Thanks in advance
S
Laurence Norah says
Hi S!
Thank you very much 🙂
So, it’s hard to predict exactly what the queues will be like for any given day, but October should certainly be less busy than say August. So you should be ok for the Vatican and the other sites. However, if you are planning on attending a few of the sites you mention, then the Roma Pass will definitely be helpful, as it will let you skip the lines, save a bit of money and also get free transport in the city.
Have a great trip!
Laurence
Aggie Serrame says
Hi!
I came across this post while looking at itineraries for Rome. We will be in Rome for 4 days from February 18-22, 2019!
First question is, what would the weather be like/what clothes to wear/pack because it’s a struggle every time we pack too much winter or pack too little winter stuff haha.
Second, we are going to be getting the Omnia and Roma Pass to utilize the service of skipping lines, when we get the 72 hour pass, does that start from the moment we get it? Because we’re trying to use 1 of the 4 days to do a Pompeii/Amalfi Coast tour so I don’t want the other day of the 72 hour to go to waste. Any suggestions for me?
Third, I already mentioned we are doing a day tour to Pompeii and Amalfi Coast, have you guys been there in the winter? Do you have any recommendations on what our 4 day intinerary can be with that day tour to Pompeii and Amalfi coast???
Last, we also want to take a cooking class specifically pasta making, do you have any recommendations on which company/class to take?? We will be staying at a hotel 5 mins walk from the Trevi Fountain so if there’s anything in that area that you recommend for us to go to eat and shop, I would love to know! Or any restaurants really!
Laurence Norah says
Hey Aggie!
First, sounds like we need to write a four day itinerary! For February, it will be a bit cooler so you should definitely plan on packing some layers. It won’t be freezing, but it won’t be much above 10 – 15C I would say, and if you get rain or wind it might feel cooler. For the passes, they activate from the first use, so you are fine on that front. We have not visited Pompeii or the Amalfi Coast in winter, we’d say Pompeii would probably be better.
In terms of a cooking class, we have done one through Take Walks which was a lot of fun. You can see that here: Pasta-Making Class: Cook, Dine & Drink Wine With A Local Chef
I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any more questions and we’ll try to help!
Laurence
Roslyn says
Hi Laurence and Jessica,
We are visiting Rome in December and we’re keen to use your 3 day itininery. Just wondering if daylight hours will be less in December and if that will impact on our ability to see the sights. We were also wondering about a day trip outside of Rome as we have been told there are many sites outside of Rime much older than the ones in Rome. Thanks
Laurence Norah says
Hi Roslyn,
Certainly there will be less daylight in December compared to the summer, but it shouldn’t impact your ability to do sight-seeing as most of the outdoor attractions are well lit at night. For visiting outside of Rome, I’d say with three days you are better staying in the city – there are lots of sights to see, and many of them are 2000+ years old, so there’s no shortage of old things to see!
Best
Laurence
Kushal says
Thanks so much for the detailed itinerary. My wife and I are looking to be in Rome around Christmas. As it stands we Re planning to be in Rome on 23rd Dec and leave for Florence 27th Dec. We have 3 full days and I am sure your itinerary gives us the best chance to see Rome the best way but what implications will Christmas period have on the itinerary? Can you please suggest.
Laurence Norah says
Hi Kushal!
Certainly the Christmas period is likely to affect opening times, especially on Christmas Day (25th). My suggestion would be to check the official websites for each attraction you want to visit to see when they are open or not, and adjust the itinerary to suit 🙂 Have a great trip!
Laurence
Sandy S says
Hi, Have really enjoyed reading this blog and intend on using the itinerary for when my sister and I visit from 21st March 2019. How soon should we be buying the OMNIA pass and booking the Vatican/colosseum entries? Is it best to have them shipped
Laurence Norah says
Hi Sandy
Thanks for stopping by! It is easier to get the pass shipped as otherwise you do have to pick it up in person. That said, I’ve arranged the itinerary so you are near the collection points on the first day, however if you get it shipped you will save a bit of time if there is a line 🙂 It’s not too expensive to have it shipped
I hope this helps! Have a great trip 🙂
Laurence
Jana says
Hi Laurence,
I really like your itinerary and all the inside info. Thank you for that. I have a few questions.
1. can I just book the Omnia card in Rome, when we get there? I’ll have a couple of hours at the Airport waiting for my family to arrive, so I thought it might be a good time to pop to Tourist information and buy them for us.
2. I have seen another itinerary recommending Vatican gardens. Are they worth visiting?
Thank you
Jana
Laurence Norah says
Hi Jana!
Thanks for your comment 🙂 To answer your questions
1 – Yes you can, but only from specific points in the city, which are not at the airport unfortunately. There are three places you can buy them, which are listed as the collection points on this page: https://www.romeandvaticanpass.com/collection-points-rome-pass/index.html
2 – It’s hard to know – some people will love the Vatican gardens, others may not find them as interesting 😉 You can only visit them as a guided tour, which takes around 1.5 – 2 hours. The ticket for the tour includes the Vatican Museum entry as well. So it will take a bit of time, so if you decide to do this, then you might need to adjust your day accordingly 🙂 They aren’t included on any of the passes, so you would have to book this separately!
I hope this helps – have a great trip!
Laurence
shay says
Hey! My sisters and i are going on our first trip together to Rome, and basically planning everything off of your amazing itinerary!
I did have one question, the first day there are a TON of attractions to see. Do you think its possible to do all of it in one day? We were planning on starting the day at 7AM, but i was still worried about not being able to see everything. I noticed that the Pantheon closes by 730 pm, and is more towards the end of the day as well. is it possible to make it on time
another question i had is about Pyramid of Caius Cestius. is this only open on saturday and sunday?
thank so much!!
Laurence Norah says
Hey Shay!
It is definitely possible (and you can see other commenters agree :)) to do it in one day, but I agree, it is a full day. However, if you start at 7am, you should be fine! Many of the attractions have no closing time, and you can just move the Pantheon forward a little bit in the itinerary if you are worried about it, as it’s right next to the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain. For the Pyramid, we think it’s enough just to see it from the outside rather than go in, but it’s up to you 🙂 It does appear only to open on weekend mornings.
I hope this helps – have a great trip!
Laurence
Sandy says
I am planning a 3 day trip to Rome in December, and really like the 3-day itinerary that you have outlined. How does the Hop on Hop Off Bus ticket fit into the itinerary?
Laurence Norah says
Hey Sandy!
The HOHO bus will take you around the major sights if you want to use it, it might be a good option on the first day to get from the Vatican area close to the major sights in Rome, or on the second day from the Coliseum. Or you could just use it on the third day to tour Rome, and then do the Appian Way. It’s up to you!
Hope this helps!
Laurence
Kathy McDermott says
I am happy that I came across your site. I’m struggling to put our itinerary together and yours seems to be a good fit. (and I’ve researched a lot!) My husband and I will be in Rome Sunday,May 12, 2019 with our flight landing at 8:15 am and leaving Wednesday,May 15th in the morning. We want to do the Colosseum on Sunday with the underground tour (the latest is 2:00 pm) but also purchase the Roma Pass. What I’ve read online is that I have to call the Colosseum to add the underground tour to use the Roma Pass.
I don’t think we can squeeze your Day 2 itinerary into our Day 1 (with flight time and Hotel check-in) and the Vatican is closed on Sundays. Any suggestions as to how to mix it up? Thank You!
Laurence Norah says
Hey Kathy,
I have to admit I’m not sure about adding the underground tour to the Roma Pass, but if that’s what you’ve read then I’m sure that is likely correct.
Based on your timings, I would suggest something like:
Sunday:
Coliseum, Roman Forum, St. John in the Lateran, Mouth of Truth
Monday:
As Day 1 in the itinerary
Tuesday
As Day 3, but with the addition of the Baths of Caracalla
Hopefully that works!
Have a great trip, and let me know if I can help any more!
Laurence
Chrisite says
Hi,
Thanks for this amazing itinerary, I can’t wait to visit in less than a week! Just a quick question what do the ladies normally wear out there? Im more of a short person however, a lot of websites so not to wear them. I know knees/shoulders have to be covered in holy places, but would it be acceptable to wear shorts when visiting the colloseum and will i be the woman wearing them if i do?
Laurence Norah says
Hey Chrisite
Our pleasure! So for the religious buildings like St. Peter’s, as you say you do need to cover from just below your knees up to your shoulders. So this is why most people don’t wear shorts, as you have to change to something longer. But it’s perfectly acceptable to wear shorts to other places like the Coliseum or the rest of the city, and I’m fairly sure you won’t be alone if you do so!
Have a great trip 🙂
Laurence
TAMMY says
This was a great read and I’m sure I will check out all of these places when we go to Rome in March. My sisters and I went to Paris this spring and we bought a pass as that was the least expensive way to do it. My question though, is we will be in Rome for 19 days and I don’t want to cram all of the sight seeing into just a few days. Would it still be cost effective to purchase a pass? Also, because we will be staying outside of the central city because we do have some meetings to attend, we will be renting a car. I think we will use it mostly use it outside of the city and then when we go sight seeing, we will park somewhere and use public transit. Would it still be worth us buying a pass for public transit? Thanks again for the wonderful tips.
Tammy
Laurence Norah says
Hey Tammy!
Thanks. I think for 19 days a pass isn’t going to deliver much cost benefit, as most of the passes we are aware of are time limited, and if you don’t see a certain number of attractions, then the pass cost won’t be worth it. So if you want to spread your attraction viewing out, then it’s unlikely to be cost effective to buy a pass. Instead, you should just be sure to book your individual tickets in advance to skip the ticket lines. I’d also say that a transport pass will be unlikely to save you money. Individual tickets, good for 100 minutes of transport, are only €1.50, so unless you plan on taking a lot of transport, it will probably be cheaper to just pay as you go.
I hope this helps – have a great trip!
Laurence
Tasha says
Hello Laurence!
This ‘3 day’ plan is AMAZING! My husband and I are going to Rome in February half term (Im a teacher so can only go then) so this has given us loads of great ideas.
Id like to ask a few questions though, if I may.
1. Should I get the ’skip in lines’ even for first thing in the morning in late Feb?
2. Do I need an audioguide/ a real guide tour of the Vatican museums (especially if we aren’t really interested in art info – just cool to look at?)
3. Does the entry to the Vatican museums (€17+€4 for skip the queues) include Sistine Chapel and St Peter’s Basilica?? It says Basilica is free to enter but some sites charging €14,50 as fast track into the Basilica….is this worth it? Does the ‘fast track’ into the Vatican museums also get you fast track into the Basilica/Sistine chapel?
4. Is the Sistine Chapel extra if you have paid the entrance fee to the Vatican museums?
5. Castel Saint Angelo – worth a visit? Some people say just lots of fancy rooms…maybe just a visit from the front?
Sorry, I know thats a lot of questions. When I have a holiday project I go a bit all out. Want to get in as much as possible (we normally do a lot of visits whenever we are on holiday – most people think what we do is excessive but we love the fast paced hols)
Thanks
Tasha
Laurence Norah says
Hi Tasha!
Pleased you like it! And you are welcome to ask questions of course. I’ll answer then in the order you asked, I appreciate a well ordered list 😀
1 – it’s less likely you’ll need skip the line tickets at this time of year, especially if you go early in the morning. February should be a fairly quiet month. That said, you might want to add up the individual prices for each attraction you want to visit and figure out if something like the Omnia Vatican and Rome card will either save you money, or even if it’s a little more expensive, it might save you a bit of time.
2 – It’s up to you of course! We’ve visited the Vatican both on our own and on a guided tour. We definitely learnt a lot more with the tour than we did on our own, obviously, plus they know the fastest ways to the main highlights.
3 – Skip the line entry to the Vatican does include the Sistine Chapel (the Vatican Museum is the only way to get to the Sistine Chapel), but not St. Peters Basilica. St. Peters Basilica is free to enter, but as the lines (especially in summer) can get very very long, you can pay a premium for fast track entry. You do have to book this in advance. Alternatively, you can book a tour like the Pristine Sistine tour I mention in the post. Group tours have a special route they are allowed to use, which takes them directly from The Vatican Museums into St Peters Basilica. So if you were planning to take a tour, definitely take one that includes both the Vatican and St. Peters as this will save you time. Alternatively, if you’re an early riser, St. Peters Basilica opens pretty early, so you could go there first and you would definitely not need a skip the line ticket 🙂
4 – Nope, it’s included
5 – It’s very hard to answer this as what one person finds interesting another person doesn’t 🙂 We enjoyed visiting, and it’s certainly an ancient building with a great view from the top, but it’s also pretty from the outside. So if you wanted to save money you could skip this.
Overall I’d definitely suggest making a list of all the attractions you want to visit, looking at the entry costs for them and then deciding if the pass if going to be worth it for you – not forgetting that they often include transport 🙂
I hope this helps – happy to answer any follow up questions too!
Laurence
Natasha Poulton says
Hi Laurence
Thanks so much for this; you certainly know your stuff! Completely forgot to check this site for the answers so sorry its taken some time for me to reply.
Just wondering about a switch round then of the Vatican and St Peters. Was going to do it that way round but if St Peters is open at 7am then may do that first and then the Vatican. If we did it that way, would we need a skip the queue for the Vatican for 9am when it opens do you think?
Also, can you recommend a roman bath experience. In late Feb I think some heat and relaxation would be quite nice.
Thanks for all the help.
Tasha
Laurence Norah says
Hey Tasha,
No worries! We love Rome, so do our best to have all the info to hand to help others 🙂
That would certainly make sense to switch them round. I don’t do it like that in the itinerary as most people aren’t going to get excited about a 7am entry time, but if you are fine with that, you can go for it! I would say that in February the queues for the Vatican aren’t likely to be that long, especially at 9am. Although just bear in mind that many of the tour groups do go 8.30am – 9am, so you might have to wait a bit. It shouldn’t be round the walls queues though, as it is in summer as the day progresses!
I have never taken a Roman bath experience in Rome, so unfortunately I don’t have any recommendations there.
Have a great trip, and let me know if you have any more questions!
Laurence
Vickie says
Hi we would like ti spend 4 days un room whatbis the weather like on med October?
Laurence Norah says
Hi Vickie,
October is a good time to visit Rome, it’s not as busy as the summer, and the weather is usually mild, usually between 12C and 22C. However, the chance of rain is increased, so you’ll want to be prepared. It can also be a bit cooler, especially at night and in the morning, so bringing some warm layers is advised.
Nitin Mistry says
Hi Laurence & Jessica
Thank you so much for the itinerary, We managed to follow most of the things listed but because of the thunderstorms we experienced over the three days we were not able to do all of it and sadly missed a whole days worth of sightseeing. As a result we picked the most of the important aspect from your plans which were a big help. We decided not to use the discount cards due to the weather which worked out cheaper but if the weather was better then I feel that it would have been more worthwhile for us.
We decided to spend a little more on the Colosseum and do a moonlight tour to avoid the crowds and this was the hightlight for our holiday.
Once again I just want to say a huge thank you for this detailed trip
Laurence Norah says
Our pleasure Nitin! Sorry to hear about the weather, but it sounds like you made the best of it, and we’re so pleased you had a good time 🙂
Trinetra Bhushan says
Hi Laurence and Jessica,
What a good blog about Rome travel. I will be following your trip for my Mid September visit to Rome. I am reaching Rome from New York around 12:30 PM on 18th September and leaving early morning 21st Sept, do you thing I can do the 3 days itinerary in 2.5 days? Also do you suggest to buy Omnia and Vatican card or Roma card?
Thanks,
Trinetra
Laurence Norah says
Hi Trinetra!
I actually had a similar question by e-mail recently. I think this is possible, but you may have to juggle the itinerary a little bit. My suggestion would be to do the Vatican on the day you arrive. You might also be able to fit in St. Peters Basilica, but it’s unlikely, and you also probably won’t be able to into Castel Sant’Angelo on this day either. However, if you don’t mind getting up early, St Peter’s opens very early in the morning, so you could do that and Castel Sant’Angelo on the morning of either the second or third days.
You may also have to adjust when you visit the Pantheon as that has opening times. Everything else on the first day will be do-able as it’s attractions that are outdoors.
For the trip, we would recommend the Omnia and Vatican card if you plan on seeing everything on the itinerary, as it will let you pre-book your Vatican entry and get skip the line access to the Vatican and St. Peters.
I hope this helps – have a great trip, and do let us know how it goes!
Laurence
Trinetra Bhushan says
Thnaks for the detailed explanation Laurence. I would like to do Vetican part of Rome without rush so planning to go there on Thursday. I was thinking to do Day 3 of your itinerary on the day I arrive in Rome as it have less places and not the ones which are must see in my list. Is that sounds good?
Thanks in advance.
Trinetra
Laurence Norah says
Absolutely Trinetra, that makes sense. You should just check the opening hours of any of the attractions you definitely want to visit along the Appian Way so as not to miss them 🙂 Then you will have two full days to do everything you want to do.
Trinetra Bhushan says
You are angel thanks!!
Trinetra Bhushan says
Hi Laurence,
I bought card and proceeded to book Vatican Museum @10:00 AM and the found only available slot for St. Peter’s Basilica and the Tomb of the Popes was for 13:00 PM I have booked that as well but then I started thinking is 3 hours is enough for getting into Vatican and then to St. Peter’s? Are they very strict about timings? is there any way I can modify my reservation if the time is not enough?
Thanks,
Trinetra
Laurence Norah says
Hi Trinetra,
I have queried the Omnia Rome & Vatican Pass people about this, and they said:
“St Peters is an open ticket so as long as they have a booking confirmation they will not need to go at the time of the confirmation.”
I hope this helps – it should mean that as long as your ticket is for that day, you should be fine!
Loretta Blackborough says
Hi Laurence and Jessica,
Thank you so much for a very well planned and written itinerary!
We are staying in Rome for 4 nights in September, so your 3 day itinerary is perfect.
We will be arriving in Rome at around 11am on Thursday 27/9, after a 4 hour bus trip from Sorrento. We plan to follow your 3 day itinerary exactly from day 2 of our stay.
This being the case, what would you recommend we do for the first half day on the day of our arrival?
Kind regards,
Loretta
Laurence Norah says
Hey Loretta,
Our pleasure 🙂 Of your first day, personally I’d take the time to just walk around the center of the city and eat gelato and take in some sights, but if you want some additional attractions that aren’t on this list, you could visit the Museum and Crypt of the Capuchin Friars, which is quite interesting. The Trastevere district is also nice to wander around, and isn’t in this itinerary, so that is a good option. You could also head up to the Buco della serratura di Roma, there a good view over the city from a garden up here, and a famous keyhole you can look through 🙂
Hope this helps!
Loretta Blackborough says
Thanks Laurence, Wandering around the Trastevere district will be perfect!
One other question – does the hop-on bus go to most of the locations listed in the 1st two days of this itinerary?
Many thanks
Loretta
Laurence Norah says
It does! I found this map which I think is the up to date route, to give you an idea of where it goes 🙂
https://www.operaromanapellegrinaggi.org/customassets/repository/OMNIA%20kit-72-Mappa.pdf
Vangie says
We are also planning to visit Rome Italy only for 3 – 4 days it will be our first time and I like your suggestions of places to visit
Can you reach these sites through their local transportation , Taxis or rental car?
Do you have a recommendation of hotel accommodation as well
Laurence Norah says
Hi Vangie! Sure, there’s a section in the post on where to stay in Rome here:
https://www.findingtheuniverse.com/3-day-rome-itinerary/#Where-to-Stay-in-Rome-for-3-Days
And you can reach all the attractions by public transport, or you can take a taxi if you want. That’s covered in the post here:
https://www.findingtheuniverse.com/3-day-rome-itinerary/#Getting-Around-Rome
Have a great trip!
iuliana constantinescu says
Hey guys,
Thank you for this wonderful guide! We’re planing to spend 3 days in Rome at the beginning of Nov. One of the days would be a Monday though, so how is this going to affect our itinerary? Also we have a 3 years old boy so I’m not sure how much walking we can do. Are these locations accessible with a stroller? Also do you have an idea on how is the weather in Nov? Your advice would be much appreciated.
Cheers,
Iuliana
Laurence Norah says
Hi Juliana,
Our pleasure! I would say that the majority of locations are accessible with a stroller, but it might be worth checking the official website for each as it’s not something we have personal experience with. For the itinerary, my suggestion is to check the opening times for the various attractions, seeing what is open, and then adjusting the itinerary to suit. It’s also hard to comment exactly on the stamina of your son as everyone varies, but this is a fairly packed itinerary, so you might want to scale it back a bit and focus on the highlights, or perhaps spread the first two days out over three days so you can see everything and not get stressed 🙂
Hope this helps a bit – have a great trip!
Laurence
Graham says
Hi
My wife & I have just been on your 3 day tour of Rome and it was Fabulous.
We are on our 25th Wedding Anniversary and couldn’t have wished for a better trip and this was all down to you.
You gave us a purpose & we visited sites that was beyond our dreams.
Thank you so much
Angie & Graham
PS
Looking to undertake Berlin & Krakow next can you HELP please
Laurence Norah says
Hi Graham! First, congratulations on your anniversary. What a wonderful way to spend it 🙂 We are so pleased that you stopped by to let us know our guide worked for you, it’s the sort of feedback that really makes us smile! We’re thrilled you had a good time and that we were able to help.
For Berlin & Krakow – we have been to Berlin but haven’t as yet put together a detailed guide to visiting. Krakow is on the shortlist for next year – I know that doesn’t help right now, but stay tuned!
Graham Pickett says
Both
We our truly thankful for your brilliant advice, we have had such a Fab time. The feedback is throughly well deserved & hats off to you two.
Thank You
Angie & Graham
PS
Knackered but exceptional journey & your correct Gardens was great at the end, sorry to say we shared the rowing boat time between us.
Thank You both
Monica Doss says
Hi Laurence,
Great guide. I saved it and I keep checking it every now and then while planning my trip:)
I bought the OMINA Card online and then went to book the Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica. Booked Vatican museum successfully at 10am but for the basilica, Wednesdays are always unavailable even 5 months from now and other days timings are only 9am and 4pm. Do you have any information about that? Ideally I should book around 1pm to give Vatican museum and Sistine chapel 3 hours.
Thanks a million:)
Laurence Norah says
Hi Monica!
Thanks very much 🙂
So for the basilica, I’m not sure why you can’t book a Wednesday, that seems a bit weird. For the other timings, it actually doesn’t matter. Here’s what the folks at the Pass told me about the bookings:
“customers now do have to book their visits to St Peters Basilica in advance of their trip. St Peters is an open ticket so as long as they have a booking confirmation they will not need to go at the time of the confirmation. ”
So hopefully that helps!
Have a great trip!
Tisaygwapa says
Hi,
this blog is very informative and great read. Me and my husband will be visiting Rome next year and it will be our first time there.
May i know what is the nearest airport to the Day 1 Itinerary? what are the transportation to take from airport to the attraction? Cost?
Are there a lot of English speaking people?
Hoping to hear from you.
Thank you in advance.
Laurence Norah says
Hi Tisaygwapa!
Thanks very much. I’m sure you will love Rome (and Paris :D). Rome has two major airports, Ciampino and Fiumicino. The first is smaller, and primarily serves budget airlines, the latter is bigger and handles more of the international traffic.
Fiumicino is easier to get to and from, it has a train station and it takes about 30 minutes to get into the city center. There are also regular buses and taxis.
Ciampino has a nearby train station, and also regular buses. So also quite easy.
Hope this helps – have a great trip!
Laurence
Shrikant says
Is it doable to go from Florence everyday(for three days) by fast train to Rome for sight seeing? Or is it going to be very hectic? Leave Florence around 8:00 am to go to Rome and leave Rome around 7-8:00 pm to go back to Florence.
BTW you have compiled very useful info on “Rome in three Days”, This is what exactly I was looking for.
Thanks!!
Laurence Norah says
Hi Shrikant,
Well, it is possible, but I have to be honest, I’m not sure why you would not just stay in Rome – this would add expense and lost time into the equation. But, yes, it could be done. Have a great trip!
Denise Shaw says
Hi
I am chaperoning a class trip to Italy on June 29th. I was looking for a suggestion for a day in Rome. We have one free day in Rome . The other day in Rome we are doing a walking tour through the Vatican Museums to reach the Sistine Chapel at the end of a visit to St. Peter’s Badillica. Free time is given for lunch and to explore Vatican City. During our free time I am going to take them to Castel San’Angelo.
Afternoon: Transfer by bus from the Vatican to the Colosseum for a guided visit (45) followed by a guided walk through the Roman Forum. Ending by the Spanish Steps
I was wondering if you can give me a suggestion for one day in Rome what to see and where to go on foot. We will be dropped off in the morning and picked up late afternoon. Thanks so much
Dee
Laurence Norah says
Hey Denise! Sounds like you have many of the major highlights covered on that one day. I think your tour is also likely to take in the Pantheon, but if not, do make sure to add that in. So my suggestion would be to head out to the Baths of Caracalla, visit those and St. John in the Lateran Church, and then perhaps to explore the Appian Way. This is a different side of Rome to what you will have already seen, a bit more green, so should be a nice contrast. Hope this helps – have a great trip!
Laurence
Jac says
Hi,
This itinerary looks awesome and I think it covers the main spots.
However, i am going to travel with my parents (in their 70s) and although they are healthy, I am not sure if its too much walking in a day.
What do you think is your average daily steps taken?
Thanks
Laurence Norah says
Hi Jac!
Thanks very much – and this is a good question, which I have to admit, is a bit hard to answer. This is because it really depends on what you aim on seeing – the Vatican alone for example has 7 miles of corridors! I actually did a tour like this a while back with my grandmother, and she did pretty well. From the map I’ve provided you should be able get an idea of the walking distances involved. I would also add that Rome has a really good public transport network, so you can definitely cut back on walking by taking advantage of the bus / metro system between the main points (or using the hop on hop off bus).
I would also say that when we walk these routes out, they often come in at around 20,000 steps for us, but again, that’s just an approximation. Certainly 10,000 – 15,000 would be a good number to think of, and you can probably cut back on that like I said with public transport.
Have a great trip, and do let me know how it goes!
Laurence
Oorja says
hi ! this is a great blog and i really appreciate the time and energy put into this.
could you please provide a link to the site where we can book the required tickets in advance?
Laurence Norah says
Hi Oorja – thanks very much!
For the Rome and Vatican Pass, if you buy that then when you have bought it you will be sent a link to book your times in advance.
If you want to book individually, the links are in the post for the tickets to the Coliseum, the Vatican and the other major attractions that need advanced booking 🙂 Each entry should have a link, let me know if you can’t find something specific 🙂
Tinamarie Mathis-Standley says
I bought the pass but it does not give you the option of scheduling the coliseum or forum.
Also, St. Peter’s Prison is included but not on your itinerary, where would you squeeze it in?
Laurence Norah says
Hi Tinamarie,
For the Coliseum and Forum with the pass you don’t need to schedule the entry, you just go straight to the security line. You don’t need to queue for tickets if this is the first or second use of the pass, which it would be if you follow the itinerary.
For the prison, I’d suggest squeezing it in to the same day as the Forum, perhaps just after you finish the Forum, as it’s right there. Just bear in mind that the itineraries are quite full so you will have to hustle a bit 🙂
Have a great trip!
Laurence
Gurjeet Kaur says
Hi. I was wondering if I need to make reservations for 2 out of the 6 free attractions before hand or do I just show up to the places and show my card and get in?
Laurence Norah says
Hi Gurjeet,
No, for the 2 out of 6 attractions you do not need to make reservations 🙂
Have a great trip!
Laurence
Jai Sanghvi says
Laurence,
Great Blog and amazing suggestions. You took away hours of research time I would have spent trying to finalize my itinerary. Appreciate it.
We are vegetarians (eat dairy, but no eggs, no meat, no seafood, etc). Could you possibly suggest some restaurants in the Rome Center area where we can get Vegetarian, Indian, Mediterranean food? We don’t mind exploring other cusines as well, except, we have our 12 year old daughter and would like to keep your suggestions in our back pocket for “emergency” situations..! 🙂
Again appreciate your help in advance
Laurence Norah says
Hi Jai
Thanks for your comment! We don’t really have the necessary knowledge unfortunately to answer your restaurant request – usually we shy away from recommending restaurants as the quality can change quickly – we usually find it’s best to check recent reviews on focused restaurant review sites. My best advice would be to try something like Google Maps or Yelp to see what suggestions they have,
Have a great trip!
Laurence
Josefa Mapa says
Hi Laurence,
My teenage son and I just got back from our trip to Rome. We were able to maximized our trip to Rome thanks to your blog and itinerary. Had it not been for them, we would be clueless what to see and much less how to batch up the places.
We didn’t buy any of the passes. We did a LOT of walking. We got lost often but that lead us to see something else interesting that were not in the itinerary. Tickets to the important sites were bought online in advance from the websites of the places itself so they were a bit cheaper. Maybe because it was just after lent so the queues were not that long if any and it still being spring, the weather was wonderful.
Again, thank you. You also gave me confidence in going to my very first adventure in a new country.
Good luck, and God bless.
Josefa
Laurence Norah says
Hi Josefa,
That is wonderful to hear, I am delighted you had a good trip! Certainly, at quieter times of year you can be lucky with the queues and the weather, and it sounds like you were 😀 – plus making those reservations in advance will have helped a lot too 🙂 Thanks for stopping back to let me know how it went!
Best
Laurence
Lisa Smith says
Thank you 🙂
Laurence Norah says
Our pleasure 🙂
Lisa Smith says
Hi thanks for this great guide. Have a couple of questions about the Omnia pass. You say the 72 hours starts from first use. So does using the hop on hop off part then activate the public transport and museum count down as it also mentions somewhere they are separate tickets. We have an afternoon and three full days so were planning to start with the bus tour on first afternoon but now worried we’d effectively lose a whole day of tha pass. Thanks
Laurence Norah says
Hi Lisa!
So, according to the official website:
“Don’t forget the OMNIA Vatican & Rome Card works on a consecutive day basis, so if you first use your pass in an attraction or even on the public transport at 5pm on your first day, this will count as the first out of your three day pass duration.”
In practice, I think it is a little different. The Omnia Pass actually comes as two passes – an Omnia card, and Rome card. The Omnia card covers the hop on hop off bus and the vatican attractions, and the Rome card covers the public transport and the other Rome attractions like the Coliseum.
So, I *think*, the Hop on Hop off part of the card will only activate the Omnia Pass. So as long as you see the Vatican attractions on your first three days, you should be fine. Of course, I can’t guarantee this, but as I recall when I got on the hop on hop off bus, they only used the Omnia Pass rather than the Rome card, so it wouldn’t have activated.
Hope this helps!
cheryl says
Great advice, I am trying to decide on the Rome passes or just buy the hop on-off pass as it includes Vatican museum and coliseum. What do you think?
Also, Can I use the Rome pass to get from the airport to termini station?
TIA
Laurence Norah says
Hi Cheryl!
Thanks very much 🙂 So just for clarity, do you mean this pass? https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=813809&u=969916&m=63134&urllink=www%2Eisango%2Ecom%2Frome%2Frome%2Dopen%2Dtour%2Dand%2Dcolosseum%2Dtour%2Dand%2Dvatican%2Dmuseums%5F24323&afftrack=RomeItineraryFTU
I would say that it’s really up to you and what you want to see in Rome – the Rome Pass is slightly more expensive (although on sale right now) but also includes a few more attractions (plus skip the line access to St. Peter’s Basilica), as well as a three day travelcard and three days of Hop on Hop off transport. Personally I think the Omnia Rome and Vatican Pass is slightly better value considering what you get, but of course it does depend on what attractions you want to see.
In terms of the travelcard, whilst Fiumicino is connect to Termini by public tranport, the travelcard doesn’t include transport from the airport unfortunately, you can see that on the travelcard page here:
https://prf.hn/click/camref:1101lbZD/pubref:3DayRomeComment/destination:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.romeandvaticanpass.com%2Frome-transport%2F
It says “Please note: The Travelcard does not include travel to and from the city airports.”
I hope this helps – have a wonderful trip to Rome!
cheryl says
Thank you so much for your quick reply.
One more question…. I clicked on your link to the coliseum….am I correct that I have to buy two separate tickets, One for the coliseum and another for the form and palatine Hill?
Laurence Norah says
My pleasure 🙂 The Coliseum ticket includes the Forum / Palatine Hill, so you only need to buy one ticket to get access to those attractions. Tickets are also valid for two days, although can only be used once for each attraction.
Jim says
Looks like a great itinerary, looking forward to checking it out.
How about Rome after dark???
Laurence Norah says
Thanks Jim! In our experience we fill our days so much that our evening plans usually just involve a nice evening meal and a fairly early night 🙂 But of course there is lots to do in Rome at night, depending on your interests. If you’re interested in something a bit different, if you’re visiting on the right day, you can actually take an after hours tour of the Vatican, which is a really unique experience. You can find out more about that here: https://www.takewalks.com/rome-tours/vatican-at-night-tour?tap_a=29777-fde554&tap_s=72514-790f10&tm_site=FTU3DayRome
Otherwise, just have fun, Rome is a great place to walk around at night 🙂
Will Smith says
Hi Guys
Love your blog wii be following it to the T when we visit in June is our 30th wedding annervesary can you recommend any special resteraunts please
Many thanks
Will
Laurence Norah says
Hi Will!
Thanks very much, and congratulations on your anniversary! Jess and I tend to just fall into the nearest restaurants we spot when traveling, or eat on the hoof! We also find recommending restaurants can be tricky as they can change so quickly. That said, this guide should help you pick somewhere wonderful for your trip:
https://theculturetrip.com/europe/italy/articles/the-10-most-romantic-restaurants-in-rome/
Enjoy!
Chantelle Sims says
Hello and thank you for this! I am planning a trip from London with my daughter, and would appreciate your advise on arriving and departing. Is it necessary to spend 4 nights to accomplish your 3-day itinerary, or could we do it if we spent only 3 nights? If so, how would you recommend arranging the days around air travel to and from? (With luggage to consider…)
Thank you for your opinion.
Laurence Norah says
Hi Chantelle,
You could do this with three nights assuming you arrive early – you should do Day 3 first in that case as it’s less time sensitive, and then the other two days. If you can stretch to four nights though you will be less rushed in terms of having to arrive really early into Rome and possibly feeling tired, but up to you!
Michael Tang says
Hi Laurence,
We really enjoyed your travel blog.We will be visiting Rome from 4/11-15/2018.Our hotel ( Hotel Contilia) is less than 8 minutes from Rome Central Station.What would you recommend us to do in 4 1/2 days in Rome.We have been to Rome numerous times.Haven seen most of the main attractions.This time we would like to explore the local areas where local people meet for meals,shopping.My friends suggested Campo de Fiori,Jewish Ghetto or Trastevere. How about a day trip to Tuscany? Can we take metro ,train of bus to visit these places. Please advise.Thank you
Laurence Norah says
Hi Michael,
Thanks for your comment 🙂 Sounds like you’re old hands with Rome! It’s hard to give specific advice without knowing what you’ve seen already / are interested in. A day trip to Tuscany is certainly do-able from Rome, and you can take the train from Rome central station to Florence for example, that’s about a 1hr 30minute train ride. if you’ve not been to Florence before it’s stunning. You could also do day trips to other parts of Italy from Rome, including Pompeii or Cinque Terre. If you’d rather not do it yourself, you could take a tour, for example:
Cinque Terre:
https://www.walksofitaly.com/rome-tours/cinque-terre-tours-from-rome?tap_a=16934-e57823&tap_s=72513-efc32e&tm_site=FTU&tm_post=3DayRome
Amalfi Coast:
https://www.walksofitaly.com/rome-tours/amalfi-coast-tours-from-rome?tap_a=16937-4dc4e8&tap_s=72513-efc32e&tm_site=FTU&tm_post=3DayRome
Tuscany from Rome day tour:
https://www.walksofitaly.com/rome-tours/amalfi-coast-tours-from-rome?tap_a=16937-4dc4e8&tap_s=72513-efc32e&tm_site=FTU&tm_post=3DayRome
Have a great trip!
Kelly says
Hi
Thank you for all the information. I will be taking my son for his graduation gift this June. I plan to follow almost all of your suggestions in regards to places to see. Having said that, what area do you suggest we stay at? I prefer to stay at a hotel. Any additional info would be appreciated.
Laurence Norah says
Hi Kelly!
My pleasure – and what a great gift for your son! My advice would be to stay somewhere around the Piazza Navona area, it’s really central and really pretty in that area, and we’ve stayed around there a number of times. Basically anywhere between the Piazza Navona, Piazza Venezia and Piazza del Popolo would be great – that central area is perfect. I’m not sure of your budget, but somewhere like the following options might be a good starting point for your search:
http://www.booking.com/hotel/it/navona-theatre.html?aid=385205&no_rooms=1&group_adults=1&label=FTU3DayRome
http://www.booking.com/hotel/it/mimosa-pantheon.html?aid=385205&no_rooms=1&group_adults=1&label=FTU3DayRome
http://www.booking.com/hotel/it/navona-roma.html?aid=385205&no_rooms=1&group_adults=1&label=FTU3DayRome
http://www.booking.com/hotel/it/di-rienzo-pantheon-palace.html?aid=385205&no_rooms=1&group_adults=1&label=FTU3DayRome
You can see more options here, just narrow it down depending on your budget, location and other requirements 🙂
http://www.booking.com/searchresults.html?city=-126693&nflt=ht_id%253D204%253Breview_score%253D90%253Breview_score%253D80&aid=385205&no_rooms=1&group_adults=2&room1=A%2CA&label=FTU3DayRome
Have an amazing trip, and congratulations to your son!
allan Blanco says
Hi!
Thanks for this blog & itinerary. It seems this will help us so much on what to do in Rome exactly for our 4-5 days side trip from France. We are fed so much with the info. & some ideas or places to go.
Is there also a local travel tour & guide to book for this 3 days tour in Rome? or better on our own & follow your guide. our concern, is how to go there to the places you have listed, i mean a ride , total cost or amount to spend or our estd budget amount, do we need a tour guide & is it easy to get a guide & not expensive?…We are our concern if we get lost , and how to proceed every places than having a tour guide…… if so,,, is it not too expensive …. what can you recommend if we will get a total package for the 3 days tour…. what agency …. or what is best can you advise/recommend.
thanks so much.
Allan Blanco
Mindanao, Iligan City – Philippines
Laurence Norah says
Hi Allan!
Thanks for your comment. I don’t know of any company that specifically offers this tour, but you could certainly put together a similar trip by putting various tours together. We like Walks of Italy (https://www.walksofitaly.com?tap_a=364-72eab1&tap_s=72513-efc32e) for their tours if you wanted a walking tour with a guide, but these aren’t private tours.
That said, the itinerary is designed to be self-guided and you shouldn’t need a tour guide for any of it unless you would like local insight and guidance. The itinerary is also designed to be easy to follow and not require much other than a good pair of feet for walking. In some cases you can take a local bus, these are easy to use. Rome is not a very large city, or at least, not the parts covered in this itinerary, so I don’t think you will get lost or have any problem. The best idea is to get a map when you get to the city, and to download an offline version of the city into your Google Maps (or whatever mapping tool you use on your phone). Then you’ll always be able to figure out where you are and where to go.
Have a wonderful trip!
Laurence
Irma says
Hi Laurence and Jessica,
Just recently my brother and I visited Rome for three days and based our trip around the itinerary you guys did. I have to say this was the most convenient and awesome itinerary we found, in which showed all the attractions and sites clearly! All of the places you guys suggested in the blog we visited and also took the time to do some night roaming and visiting the attractions again to see it in a different light! Because of your blog, my brother and I were able to experience Rome as a whole and we give our massive thanks for it! SO once again, thank you soo much for this, you guys are amazing!
Laurence Norah says
Hi Irma!
We are so pleased that you found this itinerary useful, and even happier that you let us know! Getting comments like this really makes us happy – thank you so much! We’re delighted that you had a great trip, and that we were able to help with that! Happy travels!
Laurence & Jessica