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Archive 2022 · Rome and Paris in 3 weeks

  
 
TSHADLEY34
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Rome and Paris in 3 weeks


Taking our first trip to Rome and Paris in 3 weeks. Any must sees outside of the normal tourist items? Hoping to get some good pics, and hoping my wife remains patient while I snap a ton of pictures.

Thanks!
-tim



Oct 31, 2022 at 10:38 PM
GroovyGeek
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Rome and Paris in 3 weeks


Both are impossible to explore in a single visit. So just do the icons the first time and enjoy.


Nov 01, 2022 at 10:12 AM
mdude85
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Rome and Paris in 3 weeks


I think there are enough of the tourist items to keep you occupied, but there is just so much to see if you simply stroll around without any particular place to go. Some neighborhoods are better than others for that.

For Paris, Montmartre is very pretty, though many will argue it's also on a tourist bucket list.

I think the view from the top of the Montparnasse skyscraper is also really nice, especially around sunset.

For Rome, Trastevere and of course the historic center are lovely. The streets can be very crowded with tourists around the big sites (Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, etc). In my experience the closer you get to the river the better. So Piazza Navona and Campo de Fiori are both good neighborhoods to explore.

Around sunset, the view from the Ponte Umberto I (one of the bridges over the Tiber) looking toward St Peter's Basilica is really spectacular.

Another not so touristy item in Vatican City is the option to take a stairwell to the very top of the Basilica roof which offers a really nice panoramic view over Vatican City and Rome beyond. There should be blogs instructing how to do it since it's a bit tucked away. The stairwell is a rather long and narrow, so it's not suitable for those with a lot of claustrophobia or for people who have trouble walking.




Nov 01, 2022 at 02:42 PM
Lupin 3rd
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Rome and Paris in 3 weeks


mdude85 wrote:
Another not so touristy item in Vatican City is the option to take a stairwell to the very top of the Basilica roof which offers a really nice panoramic view over Vatican City and Rome beyond. There should be blogs instructing how to do it since it's a bit tucked away. The stairwell is a rather long and narrow, so it's not suitable for those with a lot of claustrophobia or for people who have trouble walking.



This. Weather allowing, great views from up there.



Nov 01, 2022 at 03:20 PM
mike reid
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Rome and Paris in 3 weeks


Get a pass for one of those Hop On Hop Off bus tours and that will get you all over


Nov 01, 2022 at 03:38 PM
gdanmitchell
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Rome and Paris in 3 weeks


mdude85 wrote:
For Paris, Montmartre is very pretty, though many will argue it's also on a tourist bucket list.


I agree with a lot of your post, especially the part about wandering away from the iconic sites — though starting with icons if it is a first visit isn't a bad idea. Just be prepared for crowded and then do that wandering.

Parts of Montmartre are pretty busy, but if you walk a few blocks away you can find stuff that's less touristy and busy, especially in the evenings. We stayed in Montmartre a few visits ago, and we had a lot of time to walk local streets... and the crowds were't bad at all.

I'm glad that have been to some of the big, famous places and some of the excellent museums. But some of the most memorable Paris experiences for us have not been in those places, and we couldn't have predicted them: a particular little restaurant near La Marais (and a wonderful, eccentric waiter), a "nothing special" place not far from there where the waitress told us how she thinks we should eat mussels — not the way we do it in the US; wandering around Montmartre in the evening; and more.

One more thing: Lots of touristy things (here and elsewhere in Europe, in my experience) are super busy during prime daytime hours, but often not busy at all in the early morning and later at night. On a visit to Florence — a really busy place — I went out to photograph very early and very late, and often found the streets almost deserted aside from (mostly) locals.

Happy travels!

Dan



Nov 01, 2022 at 03:56 PM
mike reid
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Rome and Paris in 3 weeks


^^ I was at the Trevi Fountain by myself one night and getting nice images. I'm sure it was a different scene during the day. Same with the Ponte Sant'Angelo. Totally deserted at dusk.

Also recommend getting to St Peter's early before the buses show up.

I usually nap during the day or scout for locations.



Nov 01, 2022 at 04:04 PM
mdude85
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Rome and Paris in 3 weeks


I went to the Trevi fountain one night rather late (around 1am) and only 5 or so other people were there, not including several police officers.

Of course, you have to be okay with a nighttime shot. But you can also just enjoy the fountain in peace without many people around.



Nov 01, 2022 at 04:19 PM
Craig Gillette
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Rome and Paris in 3 weeks


In anticipation of a trip to Paris, I checked out the Hop On-Hop Off buses and it looked like a good way to get around and an introduction, a couple of routes, etc. Would agree with at least checking them out. In Rome, I've heard the center of the city and historic area is so congested that they are required to skirt the area so perhaps not as convenient. We visited with my daughter who had visited several times as a part of her academic year in Florence so for the most part, we walked.

My impression is that the Vatican Museum gets increasingly more crowded as the day goes on. As tours finish, the visitors remain and hit spots they missed or got too little time the first time around.

Take advantage of the Vatican Museums own tours, and possibly in St. Peter's, too. They handle scheduling and admissions, etc., and when we went, although 9 years ago, it was as good or better pricing than some of the other "tours." There's a "Tours Only" door out of the Sistine Chapel, or was which is nice shortcut to St. Peter's. However, that does skip the chance to see missed spots, etc., in the museum and gardens.

We had an apartment near the Coloseum so one walk, we went up past the Forum to the Altar della Patria, a jog east and around a bit to get to Via del Quirinale. (use a map, this is a brief description and roads change names, etc,) Up this hill is the Palazzo del Quirinale. Not sure about gardens, tourists in side, etc. It's the President's Palace. My daughter is an architect so we went to see two small but architecturally important churches (there are tons of churches in Rome, you can't visit all of them and many are historically, artistically or religiously important. Basilica Sant'Andrea al Quirinale, an interesting oval baroque church was designed by Bernini and just a little farther down is Chiesa di San Carlino alle Quattro Fontane designed by Borromini.

From the piazza in front of the palace, there is a stairway or road down which leads to Via di San Vicenzo which will take you to Trevi Fountain. We made our way north to Via di Propaganda which leads to the Spanish Steps, then Via del Babuino, incidentally quite a shopping street, to Piazza del Popolo. Read up on this area, lots there. If you look south between the two almost matching churches on Via del Corso, you'll see the Altare della Patria.

From there, you can go to the river, head back south, Museo dell'Ara Pacis, Mausoleo di Augusto, we then made our way to the Pantheon then back to Corso Vittorio Emanuele II which got us back towards the Forum and down to the Coloseum.



Nov 01, 2022 at 05:23 PM
gdanmitchell
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Rome and Paris in 3 weeks


Craig Gillette wrote:
In anticipation of a trip to Paris, I checked out the Hop On-Hop Off buses and it looked like a good way to get around and an introduction, a couple of routes, etc. Would agree with at least checking them out.


I'm usually skeptic of things like those buses, but for a first time visit to Paris, especially central Paris, I think they can be worth it. We bought the tickets the first time we visited. I can't say we used the bus a lot — we like to walk these cities! — but they were a quick way to get to places on their loop, and they do go past a lot of the sights you want to see.

(Totally different subject, but one other place where we've done such a thing and been surprised by how worthwhile it was is the river architecture tour in Chicago. Yeah, I was skeptical, too.)



Nov 01, 2022 at 09:47 PM





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