Rome on your own and Pope's Wed. public appearance

[jeanne_boston]

With all your suggestions on this board, we had our itinerary for the day(7am-7pm) pretty well set. Do we need to adjust because of the pope's Wed. Nov 3rd public audience? One article suggested the museums would be less crowded in the morning because the crowds would be in St. Peter's square. If you think this is correct, what changes do you suggest we make to our itinerary? I am making on-line reservations for the Vatican Museums/Sistine chapel, so of course making our time slot is essential. Will traffic be horrible? We are also very willing to cut the Spanish steps and Trevi Fountain.

 

Thank you,

Jeanne

 

7 am ARRIVE: Civitavecchia Port

A - Ostiense train station, transfer to the Metro and get off at Coliseum.

B – Coliseum - go to English guide to avoid the line

C - Forum

D - Piazza Navona

E - Pantheon

F - Trevi Fountain

G - Spanish Steps

H - Vatican Museums/Sistine Chapel. Take the short cut to St Peters

I - St. Peter's Basilica, thentaxi to San Pietro station

J - San Pietro train station to return to Civitavecchia

on 4:59 train arriving at Civitavecchia at 5:57.

 

[D4]

Wow, that's a lot to cover in one day! I guess it depends on how much time you want to spend at the major places (Coliseum, Forum, Vatican Museums.)

 

I recommend cutting out the Spanish Steps, but not Trevi Fountain. It's not far from the Pantheon and you can throw in coins to be assured of a trip back to Rome.

 

Check the Pope's calendar to make sure he will have an audience that day. If he is there, then the Vatican museums would be way less crowded in the morning and packed in the afternoon.

[sammiedawg]

We did most of your itinerary on our first trip to Rome off a cruise ship but we used Rome Cabs, they picked us up in Civ, returned us to the port. We did ancient Rome in the morning and papal Rome in the afternoon, they arranged for a private Vatican guide as well. I would suggest you inquire about a guide who will get your rapidly from place to place and have a better sense of timing.

We've also used Rome Cabs several times for transport to the port, to the airport, etc.

[euro cruiser]

7 am ARRIVE: Civitavecchia Port

A - Ostiense train station, transfer to the Metro and get off at Coliseum.

B – Coliseum - go to English guide to avoid the line

C - Forum

D - Piazza Navona

E - Pantheon

F - Trevi Fountain

G - Spanish Steps

H - Vatican Museums/Sistine Chapel. Take the short cut to St Peters

I - St. Peter's Basilica, thentaxi to San Pietro station

J - San Pietro train station to return to Civitavecchia

on 4:59 train arriving at Civitavecchia at 5:57.

I would drop the Spanish Steps, and rearrange a bit in the middle. ABC as you have them, then Trevi, Pantheon and Navona. Taxi from Navona to Vatican Museums, and back on your schedule.

 

The Pope's appearance shouldn't make a significant difference in your plans. While a lot of people go to the audiences, a lot more go to the museums every day. Do make a reservation for the museums so you get in when you want to.

[pvmkmyer]

Dear Jeanne:

 

I've been to Rome many times, including a one-day whirlwind a couple years ago with some friends who had never been, so we wanted to cover the major sites for them. I STRONGLY recommend following D4's advice and hiring a driver and guide for the day. You will see much more; be less stressed, and get more out of what you see. The driver will pick you up at the ship, drive you to Rome, take you to all the sites you want to see, and return you in time for departure at the ship. It's not cheap, but Rome is one place where it is well worth the money to have this experience.

[Buddy's Mom]

We have never been to Rome and are very excited to do as much as possible in one day? Any idea of the cost of a driver and guide? Where would we find that? I read all these posts and feel completely out of the loop. Our cruise is not until October 2011, so we have lots of time to plan, so I am hoping by reading these boards, and a few good books we might enlighten ourselves before we go.

[BigGuy25]

We used Rome in Limo the past two years and were very pleased. You'll find lots of recommendations for them here on CC. Go the their website to check them out.

[sammiedawg]

Buddy's Mom, send away for some private guide quotes. Price depends on the size of your party and the size of the vehicle needed. We had Rome Cabs 3 years ago for 4 people, I don't remember the exact price but what we saw and did was priceless. Query these boards for tour guide names.

Sometimes you can join others on the Roll call board and form a group. 4, 6, 8 people is the perfect size.

Rome Cabs is very popular and I would highly recommend them. We had Stefano himself as our guide, since then we have used the company for transfers.

http://www.romecabs.com/

[janina]

Wow, that's a lot to cover in one day! I guess it depends on how much time you want to spend at the major places (Coliseum, Forum, Vatican Museums.)

 

I recommend cutting out the Spanish Steps, but not Trevi Fountain. It's not far from the Pantheon and you can throw in coins to be assured of a trip back to Rome.

 

Check the Pope's calendar to make sure he will have an audience that day. If he is there, then the Vatican museums would be way less crowded in the morning and packed in the afternoon.

I agree...see the Trevi Fountain and skip the Spanish Steps. At that time of year the flowers will not be bloomed there and people not gathered, which is part of the charm...especially on summer nights.

[bee-ess]

With all your suggestions on this board, we had our itinerary for the day(7am-7pm) pretty well set. Do we need to adjust because of the pope's Wed. Nov 3rd public audience? One article suggested the museums would be less crowded in the morning because the crowds would be in St. Peter's square. If you think this is correct, what changes do you suggest we make to our itinerary? I am making on-line reservations for the Vatican Museums/Sistine chapel, so of course making our time slot is essential. Will traffic be horrible? We are also very willing to cut the Spanish steps and Trevi Fountain.

 

Thank you,

Jeanne

 

7 am ARRIVE: Civitavecchia Port

A - Ostiense train station, transfer to the Metro and get off at Coliseum.

B – Coliseum - go to English guide to avoid the line

C - Forum

D - Piazza Navona

E - Pantheon

F - Trevi Fountain

G - Spanish Steps

H - Vatican Museums/Sistine Chapel. Take the short cut to St Peters

I - St. Peter's Basilica, thentaxi to San Pietro station

J - San Pietro train station to return to Civitavecchia

on 4:59 train arriving at Civitavecchia at 5:57.

 

 

Wow, that a lot for one day - we did much the same over 2 days.

 

Agree about missing the Spanish Steps. There were big lines when we were there in Sept last year for the Basilica and the Vatican Museum took a long time. We only really wanted the S Chapel but had to go right through the rest, a guide may lnow a quicker way through. We arrived at Vatican at 9.30am and got to P Navonna which was our next stop at 13:00, although we queued for the museum.

 

Also, don't rely on your last train go for the 2nd to last one at least.

[jeanne_boston]

Wow, that a lot for one day - we did much the same over 2 days.

 

Agree about missing the Spanish Steps. There were big lines when we were there in Sept last year for the Basilica and the Vatican Museum took a long time. We only really wanted the S Chapel but had to go right through the rest, a guide may lnow a quicker way through. We arrived at Vatican at 9.30am and got to P Navonna which was our next stop at 13:00, although we queued for the museum.

 

Also, don't rely on your last train go for the 2nd to last one at least.

 

We are definately going to eliminate The Spanish Steps. We too would like to see only the Sistine Chapel, since we have only having one day. Does anyone know a shortcut through the Vatican Museums?

[euro cruiser]

There really isn't a shortcut, unfortunately. The entrance is at one end of the complex, and the Sistine Chapel is at the other end. Between the two guards pretty much keep the traffic moving along in predetermined paths.

[foxxie11]

My travel Buddy, Eva & I, did the city tour of Rome last year.. We are looking for fellow travelers that may want to do Angels and Demons or a country wine tasteing tour......Please let us know... We are on the 10/10/10 cruise out of Barcelona..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

r

[sodell]

We are definately going to eliminate The Spanish Steps. We too would like to see only the Sistine Chapel, since we have only having one day. Does anyone know a shortcut through the Vatican Museums?

 

The "shortcut" from the Chapel to the Basilica...... go out the right side door, pretend you're with a tour group; look for folks being lead by umbrellas being held up right.

[bee-ess]

Does anyone know a shortcut through the Vatican Museums?

 

When we went I seem to remember it took about an hour from buying the ticket in the Vatican Museum to getting out after the Sistine Chapel. A great part of our time here was queueing up for the Museum which I believe you can avoid by hiring a guide. We went into the Basilica first with hardly any queue but after coming out of Museum the queues at the Basilica were by then long. I would reckon to go into the Basilica and the Museum (with a guide to get past the queue) would be about 2 hours. Others may offer a more realistic timeframe but for us from arriving at the vatican, going into the Basilica, then queueing and seeing the museum and chapel was about 3 to 3 and a half hours.

 

Maybe consider doing the vatican first by getting the train to San Pietro and going in as soon as it opens, then walk to P Navonna, pantheon and Trevi (all are quite close), then get a cab to the coliseum and work back through the forum towards the termini for the train back.

If you do get the train from termini don't underestimate the size of termini - the platforms you want are at the far end of the complex and can be as much as 15-20 mins walk from the entrance.

 

Hope this helps.

[lksyr]

 

7 am ARRIVE: Civitavecchia Port

A - Ostiense train station, transfer to the Metro and get off at Coliseum.

B – Coliseum - go to English guide to avoid the line

C - Forum

D - Piazza Navona

E - Pantheon

F - Trevi Fountain

G - Spanish Steps

H - Vatican Museums/Sistine Chapel. Take the short cut to St Peters

I - St. Peter's Basilica, thentaxi to San Pietro station

J - San Pietro train station to return to Civitavecchia

on 4:59 train arriving at Civitavecchia at 5:57.

 

 

I have mostly the same game plan in the same time frame, just on October 6th. We're skipping the Spanish Steps and not going into the Forum to save time.

 

I did this Google map walking tour to get a gist of things. I know some parts will be Metro (from Ostiense to Circo Massimo stop) and probably taxi (P.Navona to Vatican museum). I figure the most time will be Coliseum and Vatican---Trevi is a picture and coin toss, Pantheon a little longer, P. Navona will be lunch and will vary with what time we've got.

 

I was thinking of a 2pm entrance to Vatican Museum and then aiming to catch the 4:30 train from San Pietro (cab from St. Peter's to station). I would like to take the 5pm train, but worry that it's cutting things too close for Civi to port. Thoughts?

[cruisemom42]

When we went I seem to remember it took about an hour from buying the ticket in the Vatican Museum to getting out after the Sistine Chapel. A great part of our time here was queueing up for the Museum which I believe you can avoid by hiring a guide.

 

 

You can also avoid waiting in the long queue by prepurchasing your tickets to the museum on the official Vatican website; no need to purchase the guided tour (unless that's what you want).

[pjunctiongirl]

We did a similiar tour.

We purchased tickets to the coliseum online ahead of time (before the cruise)

We walked right in to the coliseum. We walked around for about 20 minutes.

Then, walked to San Pietro en Vincoli

Then, taxi to trevi

Then, walk to Pantheon and Piazza Navona.

 

Pick potential lunch spots out ahead of time in that general area.

 

Then, easy to get taxi from Navona to Vatican. We had the driver take us by the Vatican museum with the plan that if the line was long, continue in the taxi to St. Peter's. Guess what?! There was no line whatsoever on Wednesday at 1pm!!!! It still took over 1 hour to walk thru the museum to Sistine Chapel.

 

When you are about to exit the Sistine Chapel, you will see a sign that says "STOP Tours only." Go quickly thru the door into St. Peters with no line!!!!

 

See the Basilica and the tombs under the basilica.

 

Getting a taxi from St. Peter's to the train station is absolutely not easy. So have a map and prepare for a 15-20 minute short walk to the station.

 

We did all of this and finished at St. Peter's by 3pm. Too exhausted to go on, we got gelato and drinks at a cafe on the walk towards the train.

 

Have fun.

Glad I didn't have to pay $500 for a limo ride to see everything!

[pjunctiongirl]

I just wanted to add that getting from the cruise to the train isn't quite as easy as it seems.