What sorts of things interest you the most? Art? History? Something else? In four days you can't see everything, and knowing your interests would help me point you in the right direction.

Also, could you tell us the time of year, and how many nights you'll be spending in Rome? To some people, four days means three nights, which is usually just two full days and bits of the other two.

Rome is a great walking town. Please get a good map before you go and pre-mark your sites. You need to decide what you will see in those 4 short days and there is so much in Rome you'll need to be very efficient if you want to make the most of it.You can see a lot of things in one day because many things are close together, but study your guidebooks before you go.Along the way, i would recommend a hike up to Villa Borghese to see the sun set over Rome (hey.. if you can't fall in love in Rome, you have a stone heart). Since you'll be at the Spanish steps, go to the top, and after you look at Trinita dei Monti (the church at the top) you can get into Villa Borghese (Villa Borghese is to Rome what central park is to New york). Also, try and seklect a few good dinner places. there are many litle trattorias tucked away in the streets of rome and it would be good to know in advance so you won't spend precious time searching out food. Good luck...

In the other post, someone noted that he is so happy when he see the smiles of his wife in the one hour Gondola night.

This reminds me to smile more offen- ir-regardless of whether I'm holiday or not.

remember: the best things in the world is always free.

We are traveling this coming August (hot!!!).We will be arriving early evening. Then 4 nights, before a fairly late flight home, so nearly 5 days. Our interests are fairly broad, although history and the Vatican will be of particular interest. Thanks.

Hi Brian

We spent 5 nights in Rome in April 2008. It will be busier in August but this is what we did

Day 1 Colosseum and Palatine in the morning and San Giovanni in Laterano & San Clemente in the afternoon

Day 2 Vatican/Sistine Chapel

Day 3 Caught train to Ostia Antica

Day 4 Archeo Bus to Catacombes

We stayed near Piazza Babarini so were able to easily walk to the Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Spanish Steps and Piazza Navona. We went for an early morning walk especially to see the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain without crowds.

I would recommend getting the lonely planet book Best of Rome. It is a pocket guide book with maps which gives you the highlights.

Good luck and enjoy the eternal city

Brian,

You've chosen a location that is on the edge of the historic district... not a bad thing but it will require a lot more walking or knowledge of the transportation system on your part. So here's my advice:

#1 Get/take excellent walking shoes for you and your better half. Good shoes will pay dividends on your trip. Break them in before you depart. Take long walks together in preparation. A good map of Rome will be invaluable, I like Streetwise Rome maps.

#2 You'll still need to use the public transportation system from time to time to save your feet. The metro will take you around the city, to far points like the Spanish Steps or Colosseum/Forum for example. Here's a map: http://www.rome.info/metro/

The bus system will take you into and from the historic center (Pantheon, Navona, Trevi Fountain) and Trastevere. Take a look at these links to familiarize yourself with the public tansport system:

http://www.rome.info/transportation/

enjoyrome.com/tourist/cityguide/public.trans…

Cabs are a good option and affordable on those special occasion nights. IMO, a nighttime cab ride is a wonderful experience in Rome. Be aware that some cabbies will be dishonest and read some of the threads here at TA in that regard.

#3 There are plenty of things to do for free in Rome. All the monuments and public works/fountains are viewable from their exterior... for example: Castel Sant'Angelo, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps.

Churches: http://www.romeartlover.it/Churches.html are free to enter and contain wonderful works of art. Carry change with you to light the paintings or mosaics and observe the dress code.

Here are a few more Roman feebies:

The view from the top of the Vittorio Emanuele II Monument is wonderful as is the view from the Orange Grove on the Aventine Hill and the viewing deck at the gardens of Villa Borghese.

The Pantheon (technically a church) is open from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday to Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

The Piazzas are fun places and there are often entertainers there working for tips. Piazza della Rotondo, Piazza Navona and Campo dei Fiori (the market there is open early M-Sat and closes in mid afternoon) are a few of the "must see" piazzas.

#4 Dining. Always be scouting for a nice restaurant while you are touring, especially for places close to your hotel. Take special note of places a block or two (or more) from the big tourist sights and Piazzas. Never be tempted by places where the waiter greets you at the door/on the street. Make note of the ones that catch your eye on your map and note their opening times, price range. If you budget 40 to 70 Euros for dinner for two you'll have many options. Unless you are an aficionado the house wines are generally just fine.

You can save quite a bit by buying sandwiches (panini and tramezzini) at lunch time or vice versa have your main meal at lunch and have pizza for dinner. There are some other tips here: www.ehow.com/how_14346_eat-rome-cheap.html

#5 Guidebooks... get a few guidebooks (most recent ones please) from the library and start looking for attractions that catch your eye and pique your interest. Then, using your map, plot out an itinerary. When you're happy with one particular guidebook, buy the latest edition of it to take with you. Finally, post your itinerary and questions here at TA for additional comments.

Best luck and happy anniversary!

If you like history, you should probably plan nearly a full day at the ancient Roman sites, and if you're interested in the Vatican, nearly a full day there.

There is a single ticket to the Colosseum/Roman Forum/Palatine Hill site, for 11 euros, and it's good for 2 days. I would suggest going as early as possible in the morning, because it heats up later in the day and there isn't much shade, especially in the Roman Forum. You could start at the Colosseum, before the crowds arrive. Then, I would visit the Palatine Hill, walking toward the Roman Forum through the Palatine Hill. You will see the huge remains of the imperial palace, and many other ancient buildings. There is a little museum on the Palatine Hill that has a very interesting exhibit on the lower level about the development of prehistoric Rome. When you've finished seeing the Palatine Hill, you can walk right into the Roman Forum without exiting the site.

At the opposite end of the Roman Forum from the Palatine Hill, the Capitoline Museums is up a set of steps, on Piazza del Campidoglio, designed by Michelangelo. This would be a good place to spend the hot part of the day. I could spend hours in this museum, which has a really great collection of ancient sculpture. On the lower level, there is a passageway to connect the two museums, and there you can also see the foundations of the ancient temple of Jupiter. There is a good cafeteria inside the Capitoline Museums, with a view over the Roman Forum. There are also other overlooks that give you great views of the Forum.

When you're finished there, you'll probably be too tired to do much else. You might want to go to your hotel for a rest and change of clothes before dinner.

When you go to the Vatican, I would start with St. Peter's Basilica, because the Vatican Museums tend to have long lines in the morning. You can get an audio guide for the Basilica, which will help you understand what you're seeing. You should aim to hit the Vatican Museums around lunch time (1 PM maybe). There is a cafeteria inside the Museums, which may be a better bet than the restaurants in the vicinity, which are often mediocre and overpriced. You can also get audio guides for the Vatican Museums. If you want a tour, you can see this page, which has the official Vatican tours:

…vatican.va/3_EN/…MV_Info_Servizi.html

This page has information about hours and ticket prices:

…vatican.va/2_IT/…MV_Info_Orario.html

After the Vatican, you might want to visit Castel Sant'Angelo, which is not far away, on your way back to the center. On the upper level there is a bar on a terrace which has great views of Rome.

On one of your other days, you might want to go to Ostia Antica, which is one of my favorite historical sites:

http://www.ostia-antica.org/

You should also spend part of a day wandering around the historic center. There you can see Piazza Navona,

One way to keep costs down would be to get a Roma Pass, which gives you free admission to two sites, and discounts on others. It also gives you a separate 3-day transit pass, for unlimited rides on buses, trams, metro, and a few urban trains. It costs 23 euros, but it can easily pay for itself; the Colosseum/Roman Forum/Palatine Hill ticket itself is 11 euros. It doesn't cover the Vatican Museums.

First off, congratulations on your 10th wedding anniversary and secondly for your lucky wife to have you organising this! my husband and i are celebrating our 25th and also plan to do rome in august, though we are going for a week.

it's our first proper foreign holiday sinc we got married so can't wait. we decided that rather than waking up every morning and thinking right what will we do today, we have booked all the tours we want to do so we are doing something everyday. ok some tours only last two hours, but the week is dotted and we have managed to pack in trips to ancient rome, sunset tour of rome, vatican,an open air night at the opera, trip to pompeii and a blessing for our anniversary. real rome tours are on skype and i used them to book tours. (if tyrone are playing kerry we have agreed to meet one of their reps to watch the match together!!) only four weeks left and we (ok maybe more me)can't wait to go. hope you enjoy your stay. we are going to artemide.

Thank you to you all for your help. I really appreciate your efforts. Your pointers have been all the more helpful as I obviously cannot spend alot of time looking at guide books at home; it would ruin the surprise!

Thanks again.

:-)