Jaunted

Lodging: Stay with the pack. The guidebooks I read made a point of knocking the area around Termini, Rome's major train station (where the Leonardo Express from Fiumicino Airport arrives), describing it alternately as a depressing and remote place to stay. I can only assume this is a conspiracy of Big Lodging to get tourists to pony up more money in order to stay in the fancier hotels closer to the center, where they can be more easily gouged. (Besides, can a place a 20-minute walk from the Colosseum really be called "remote"?) Picking a better hostel over a cheaper hotel is the easiest way to keep your overhead low, and I was too busy sleeping at mine to contemplate whether it was picturesque enough. I'm not saying I wouldn't choose to stay somewhere else (and one night I did!) next trip, but resist the snobbery.

Colosseum: Separate from the herd. The Colosseum is like Disneyland: Everyone who goes to Rome finds himself there sooner or later (who visits Anaheim for the boba and No Doubt tour?), the lines get overwhelming pretty early in the day and the costumed characters really want to be in your photos. (In its defense, the hawking of souvenirs is way less aggressive than Disney Inc.) Public tours are conducted via nifty radio receptors, which is a useful distraction from the fact that they are completely useless. Wander around with your nose in a guidebook if you like, but you'll appreciate the chance to stop and admire the view wherever you like without a staticky nagging in your ear.

Vatican Museums: Stay with a pack. If the Colosseum is Rome's Disneyland, then the Vatican Museums are the monuments of Washington D.C.: Fretting about the crowds is secondary to making sure that you see the things that are really important to you with the time you have. I took a prepaid public tour offered through the Vatican, and while I appreciated the guidance, next time I might either go it alone or get a private guide.

The role of a Vatican Museums guide is two-fold: To pace your group so that you don't succumb to art fatigue before getting to the Sistine Chapel (the last stop on the public tour), and to box out other groups in the often-cramped exhibition rooms. If you feel that you can do both of those things alone, you don't need a guide at all; despite her encyclopedic knowledge, my Vatican-employed guide droned on way too long about stolen Egyptian artifacts for my taste, and as I was one of about 40 people on the tour, I had no recourse.

City exploration: Separate from the herd. Especially on weekends, when native Italians take to the streets and plazas, the crowds around sites like the Trevi Fountain can be absolutely crushing. Good thing the fountain will still be there early in the morning the next day with far fewer coins flying through the air to secure a return visit to Rome. It's okay to plan to revisit places that are temporarily swamped; it'll keep you from getting visitor fatigue. Running the gauntlet of the rubberneckers in the Piazza di Spagna wasn't fun, but the long walk down the Via Sistina in the sunset to the Piazza della Repubblica made it all worth it.

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