Rome- would you recommend hiring a private driver or just walk/take taxis?

clevebride2006 · January 2012

I am watching Samantha Brown's travel show for Rome and she mentions how she hired a private driver to take her to the sights of Rome. If we go, we will be in Rome for 3-4 full days... Not sure if this is the most economical route.

Or, is it easier to walk everywhere, or do most cab it around Rome?

PAGAS · January 2012

We walked, to the subway or the bus. We only had one hiccup with the bus when we were trying to get to the Catacombs. Other than that, public transport was easy.

clevebride2006 · January 2012

PAGAS:
We walked, to the subway or the bus. We only had one hiccup with the bus when we were trying to get to the Catacombs. Other than that, public transport was easy.

Did you buy any kind of public transportation pass?

PAGAS · January 2012

clevebride2006:

PAGAS:
We walked, to the subway or the bus. We only had one hiccup with the bus when we were trying to get to the Catacombs. Other than that, public transport was easy.

Did you buy any kind of public transportation pass?

No, we just paid as we went. We really walked the most.

clevebride2006 · January 2012

PAGAS:
clevebride2006:

PAGAS:
We walked, to the subway or the bus. We only had one hiccup with the bus when we were trying to get to the Catacombs. Other than that, public transport was easy.

Did you buy any kind of public transportation pass?

No, we just paid as we went. We really walked the most.

This may sound silly- but did you have a map and just use that to get from point A to B (considering it is within walking distance)?

PAGAS · January 2012

clevebride2006:
PAGAS:
clevebride2006:

PAGAS:
We walked, to the subway or the bus. We only had one hiccup with the bus when we were trying to get to the Catacombs. Other than that, public transport was easy.

Did you buy any kind of public transportation pass?

No, we just paid as we went. We really walked the most.

This may sound silly- but did you have a map and just use that to get from point A to B (considering it is within walking distance)?

Pretty much, we often got distracted by stuff on our walks (gelato comes to mind.)

karimychel · January 2012

We walked and used public transportation. We just grabbed a tourist map at the train station when we arrived in Rome.

KimberlyS530 · January 2012

We walked and used the metro / subway - very convenient.

If you want to splurge in Rome, there's a great after-hours tour of the Vatican that we did. It was a small group (like 6 people) and we were the only ones there. You had the Sistine Chapel practically to yourself and the guards let you take as many photos of whatever you wanted. We also saw a lot of the other parts of the Vatican - it was amazing! But pricey. Worth the $$$, though, in my opinion; it's the only way I'd do the Vatican if I went back.

missywong · January 2012

Of course hiring a private driver for 3 days won't be the most economical route. Tongue Tied

It would probably cost like hundreds of dollars a day and the traffic is horrendous. Rome is a huge metropolitan city. You can just use the subway and/or walk to get to most areas.

bringjoy2theworld · January 2012

Walk. We used a taxi only twice. Once to get to the Vatican and once to the train station to get to Florence. It is a very walkable city, but make sure you have a good map. It was hard to find the taxi stands when we were there, so, we didn't use them nearly as much as we have in other cities. The bus system seemed pretty easy, but we rarely found ones that went exactly where we wanted. We started to laugh that the Vittorio Emanuele monument was our National Lampoon's European Vacation throw back because it seemed we ended up at this monument no matter which way we went and our hotel was on the other side of town. I started to really hate it after four days.

clevebride2006 · January 2012

Bringjoy2theworld:
Walk. We used a taxi only twice. Once to get to the Vatican and once to the train station to get to Florence. It is a very walkable city, but make sure you have a good map. It was hard to find the taxi stands when we were there, so, we didn't use them nearly as much as we have in other cities. The bus system seemed pretty easy, but we rarely found ones that went exactly where we wanted. We started to laugh that the Vittorio Emanuele monument was our National Lampoon's European Vacation throw back because it seemed we ended up at this monument no matter which way we went and our hotel was on the other side of town. I started to really hate it after four days.

What map did you use?

sillygoosegirl · February 2012

We walked and took public transit in Rome. For the most part, it was very easy and efficient. The only problems we ran into were of the type of being so distracted talking to people we forgot to get off... but that kind of experience is really a plus.

PittPurple · February 2012

Another walker/public transport person here. A lot of the major sites are easily accessible depending on where you stay. It's a lovely city to just wander around as well, half the fun is in finding unexpected areas to explore.

I really like the pop-out maps like this on Amazon - it just makes it easier to manuever when you're wandering around. I think the one I found had a metro map as part of it as well.

Rome is so, so filled with traffic that I can't imagine it's even fun to drive around and I'm sure it's insanely expensive.

ktwed09 · February 2012

Another vote for walking and taking the metro/subway. Our hotel gave us a free map when we checked in, so we'd use that to try to figure out where we needed to go and how best to get there. Our hotel was within walking distance to Termini station, so we could grab the subway there. The only times we took taxis were later at night, when we'd had enough walking. Overall, I think Rome is a very walkable city.

JoJo79 · February 2012

I say walk. When we were in Rome, we would walk to where ever we wanted to go and sometimes take a taxi back to the hotel. In Capri, we hired a taxi to drive us around for the day and it was awesome, but for Rome, I would walk.

lasirene · February 2012

This summer was our second trip to Rome. Both times we got the week long metro/bus pass simply to avoid having to deal with ticket machines that may or may not work. We also did a lot of walking and getting delightfully lost, and taxis are really inexpensive. We had our toddler with us, so sometimes we would metro+walk somewhere and then just not have the energy to do it on the way back. The taxis were great for that.

clevebride2006 · February 2012

Thanks for everyone's recommendations. We love walking- glad most attractions are easily accessible by foot.

You are recommendating to have a good map. Are the ones by the trains;/metro good enough? I like the pop-up map idea, but I don't know if I'd get annoyed by the pop-up attractions everytime I opened the map?

lasirene · February 2012

We have this one http://www.amazon.com/Knopf-MapGuide-Rome-Mapguides/dp/0375711007/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328113489&sr=8-1

for Rome, Venice, & Florence. This with the maps in Rick Steves were very useful and inconspicuous!

Susie Derkins · February 2012

We walked everywhere (including over to the Vatican) except for taking the metro between Termini and Spagna, the closest station to our hotel. We relied pretty heavily on Rick Steves and the map that our hotel gave us.

I can't imagine trying to do it in a car. Traffic was insane.

ADWCal · February 2012

When we were in Rome we either walked or took the bus.

We bought the Roma card, which was 30 Euro each. It's good for 3 days, lets you use transit for free (but not to the airport), you get into the 1st 2 sites (not everything is included - most notably anything owned by the Catholic Church ie. Vatican, catacombs, etc.) this includes the Colloseum/Forum, and then you also receive discounts on sites visited after the first 2.

We also took our GPS along with us and used the walking setting. It was very helpful! We also had a map - my husband loves them. I don't know which one it was, but he bought it at a newspaper stand.

Rome- would you recommend hiring a private driver or just walk/take taxis?

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