Post-cruise Stay in Rome

At the conclusion of the Transalantic cruise we spent five nights in Rome including a day trip to Florence by train. Rome has many famous places to visit but many are expensive and very crowded. The crowds of people surprised me as we were there well before the peak summer season.

Transfer from ship to Rome: The Princess bus transfer was $59/person from the ship to some unspecified “central location”. Since we were traveling with another couple, we were able to arrange a private transfer directly to our hotel for about $50/person. This was much more convenient and civilized.

Transfer from Rome to airport: by the time we were leaving Rome there were just two of us. The train would be 14 Euro each with some hassle with the luggage. The hotel offered a private transfer for 46 Euro total. The price difference of about $23 total made the private transfer a bargain.

Hotel Mediterraneo: While planning the trip I believed that a hotel near the main train station would be very useful. I found that this location was very convenient. But given that many sites are within walking distance and the subway system is really efficient, I wouldn’t bypass another hotel in a reasonable location. I booked the Bettoja Mediterraneo Hotel, across the street from the train station with upscale rooms and nice rooftop bar/café.

The room was very nice with hardwood floors and marble bath. A small TV had a variety of Italian stations, CNN and ESPN International (seemingly only soccer). The rooftop bar was pleasant but the weather wasn’t conducive to sitting outside and the price for drinks was very high ($8 for beer). The breakfast room was very pleasant and the ample buffet spread was replenished regularly. Rome hotels are expensive and this hotel cost more than I wanted to spend ($280/night); fortunately the Euro collapsed a bit during the trip bringing the cost down to $250 a night by the time that the charge cleared. I am normally willing to ‘pay extra’ for a good hotel location but not for a ‘fancy’ hotel. This hotel is great for those that appreciate a beautiful lobby and marble bathrooms; in retrospect, for me, I would have booked a place $50-70 cheaper in the same neighborhood.

Restaurants: after 14 nights on the ship we weren’t exactly in need of elaborate meals. As we wandered around near the hotel, every block had one or more “Restaurant/Pizza” establishments. Most had similar menus, though prices varied. About half had ‘fixed menus’ with a few courses for a set price and some included wine in the fixed price. We ate lots of thin-crust pizza, mostly very good. Our best meal was antipasto and wine at Cavour 313, a wine bar about a mile from the hotel. There was a really good gelato place on Cavour near the Maggiore piazza.  We had a nice lunch at L’Antica Birreria Peroni, a quasi-German beer hall near the Trevi Fountain. We also had several moderately priced, decent-to-forgettable meals near our hotel.

Touring Rome: with our 3 ½ days in Rome and 1 day in Florence we managed to hit most of the key tourist sites in these two cities.

--The most important thing in planning a visit is to learn when sites are closed; for example the Vatican is closed on Sunday and most museums are closed on Monday. So we visited many sites in Ancient Rome on Sunday and the Vatican on Monday.

--The next most important thing is to determine which sites allow pre-booking to avoid multi-hour lines. Another alternative is to join one of the tour groups being formed outside the attraction. This will double the already high admission price and reduce your flexibility.

--We discovered that even though our pre-booked tickets specified an entry time, at all of the museums but one we were able to enter early, saving us a lot of dead time. The one exception was the Galleria Borghese that only allows entry during specific 2-hour windows.

--Audio tours: we downloaded a several MP3 tours from www.ricksteves.com. I purchased a headphone ‘Y’ adapter at Radio Shack so that we could both listen to the tours from one MP3 device. I feel that his tours are well done and that they added a lot to our visits.

Day trip to Florence: the train takes about 90 minutes and costs just over $100/person RT. We spent about 7 hours touring Florence. The Academia, home to the original Michelangelo’s David, is a small museum that is best to pre-book. I didn’t realize photos were forbidden until after I got several shots of David. When I noticed that I was the only one photographing, I figured it out. The Uffizi was very large and would have been overwhelming without an audio tour. I was glad that we visited Florence independently rather than on a limited-time ship shore excursion. Note: some ship shore excursions include admission to one or both of the key museums while others provide merely bus transport. If visiting with limited time, advance bookings or guided tours are essential.  Photos are David and the River Arno's Ponte Vecchio bridge.

Favorite Rome church: While St. Peters in the Vatican is impressive, the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, built in A.D. 432, is more user-friendly. It is located a short walk from the train station. Here are a few photos:

Rome Church, honorable mention: San Giovanni in Laterno, the first Christian church in Rome, was established in A.D. 318. It is located a few subway stops from the train station, near remnants of the old city wall.

Favorite ancient site: The Pantheon, a Roman temple built around A.D. 120, is considered Rome's best preserved ancient site. The fact that it became a church fairly early prevented a lot of the destruction found at other ancient sites.  It was very interesting and relatively uncrowded. The Rick Steves audio tour provided good insight into ancient construction techniques.

Least favorite famous site: in the Vatican Museum I experienced a major tourist overload. Thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of people are herded past thousands of paintings and relics on a long slowly moving march towards the Sistine Chapel. Fortunately photography is forbidden, otherwise the herd would have stumbled over each other. The Sistine Chapel is truly amazing but the famous ceiling containing Michelangelo’s paintings is very high up and binoculars might be useful. We did discover the shortcut from the chapel directly into St. Peters (avoids another queue and an additional security check).  I was glad that we had seen the movie "Agony and Ecstacy" recently and that we could listen to the Rick Steves audio tour.

Sites I had to see but really didn’t get: the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. Maybe it is better if you are single and go at night.

Conclusion: Our 3 ½ day itinerary allowed us to see a lot of famous sites without undue stress. Note: we allocated zero time for shopping.  You could probably hit the important highlights in two days if you are well organized (and not there on a Monday).  Alternatively you could spend a bit longer and do some other day trips such as Ostia Antica.  We very much enjoyed our visit to Rome but I didn't throw a coin into the Trevi Fountain.  I found the high prices and crowded sites to be a bit off-putting.