Long Weekend in Rome

We booked via hostels.com - I think that's the widest choice of Roman B&B's. Walter's had a pretty decent overall rating. It's located in a tenement house near the Termini station - the main point of entry to Rome if you fly and a great transit spot with subway or buses.

What can I say? The rooms were clean enough (so was the bathroom), the breakfast wasn't too healthy - mostly packed cookies and pastries, coffee and tea, but I've had worse.

We paid around 60 euros ($75) per double room with breakfast. Ah, there's free Internet on the premises. All in all - a good choice if you're keen mostly on sightseeing.

It lures you with the tagname of "Greatest private art collection in the world" and that's not just boasting. One of the few Roman places that REQUIRE reservation (2 Euro fee), it had me captivated for the whole two hours. Downstairs, at the sculptures exhibition (dominated by Bernini's masterpieces) one can hardly decide whether to appreciate them - or the breathtakingly decorated rooms.

Upstairs - the picture gallery - is just as impressive, despite the modest decor. But that hardly matters when what you see is the Titian's 'Sacred and Profane Love', or Caravaggio's masterpieces (don't forget the St. Louis the French's church for more of these).

And, there's the beautifully Borghese Park around for you to relax and wander a little...

Well..first of all - if you plan on visiting the Museums - GO EARLY (I mean early, like 7am). When we arrived (in November, mind you) at 8:30 I saw the longest queue ever (and, having lived for 15 in a Communist country, I had my share) - almost half a mile long.

The Saint Peter's is immense - even after you visit some of the Roman basiliques, it's still far, far ahead. That's something you can appreciate if you climb to the top of the dome (better take a lift) - it offers a breathtaking view of the Eternal City.

What we saw in Rome, was simply astonishing. There's absolutely no way to avoid all of these great places - even by taking a different way you'll see something really fantastic en route. To me, even though Rome doesn't have such great museums as London or Paris, just walking the streets does the trick (if one doesn't mind the traffic).

I think we spent a good part of our stay walking through the narrow, underlit Roman streets - without a plan in the evenings, just wandering from one piazza to another.

The Roman piazzas have lots of magnetism to them - San Pietro, Navona, Spagna or Campo De Fiori, to name only a few. Mostly, they're quite crowded all day long, but then, the Campidoglio, being one of the most beautiful (no wonder, that's Michelangelo's doing) is almost deserted. The problem is most of these just urge you to sit down with a coffee or a glass of wine and relax - when there's still so much to see..

If you're going on your own, RomaPass is the thing to get. They coaxed most of the museums into this initiative, so as a result for 18 euros you get:

- A three-day pass for Metro, buses, trains to the seaside etc (worth 11 euros)

- Two free admissions to the museums/galleries/sites (my picks would be Colosseum + Palatine - 11 euros and Borghese - 8.50 euros - you still have to pay the 2 euro booking fee).

- Reduced admission (mostly, half price) on further attractions.

- In some places (Colosseum) you skip the queue - there's a separate entry for Roma Pass holders. Can save you quite some time (like even half an hour in the Colosseum).

What I calculated was, that what I got for these 18 euros, would cost me twice as much without Roma Pass.

You can get it at Tourist Information offices and the affiliated sites (I think the Termini one and the one near Colosseum are most conveniently located). For more - please see http://romapass.it