This will be my 4th trip to Rome and again I will be staying for a week. I need new suggestions of other attractions to see. I have done all the usual -Forum, Palatine, Colosseum, Trevi, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Campo di Fiori, Spanish Steps, St Clemente, Santa Maria Maggiore, Vatican, Sacvi tour, St Peter's, Tivoli, Cappuchin chapel, Via Appia catacombs....
Can anyone suggestion some unusual or different sights that I should include in this trip? is there any new sites that have been opened to the public in the last 2 years that are worth visiting?
Rome is so full of wonderful things to see, I don't think a lifetime is enough. Here are some suggestions:
Ara Pacis Nero's Golden House Recent Palatine excavations Other interesting/important churches include, Santa Maria della Vittoria, San Francesco Ripa, Santa Cecilia (see crypt and Cavallini frescos in convent)Santa Maria in Trastevere, San Crisogno and its recently opened crypt, Santa Maria del Popolo, San Luigi Francesi, Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Il Gesu, San Ignazio, Santa Croce in Gerusaleme and its relics chapel, San Lorenzo Fuori la Mura, San Paolo Fuoria la Mura, San Giovanni Laterano and the Holy Stairs across the street, Sancti Quattro Coronati, San Stefano Rotundo, San Giovanni e Paolo. Just too many to name, but the ones I have are significant either historically, architecturally or artistically.
Also, the churches of San Agnese Fuori la Mura and Santa Costanza along with the catacombs under San Agnese are well worth a visit.
Some lesser known museums you might consider: Mario Praz, Napoleonic, Souls in Purgatory, Museum of Criminolgy (housed in an old prison) and the museum of medicine in the Hospital of Santo Spirito in Sassia.
Have a great time!
Posts: 396 | Location: Somers, WI | Registered: 24 June 2002
On our 4th trip to Rome a few years ago, we did the same thing. Here's what we saw on that trip:
Baths of Diocletian Etruscan Museum in the Villa Giulia National Gallery
I think the Etruscan Museum is one of the best around. It is full of artifacts with intricate detail such as jewelry and tools. We walked there from the Villa Borghesi (which we like to repeat on every visit).
The Baths of Diocletian are a surprise. The outside is nothing fancy, but on the inside, you'll find a renovation by Michelangelo.
Have you seen Ostia Antica, just a 30 min train ride out of the city? Can't remember where the sculpture of "The Boxer" was moved but I know there was a discussion about it on the board so you could look thru the archives.
Have you taken any day trips to places like Orte or Orvieto? Easy to do by train and no more than an hour. I know there are other easy day trips like the two I mentioned.
The Protestant Cemetery, I think, is one of the most beautiful places in Rome. And the Centrale Montemartini Museum--a branch of the Capitoline Museums that's installed in Rome's first electric power plant--is stupendous.
Doria Pamphilj is one of my favorites. Be sure to get the audio guide. I also enjoyed Palazzo Barberini.
I agree. We also really enjoyed the guided tour (in English) art gallery of the Palazzo Colonna. The Colonna family has owned it for 20 generations and they open for visitors only on Saturday mornings.
You could make a list of all of the works of a particular artist or two, like Caravaggio's paintings, or Bernini's sculptures, or Bramante's architecture and visit all those in Rome.
Definitely Ostia Antica! Absolutely gorgeous. It was the original seaport of Rome. A wonderful excavation. Marvelous ruins. Great example of early Roman life.
Thank you to so much to everyone who replied -my goodness I think I will just have to stay in Rome for months -so much to do!!! I will definitely investigate all your suggestions. yes I have been to Ostia Antica (forgot to add it to my list) it was brilliant, think I prefer it to Pompeii
Has anyone been to the Balbi Crypts? is it worth visiting?
I have not yet had the opportunity to visit the Etruscan Museum but if you go there, you could well take a trip(s) to Cerveteri or Tarquinia to see the necropolis at one of them - Cerveteri is more picturesque as a site but Tarquinia has impressive painted tombs. Both are easily accessed by metro and then bus.
If you have the $$$ Helen Donegan's After Hours Vatican tour is not the typical tourist experience. www.Italywithus.com.
I'm also going to give a serious second recommendation to the Museum of Rome at Montemartini. The setting of an old power plant with even more ancient Roman sculptures is fabulous. AND IT IS ACCESSIBLE. Truly amazing!!!
If you are into military stuff there is a military museum along the Tiber just north of the Vatican. And then the very wierd eclesiastical museum in the Borghese.
I never miss what the current exhibitions are at Coloseo (different every 6 months or so) and at the various art museums. By virtue of its huge storehouse of classic art Rome and its museums are able to attract the greatest traveling exhibitions from throughout the world. Museums swap, and the italian museums are looked at with lust by every museum director in the word. Even simple things like Galileo line drawings in a show will bring out record crowds. Homo Faber - the Pompeii exhibit that toured (and in some incarnations is still touring) was a record breaker for Los Angeles. Feet in the door = revenue plus public support for additional government funding.
The Mercati Trajani - one of the best restored ruins in Rome shows every day streets, shops, etc.. It has also been converted to an outdoor art space for installations too large for the regular museums. We spent days there.
And a second vote for the Terme Diocletian. We call it the whack - a - mole museum because of the funny looking bulls head sculptures popping out of the shrubbery in the central courtyard (a look into my warped mind).
Take a look at purchasing Georgina Masson's Rome. It has been around forever but she has great recommendations for walking tours. Just don't depend on her directions - a lot has changed since the book was revised, much less the original transcript.
I have spent 6 months on the ground just in Rome. Sure I repeat a lot of old favorites (it isn't a trip to Rome without a trip to the Capitoline Museums) but every trip is a revelation to me, every trip I find something new, different, exciting.
The screen name says it all - I might as well face it I'm addicted to Rome.
Rome Addict you are an amazing source of information, will definitely add the Balbi crypts to my list and also Museum of Rome Many thanks for all the suggestions-not enough time and too much to see!!!!
And I forgot to answer the first time you asked. No it isn't one of the "powerhouse" attractions in Rome. Fairly obscure down the hill across Via Teatro Marcello and toward the ghetto it doesn't exactly get huge numbers of tourists. As I say, it is a small gem. Unlike say - Vatican.
Oh one other thing I forgot, at St. Peters shell out the 3 euro for the Museo Tesoro - the treasury museum, not quite the crown jewels, it is still an interesting collection of altar pieces, religious objects and garments and the most gorgeous small Bernini angel in existance. She is magic however, in "person" her face is happiness and peace personified, when you take a picture she becomes a simpering idiot.
The jewels tend to be cabochon (uncut) so they lack the sparkle of modern jewels. Look for the Bernini altar pieces too.
As to the "do an artist for a day" itinerary? The little green tourist kiosks have pamphlets for various artists and where all their works are located in Rome. Bernini in Rome, Michaelangelo in Rome, Galileo in Rome, etc.. Plus other attractions like - The Fountains of Rome, the gardens of Rome, etc.. Makes it very easy to plan your day around what seriously interests you.
It is always a mistake to get me started on the "picolo tesoro" of Roma. I keep remembering little things. Maybe as the ultimate slow traveler (I can't even walk fast and am mostly in a wheelchair) I see the sparrows and enjoy them.
Rome Addict you never tell me enough about the picolo tesoro di Roma -so please feel free to keep sending suggestions. I love the idea of an artist a day! Mille grazie
Georgina Masson's Companion Guide to Rome has a new edition with updates by John Fort. For insider views of Rome, Tarquinia and the area of Northern Lazio around Viterbo see articles on my website.
One more vote for Basilica di Santa Croce en Gerusalemme. http://www.basilicasantacroce.com/default.aspx (web site takes a while to load, be patient). Along with the fantastic art inside the basilica (it doesn't look like much from the outside), the monks have a fantastic garden (L'orto) in a roman amphitheater adjacent to the monastery. The garden is only open to tours that you have to arrange for ahead of time by calling or emailing assamcroce@libero.it. Check the Events calendar and look for Visita Guidata Orto Monastico. The monks sell the beautiful produce they raise that they don't eat themselves.
Posts: 232 | Location: New Jersey, USA | Registered: 16 September 2007
I'm just back in my office after the holiday and found an e-mail update from the website, Serious Eats. Gina DePalma, chef, author and Slow Traveler, is living in Rome while researching her next book and is also a correspondent for Serious Eats.
One of her latest (if not the latest), posts is about a day trip to Frascati in the Castelli Romani - just southeast of Rome. Gina writes that she took a direct commuter train (euro 1.90) and was in Frascati in 30 minutes. Her quest? Not the heavily touristed villas and gardens built by Rome's rich and powerful as summer retreats - no, Gina went in search of Isabella Leoni, The Queen of Porchetta.
I have been enjoying Gina's posts from Rome and beyond and you may too. Some of my favorite days in Italy have begun with a search for some obscure but heralded food artisan or trattoria and then, usually lost, I've discovered some new-to-me street or neighborhood.
I hope your journey is an adventure.
"I am a Southerner. I like the feel of these words. I could no more be otherwise than I could shed my outer skin or change the color of my eyes." Willie Morris
Posts: 1434 | Location: on the Alabama River | Registered: 22 July 2002
We just got back and had stayed in Ostia Antica and had a wonderful day roaming around the grounds for 4+ hours. We didn't get a guide but signage was good and there were a few small groups we eavesdropped on but then could wander off & be alone. It was lush and full of songbirds...just a great place to sense the antiquity without being in the middle of Rome hustle & bustle. From the Pyramid Stn we walked around Testaccio neighborhood and up to the 3 churches on Aventino Hill. I believe one of them has Gregorian chants at the 7PM vesper service.
Posts: 466 | Location: York, Pennsylvania | Registered: 03 March 2005
If you are in Rome before June 30, I recommend visiting Palazzo Valentini, a Renaissance palace built on Imperial age bath and two luxury palaces. There are often spaces on tours if you arrive a bit early and request a spot for no-shows. Although there are only two tours a week in English, there are 7 tours a day and it is worth seeing it, even in Italian.
