Whether you are in Rome for one, two, three days or more, here are suggestions for your short break in Rome. My suggestions are modular and for half a day. So you can put together your visit and sightseeing program for Rome that suits you best.
Peculiarities of the weekdays · Day of arrival · Active in Rome · Morning in the Vatican · Morning at the Coliseum · Morning Aventine hill & Testaccio · Sunday Morning Castel Sant’Angelo · Afternoon Center & Shopping · Afternoon Papal Basilicas & Catacombs · Afternoon Caelius & Oppius · Sunday Afternoon on Via Appia Antica · Day of departure
Three days in Rome, tips and ideas on what you can do in Rome in 3 days. Here, you will find practical suggestions for your city trip to Rome also off the beaten path.
A modular program
Do you want to stroll around at your own pace or visit as many attractions as possible? Here you will find suggestions for every taste.
Choose from the program modules and become an experienced Rome visitor in a short time. Especially when you are in Rome for the first time, you will need information on the best time to visit the attractions, waiting times, travel times and how to optimize your program according to your interests.
Here you will find information about recurring events on certain days of the week, tips on interesting combinations and some insider tips.
There are not only the usual keywords such as the Vatican or Coliseum, but thoughtful suggestions for half a day or a whole day. You can combine the proposals for the morning and the afternoon to assemble your individual sightseeing plan.
Program of the weekdays
On Monday, many museums are closed in Rome, on Wednesday is the Papal Audience. What is going on in Rome on the individual days of the week, see what’s on the days of the week in Rome.
Arrival day
You’re only a few days in Rome, then you should use your valuable time as well as possible. Depending on what you look at and what you want to experience in Rome, you should choose the location of your hotel. Termini central station is not really central and you need public transport to get to the center.
Good locations for your accomodation are, if you like to stay near Ancient Rome, the surroundings of the Coliseum, if you like romantic walks, the center between Spanish Steps and Tiber and if you want to be among the first in St. Peter’s Basilica and in the Vatican Museums, you shall go for the Vatican area.
Some hotel recommendations I have put together on my hotel page
f you would like to take a taxi for the journey from the airport to the hotel, you should pre-order a taxi or book a private transfer. You usually get a better vehicle and can be picked up in the terminal. Whether limousine, taxi, bus or train, here you will find all information about the transfer from Fiumicino airport and from Ciampino airport.
You may arrive early and start exploring the city right away. An experienced and compact introduction will help you to get to know the city. A guided half day tour on foot or a ride on the Hop on hop off Bus will give you a quick overview of the city center and ancient Rome. An alternative could be to connect the transfer from the airport with a tour of Rome.
If you have time until dinner, you can rest in one of the splendid Roman squares and taste home-made ice cream.
Even if the Romans usually go to dinner only after 9 pm, many restaurants open at 7. In Rome there is a good selection of restaurants serving Roman cuisine or with offers from other Italian regions, pizzerias, noodle kitchen, wine, fish and grill restaurants. You will also find numerous kebabs, Japanese and Chinese restaurants in Rome. Other countries are less represented.
After dinner, you may still feel like taking a walk through the city. If you rely on public transportation for the ride to the hotel, keep in mind that the subway operates until 11:30 pm on weekdays and until 1:30 on weekends. The buses usually leave until midnight. After that, there is a network of night bus lines that does not cover the whole city.
Active in Rome
Rome is a liveable and very green city. Rome is criss-crossed by green spaces and parks, and there are many opportunities to do sports. I inform you about Jogging in Rome and City walks in Rome. The center of Rome is not so big and if you are on good terms you can hike around the center and the archaeological area around the Coliseum. There are also beautiful cycling routes in Rome.
Morning in Rome
All suggestions for half a day can be combined with each other. Some suggestions are better for the morning and some suggestions are better for the afternoon. In principle, of course, it depends on what time you can get a reservation or a tour, especially at the Vatican Museums and the Coliseum.
The proposals also provide information on how to get from the end point of a program to the starting point of the other program proposals.
The Vatican
I will explain how to make fit the Vatican Museums, St. Peter’s Basilica and the Dome or Castel Sant’Angelo in one morning, and where you can then go for lunch. This program for a Vatican visit is good for Monday, Tuesday and from Thursday to Saturday, on Wednesday only if there is no Papal audience.
Ancient Rome
Remains of antiquity can be found everywhere in Rome. The area around the Coliseum with Palatine, Roman Forum and Nero’s Palace, the Domus Aurea, is grouped into an archaeological park. Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill can be visited all day, but in the morning it’s more pleasant. I explain the differences between tickets and tours. My program suggestions for the archaeological area>
Aventine hill and Testaccio district
This walk is a bit off the beaten track and offers you a mix of beautiful churches, viewpoints and culinary specialties over a 4 miles distance.
It starts at Piazza Venezia and goes past Bocca della Verità to the viewpoints and wedding churches on the Aventine. The Testaccio offers a great culinary offer and we inform you about the non-catholic cemetery in Rome. Read the tour through Aventine and Testaccio for gourmets
Sunday morning in the Castel Sant’Angelo and Angelus
On Sundays, the Vatican Museums are closed, with the exception of the last Sunday of the month. If the Pope is in Rome, he keeps the Angelus prayer on St. Peter’s Square at noon. All dates of the Angelus and the general audiences>
This is a good opportunity to stroll around St. Peter’s and visit the Castel Sant’Angelo on Sunday morning>
Afternoon in Rome
My program suggestions for the afternoon are a little more extensive than those for the morning. Of course, the suggestions are so flexible that you can choose only some of the sights and so have more time for the individual visits.
The City Centre – shopping, monuments and parks
Shopping and sightseeing of the monuments is very easy in Rome. Especially when it’s really hot, it’s nice to have a break in an air-conditioned shop or in a bar. I give you an orientation in the city center
Papal basilicas, pilgrimage and catacombs of the Appia Antica
In addition to St. Peter’s, there are three Papal basilicas in Rome. In particular, St. Paul outside the walls is very beautiful, but little visited. I’ll tell you how best to get to the Papal basilicas and the catacombs and how to combine the visits.
Celian Hill and the Oppian Hill
In Latin, the two hills are called Caelius and Oppius and they are among the seven hills on which Rome was founded. Here you move on ancient soil and ancient remains can be visited
Sunday afternoon on the Appia Antica and Catacombs
Three days in Rome · Sunday afternoon on the Appia Antica and Catacombs
In good weather, Via Appia Antica is a classic destination for a Sunday stroll. I’ll tell you how to get there, what to see and where to eat.
Departure day
You may have a late flight on the day of departure and you do not want to carry your luggage around the whole day. If you are not getting a limousine service from your accommodation to the airport, it might be interesting to have a pick up service of your luggage at your accommodation. You can then take it back at the luggage storage opposite Termini Central Station. From there you can easily reach the two airports Ciampino and Fiumicino. The pick-up service is available in the city center. The stated prices of 4 euros are per piece of luggage. There are also pick-up points in Trastevere and near the Pantheon, but they are probably rather impractical for you.
This service opposite the Termini train station costs € 6 per piece of luggage and is a little less complicated than the luggage storage in the station. Luggage storage at the station will scan every piece of baggage before it is accepted and may cause longer waiting times. In addition, it is more expensive, because in the station the first 5 hours cost 5 euros and each additional hour 70 cents.
First-hand information based on more than 20 years of Rome experience.