We were in Rome for two days in May and in order to see as much as we could we decided to do a couple tours of the city. We started with the collisium, which was amazing to see, but the tour guide was so so. after that we did a walking tour of Rome with an Australian guide named Hannah. This tour was great, despite our short stay we saw most of the places we wanted to see and Hannah was full of interesting information and history. If your in Rome for a short while I definitely recommend you see it this way, and if Hannah is still around see if you can find her. We were also going to do the vatican tour with Hannah but we missed that one. We still did a tour and it was pretty good, though a bit pricey.

I read so many reviews prior to travelling to Rome, Italy - and was really excited about travelling over there for 5 nights to celebrate my 5th wedding anniversary with my husband over the past Bank Holiday weekend.

I have never felt so uncomfortable in any city worldwide - and I have been to many. I guess the problem lies with the fact that I wear a Muslim headscarf - albeit pretty ones to match my clothes - but the way people stopped, eyed me up and down and glared at me - I'd have thought I was an alien dressed up! This behaviour, from a city where nuns wearing similar headdress walk around casually in the city centre, really shocked and upset me. Of course - some people don't understand the reason why I choose to wear my head scarf - and when I smile politely - most if not all of the time, I receive an equally warm smile. But in Rome - no reaction at all - neither hostile nor friendly. I'd really like to know why this is the case? As I returned to work today - and many people were asking about my trip - they too were saddened to hear of my experience. The city was great - magnificent, and I loved the Vatican. I wish the people had been equally generous too. The only people who spoke to us were the people trying to see us something or con us out of money.

This is my second trip to Rome. First was part of a cruise and only got a taste - so had to go back. Palatine Hill is a must see as is the Stop and Go Bus tour (green open air Bus) to the catacombs and Acqueducts! Rented an apartment off The Nationale Road within a mile of the Forum and the Train Station - had a lift for elderly Mom we had with us - very roomy - close to Everything - shopping, eating, buses - Took high speed down to Pompei and up to Florence - fairly easy to do - trains may not show your stop unless it is the final destination of that stop - language not to bad of barrier .

I have just returned from a four day (five night) stay in Rome with my daughter (18). Overall we had a good time and the negatives are outweighed by the awesome sights, however a few tips might help others thinking of visiting Rome.
First problem on arrival I noticed that my suitcase had been damaged en route. There didn't seem anybody to ask what to do about this and the Alitalita desk had a huge queque. As I was meeting my daughter I decided to tackle this on my way home. This was the wrong thing to do - too late. Apparantly I should have gone to the Lost and Found desk, I have found this out since on the Alitalia web-site.
We took the Leonardo Express into Rome which cost 11 Euro, it would be a good idea to buy a return ticket because the terminal at the Rome end can be very busy and you have to queue. If you haven't been to Rome before NB you must put your ticket into the designated activation machines or else you can be heavily fined,
We then took a bus from Termini - no problems.
Our hotel was the Hotel della Conciliazione on Borgo Pio which is very close to the Vatican. This is a 3 star no frills hotel at 130 euro pn, included aircon and continental breakfast. No complaints, quite comfortable with a large balcony. The night porter was not terribly helpful - generally we found that many of the Italians did not speak very good or any English - it would be good to learn some Italian or take a good phrase book.

We did the main sights, at the Colosseum we joined a tour 10 Euro which was good value and included the Palatine Hill and Forum, our Italitan guide seemed a bit of a misogynist along with an unsavoury sense of humour. We found that by visiting the main sights later in the day we avoided huge queues. If you are thinking of going to the Villa Borgese (museum) you have to pre-book, we didn't know this and so were quite disappointed.
St Peters and the Vatican Museum were amazing - again go later and avoid huge lines of people.

Eating out seemed very expensive - e.g one sandwhich, one fruit salad and two drinks cost 25 euro. We had one evening meal which was extortionate, one plain omelette, one plasta dish, one chips one water and two half bottles of wine 65 euro. We had asked for two glasses of wine and the bottles were presented and opened before we could ask how much it would be. They also added on 10 euro tax. I complained but they didn't speak English. This was the Al Cuppolone, Borgo Pio 92.

Transport is very reasonable, we had a Rome Pass which gave us travel for three days and entry to two sights free and reduction on others. We travelled out of Rome th Stella Polare on a train from Pyramide and this was all included on the ticket. We found a nice swimming pool complex where we spent the day 12 E each. Again staff here not very welcoming to tourists.