re: TN bhoy, wm72 and others living in or with experience in Europe please help

It really depends on your tastes but here's some things I'd suggest in Roma off the top of my head.

I'll add a few more off the beaten track things when I get a minute.



1) Touristic stops

A) definitely walk around the Centro Storico with a decent tourist map and don't miss the Pantheon, Campo di Fiori, Piazza Navona, Fontana di Trevi Spanish Steps, crossing the Tevere to the Trastevere area (lots of shops and smaller old fashioned restaurants including walking up the Gianicolo hill for the view).

for restaurants, I'd pick small places in Trastevere when you're around the Centro Storico instead of around Campi di Fiori/Piazza Navona/Via Del Corse area/side of Tevere (there are excellent restaurants there but also a lot tourist traps).



B) Also (though maybe on a different day since these are not that easy to walk all in the same day): the Colosseo, Foro Italico area, Via Cavour area. Near Termini Station you'll find Er Buchetto which is one of the better places to get traditional porchetta near the center.



c) One cool place that is a bit off the beaten track but still full of tourists is Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini. It's near Via Veneto (Roma's Park Avenue), a small church that has cavernous basement beneath full of alters made from human bones.


d) San Pietro is worth seeing and also climbing stairs to the top for the view. Vatican Museum is huge and packed but it can also be a full-day project with the lines. Other than those things I'd not say the area around Vaticano is the best place to spend a lot of time.


And remember: When in Rome, do the Romans.