Rome HoHo bus: Opera Romano Pellegrinaggi?

[MHF]

Has anyone used this bus? It seems to go further out than some of the others and hits the majority of the sites we want to see. DH can't walk more than about an hour at a time so I want to be able to get from one place to another easily and save our walking for the sites themselves.

 

The other option is cab from place to place or hire a driver for the day...both of which seem pricey. We have 3 full days before we board and will spend one at the Vatican/St. Peter's (at least there are benches in there!).

 

thanks, Melissa

[cruisemom42]

I am not familiar with it personally but the reviews on TripAdvisor are not very good. (In fact, they are pretty bad.) I think there are probably better choices.

 

I'm not a huge fan of the HOHO buses in Rome, but if you have three days a HOHO may not be a bad way to get around. Do be aware that for many sites you must get off the buses and walk a distance before you reach the site, due to pedestrian areas. (You won't be able to see some sites from the bus, in other words.)

 

You can try to group things -- if you take a taxi or the metro to the Colosseum, the Forum and Palatine Hill are right there. Or if you plan a day at the Vatican, just take a taxi there and back.

[Tara Jane]

just a warning. When I was last in st peters there was not a single seat anywhere inside to sit on.

 

I thought it pretty disgusting as there were many elderly and physically challenged. I would think devout Catholics would want to go and they could be very unwell wanting to go for prayers for healing etc. The idea I am thinking behind this is to keep people moving.

[John Bull]

I'll echo cruisemom's words about the ho-ho buses (I'm a big fan of them in some cities, but not in Rome where their routes are very limited & congested, and they spend an interminably long time sat outside Termini station and near the Vatican), and about the suggestion to use taxis for short hops between sights.

I don't know Romano Pellegrinaggi, but if their ho-ho arm is Roma Cristiana the route looks to be identical to other operators' route.

 

There are three main tourist areas in Rome

- Colosseum/Forum/Palatine Hill (tho' with walking difficulties I'd advise against Palatine Hill)

- Vatican city

- around Piazza Navone, the Pantheon and the Trevi fountain. (these a little more further apart than the others, but only a 10 - 15 minute walk from Trevi to Piazza Navona, with the Pantheon in-between).

There are other sights a little more spread-out in and beyond the city centre. But you have three days, not three weeks ;)

 

In my own limited experience, Rome's taxi drivers always seem to find a way to charge a little more than the meter shows. Because it's after 10pm, because it's a saints-day, because it's west of the river, because it's a sunday, because it's a thursday, etc ad infinitum. But no worries, treat that as their tip :p

Local buses and the metro are of course cheaper, but assuming your hotel is decently located you'll only need a few short taxi hops in your three days and the cost will be pretty minimal.

 

JB :)