Posts: 3872
First: 11/26/2009
Last: 4/8/2012
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Your plan to learn basic phrases is very good. Don't overworry the language issue. Rome gets millions of tourists and pilgrims every year, and restaurants and hotels have many english speakers.
I just came back from Rome (I live in Italy) and I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE YOU to spend time before you arrive learning the basics of using the buses in Rome. You'll find this information in an up-to-date guidebook. Get a good bus map or two when you are in Rome (or before you leave), and you will quickly see how you can sightsee much more efficiently and comfortably by occasionally using buses. Of course there are some areas you will want to stroll around and sightsee on foot. But if you know how to take the bus some places, you will be very glad you learned how.
Renting an apartment is great idea. There are many good agencies in Rome and all of them offer apartments in all sizes, in all price ranges, in all neighborhoods. I just used Rome Loft, and it was all very easy. A good place to search is Flipkey.
In early October, you probably still want the option of air conditioning.
If you can find an apartment near the Largo Argentina, you will be a great position to get to everything efficiently. Just be careful not to rent too near the Campo de'Fiore (which is party central for Rome's teens.) Anyplace you rent, ask lots of questions about how quiet it is.
A good guidebook will give you many options for day trips. You should wait until you get to Rome to make your final decisions about which if any you want to take. Some people who have never been to Rome really have no idea how overwhelming it can be when it comes to things to do and see. A week will fly by. Others arrive in Rome and cannot get enough of the sites of antiquity. If they take day trips, it is to Ostia Antica and Tivoli for more sites of ancient Rome. Still others fall in love with Michaelangelo, and zip up to Florence to see his work there. Others are shocked to find Rome is actually quite a modern city with a very fast pace, and slip off to Orvieto for a glass of wine and a quiet moment in a piazza. See how you feel about Rome before deciding if you want to get away from it.
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