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Rome was not built in a day. Nor can Rome be seen in a day. One could live in the Eternal City for years and still not see everything. Rome is a chaotic, sensuous, and addictive place.
Travelers are often overwhelmed and enchanted at the same time by the exuberance and friendliness of the locals, by the weight of the history and by the sheer beauty of the city.
However, tourists often find themselves in the throes of the wild, confusing circus, unable to absorb the many delights, adventures and wonders Rome generously offers to everyone brave enough to accept the challenge.
This webpage is our sincere wish to make your stay easier, so that you can appreciate this wonderful city that natives can never desert.
Rome is on Continental time 6 hours ahead of New York and seven hours ahead of Chicago. In 1996, members of the European Union agreed to observe a "summertime period" from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October. The clocks are an hour ahead of solar time (GMT) in winter, and two hours ahead in summer. The clocks change twice during the year. Check the "Time Ticker" for current time in Rome.
When arriving or leaving Rome, you are likely to do it at the Leonardo da Vinci airport in Fiumicino (FCO), a little town by the seaside, 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) west of the ring of Rome. It is more known in Rome with the name of the locality, i.e. as Fiumicino Airport (Aeroporto Fiumicino in Italian). The other possibility is that you arrive or leave at the Ciampino Airport, (CIA) a little town 4 km (2.5 miles) south of the ring of Rome.
From the Leonardo DA Vinci (FCO) airport you may go to Rome via train/subway. Follow the arrows in the airport to the train station area, you cannot miss it. Elevators and moving walkways will bring you there. You are not allowed to put trolleys with luggage on the walkways, but you can roll them along the corridors next to them.
The tickets can be purchased at:
From Termini station you will be able to take the subway lines A (red color) and B (blue color), as well as all the buses of the station and a taxi too if you need one. The cost of a subway or of a bus ticket is approximately 0.85 US$.
A taxi ride should cost you around 36 US$. You also pay a fee of app. 1.4 US$ for every suitcase. Make sure that the taxi is an official one, and beware of non-official taxies or drivers: with various excuses (that they have a nicer car etc.) they could ask you consistently more, up to App. 90 US$. Make sure that you deal the price without possibility of mistakes before accepting the service if the taxi is not an official one. The only other cars and drivers you can trust are the car service ones. The driver - who's always the car's owner - lets you pay for the distance between the place he is located and the place you are calling from. So, if you are in a central area the price difference will be irrelevant, if you are somewhere in town instead, he will charge you 5 or 6 USD, depending where he's coming from. From 11pm to 7am there's a night charge over the normal price.
A valid passport is required. Italian authorities may deny entry to travelers who attempt to enter Italy without a valid passport. A visa is not required for tourist stays up to three months. For further information concerning entry requirements for Italy, travelers may contact the Embassy of Italy at 1601 Fuller St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009, tel. 202-328-5500, or the Italian Consulates General in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, or San Francisco.
Tourists staying other than in hotels for more than one month should register with the local police station and obtain a "permesso di soggiorno" (permit to stay) within eight days of arrival in Italy. Visitors to Italy may be required to demonstrate to the police upon arrival sufficient means of financial support. Credit cards, ATM cards, travelers' checks, prepaid hotel/vacation vouchers, etc. can be used to show sufficient means.
In an effort to prevent international child abduction, many governments have initiated procedures at entry/exit points. These often include requiring documentary evidence of relationship and permission for child's travel from the parent(s) or legal guardian not present. Having such documentation on hand, even if not required, may facilitate entry/departure.
Forget traveler's checks, cash, or personal checks. All you really need is a valid ATM and credit card. Charge as much as you can, thus ensuring the best exchange rate at all times and only take out cash from an ATM machine as needed. Avoid exchanging back to US currency by paying your hotel bill with excess cash and charging the rest. All major credit cards are accepted everywhere. Keep enough cash to get you to the airport. Remember your fare on the way down and keep that much for the return.
Since 1 January 2002 the EURO (€) is the official currency of Italy (together with 10 other European countries. It is divided in 100 cents. Coins come in 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 cents; and 1 and 2 EURO (€). Notes come in 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500 EURO (€). Most shops, restaurants and hotels accept all major Credit Cards. As of printing, one Euro equals about 1.28 USD.
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If you're not used to live without air conditioning, the summer in Rome can be a nightmare. I would suggest to enquire if the room has got climatisation, as cheap hotels don't have it.
Italian, romantic Italian, English is spoken in tourist areas.
The working day usually begins between 8AM and 9AM and people break for lunch at 2PM. In the afternoon, businesses open from 4PM to 8PM. There is a traditional "siesta" from 2 PM to 4 PM. Dinner is usually late. Usual diner time is 10 PM. It is not uncommon to have midnight dinner reservations.
Service and tip are included in the prices at hotels, in restaurants, and for taxi fares. For good service, you may leave a few coins extra at your discretion.
Getting a hotel in Rome is frustrating and expensive as it is it is hard to find a reservation, especially in the summer. Because of its mild winters, it is an unknown travel destination for travelers during the winter months and all hotel rates go on sale. You should try to plan your trip to Rome in the slow season at all cost.
Due to the archeological treasures beneath Rome's soil, and perhaps because Rome is not an important industrial town, the subway metro system has only two lines, A (red) and B (blue), which intersect at Termini.
In general, the B line is all you need to go to the Tiburtina station (with direction Rebibbia) or to the EUR, Colosseum, the Basilica of San Paolo, the FAO and the Circus Maximus, the Colosseum in the other direction (with direction EUR Fermi or EUR Laurentina).
The A line is the one to the Trevi Fountain (Barberini stop), Spanish Steps (Spagna stop), and the Vatican (last stop), all with direction "Ottaviano".
Trains run approximately every 6 minutes on line A and every 10 minutes on line B. There are trains from 5.30 AM until 11.30 PM every day. On Saturday, the last run begins at midnight from each end.
Most buses run from 5.30 AM and begin their last run at midnight, but some start later and begin their last run at 10.30 PM. You can check the timetable as well as the itinerary of the buses on the yellow plate at every stop, which is indicated as "FERMATA".
They can be purchased from disposable machines at major bus stops, metro stops, train stations. They can be usually be purchased at newsstands and "Tabacchi" (tobacconists). They can also be bought at the counters of train stations.
There are several types of bus tickets available:
Be wary of non-official taxi drivers, especially if you need to go to the airport. Particularly in this case we have experienced that they ask you even more than twice the official price. The official taxies are yellow or white, and have meters.
Although in Rome there are taxi stations, it is better to call one by phone. It is much more comfortable than to wait in the taxi parking areas. The only areas where it is easy to catch a taxi are the train stations. There is no surcharge for phone booking (apart of course from the modest phone call cost). The driver - who's always the car's owner - lets you pay for the distance between the place he is located and the place you are calling from. So, if you are in a central area the price difference will be irrelevant, if you are somewhere in town instead, he will charge you 5 or 6 USD, depending where he's coming from. From 11pm to 7am there's a night charge over the normal price.
If you cannot ask your hotel to do it, call 063570, 064994 or 066645. The operators speak some English, so speak slowly and clear. They will ask you the address and at what time they must arrive. They will ask your telephone number. They will call you a few minutes before the agreed time, double checking your request and informing you of the taxi number or code, and within how many minutes the taxi will arrive (usually between 3 and 10 minutes).
You can also book a taxi ahead following the same procedure. The service is accurate and on time, and it is the best way to proceed for example when you need to catch an early morning train or plane. There is no surcharge to book a taxi, making it a big pro.
Metro Colosseo/bus to Piazza del Colosseo. Open 9am-6pm Mon-Sat; 9am-4pm Sun. Admission L10,000; included in joint ticket with Palatine and Museo Nazionale Romano. Built in AD 72 by Vespasian on the newly drained site of an artificial lake in the grounds of Nero's Domus Aurea, or Golden House, the Anfiteatro Flavio, to give this monument its proper name, hosted gory battles between gladiators, slaves, prisoners and wild animals of all descriptions.
- The fountain was built by the architect Salvi (1735) in the time of Clement XII, and decorated by several artists of Bernini's school. It is the front of a large palace (Palazzo Poli) decorated with statues and bas-reliefs on heaps of rocks. The fountain is not only celebrated for its excellent water but for the legend that whoever drinks it or throws a coin in the fountain, will assure his return to Rome.
- Bus to Corso Vittorio Emanuele or Corso Rinascimento. This tremendous theatrical oval, dominated by the gleaming marble composition of Bernini's Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, is the hub of the centro storico. The piazza owes its shape to an ancient stadium, built in AD 86 by the Emperor Domitian, which was the scene of at least one martyrdom (Saint Agatha was thrown to her death here for refusing to marry), as well as sporting events. Just north of the piazza, you can still see some remains of the original arena, sunk below the level of Corso Rinascimento (which can be entered with permission). The piazza acquired its current form in the mid-seventeenth century. Its western side is dominated by Borromini's fa?ade for the church of Sant'Agnese in Agone and the adjacent Palazzo Pamphili, built for Pope Innocent X in 1644-50. The 'Fountain of the Four Rivers' at the center of the piazza, finished in 1651, is one of the most extravagant masterpieces designed - though only partly sculpted - by Bernini. Its main figures represent the rivers Ganges, Nile, Danube and Plate, surrounded by geographically appropriate flora and fauna. The figure of the Nile is veiled, as its source was unknown, although for centuries the story went that Bernini designed it that way so the river god appeared to be recoiling in horror from the fa?ade of Sant'Agnese, designed by his great rival Borromini. In fact, the church was built after the fountain was finished. The obelisk in its center came from the Circus of Maxentius on the Via Appia Antica. The less spectacular Fontana del Moro is at the southern end of the piazza. The central figure (called the Moor, although he looks more like a portly sea god wrestling with a dolphin) was the only part designed by Bernini himself.
This pyramid was built during the last years of the Republic (1st century BC) to hold the ashes of Caius Cestius, Praetor, Tribune and Septemvirate of the Epulos, as the inscriptions recall.
The Roman Forum was the center of the civic and economic life of Rome in the Republican era and kept its prominent role even in the Imperial age. The monumental complex lies between the Capitol, the Imperial Forums, the Colosseum and the Palatine.
, 18 (06 678 1419).Bus to Piazza della Bocca della Verit? Open 9am-6pm daily. Santa Maria in Cosmedin was first built in the sixth century, next to the Temple of Hercules Victor. It was enlarged in the ninth century, and given a beautiful campanile in the twelfth. Between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, much of the decoration was replaced with Cosmati work: the spiraling floor, the throne, the choir, the thirteenth-century baldacchino, over the ultimate example of recycling, a Roman bathtub used as an altar. If you want to prove a point, stick your hand into the Bocca della Verit? (the 'Mouth of Truth') a worn stone face under the portico that was probably an ancient drain cover, and is said to bite the hands of liars. According to legend, it was much used by husbands to test the faithfulness of their wives. The scene in Roman Holiday where Gregory Peck ad-libs getting his hand bitten, eliciting a (reportedly) unscripted shriek of genuine alarm from Audrey Hepburn, is one of the most delightful moments in cinema. In the sacristy is a fragment of an eighth-century mosaic of the Holy Family, brought here from the original Saint Peter's.
Despite the odd bout of finger wagging from the Vatican, Italy has long been notably free of anti-gay legislation. In the first half of this century, life was cheap, attitudes were relaxed, and boys were both. Today, the spread of affluence has broken the traditional link between poverty and sexual availability, although off-duty national servicemen have sometimes been known to turn wrist-engineers for a small fee.
Rome's gay venues open and close at an alarming rate, so a phone call to check the bar still exists is a good idea before you slip into something sexy.
Some bars charge no entrance fee but oblige you to buy a drink. A growing number of venues ask you to show an Arcigay annual membership card, which costs L20,000, can be bought in any venue that requires you to have it, and gives you admission to many clubs throughout Italy. Some bars, though, still have their own membership cards, valid only in the individual venue and usually costing 20 Euros In most bars, you are given a printed slip on which the barman ticks off what you consume; you pay the total amount on leaving. Be careful not to lose your slip, as you're liable for a stiff penalty if you do.
We would like to recommend Clubbing Magazine Rome page to find the latest in the gay scene in Rome..
In Rome, nine out of ten restaurants are trattorias. More than a restaurant, a trattoria is where you spend the evening, a cafe, a bar, and living room in one. Everyone likes to eat out, until quite late, all the time. Romans will sit and chat (and drink) after all the food is gone. The worst treatment a foreigner will get comes while waiting for a table, or being seated (some restaurants will segregate foreigners). You should either eat with a group of locals, or just ignore it and join the fun (when in Rome...) Remember that most places will not open before 8pm and tables are scarce by 9pm. It helps if you make a reservation. If you just show up without one, don't show up hungry. A "no sorry" from the host may mean that you might have to wait around and a table may free later. It is customary to order appetizers, pasta, main dish, coffee or grappa. You may omit a course, but remember that main dishes usually come without sides, and the pasta dish will not be meal-sized. The meal is never rushed; if you think you are getting the silent treatment, toss out the words for water ("acqua"), wine ("vino"), or the check ("conto") to get your waiters attention. Even though the tip is included ("service com pris"), it is considered an insult to offer you the bill before you request it. In most restaurants they are expecting you will stay until closing.
Pompeii is the one of the most important archeological sites anywhere. Almost every other ancient urban site is simply the remains of a ghost town, long ago deserted by its citizens who carried away with them everything of value. Prior to the eruption of Vesuvius, Pompeii was a thriving city. Then it was buried with so little warning in 79 AD that Pompeii was literally frozen in time. If we want to know details about what life was like in a Roman city during the first century, I think by studying Pompeii we can get the very best perspective with the least speculation. We can understand how the privileged rich man and the ordinary slave lived from day to day in the Roman Empire during the time when Christianity was beginning to spread throughout the Mediterranean. About 150 miles to the southeast of Rome, Pompeii is surrounded by the region of Italy called Campania (or Campagna, which means "countryside" in Italian).
On a rare day, after a period of rain and wind, the smog will clear so that Mount Vesuvius can be seen from Naples.
There many tour companies that will arrange a day tour to Naples and Pompeii.
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