Sightseeing 1st night in Rome

We ( me, dh & 13 yr old ds) will be taking a red eye nonstop from NY to Rome. I made arrangements for a car to pick us up the first evening from our hotel to do a rome at nite tour incl. Stop at the Coliseum. Friend said this is too much and not to plan anything for the 1st day. However, our time in Rome before the cruise is limited. What would you do?

We ( me, dh & 13 yr old ds) will be taking a red eye nonstop from NY to Rome. I made arrangements for a car to pick us up the first evening from our hotel to do a rome at nite tour incl. Stop at the Coliseum. Friend said this is too much and not to plan anything for the 1st day. However, our time in Rome before the cruise is limited. What would you do?

Just to make sure we understand your timing... when you say a red-eye... I assume you mean that you will arrive in Rome in the early morning. And then you plan on going to your hotel and relaxing/sleeping until the Rome at Night tour would begin? What time does the tour pick you up?

Generally, after I arrive in Europe overnight, I have a little steam in me when I arrive to do some minor sightseeing in the morning, but I usually collapse in the mid-afternoon for a couple hour nap. Then I'm usually able to get back going by early evening for few more hours. I try to get to bed at a normal time right away to start my internal clock getting adjusted to the new time. But what do you have planned between when your flight arrives and the tour? Many hotels will not yet have your room ready for you to relax in. Do you have that covered?

Your understanding is correct arrive in the am, rest & eat then do the tour at nite.

We would be picked up at 715 and return to hotel 10pm

I modified my initial posting above, probably while you were writing yours. You might re-read it. But if it were me, I would be able to handle an evening tour after having the day to rest. I certainly would not want to waste the entire first day just resting at the hotel. But your mileage may vary. :-)

Hotel is adjacent to Borghese Gardens. Planning to walk around there while waiting for room to be ready.

Make sure the Trevi Fountain in particular is on that nite itinerary. Atmosphere is very different day & night.

Other illuminated sights such sites Vittorio Emanuele monument, castel Sant Angelo & St Peters are also worth seeing at night.

JB :)

If this is your first trip to Rome I would do just the opposite.

We also find that the sheer excitement of being in Rome keeps us going after the long trip….. and we come from deep South Texas so numerous plane changes and layovers are involved…… But the adrenaline is there and we usually find our hotel will accommodate us pretty quickly once we arrive so we head to a coffee shop or the breakfast room if its early enough and have a bite. Then check in- freshen up a bit and head out…….. we relax for about an hour in the afternoon (BUT DONT SLEEP !) then back out for a nice dinner, a stroll and then early to bed. That way the next morning we are ready to go again.

But we always allow one full day in Rome before our cruise the next day….. Since Rome is our favorite city in Europe we always plan it this way.

The best way to get on local time is to not sleep until bedtime. Altho we usually have an early bedtime that first night ;)

I agree 100% with texancruzer. We have done this 6 times now. Always flown in from the East Coast on an overnight flight and arrived in the morning and kept running. For us, the adrenaline kicks in and we are keep moving! We have also had our young adult kids with with and their excitement kept them going to. It is nice to take a rest in the late afternoon,but we don't sleep then either. Usually, that's when we shower and change our clothes and regroup before our dinner and evening activity. We definitely get to bed earlier than usual that night. When you wake up the next morning you are refreshed and fit right into the time zone.We feel that we are there for such a short time that we don't want to spend any of our daytime sleeping-too much to see and do! Enjoy your travels!-Kade

I do the same as Kade and Tex. I don't nap during the day, as it delays me getting onto local time and getting over the jet lag. I generally am able to keep going through the day, then eat dinner and conk out.

If you can manage to grab at least a little sleep on the flight over, it really helps to keep going the next day. Even 2-3 hours seems to be enough, for me.

However, it doesn't work for everyone -- I remember the first time I flew to London with my now-ex husband, I insisted we go to the Portobello Road market as soon as we arrived. He was beat and didn't want to go, but the market is only held one day a week. So we went and were looking around.....next thing I know he is white as a sheet and nearly passed out, leaning on someone's car. He had to sit down on the curb (or kerb, in the UK) to rest and have a bit of water. We cut it short and went back to the hotel. After a short nap, he was fine.

We flew overnight from Los Angeles California to Paris France, arriving at 8:00 am. We did sleep fitfully maybe 5 hours.

Got our luggage, caught the bus into Paris, dropped our luggage at the train station, caught the Bat-O-Bus and rode around for an hour seeing the sights, back to the train station to retrieve our luggage, back to the airport for our 7:00 pm flight to Rome. Arrived in Rome at 9:15, retrieved our luggage, found our shuttle to the hotel, arrived at 10:45, just 15 minutes before curfew.

It was our first visit to Paris, and we did want to see some of the sites. We were wonderfully exhausted. Went right to bed and slept until 7:30 am the next morning.

As texancruzer said, adrenalin and excitement will keep you going. I try to get on the new time schedule as soon as possible. That trip we really did.

Have a great trip, Europe is awesome.

Do not rest when you get there. You will not be able to get up and then when you want to go to sleep you won't be able to. To beat jet lag you need to use the clock where you are at.

I guess I'm the odd duck here.

When I arrive in the morning in Europe, I do just get out and get around. It's the sunlight and fresh air that keeps me going. I go back to the hotel around 3-4pm and do a little "power nap" of no more than an hour (I set my alarm). Then, I take a shower and get ready to go out for the evening. I can stay out until about 10pm or so. I go back to the hotel, go to bed. Wake up the next morning fresh and ready to go…

I tried the "stay awake" thing with some friends - I felt really bad about 6pm and never enjoyed the rest of the evening. I constantly drink water, so it wasn't dehydration, I just hit a wall. Maybe it has to do with blood sugar loads...

I guess I'm the odd duck here.

 

When I arrive in the morning in Europe, I do just get out and get around. It's the sunlight and fresh air that keeps me going. I go back to the hotel around 3-4pm and do a little "power nap" of no more than an hour (I set my alarm). Then, I take a shower and get ready to go out for the evening. I can stay out until about 10pm or so. I go back to the hotel, go to bed. Wake up the next morning fresh and ready to go…

I tried the "stay awake" thing with some friends - I felt really bad about 6pm and never enjoyed the rest of the evening. I constantly drink water, so it wasn't dehydration, I just hit a wall. Maybe it has to do with blood sugar loads...

This plan or similar has worked for us in our trips to Europe. A "power nap" in the late afternoon doesn't stop us from sleeping at night but it does give us the momentum to enjoy our evening. When we have tried to go straight through, we have been exhausted by 8 pm. Go back to your room, rest or nap for awhile, shower and change and you'll be ready to enjoy your evening tour. Then go to bed at a reasonable local time, and you'll be ready to go the next day.

It definitely was helpful in making my plans.

When we arrived in Rome after our red eye from LA(by way of Chicago), our room was not ready. The clerk at the hotel suggested we venture out and take a hop on-hop off bus to get our bearings, and just get a little activity. We did hop off and get in a little walk, which seemed to help. We were able to stay awake pretty much until what we considered bedtime and acclimated pretty well.

This will be our 1st trip to Europe but on our last trip to Australia we listened to the advice to keep going and were very glad we did! A bit tired by the evening but nothing a dinner and drink in front of Sydney Opera house couldn't rejuvenate.

This trip we have the tour company picking us up as we get off the NY red eye and will end 3pmish after the Vatican . Maybe a nap, nice stroll to dinner and then we'll see if we wish to go back out or just relax at the hotel.

Karen

While I think you have been given great advice, I think the fact you are travelling with two 'teenagers' might make a difference. Unless you have done a red eye to Europe with them before, you cannot foresee how they will handle the travel. My kids are now 17 and 20 (today!) and are completely different when it comes to this kind of travel. Daughter 17 barely ever sleeps on the plane but loves to travel and can power through lunch on arrival day before taking a 2 hour nap. Son20 sleeps on the plane and then wants to sleep again for most of the afternoon upon arrival. I have learned to go with the flow a bit on the first day (even though your screen name would apply to me as well!) as you don't know what you will get.

If you are going to spend two nights in Rome, I'd book the night tour for the second night. If not, go ahead and book it but know that you might end up cancelling if you son is just dead to the world that first night.

We do this every year and I find the worst possible thing one can do is rest. Hit the ground running instead. Get out in the sunshine to help your body adjust. You can try taking melatonin for a week before you leave and on the plane to help you acclimate faster. There is also a product called no net lag we take when flying to Italy. I am not sure how it works but we have always been fine. The one time we didn't take it was on a flight to Barcelona. Decided to take a quick "rest"

Didn't wake up until the next day !! Take the tour right when you land then your room will be ready after it. Sitting in a lobby for hours will only make you cranky