Hey all!
This is a sort of roundabout history question- my humble apologies if it violates posting rules.
My husband to-be and I are spending 6 days in Rome, Italy as a honeymoon the first week of November. I’ve been lucky enough to travel quite a bit in my life, but this will be his first time overseas, and given the way he and I nerd out at our city’s art + history museums I fear we’ll be too overwhelmed to thoughtfully curate our trip’s itinerary.
We both have longstanding autodidact love affairs with ancient Rome. For an idea of our interests, he’s finishing Carthage Must Be Destroyed and I’m reading Mary Beard’s Women and Power.
We already plan to see the usual stuff, but I’m hoping to find something off the beaten path. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
First off, congratulations on getting married!
I have 3 recommendations for less well-known places to visit in Rome:
Musei Centrale Montemartini. The collection is mainly sculpture and the building is an old power plant, so the contrast between the marble statues and the industrial machinery is amazing. Honestly, this is my favourite museum in the city and NO ONE ever goes because it's a little way out of the centre. If you're interested in Christian history you can combine this with a visit to Saint Paul's Outside the Walls, one of the oldest cathedrals in Rome. http://www.centralemontemartini.org/
Ostia Antica. This is the ancient port of Rome, and the preservation of the buildings is incredible. Think Pompeii but without the crowds. Again, not many visitors and easily accessible on the metro.
Appian Way. One of the main ancient roads into the city from the south. You can walk for miles directly on the ancient paving stones, and there are ruins on both sides to look at. Pick a day with good weather! When we did it we started at the Villa of the Quintili and walked back towards Rome, but I don't remember exactly how we got there - a combo of metro and bus I think. https://www.rome-museum.com/villa-of-the-quintili.php
In the city itself, do not miss:
Basilica di San Clemente. An 11th century church atop a 4th century church atop a Roman warehouse complex. Be sure to keep going downstairs.
Skip the Vatican Museum and go to the Capitoline Museum instead. You'll avoid the grossest of the crowds and as a non-specialist, the Capitoline has plenty of great exhibits.
for nightlife, hang out in Trastevere or Monti.
go to the Galleria Borghese, and study up on Bernini before you go
skip the Colosseum and plan on coming back to Europe to go to Provence in the future. You can see much better examples of a Roman amphitheatre there, without any of the crowds and grifters at the Roman colosseum
the Pantheon, however, is basically mandatory. Plan on spending some time in there, just sitting (if you can) and looking up and around. Definitely read up on the building before you go.