Leaving Wednesday for Paris. 5 days there, then taking the train to Rome for a 4 day stay. Been to Paris a few times, and absolutely love it. But never been to Rome.

Any suggestions as to places / things to see other than the normal tourist stuff? Any suggestions of good places to eat? Places / things to avoid?

Nope, but I have heard to watch for pickpockets.

I would say avoiding France altogether would be a good start... but you seem to already have your mind made up...

This,  a female pickpocket tried to snatch my wallet from my front pocket getting on a train.  Trains were so packed she was pushing from the back and reached in just as doors were about to close.  I caught her and cussed her out in English as I got from the locals.  Had she got my wallet the doors would've closed and I'd be fucked.

Galleria Borghese
is a good museum

That could have really sucked.

I would look into cargo pants/shorts with zippered pockets if I were going.

Beware of pickpockets.

You will spend one whole day in the Vatican if you visit the Museum, which you should.

Baths of Caracala, the Colosseum, the Catacombs of San Sebastián, the church of Il Gessu, the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, the church of San Pietro en Vincoli (Michaealangelo's Moses), the Trevi Fountain, the Forum, and the Castillo San Angelo are all must-sees in my book.

Wife and I saw all of them except the last one in three days.

YES!

Can't believe I forgot that...

Wish I could go to Rome, I'm currently stuck in Sicily. It's a little boring.

Rome is a magical place. Nothing wrong with going to the usual tourist destinations.  I would set aside a half day or more for the Vatican and the Coliseum is a must as well.  Like most European cities the transit system, especially the subways are a good way to move around.



I would get a good, recent guidebook and plan my trip.  There is more than you could ever see in just 4 days.



It is hard to get a bad meal in Italy.  Look for the family places off of the tourist streets and you'll probably eat better for less.

I've been to Rome and Paris , NY many times. (Both are places in upstate NY, inside joke)

If you are familiar with Paris and their pickpockets, you will be fine in Rome. Very similar.




 

San Clemente is pretty cool, if you're into that sort of thing - it's a basilica that was built on top of a basilica that was built on top of a mithraeum (pagan worship site), and elements of each still remain. You can essentially go down through the basement/foundations and see the different layers of history. If you're into Christian history, St. Paul Outside the Walls is amazing, and St. Peter in Chains Cathedral is also awesome - to boot, it has one of Michelangelo's most significant pieces of sculpture work in it, which is also amazing.

I hope to get there some day.

I work with a guy who was there for work, and someone tried to pick pocket him by pushing a real live baby into his arms to distract him.

Buy a money belt.  Wallets are too easy to pick.  Even if the pocket is zippered.  If you must use a wallet, place a wide rubber band around it.  Makes it difficult to remove from your pocket as it won't smoothly glide out.  Pick pockets are a protected class of people in parts of Europe.  Instead of using the government to take your money they simply help themselves with government approval.  At least they exercise more initiative that our FSA.  Fighting one off can get you detained while they go free.

This !  The Also in the Piazza Barberini go to the Church of Santa Maria dell Concezione  and see the crypt made from the bones of Capuchin Monks ,it's Art made from bones.... Enjoy your trip!

I'll be there in June for the third time, I love Rome. Go to the Capuchin Monastery on the outskirts of Rome you can take public transportation to get there. Macabre, but interesting.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187791-d254786-Reviews-Museum_and_Crypt_of_Capuchins-Rome_Lazio.html

Rome is my favorite city, there is so much to do there I never spend my time in Paris. I will be in Rome in June as well.

I love the historical areas, which no other city can come close to. Here are just some interesting areas.

Ostia Antica is a mini Pompeii just outside Rome but most tourist do not know of it. Its mostly for Italians. This place is awsome as you can walk all over the buildings and grounds. You can even get into the mutli story sewage/drainage systems if you like. If you walk outside of the main city there are some places that nobody goes to and barely un-excavated. Its as if you are exploring them for the first time.

There is also a massive man made hexagonal lake were the romans built all their boats and it is perfectly intact. The buildings are not though. I forget the name of it but its across from Ostia Antica near the shore. Very few tourists visit it.

Palatine Hill, the govt district of Rome is a pretty massive place that you can tour.  Its very near the Coliseum.  Just a fYI there is actually a much older coliseum in Rome but it has been converted to apartments. If you can find it, its neat to check out.

Wander throughout the city and marvel at the ancient roman items that are too numerous to list, or even the more ancient Egyptian items the Romans brought back. there are so many buildings that are in such good shape they are still being used or incorporated you can hardly recognize them.

Hadrians Villa in Tivoli is simply amazing. It takes up around 100 acres and if you go during the week will most likely be the only person there. I recommend going straight to this one and skipping the gardens which are packed with tourist and a rip off. Bring a flashlight to this one.

A day trip to Siena.

Oddly enough, my favorite place to eat is Cafe New York on National street(the main drag) at the top. Its nothing special but they sure do know how to make chocolate shakes and its always there. Other than that I love to eat at small places off the beaten path, its usually much better and costs less.

Bring a small flash light, lots of stuff underground at these ancient places. I can list some more really cool places that tourist do not visit if you like.

All four days will do is make you certain you need to come back for at least a month.  Day trip to Pompeii would be good.

Also, there are guys dressed up like Gladiators around that will offer to let you take a picture with them.  After you take the picture, they'll demand $ and when you refuse, they tell you that you need to give them your camera.  Just politely delete the picture and tell them to fo.

You can travel all over the world,

+1 the thieves can pick out tourist so easily


 

I did St. Peter's Basilica and obviously the Sistine Chapel. In St. Peters, take the trip up to the cupola. Nice view of Rome from up there.
Galleria Borghese is a must. Get some gelato. There's a cart outside the Galleria Borghese.
Hit the Forum and the Coliseum. If I recall correctly, one ticket gets you into both.
Get one of those Roma Pass things from the Tabacci (Cigarette) Shop at Fiumicino. It'll get you around Rome and also offer some discounts on tickets to various attractions.
I really enjoyed the Vatican Museums. Many good works by Raphael.
A great book of Rome is Rick Steves' Rome 2014. It should help fill in the blanks and make life a bit easier.
Be careful on mass transit. Pickpockets galore. Don't buy sunglasses from those Somalian creeps. They are everywhere. Don't complain when your meals take a hour to be served. They do it in courses. Enjoy yourself.

I'd say to make sure you set aside a day for the Vatican (make sure you climb to the top) and the Sistine Chapel (they are right next to each other).  For both of those locations, don't bother trying to take pictures as they will NOT do justice to how awesome they really are.  Spend the money to get one of the touristy guide books with great pictures.  It's worth it for these places.    

The Colosseum and Ancient city are a must (obviously) and set aside a full day for those as well.  

Circus Maximus is pretty much a walk by/walk around for 30 minutes or so as there really isn't anything there to see.  More of a "well, I've been here" type deals.  It's really just an open field.  

Don't think you have to spend a lot of money on food, I never had a bad meal.  Just like any other country watch where the locals are going for lunch/dinner for the best food.  If you're the only American in the café, you're in the right place.  

That's just the tip of what there is to see/do there, but a good guidebook will point you to the rest.  

Piazza Navona > Tre Scalini > Gelato

don't skip the Pantheon

Rome is great but the best of Italy lies outside of it. I would take at least one day trip somewhere...someone mentioned Siena, which wouldn't be a bad choice.

My wife and I were in Rome last October and found getting a Roma Pass actually added at least a day to our trip time wise.  It moves you to the front of the line at most of the tourist sites saving several hours.

If your carrying a backpack, turn it around and carry it on your chest and paper clip the zipper pulls together.

 

An abundance of history, but I hear the city is filthy.

Just walk around.  You won't have enough time in 4 days to even scratch the surface, but given it's your first time, I'd hit the major attractions:



Colosseum

St. Peters Basilica

Vatican

Villa Borghese

Trevi Fountain

Yep. Paris is a beautiful city. Friendly people, fantastic food, lots to see. Would live there for a year if I could afford it.

I don't think it's particularly dirty.  It's crowded like most European cities.  It depends what you're comparing it to.  Switzerland you can eat off the sidewalk.

The whole city has so much to offer.

when in Rome do as the romans do. Try to stay and eat off the beaten path or you will get gouged. Try to stay at a Pensione, they give you a good price and breakfast. Eat at restaurants away from the tourists area, the mom and pop joints, look both ways when you cross the street, people drive like lunatics, pedestrians are just targets. You can do St.Peter's, the Roman Forum and the Colusseum in one day, do the Catacombs and the Appian Way the next. Italy's face is changing with all the immigration of Arabs, Chinese and Africans. Get prices up front and negotiate. There are different prices for everything from the same place, price for sitting down, price for takeout, price for eathing standing. The Italians have surrendered to and been invaded by so many peoples they come off as indifferent and cynical, but don't take it personal

Rome was ok.

I liked Florence better.

My mom and dad were from Naples but I never understand the roman dialect, it sounds Greek to me, I guess I sound Greek to them

When we were there, I noticed some companies that did segway tours.  That might be worth checking out.  We were with a tour group or the segway tours would have been the first thing I checked into to.  You could probably cover a good bit of ground and if you see something that you want to spend more time checking out, you could go back by yourself.  

If you go to a nice restaurant, be prepared to spend most of the night there.  Eating in Italy is an all night affair.  I really didn't like the eating situation over there because I felt like I wasted a lot of time sitting in restaurants.  

I've been to Rome.  And the Vatican.

Even with this F%^k speaking slowly I still don't understand Romans

I guess the only recommendation I have is to not take the subway.  They have a good system, but of course you miss seeing a lot of the city.

 

San Gimignano and Siena.

Beautiful cities.

I was there about 15 years ago. The things I remember are Ostia Antica, the seaport of Rome which was abandoned when a river shifted, thus leaving it very well preserved, and the Vatican Museum. I'd recommend both.

if you don't care for a guided tour of the  Coliseum, get your tickets across the road.  There's a smaller ruins there where you can get tickets without a line.  I think it's at Parco Del Colle Oppio but I culd be wrong. sorry.


There's lots of tours for the Vatican of course, but ... keep in mind it may be very packed too - I mean more than normal.  Next Sunday (27 April) Popes John Paul II & John XXIII will be canonized.  http://nypost.com/2014/04/20/canonization-of-popes-john-paul-ii-john-xxiii-to-draw-millions-to-rome/

I was in Rome this afternoon...........











Rome,GEORGIA.

Twas gonna make this joke,  it's where my nursing school is located.

Except the spectacle that is the Vatican, I completely agree.

OP, consider a side trip to Florence. You can hit the big stuff in one day, and enjoy a city that isn't completely overran with tourists. Plus, the train ride will give you some nice views of the countryside.

Shorter University? I had a 25% off coupon for Harbor Freight so we went over there and spent a little money.I love the countryside.

Yup.

Most of the restaurants I got food from were in the "alleys", and all of them were quite good.