What clothes should I bring to Rome this May?

[Leslierc]

I'm taking my wife to Rome on May 12th for our anniversary. We'll be staying at a four-star hotel near the Spanish Steps. We plan to do a lot of sight-seeing and shopping over our 9-day stay. As I have never been to Rome, I am open to suggestions about the types of clothing I should pack and stores and sights I should visit. I really want our trip to be an experience of a lifetime.

Thanks for your suggestions!

 

[sloaney]

regardless of what you wear, it will be

 

[bryce330]

Originally Posted by Leslierc

I'm taking my wife to Rome on May 12th for our anniversary. We'll be staying at a four-star hotel near the Spanish Steps. We plan to do a lot of sight-seeing and shopping over our 9-day stay. As I have never been to Rome, I am open to suggestions about the types of clothing I should pack and stores and sights I should visit. I really want our trip to be an experience of a lifetime.

Thanks for your suggestions!

The weather in mid-May should be beautiful - probably mid-70s with lots of sun.

I never dress any differently when I visit a new city than I do at home, so I would recommend just wearing what you usually do (unless your wardrobe includes lots of jogging suits, square toed/rubber soled shoes, and fanny packs). The one tip I can give you is that Italians almost never wear shorts in the cities, even in the hottest days of summer, so leave the shorts at home and bring linen or leightweight cotton trousers instead.

There are plenty of threads about shops to visit in Rome - try searching the archive. The usual recommendations are Battistoni, Davide Cenci, Brioni, etc. I really love the Campanile shoe shop on Via Condotti.

As far as sights, even with 9 days you can only begin to scratch the surface of what Rome has to offer, but the must-sees would include St. Peter's, Vatican Museums, Colosseum, Forum & Palatine, Galleria Borghese, Capitoline Museums, Museo Nazionale Romano. If you are into art there are also some great smaller museums like Galleria Doria Pamphilj. You might also want to do a few daytrips to places like Villa Adriana & Villa D'Este or Ostia Antica.