This is a city that is very busy and crowded with tourists.

Pickpockets exist in every city. They are more numerous in cities with many famous tourist icons. You will see them around every tourist icon and on buses, trams & metro. You should also know that pickpockets come in all shapes and sizes, a young child may seem harmless, but can be very cunning.  Some tourists DO silly things and ignore or forget all the good advice they have ever read about or been told about.  Just beware of your surroundings and use a security wallet, particularly if you are a novice or inexperienced traveller. You wear it under your clothes and carry your passport, credit cards, airline ticket and some cash in Euro's. Or, as an even safer alternative, leave most of your cash, your passport and all but one credit card in the safe in your hotel. Make a copy of your passport and carry that in your security wallet. Carrying a pocketbook or wearing a "belly bag" is an invitation to become a victim. Women who can bring themselves  to carry their "necessities" in a multi-zippered pocketed jacket instead of a pocketbook are wise travelers.

If you must carry a purse or travel bag with you, there are some that have a wire mesh throughout the body of the bag. This will prevent your bag from being slashed and your valuables stolen. You can find these bags at

Always carry the full address for the hotel that you are staying at.

Wear comfortable, broken-in shoes as you will need to walk a lot on cobblestone paved streets. Wearing heals in Rome is not practical at all. A sprained ankle is not a souvenir you want to take home from your trip.

DO some pre-tour research and make a list of your top five must sees. The list will depend on your length of stay in Rome.

The best introduction to Rome is to take a two-hour orientation tour on one of the hop on/hop off double decker tourist buses.  Do a complete trip the first time round so as to get an excellent overview of the city. No, you cannot cover the same route in a reasonable time by any other means.

The public buses and the metro are a great way to get around the city. You can get a day or a multi-day travel pass and save time by not having to constantly queue and sort out foreign coins every time you get on a bus etc. A 7-day travel pass in Rome is an excellent investment --the pass will pay for itself after only 3 days of frequent travel on the bus & metro.  The Romepass will give you 3 days of travel about the city on the Metro and buses, free admission to your first two sites and discounted admission to a limited number of attractions such as the Palatine Hill/Coleseum and Galleria Borghese. (But admission to the Galleria Borghese can be impossible unless booked ahead - you can call from the USA).

The vatican museum is not included in the romepass. Bus 40 & Bus 64 from the bus plaza in front of the Termini Railway station both use a similar route to St Peters Square and return. These are two of Rome's public buses that are dedicated to the "Vatican Shuttle Route". Don't be afraid to take normal taxis. They cannot be hailed - you must find a taxi stand - but since your time in Rome will always be limited, dealing with an unknown and confusing bus and Metro system is more costly in time (and therefore money) than taxis, which are relatively reasonable, particularly with 2 or 3 traveling together.