Svoboda said:
Me and the misses is scouting places for our honeymoon. Can anyone make suggestions?
I lived in Rome for a year, so it seems a little more pedestrian to me than it does to others. I was also just there this time last year. If you do go to Rome:
1.) Stay near the Campo di Fiori. That is the heart of the action. There is a great transportation node at Largo Argentina, with both busses and a tram stopping here. And the bus to the Vatican, #64, runs along the Corso Vittorio Emanuele II (which is supposedly a haven for pickpockets, though I was never affected). Trastevere is not really more 'authentic,' but it is in walking distance. Testacchio is authentic as all hell. A great place to get an ox tail for dinner.
2.) Try and get off the beaten trail, avoiding places like the Hard Rock Cafe and such (which is kind of between the Villa Borghese and Palazzo Quirinale). That part of town is fairly mundane in my opinion. The best place to be an American, if you must, is near the Campo at the Abbey Theatre off of the Via Governo Vecchio. It is essentially a college bar, but they do have American football games and I watched the AFC championship there last year. A true Irish bar, they do speak english. Several great restaraunts still lurk along this street and around the Campo.
3.) I would spend most of my time at churches and museums in this part of town (around the Campo). The Vatican is obviously a must see, and they do have the best art gallery. But the Doria Pamphilji gallery is also nice, as is the Palazzo Altemps and Palazzo Spada, which are both nearby. This is a little far from the ruins, which are on the other side of the central transportation nexus surrounding the Vittoriano at Piazza Venezia. But you would be near the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Piazza Colona, etc. if you stayed near the Campo. You would also be near the Minerva, San'Ivo, San Andrea della Valle, the Gesu, Santa Maria della Pace, and San'Ignazio. The Spanish steps are also fairly far away, though this can be a pleasant walk through a more commerical part of town, if you are not opposed to the hike. I would say the Fontana di Trevi is in walking distance, and slightly further is the Quirinal Palace.
