Plan a group trip to Rome

Weather and what it means for planning

Hot dry summers frequently above 32°C with little shade at the ancient sites, and mild damp winters around 12°C. Spring and autumn are considerably more comfortable for walking.

On your Holiday Board, each day shows a forecast once a reliable one exists, which is roughly two weeks ahead. Further out than that we show nothing rather than guessing, because a made-up forecast is worse than none when you are deciding what to pack.

What to pack for Rome

• Shoulders and knees covered for St Peter's and the Vatican Museums. This is enforced
• Shoes with grip. Cobbles and worn marble are slippery, particularly in rain
• A refillable bottle. Public drinking fountains across the city are free and safe
• A hat and sun cream for summer, since the Forum and Colosseum have almost no shade
• A small bag for timed-entry queues where large bags are refused

Add these to your plans as bring items while you are setting up the trip and they turn up on everyone’s packing list automatically, with duplicates merged.

An example Rome day structure

A workable shape for a 3 to 5 days trip. Copy whichever of these fit onto your own days and ignore the rest.

Practical things worth knowing

• Euro. Cards are accepted in most places, cash still useful for small bars
• Timed entry for the Colosseum and Vatican sells out, sometimes weeks ahead
• Restaurants directly beside major sites are usually worse and dearer. Walk two streets
• Sites close earlier than you expect in winter, so check closing times when planning

Getting around

The historic centre is compact and best walked. The metro has only a few lines and misses much of the old city, so build walking time into every leave time.

This is the reason leave time exists as its own field on every plan. The start time is when the thing happens. The leave time is when you actually need to be out of the door, and in Rome the gap between those two is bigger than people expect.

Money on a Rome trip

Rome uses the Euro. If your group counts in pounds, set EUR as the local currency and GBP as the home currency when you create the holiday. Every expense then shows both, and the rate is saved with the expense so past spending never shifts when rates move.

At the end, the expense splitter nets everything off into the fewest possible payments.