Traveling to Rome

[jbd_29349]

I have finally got enough money to make a dream of mine come true. I am planning a trip to the Eternal City of the Seven Hills.

I have a couple of questions though:

Is everything i.e.:coliseum, pantheon, circus forum, Trajan's column, etc... free or do you have to pay an admission fee?

When is the best time to go? (Meanging not a lot of tourist.)

Do I need to know lot of Italian or is just the basics ok? (hello, food?, hotel, etc...)

What is the best way to travel in the city? (bicycle, taxi, walk, bus?)

Is it better to go with a tour group or on your own? (asking because of site seeing not money issue.)

Thanks in advance!!

[jvrjenivs]

You've to pay a fee for a lot of sites. The forum romanum and the Forum traianum are free to go. You could buy a combi-ticket for more sites at once and get a discount (this ticket is for 3 days if I'm right). If there is a large line of people waiting for the Coloseum, go to the palatine entrance, and buy your combi-ticket there. (It will save you a lot of time...)

Best travel by underground. It is mostly a tourist place, so with English you'll be alright. If you want to do something tipically Rome/Italian, rent a Vespa to travel through the city, but I would advice to use the underground, as the traffic in rome is very 'Italian'.

If you've enough time in Rome, I would also advice to visit the city of Ostia. (You can get there simply with the underground, too, stop at 'Ostia Antica'

[Jona Lendering]

Is everything i.e.:coliseum, pantheon, circus forum, Trajan's column, etc... free or do you have to pay an admission fee?

As Jurjen said, there is a combi-ticket, which contains a lot of museums, the Palatine, Colosseum, Baths of Caracalla, Cripta di Balbo, Palazzo Massimo, etc.

When is the best time to go? (Meanging not a lot of tourist.)

I love to go there in December; almost no tourists, soft light, and the museums quiet (open until nine o' clock, often).

Do I need to know lot of Italian or is just the basics ok? (hello, food?, hotel, etc...)

Most Italians speak English, but my experience is that people like you a lot more when you start your conversation in Italian, and ask if it is possible to switch to English.

What is the best way to travel in the city? (bicycle, taxi, walk, bus?)

As Jurjen said: metro + walk.

Is it better to go with a tour group or on your own? (asking because of site seeing not money issue.)

Do everything on your own. Tourist guides are not always reliable. However, a guided tour on the Imperial Forums is a must.

DO NOT FORGET:
The new Synagogue museum (the Synagogue itself is a century old, of course).
Cripta di Balbo
Ostia
One evening of Italian TV - which continues to amaze
Soccer match

OVERRATED:
Colosseum
Vatican Museums (in fact splendid, but overcrowded)

MUST-SEE BEFORE YOU GO:
La finestra di fronte
C'eravamo tanto amati
... which tell a lot more about modern Rome than better known movies than La dolce vita, Una giornata particolare, or Fellini's Roma.

[Paullus Scipio]

...and often overlooked, because it is outside Rome ( though easy to get to on the underground metro) is the Museo de Civilita Romano, whose best exhibit is a plaster cast of Trajan's Column, all laid out at eye level.
Also watch out for the fact that many Italian museums/sites etc are randomly "Chiuso per restoratio"(closed for restoration) so it is often wise to check that your chosen museum/site will be open on a given day......
As to accommodation, pensiones provide a cheaper more viable form of accommodation than expensive hotels, and another good way to get cheaper, if somewhat spartan/basic accommodation in central Rome within walking distance of many sites is to book into one of the many convents that offer accommodation......

[Praefectusclassis]

The Museo de Civilita Romano has had a bad case of chiuso per restoratio over the last years. The plaster casts are apparently visible again, but I'm not sure about the military section. It's huuuuge, but they have no qualms about closing 2/3rds and still make you pay full price.

[Paullus Scipio]

....not too surprised to hear that....whole sections are often closed in Italian museums because they are simply understaffed, and don't have enough people to man the place...which is very annoying, as Jasper suggests, when you find various rooms roped off after you have paid to get in.......
But two-thirds ?? hock: hock:

[Praefectusclassis]

Well, in that case, it actually was advertised even on their website, I think. I was prepared, but still disappointed...

[satsobek]

Yea, I wasn't really impressed by that place at all. It was largely closed, hold only reproductions, and is a very long walk from the nearest metro station in the middle of some very depressing Roman suburbs. I only recommend that one if you're a die-hard. Even Jasper (who is that) didn't manage to get many useful photos when we visited.

In regards to food, try to find some places off the normal main roads. Don't eat until very late (by our standards) and look for places that appear to be crowded with locals-- that's how you know you've found a good place. Tourist places are a dime a dozen, and while ok tend to be pricey and not a lot better (and sometimes worse) than a good Italian place at home. Ideally, you shouldn't be out eating until 8-9 at night. We found a pretty excellent spot last time we were there... a bit of a walk, but well worth it. Jasper can probably fill you in on location.

[Peroni]

One of the finest casts of TC is in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Unfortunately is isn't at eye level, but in two halves, so unless you have a good zoom lens it's difficult to make out specific details still!

It's tempting to go there, but I think after what has been said about the place I'll give the Museo de Civilita Romano
a miss.

[Jona Lendering]

The Museo de Civilita Romano has had a bad case of chiuso per restoratio over the last years. The plaster casts are apparently visible again, but I'm not sure about the military section. It's huuuuge, but they have no qualms about closing 2/3rds and still make you pay full price.

It's OK, it's open now. I had access to all rooms in October.

[Peroni]

Thanks Jona, I'll make the excursion!

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Is there a pre parade rehersal day, or is it just the sunday, the rest of the time our own?.....hopefully?

[M.H. White]

Well, in that case, it actually was advertised even on their website, I think. I was prepared, but still disappointed...

Absolutely. I was last there a year ago in November, and the Municipal Museum, or I think that is the one you're talking about (the one on the Piazza Republica) was really about two-thirds roped-off. There were still some neat things, though.

I suggest just walking anywhere. As long as you're staying inside the city walls (and there's no reason not to), you can get most places within half an hour or so on foot. Last time I stayed about 500 yards away from St Peter's, and we walked everywhere, except to the Ara Pacis, to which we took a cab.

And I don't think anybody had mentioned it, but I think the combo ticket for the Palatine/Colleseum, and whatever else it covers has to be bought at the Palatine ticket office. Or at least, I don't think they're available at the Colloseum. I"m going back the first chance I get. And this time they'll give me that pass for 1/2 price, because I'll be a EU student, darn it.

(Apparently they don't like to give student discounts to American university students. I encountered this several places in Italy)


Edit: I heartily agree with Jona, Rome in late November/early December is lovely. The temperature was perfect, the sky was beautiful with some of the strangest cloud cover I've ever seen, and the leaves were not quite all gone from the deciduous trees.

[caiusbeerquitius]

Apparently they don't like to give student discounts to American university students. I encountered this several places in Italy

No, they do. It is just that you usually are required to show an international student card, which you should get in advance of your travel. Basically all museums in Europe that give a reduced entrance fee for students require the International student passport. If you didn´t have one, everywhere you got in for cheaper, the cashier was just very friendly.
Here is where you get it:
www.isic.org/sisp/index.htm

[Jona Lendering]

Almost forgot: if you can leave the city for one day, go to Pompeii. Easiest and quickest way to get there is by car (Avis and Hertz are at the central station), very early in the morning, and then take the highway, and after two, two and a half hours you can be in the right area. The trick is to be out of Rome before the rush hour. The 217 km on the motorway can be done at 140 km/h, which means that you will have to pass along Naples when the roads are still crowded.

There are many parking places near the excavation, none of them terribly expensive. A moderately overinterested visitor (like any RAT member) needs about six hours to see whatever he wants to see. Take a picknick with you, or buy it along the highroad at an Autogrill.

If you go by train, note that the railroad company between Naples and Pompeii is another one than the state company that runs the Rome-Naples line.

Although the trip is feasible in one day, I suggest to take two, and add the Naples museum.

If you hire a car, do not forget to enjoy the Grande Raccordo Anulare, which is detested by most Romans but is -to be honest- one of the main monuments of modern Rome, and is getting appreciated as something special. There's even a song about it (actually a parody in a comedy show), compare this video clip, and always remember the Roman proverb: il mondo finisce al grande raccordo anulare (the world ends at the GRA).