Nancy and Julianne's Travels: The almost free Hop-on, Hop-off sight seeing tour of Rome: trams, buses, subway and metro with a little coffee thrown in

AROUND ROME IN MANY HOURS

With a new visitor here, we try to find an interesting thing to do that is not too physically demanding during the first couple of days. I just love it when we get lucky and have a visitor who enjoys wandering the city on public transit. That would be our friend Olivia who just arrived from the DC area. Freezing and snowing there; 60 and sort of sunny here. Smile. Never mind jet-lag.

Since it is a partly cloudy day this is a good one to explore nooks that usually escape the guide books. Today's wander took in several sections of the Aurelian wall and city gates, several Roman aquaducts, Renaissance palaces, Baroque churches; all seen from the comfort of the city's finest conveyances. Oh, yes--the Colosseum and Arch of Constantine, too.

We circled Rome using every form of public transport. I just love to do this. I so enjoyed posts from Nathalie and Jeff of their recent visit to Paris detailing how they got around I am convinced everyone would like to hear our journey details. So here goes.

Transport Passes

We have monthly passes which cost E34. Good for unlimited travel on all forms of transport within the Roma region all the way to Ostia Atica and Lido. Guests may get a weekly pass for E24 or opt for day tickets or single rides. We love the freedom to hop on a bus for a 5 block ride when we are tired. It is easy and a bargain.

START

Home to bus #719. 2 blocks walking. Transit pass always in wallet.

My handy Bus App said the 719 would be along in 13 minutes. It was right.

We have 2 different bus apps here and they are pretty good. I prefer RomaBus because it has no ads; Nancy has ProRoma as a back up. Some buses are not connected to GPS so we cannot totally depend on them. Google Maps is awesome too. As long as our data is working, we can get bus stops, schedules and directions to wherever. Even without data, we get good maps. I am a fan.

#719 bus to Piazza Ostiense.

I like this bus. It crosses the Tiber and takes us past Testaccio Market, Monte Testaccio, and a Fascist era post office before reaching our stop in Piazza Ostiense. It is not that far and sometimes we walk but today the idea is riding while jet-laggy.

This is a big transport hub with a metro, 2 train stations, many buses and the terminal of Tram #3, our next method of transport.

Pza Ostiense is really interesting in its own right. Things to see: Porta San Paolo, a major gate in the 3 C. AD Roman wall, long sections of the wall itself, the Pyramide of Cestius from about 12 BC and two memorials to partisans who were killed resisting the Nazi German invasion of Italy in 1943. Since we use all the transport from this piazza, we have become familiar with much of the area. Great spot.

Tram #3

Ostiense is the terminal of Tram #3 so we always get a seat and can choose one with a good view. It is our favorite tram. We take this one for a few miles passing Aventine Hill, Circus Maximus, Celio Hill, the Colosseum and several other great sights along the way. Sometimes we hop on and off but the concept today is to have a leisurely ride.

At San Giovanni we get a great view of the basilica, city walls and the first sighting of an aquaduct.--Aqua Marcia. Today, we did not stop but it is a great hop-off spot. It is historically and artistically interesting and is one of the major pilgrimage churches of Rome.

We also passed the Church of Santa Croce in Gerusaleme which is next. It is one of the oldest churches and is quite interesting inside but outside has a standard baroque front added in the 17th C. Constantine's mother created this church in the 300's from a Roman building which had been part of her living area. Much of that central basilica is intact. There are holy relics inside including a fragment of the true cross. Thus, another major stop on the pilgrimage route.

Porta Maggiore

But we are on to MY major destination--Porta Maggiore. We do hop off right on to the Roman road which originally passed through here. This was a transport hub even during the days of the Roman Republic. As often as I come, I still get a thrill seeing this grand set of arches which were originally constructed as aqueducts for the Roman water supply between about 60 BC and 60 AD. Later, when the city wall was built in 270 AD the aqueducts were incorporated into the wall. Here at Porta Maggiore are 4 aqueducts as well as city wall.

And for us transportation groupies, 4 tram lines converge here, multiple buses transit and the major train line passes. It does not get better than this.

Porta Maggiore with the original paving of the Roman road. (Olivia photo.)

Aquaducts atop Porta Maggiore

Tram #3 at Porta Maggiore stop.

Tram #19

Often we get back on Tram #3 but this time we are transferring to Tram #19 which goes along much of the same route. The attraction is that #19 uses the old fashioned tram cars and just looks cool. #3 has sleek, modern and very comfortable cars but the #19 cars are just cool.

Tram #19 to Risorgamento

The trip continues counter-clockwise around Rome passing a major university, medical facilities and reaching Regina Margerita Street, a long a neighborhood of Renaissance pallazo and parklands. We pass North of Villa Borghese, pass the Modern Art Museum and Villa Guilia,now the Eutruscan Museum-- all hop-off opportunities.

Today we hopped off for lunch at a great looking restaurant and pizzeria which had umbrellas and orange trees with oranges. We were pleased with our choice which had food from the foreign regions of Tuscany and Maremara.

Then back on the tram and across the Tiber to the Vatican.

Trams ending; Metro starting

Tram #19 drops us off near the Ottaviano stop on Metro Line A. But wait--coffee! Not that hard to find and the place we went into had wonderful tiramisu too. Olivia found a stash of chocolate to take to her office, if it makes it that far.

Ottaviano is the main stop for those visiting the Vatican Museum and is within sight of the Vatican walls and defensive towers. Although the stop is still in Italy, it is more internationally focused with services geared to pilgrims from many countries. When you are inside Vatican City it is really international but we are staying in Italy today.

Olivia getting on Metro at Ottaviano

We got into the Metro at Ottaviano for a short ride to Valle Aurelia stop which has both a Metro station as well as a train stop. It is up and up and up from the Metro and some of the escalators were not working. We worked off the tiramisu.

Valle Aurelia to Trastevere Station-#FL3

Trenitalia runs the national trains but also runs regional and local trains like this one. Our eRoma passes are good on these trains so we scan the reader boards for the train to Ostiense which stops at San Pietro and Trastevere. Whoops--glitch! We got on one which ended one stop along at San Pietro and had to wait and transfer to the next Ostiense train.

Well, we had the pleasure of waiting in the San Pietro station which is one of the early 1920's stations and just darling. This and several other stations, including our stations as Ostiense and Trastevere, were built in the early 20 C. and reflect many architectural principles from the Arts and Crafts movement. Although some are not kept up well, they continue to have charm and continue to serve many commuters daily.