Not what you think. Google and Rome tours went to war over Google places this morning over organic ranking. At time of writing, a modicum of progress throughout the day augurs well for the weekend. It’s better that conflicts of this kind see the light of day in February, rather than June, for example.
So, moving swiftly on to what matters most, ergo Rome tours (…)
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Some like it hot? This year Rome is approximately seven degrees fahrenheit cooler than last year, and nine degrees fahrenheit cooler than two years ago, but she can still work up a mid-afternoon sweat. Not everyone thrives in what can be scorching rays of Italian sunshine, especially in late August. So what is the best way to spend all day sightseeing in Rome without having to endure the woes of heat exhaustion?
Street water taps are easy to find in the city centre, so carry an empty bottle in your bag and refill whenever necessary. The water is cool, clean, and it tastes much better than more or less any bottled spring water you’ll pay for in a shop or supermarket. The bottom line is don’t pay for bottled water, just leave your hotel with an empty container (500ml).
Fountains. Again, they are plentiful in the city centre so while you would do well to refrain from taking an impromptu bath or shower, or worse, drink from the pool per se (ingesting pigeon droppings and tiny bits and pieces of litter in some popular fountains like the Trevi is something we do not recommend), you can drink directly from source without fear of an upset tummy. The best course of action is to sit on the edge of a fountain and enjoy cool water droplets in the air around you.
Gelato. From experience, a mix of citrus flavours when it’s getting hot does wonders for the constitution if you can forget about the calorie intake. Lemon and lime or orange and melon are cool and refreshing combination flavours.
Alcohol, beers and ciders. Stay away! They quench your thirst temporarily at best and at six euros a pot in most pubs in Rome, you’ll just be throwing away your hard-earned cash. Finnegans Irish pub next to Cavour Metro station on Via Leonina is one of the most expensive, but it’s a welcome refuge for weary tourists after a day traipsing around ancient Rome. Sponsored by Celtic FC at some point, Finnegans is two parts Italian one part Belfast, and frequented by as many rowdy expats working for the UN as a regular Italian rugby crowd. Finns comes highly recommended, despite the incoherent ramblings of random Manchester City and / or Liverpool fans on match day.
It can get extremely hot in and around the Vatican City, so if you’ve booked Vatican tours, make sure you head over there with plenty of water.
Eating in the heat. Better to wait until the evening when pizza ovens are ready to bake after a big breakfast.
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It’s deteriorated, not unlike how the WordPress dashboard has gone to the dogs what with wholly unnecessary and unwieldy ‘widgets’ compromising control panel navigation.
Roma Termini is the central station in Rome. A magnet for lowlife, ergo drug dealers, drug users, prostitutes, and a small army of exclusively male immigrants who arrive here from north Africa. It’s hell in waiting for tourists who arrive at night, especially late on a Friday or Saturday.
Consider the flood of economic immigrants into one of the great capital cities of western Europe. Add a few thousand young, displaced men who have seen some kind of combat in the third world, add a few thousand more escaped criminals therefrom, and it’s easy to see how dangerous Termini station can be, irrespective of the political, social, or racial allegiance of readers. Add prejudice dished out 24/7 by the locals, add the aforementioned drugs and prostitution problem, and then add a few thousand tourists filing through the station from Fiumicino airport connections every day, and what you get is dangerous situations at every turn.
Not that the Italians who work around Termini station are any better, far from it! While desperate homeless migrants and their associates may have an eye for the main chance, taxi drivers at Termini station will rob you blind all in a day’s work.
The advice you need is as follows:
When you arrive at Termini, DO NOT GET INTO A TAXI. Ignore the legions of idiotic smiling drivers who swarm around newly arrived tourists. They will not hesitate to double or even quadruple your fare if you engage them in conversation. It doesn’t matter how many suitcases you have, you must drag them down the slope to Piazza della Repubblica and hail a taxi there. Drivers park up at the rank on the other side of the fountain and are generally honest, decent, jovial folk. If anyone approaches you offering a driver service or accommodation, ignore them.
For the record, taxi fares in Rome start at 2,80 in the day and 5,80 after 22:30. Always watch the meter and never pay a penny more. Never tip, always watch the change they give you. Count your change very carefully before leaving the vehicle. Don’t give your driver the impression that his small talk in English is worth paying extra for.
Always pay attention and stay close to other Italian passengers or tourists. As a general rule, the safer side of the station is Via Marsala, so if in doubt when leaving Termini, bear right. The left hand side, namely Via Giolitti and Via Gioberti, is strictly off limits unless you want to be robbed, or worse, threatened and beaten. Don’t expect Italian police to come running to your aid and your assailant/s to be apprehended. It won’t happen.
Most bag thefts and robberies occur at ticket machines, when tired tourists drop their luggage and either leave it unattended for a minute or two or forget about it completely. Romanian beggars with or without children ‘own’ many ticket machines. They occupy the space where one must feed coins until they are kicked out at last orders by couldn’t care less security. Of course they are back at work the following morning at 06:00, ready to relieve you of your money. ’Secure your bags and your wallet before approaching ticket machines’ is perhaps the most important golden rule for tourists inside Termini station.
Good luck!
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An acquaintance of mine recently said of cycling in Rome, ’you’re either brave or stupid’. Perhaps. For exercise, to experience the freedom one can feel on two wheels, for whatever reason, cycling is surely one of the most rewarding outdoor activities available to everyone, especially those fortunate enough to live in a city as beautiful as Rome.
To be able to move freely between the ruins while observing thousands of heavy legged, exhausted tourists in mid-July (call it research), trying to make the best of whatever it is their guide book is telling them, begs the question why there is still no stand alone cycling tour company in Rome, as opposed to our own ‘Bike Tours’, for example.
In our case, it’s just a small tour we offer to clients who are cycling enthusiasts back home, but in future we may extend the service to cover parks and bike trails in and around rome (including connecting rail links), and offer different types of bikes, like hardtails and suspension mtb’s.
It’s always interesting to cycle from the Vatican to the Roman Forum and Colosseum within the space of 15-20 minutes to see exactly how many tourists are milling around, on a tour, are waiting for a tour, or waiting in line somewhere. Similarly, the amount of gatherers working these locations is astonishing. They must surely number well over a few thousand at any given time in Rome on any day in high season, selling all manner of Vatican tours (click to read about our tours of the Vatican – they’re the very best in Rome), and other small group tours of Rome (click to read about our ‘Rome tours in small groups’), on the more curious side of the Rome tours market. Gatherers don’t move for cyclists in case they’ll lose commissions. Fact, fans!
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Rome is brought to a standstill so often, it stands to reason that those of us who have to go out to work for a living - and use public transport to boot - wake up and expect the worst every day in the working week. In such a corruptible and unpredictable country as the Italy we know and love is and forever shall be, we are still unpleasantly surprised on being informed that Rome traffic is gridlocked from here to there in every direction because of striking public transport workers.
Even Italians are not entirely sure why the chances of their day grinding to a halt from about 08:00 are at an all time high. Typically no less than eight unions collude, so public transport strikes in Rome hit hard; most if not all suburban bus, metro and regional train services stop running with impunity. Notice is usually posted after the fact on http://www.atac.roma.it/ if at all.
So, how to avoid them if you’re a tourist with a busy day of Rome tours ahead? Ask your accommodation provider about ‘sciopero’ (that’s strike in italian to you and me) if you’ve heard on the grapevine that public transport in Rome is about to be suspended, or you can always ask us instead. It’s not unheard of, in fact it’s become a daily occurrence for tourists to use our office as an information point in times of need. Of course we’re happy to oblige, if we have time to help in between taking bookings for our Vatican tours and other Rome excursions.
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The beatification of John Paul II brought some 1.5 million Catholics into Rome on May 1st, the vast majority of whom had travelled from Poland to be as close as possible to his sainthood, work in progress since the date of his passing on April 2nd 2005. They occupied the entire area of Piazza Risorgimento with a kaleidoscopic range of camper vans, caravans and all manner of random four wheeled sleeping contraptions.
5,000 armed police set up hundreds of road blocks around the Vatican, while the likes of Robert Mugabe flouted an EU travel ban to sneak into ceremonies alongside Lech Walesa, Silvio Berlusconi and Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia of Spain. A curious mix of attendees drawn from the worlds of politics and royalty.
During his papacy, the Catholic church was embroiled in one serious sex abuse scandal after another, and many are of the opinion that Catholicism fell into a 27 year period of withering decline under John Paul II.
However, this did not deter the assembled masses of fanatical Polish believers, who would not be moved from Roma 00136 and 00192 for well over one week. Indeed, they made their presence felt in the most unlikeliest of places; bossing metro trains and all available public space as if their lives depended upon it. It was akin to watching the last days on earth for many, and the spectacle was a memorable one.
One cannot deny the fact that John Paul II was instrumental in the fall of Communism in Poland as part of Walesa’s Solidarnosc movement, but as the Catholic world waits for a second miracle to be awarded his way before canonization (Sister Marie Simone-Pierre of France, who mysteriously recovered from Parkinson’s disease, was somehow declared miracle #1), the rest of the world waits for common sense to prevail.
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Water from Rome’s Acqua Vergine aqueduct, the modern version of Aqua Virgo, a Roman aqueduct in antiquity (19 BC), feeds the Trevi fountain (1762) we see today. It’s a working day (and night) for many in the shadow of Palazzo Poli, the spectacular backdrop of one of Rome’s most famous monuments. To be disturbed, rudely interrupted or just plain harassed by Bangladeshi males when out with friends in the centro storico is par for the course these days. They do not possess one ounce of respect for others in their tireless quest to extract money from anyone at all, by attempting to sell what one can only describe as ‘ horrible crap’, if you’ll pardon the expression.
We all remember polaroids; cheap, cheerful, colourful. Instant photographs for the masses. Visit the Trevi fountain at any time of day or night and you’ll find yourself in bad company; pushy Bangladeshi males pestering couples (with cameras) for business. The price for a polaroid pic? FIVE EUROS. Good work? Pay me, I say. However, a far more insidious trade goes on, something which we found most unpalatable yesterday evening.
Moving carefully between groups of friends, families, lovestruck couples and lovelorn onlookers in a very mixed crowd, we noticed a pair of unkempt middle aged men loitering around the edge of the fountain, both of whom were staring into the pool with intent. Without disrespecting Naples, they were not local to Rome. I didn’t see it, but my companion did. The elder of the two produced some kind of penny picker which he had kept well concealed on his person. He proceeded to lift what could only have been 2 euro coins from the pool, and then they were gone. No one seemed to pay any attention. The only advice we can give is to throw your coin or coins into the water and throw well, to be sure that your token of love in Rome does not end up lining the pockets of a petty thief from Naples or anywhere else.
Tour companies and travel agents blogging about the history of Rome and Vatican tours is not uncommon, articles about both are ubiquitous and it is something we’ll be doing less of. Expect more words about the joys and ills of modern day Rome between now and summer.
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We’re developing our in depth Vatican tours at time of writing to incorporate the works of Bernini and Raphael as stand alone tours, with more in the pipeline. For now, our new Vatican tour options, namely ‘One day at the Vatican’, ‘Two days at the Vatican’, ‘Private Vatican Tour’, ’Vatican tours for Schools and Colleges’ and ‘Vatican tours for Pilgrims’ can be booked online by visiting the When In Rome Tours website. Our long standing Vatican highlights morning, afternoon, and subterranean Vatacombs tours are now regarded as the best Vatican tours in Rome.
However, despite the fact that our modern, comfortable office premises are located just 150 metres away from the historic Vatican Museums gate, Vatican tours are but a small part of the full spectra of Rome tours and Italy tours we provide. We do of course have many years experience in Vatican tours, and our fully licensed guides know the Vatican city inside out, but the work we do is not limited to Vatican tour guides working in the Vatican city. We are currently working on tours in Florence, Venice, Parma and Sicily, all of which will become a big part of our work in 2011 and 2012.
We’ve restructured most of our Vatican tour prices this month, so you can book Vatican tours by person as opposed to having to book within ‘range’ tours, for example, 5-7 persons for a family of five (5), billed @ seven (7) persons rate. This is an important step for us as now our Vatican tour services are not only the best Vatican tours in Rome, but they also offer great value. We are fast approaching 100 reviews on Trip Advisor and our Facebook profiles are seeing alot of new members, alot more ‘likes’, alot more everything! Now is a good time to like When In Rome Tours, so thankyou very much for your continuing support!
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Late on March 17th when St. Patrick’s Day in Rome was in full flow, the American owner of Vatican City Tours, who occupy prime virtual real estate on Google for keywords ‘Vatican tours’, second in rank only to the official Vatican website http://www.vatican.va/, was arrested for fraud. For reasons best to known to himself, he was using his website to profit from non existent tickets offering access to St. Peter’s Square on May 1st, when the beatification of late Pope John Paul II will take place. His price per ‘ticket’ was £150. In fact, the event is open to everyone and it is free.
The owner was also charged for running a cash rich unlicensed tour agency in Rome. Whether or not he did keep 21 firearms, 15 computers and 11 USB keys in his apartment remains to be seen, perhaps we’ll never know. For now, rumours abound that 3 other unlicensed tour agencies with websites on Google page #1 for ‘Vatican tours’ will be investigated by the same e-crime team which closed in on Vatican City Tours.
Vatican City Tours are also http://www.limoservicesrome.eu and www.italianservices.biz too, so all things being equal, these partner websites will be wound up in due course and removed from the internet.
Vatican City Tours as of March 20th 2011:
‘If you are the owner of this web site you have not uploaded (or incorrectly uploaded) your web site. For information on uploading your web site using FTP client software or web design software, click here for FTP Upload Information.’
… which means that the website has been pulled offline permanently for fraudulent activities. More to follow in the business of ‘Vatican tours’ provided by unlicensed tour agencies, no doubt.
Always use Google to check the name of your Vatican tours provider before paying online.
//
When In Rome Tours, Tour Operator license 7339 granted by the Provincia di Roma on 19/10/10
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When the public transport workers of Rome decide to go on strike, they don’t hold back; the city grinds to a halt. Great care is taken to time their industrial action with political demonstrations, making it even more difficult for the rest of us to move across what fast becomes a suburban quagmire.
For the rest of the year, if you haven’t been to Rome or are coming soon, here’s a quick guide!
Bus tickets - if you’re a tourist it can be hell finding a place to get some. If you don’t, you might be fined by inspectors who love the 40 and 492 routes in town. It’s a 50 euros on the spot fine or about 110 euros if you have no cash. You’ll have to take the bill you are given to any post office and pay up there, but of course you won’t care about that when you’re back home. You can buy bus / metro tickets in the Italian equivalent of a newsagent, just look for ‘tabacchi’ on any street. Some bars sell bus / metro tickets too.
Bag sellers, umbrella sellers, picture sellers with nowhere to sleep at night unless you buy one occupy at least 10% of all available legroom on all buses in Rome 24/7. Call it free temporary storage. When buses in Rome get busy, Italians get stressed and begin to lose control, at which point we advise you to get off and hail a taxi.
Metro is better. It’s quicker and it’s cleaner, but with a downside. Gypsies move through each carriage playing traditional songs from back home and hope to be paid for it, by parading their most vulnerable looking child while the music plays. It’s an uncomfortable experience for the rest of us to say the least.
An Italian student, Vanessa Russo, was stabbed through the eye with an umbrella at Termini station a few years ago by teenage Romanian prostitute Doina Matei. Vanessa allegedly annoyed her killer (and friend) during an altercation getting on / off the train and as a result, died in agony a few hours later in Policlinico hospital nearby. Rare incidents of random acts of violence aside, the metro is pretty safe.
Football supporters will occupy Linea A for an hour or so after either Roma or Lazio have played at home, but they’re usually on the right side of rowdy, and, being Italian, prone to bursting into song. Just keep an eye on your jacket pockets and bag. It is said that 500 pickpockets work Rome’s metro system every day.
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