Travel To Rome Italy

Posts Tagged ‘St. Peter’

Cheap holidays to Rome are going to please the entire family. Everyone who travels to Rome has something exciting to say about the city. Whether you are going for love or going to see the historical sites, Rome is going to offer something you have never experience anywhere else. Since there is something to do no matter what time of the year you visit Rome, you can plan to enjoy fun days and exciting and entertaining nights. You are going to find the many different restaurants with different cuisines are as exciting as the historical sites.

One can only imagine the city from above when thinking about Rome. When you enjoy the rooftop restaurants or the stairs to the top of the hills, you will see sites you have never seen in pictures. The summers are hot and the winters are cooler. You will enjoy the long walks and the free attractions and sites that can only be seen in Rome. If you want to see some of the musicians that play in Roman amphora’s in the hillsides, you can take a short trip to Testaccio. You can actually spend an entire day in this area. You can close your eyes and feel the music that fills the air.

Besides the historical sites and the musicians, you can take the Cat and Culture Tour. This is something everyone should experience. The cats are feral and find their homes around the ancient ruins and the pyramids. The cats seem to be everywhere you look. You will not get close to the cats as they run and hide from people who try to approach them, but they are lurking around everywhere. The cat population of feral cats is amazing to many people. There are over two thousand colonies of wild cats.

If you want to see parts of Rome that not seen or known to many visitors, you can explore the underground Rome. The cities, archaeological sites and catacombs are extraordinary. The underworld of Rome is amazing to explore and see. You can inquire about seeing the underworld once you arrive in Rome. However, if you plan to see the St Peter’s Basilica, you need to plan. An entire city under the Vatican and you can see it all. Can you imagine seeing a city under a city? It is so amazing that one can only imagine the thrill. Your cheap holidays to Rome are going to offer more of a fun education that will be appreciated.

You will find that in Rome, there are not just the usual attractions, but attractions you never hear about from anyone. Everyone who wants adventure should visit Rome and the secret underworld or the homes to the feral cats that roam the streets of the city. There is always time for fine dining and some relaxation by the pool, but once you arrive in Rome, you will want to get started on your adventures as soon as possible. One thing for sure, whether you are planning your cheap holidays to Rome for love or adventure, you will find both.

The Eternal City has been going strong for millennia, so there’s no end of things to do with kids in Rome! Stroll through timeless favorites – piazzas, gardens, museums, crumbly ruins every where you look. The must do’s – the Borghese Gardens, Sistine Chapel, Colosseum, but while in Rome, do as the Romans do: have a picnic, and the kids should try every flavor of gelato.

Tip: Don’t miss our top picks for children’s books on Rome, recommended by the staff of Travel for Kids, see below.

Colosseum and Roman Forum

Centro Storico – Pantheon

St. Peter’s and Vatican Museums – Sistine Chapel

Borghese Gardens

Old Appian Way Park – Catacombs

Ostia Antica

Around Rome

Palazzo Massimo alle Terme
National Roman Museums (Museo Nazionale Romano) – The National Roman Museums have four locations, each with a different focus – the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Palazzo Altemps, Terme di Diocleziano, Crypta Balbi.

Of the four museums, the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme has all the truly great stuff from Classical Rome – marble sculptures of the gods, figures of mythology, statues of famous Roman emperors and their wives (check out their hairstyles and fashion), so realistic you feel like you might meet these people on the street.

Churches – Churches abound in Rome, huge cathedrals, medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, eighteenth and nineteenth century churches, churches tucked into the edges of small piazzas. When you pass by one of the many churches, stop in for a brief look, there’s always some interesting sculpture, frescoes, decorated floors and ceilings.

One church with unique appeal for kids is the church of Santa Maria della Concezione (Via Veneto). First check out the saying in Latin on the church, “Here lies dust, ashes, nothing.” But the real attraction is the Capuchin cemetery, a chapel decorated with the bones of 4,000 monks, lamps made out of bones and wreaths of skulls. (Yet another place to earn bragging rights.)

Carriage rides – In earlier eras, Rome was filled with carrozze, horse drawn carriages. You can take a carriage ride around town – pick them up in the piazza by St. Peter’s, the Spanish Steps, or the Pantheon.

Trevi Fountain

Fountains – Everywhere you turn, there’s another fountain in the center of a piazza. Sparkling water gushes and rushes over bigger-than-life sculptures, the fountains in Rome aren’t wimpy trickles. Look for fountains in the Piazza Barberini, Piazza della Republica, Piazza Navona, Piazza di Spagna, the Trevi Fountain, Piazza della Rotonda next to the Pantheon, Piazza del Popolo, fountains in the Borghese Gardens. Tip: If your kids like to draw, bring pads of paper to sketch the fountains.

SPQR manhole covers – Most of the manhole covers in Rome are stamped with the letters SPQR, Senatus Populusque Romanus, “the Senate and the people of Rome.” While you’re walking down the street, keep your eyes peeled for this ancient motto of the Roman empire.

Take the tram around Rome – Pick up the #3 tram for a ride through Rome, on Viale delle Belle Arti (in front of the Museum of Modern Art) in the Borghese Gardens. A 40 min. ride takes you along the park, through Roman neighborhoods, past ancient walls and aqueducts, right to the Colosseum. You could get off there, or keep on going, past the Circus Maximus, up the Aventine, to Piazza Porta S. Paolo and the Tiber River. (At the Tiber, just get off and take the #3 tram going back to the Borghese Gardens). The tram goes slow, it’s pleasant and relaxing, the perfect things for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Roman Aqueducts – The Romans built aqueducts to bring water into town for all those baths and public fountains. The Goths wrecked most of the aqueducts in the 6th century, but parts of the aqueducts remain, scattered throughout Rome.

Aqua Claudia
The most impressive remnants are next to Via Lemonia (Parco degli Acquedotti, in the Parco Dell’Appia Antica), in the southeast suburbs of Rome. To get there, just take the metro to the Subaugusta stop, and walk four blocks west. Here you can run around the amazing high arches of the Aqua Claudia, as well as the smaller Aqua Felice.

There’s a shorter section of aqueducts at Porta Maggiore in the city center. Take the metro to San Giovanni, walk down Viale Carlo Felice. You’ll see one of the ancient gates, and sections of the Aurelian wall, plus a long grassy areas, and a small playground. Keep walking to Porta Maggiore, which has another ancient gate, and sections of the Aqua Claudia and Aqua Marcia.

Fun food –

The most fun food is ice cream, gelato, and Rome is chock full of “gelaterias,” ice cream stands. Delicious flavors to choose from – ten kinds of chocolate, honey, raspberry, lemon, melon, strawberry, crème caramel, marron glace. One friend said, “My son had four cones a day, chocolate, vanilla, lemon and coconut.” Whenever you need a break, order up a gelato.

Shopping –

Have fun shopping for figures of Roman legionaires and gladiators, miniature colosseums, wooden Pinocchio figures, brightly colored alabaster eggs, colorful jewelry and purses.

Tips –

Archaeologia Card – The Archaeologia Card is good for 7 days, and provides entrance to nine sites – the Colosseum, Palatine, Baths of Caracella, four National Roman museums, and two sites on the Appian Way. It’s money saving, and most importantly, with the card, no waiting in lines with the kids to buy tickets for the Colosseum. Purchase the card at any of the nine sites (buy the card before you tackle the Colosseum).

Mondays in Rome. Most museums in Rome are closed on Monday, so don’t get caught unaware. On Mondays, plan to go to the Borghese Gardens, the aqueducts in the suburbs, the Appian Way, or take a day trip outside Rome.

To get around, the bus system is good, plus the metro. Buy a day ticket for unlimited rides on buses and the metro. Pick up a copy of the Roma Metro-Bus map at any newsstand for information on which bus to take to specific sights.