Free-Wheeling Rome

Turistico-ing Essentials

Given that Rome is spread out, and there is so much to tempt the visitor, we made up our minds to follow history and art rather than fashion and food (that's up to you, BCK!!).  It’s a tough choice indeed, but start somewhere we must, so with a trusty “Lonely Planet Rome” (offering a series of self-guided walks), and a selection of passes** in hand, we hit the road.   

From the marina, we took a bus to Ostia Lido Station; then a train to San Paolo (the end of the Lido line), changed here for the Metro Line (where the Metro name is Pyramide) then sallied forth into the bowels of Rome to the Metro stop nearest our quarry – a good couple of hours travelling each day and a hearty after breakfast walk along the marina and back to the bus stop to keep these figures in trim. 

Although there are restaurants a-plenty near to the marina, we shopped daily at the 24 hr supermarket opposite the Ostia Lido station.  All we wanted to do when we arrived back was put up our feet and have a recovery beer or two.  Neither of us could be bothered dressing up to go out; indeed our only day eating out was the second on-board work day.  Then, we treated ourselves to a huge bowl of mussels in garlic and wine served with freshly made focaccia followed by very delicious (home-made) pasta with tuna, olives, capers and cherry tomatoes.  A southern Italian dish we were told by the friendly owner.  We wished we had eaten there more often!  Now, what was that about losing weight?
 



We need to work on the selfie poses, as you can see!

Back to the punishing schedule!  With 4 days we planned to spend a day each given over to:

1. Ancient Rome,
2. The Historical Centre,
3. A day for anything we felt we had missed, and then
4. The Vatican.

This worked in well with our various collection of passes, remembering that the Vatican required times be booked for our visits.  Book a few days earlier to ensure you get the times you want (See below for Omni Office details).

We were also warned about pickpockets so made sure our backpacks were well secured (not wishing to repeat our Athens experience) and avoided illegal and aggressive vendors selling everything from iced water to squidgy things that squeak.  We also carried water bottles which could be topped up from one of Rome’s many ancient street fountains. 

La Dolce Vita (The Sweet Life) in Trevi Fountain

** Passes:  Not nearly so organised (or generous) as our Venice Card, a three day Roma Pass (€36 each) included only 2 skip-the-ticket-line admissions from 38 choices and 72 hrs unlimited bus & train transport.  We later added a one day Omni Pass for the Vatican (€50 for skip-the-line St Peters & the Vatican Museum & one round of the Omni Bus) and purchased a separate 24 hr transport travel pass (€7 each) to cover bus and train for our last day.  All are well worth it, especially when you see the lines waiting (in the sun & for hours) for admission tickets at popular spots.  The Roma Pass did offer reasonable discounts for the other 36 choices; our entry to the Museo Altemps was only €7 for both.

The only Omni Office (look for the yellow windows) we could find was on the left of St Peters Piazza (as you face it).  They also sell a combined 3 day Omni & Roma Pass but you are limited then to 3 days.  Roma Tourist Information Offices did not know anything about the Vatican.  “It’s a separate country!” they said bluntly.  Be warned too, that the Omni Bus really connects the dots between major churches spread over Rome - it's not really a sightseeing jaunt, unless you want to overdose on churches that is.  I gave up trying to find an on-board audio guide on the bus that worked, so just relaxed and enjoyed the drive through the city instead!