Pantheon
by blusky
I just love to admire this fascinating place. It's impressive once you enter and see the day light coming from a central hole on the roof. I would recommend you to sit in one of the bar's terraces of the piazza della rotonda to admire Pantheon while sipping your favourite drink. It's especially nice during summer evenings.
JOIN THE CROWDS ON THE SPANISH STEPS
by STEFZAMM
What a better way to spend your afternoon, chatting with friends, relaxing in the sun or just watching the Roman Lifestyle from the Spanish Steps....
Everyday the spanish steps are full of people those who just stopped by from their shopping or tourists who had to visit the spanish steps. Besides taking photographs of the surroundings its also a custom to take a picture with all of the dressed up people, the most famous one on the spanish steps is that of the roman soldier who was gentle enough to take as many photos as we wanted :)
Villa D'Este
by Packerman
Villa D'Este. Near the city of Tivoli 31 kilometers east of Rome. A large beautiful garden filled with fantastic water fountains. A great place to get away from the noise of Rome and breathe some fresh air. I would suggest visiting this if you have a week or more in Rome only. In 1550 Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este succeeded to the throne and decided to retire in Tivoli where he immediately began the construction of the villa and gardens.
From Airport to City Centre by Train
by Janani
We used the train to travel to the centre of the city from Rome’s Fiumicino airport, buying a ticket from the counter at the airport’s station, (19 Euros for two people) which we had to validate before boarding the train by stamping it in a small machine on the platform. The station was well signposted from the airport but was a fair distance away using escalators and, I think, a moving walkway.
We found the train very smart and clean and it arrived promptly at the platform. I was surprised to discover how few people were using it, as the airport had seemed very busy. We were very comfortable on the journey, having plenty of space for our luggage in the compartment, around and between the seats. The train passed firstly through some rural areas, where we were surprised to see palm trees flourishing on such a cold January morning (it snowed around Rome, while we were there) and then around the outskirts of the city, through the southern suburbs before finally arriving in the city centre at Termini station. It took another long walk, well signposted and mainly on moving walkways, to reach the front of the station, where we found connections with metro and bus services to all areas of the city. We found a newsagent's stand at the front of the station, where we were able to buy tickets for the bus to our hotel.
On our return journey to the airport, we used the automatic ticket machines, rather than queuing at the counter, to purchase our tickets. These have several languages available and take cash or credit cards
Food
by bugalugs
It would be impossible for me to recommend a certain restaurant. We enjoyed some really nice meals, but did not have a particular favourite.
I must add though (and there will probably be people screaming at me from the four corners of the world for writing this - lol) that we did have our 13 year old son who was such a faddy eater (he is a bit better now) and he wanted a McDonalds!!!!!!!!!! We did eventually find one near to the church of St. John Lateran. With your back facing the church there is a large road on the right hand side called the Via Appia Nuova and along there on the right hand side near to the Piaaza Dei Re De Roma is a McDonalds.