Ill arrive into Rome for a very brief stop From Nov 17-20th. Ill arrive in the afternoon of the 17th, and head out first things on the 20th so effectively Ill have Friday afternoon Saturday and Sunday.

Based on my texags search I booked a takewalks.com 1 day tour of Rome for that Saturday. Looking for other recommendations for Friday PM and Sunday.

I will be a solo traveler, however I have 0 issues doing things by myself. Im particularly interested in the history, and then want to eat really well.

Whatcha got?

Dinner on 17th
Breakfast on 18th
Dinner on 18th
Breakfast on 19th
Lunch on 19th
Dinner on 19th

Open to more tours on Sunday as well.

Where are you staying?

* don't get a rental car

aggiedata said:

---

Where are you staying?

* don't get a rental car

---

I'll be somewhat central, likely at the Marriott Florma or the Westin just south of there. I'll clean that up today. Open to other options if you can help me understand benefits, I've just always been a Marriott guy.

https://texags.com/search?q=Rome&fid=54

Highly recommend golf cart tours so you can see more and don't have to walk on those streets. We booked through Liv Tours and Viator. Liv tours also does custom golf cart tours if there are specific things you want to see. If going to the Colosseum, do the underground tour.

Restaurants: Klass by Trevi and La Soffitta Renovatio by the Vatican.

Enjoy your trip.

I did a day long tour from Walks of Italy www.walksofitaly.com and had a outstanding experience.

Also, if you walk by a gelato shop and wonder if you should stop in, the answer is always yes.

anyone with experience with either of these tour companies and have wisdom to share?
Walks of Italy or The Tour Guy/The Roman Guy

We used Walks of Italy recently to book a tour of the Borgese Gallery. It was a group tour and the 3 of us met the guide/group outside the gallery, per their instructions.

Each person was provided a comfortable single-ear headphone and radio receiver.

It was fantastic because our individual guide was fantastic. We aren't art historians nor aficianados, but we do appreciate art and sculpture. The guide 100% opened our eyes due to her passion for what she was showing the group. She was an Aussie so we could easily understand every word she said.

re: the headphones - we hadn't experienced that before but it appears to be common now. We really enjoyed it because I could be looking at other things in each room while listening to the guide describe specific pieces, tell history, etc. Once I finished looking at whatever caught my eye I could return to look at whatever she had been describing.

The headphones appear to be very common now but weren't when we last went to Europe 15 years ago. All of our other tours were private, but having the headphones in a large group tour was fantastic. It definitely changed my opinion of joining these 20+ person tours since you can easily hear everything. From there it comes down to your guide - can you understand what they're saying and do they give a s*** about what they're saying? Some of our private tour guides had such thick accents it was challenging at times, particularly when in noisy areas.

For food here are a few places off the top of my head that we really enjoyed. The first two actually have outposts in NYC now. So yes, they are popular, and yes you're dumb if you skip them because they are popular. If you're regularly in NYC then you are excused for skipping in Rome. The sandwich joint I learned about here when someone recommended it in ?florence? but I learned there are multiple around Italy once I looked up the website.

• Alla Antico Vinaio - right next to our hotel by the Pantheon. I bought the cheapest thing on the menu - The Fabulosa - and it was F'ing awesome. Carried it back to my room and ate it while waiting for my wife.
• Trapizzino - we stopped by in Trastevere. it was every bit as good as advertised. Wife had the meatball Trapizzino (good but don't get it) and I had the Cacciatore. I alsways think of cacciatore as tomatoes/peppers/onions w/chicken, but Roman cacciatore is white wine, vinegar, and rosemary. The stuffing was incredible and the bread/crust was incredible. We also had a suppli which was good.
• Antica Osteria Brunetti - this was a little hole in the wall not far from our first hotel which was right by the Spanish Steps. I think I found it doing random google searches. It felt significantly less touristy than everything else in the area. We had the amatriciana and the carbonara. Both were fantastic and set the bar kind of high our first night in Rome.
• Pastificio Guerra - this was a fun little joint not 50 feet from our hotel. Every day they have 2 pastas - typically 1 vegetarian and 1 with meat. They serve until they run out. Always 4.50 euro for a serving. It is takeout only. We grabbed some once just to try it and it was pretty good. Not the best thing we ate by any stretch, but for 4.50 Euro it was really good. Serving sizes are good as well.

Some of my favorite places I've been in Rome. These are places locals go to eat.

Osteria Bonelli - Everything here is good

La Fraschetta di Sandro - Great place for lunch & Wine

Sciascia il Caffe - Best coffee shop in Rome

Hostaria Lo Sgobbone - Awesome pasta and family run place the rigatoni allo sgobbone Is nails.

La Matriciana - One if the oldest places in Rome. Everything is good here. The bucatini all'amatriciana is awesome.

If you are new to Rome and want a really good experience with food and service, let me recommend

Pasta e Vino Osteria - via florida, Via Florida, 23, 00186 Roma RM, Italy

https://maps.app.goo.gl/UZiwtzP245URTojs9?g_st=ic

Great pasta, comfortable setting, geared to both tourists and locals.

Just got back, spent three days in Rome. Used "The Tour Guy" for Vatican Museums early entry and Colosseum tours, we had a good experience with both. We crammed a lot in three days and we walked most places.

As for food, I had nothing bad. The only not great we broke a rule, so kind of on us. The rule is...in general, if it's really close to a big attraction, it's likely to be lower quality. We ate at a little Cafe that even had a bit of a touristy look right outside the Vatican and it was not fantastic, but we were starving and didn't want to take too much time. Other than that, finding good food in Rome is pretty easy.

Search a thread I started a few months ago called "Rome Dining" on this forum and you'll see many recommendations from people on this board. Our addition was a tiny little cafe called Cucina del Teatro near Castel Sant'Angelo. The food was great, the atmosphere was great, but what stood out was how the staff were really enthusiastic about their place and taking good care of us. We wanted to go back but couldn't fit it in.

You can download the app called GetYourGuide and look for some tours there. I was in Rome and booked a few tours there; there are reviews so you can find something interesting and worthy easily.

Guided excursions are the best to get a good experience

Dar Poeta on the other side of the river for lunch if you're over there. You won't regret it.

Ristorante Abruzzi - get the carbonara for the first course. Try their green limoncello for fun.

Even the subpar spots in Rome are pretty decent by American standards

The bike tours through Rome are amazing. Do it. No regrets.

Walks of Italy is super popular and my clients have loved them!

I have had a few use The Tour Guy but didn't really say much, just that they were average tours. Nothing bad but nothing really stood out.

Following for a possible summer trip.