Christmas shopping in Rome will provide you with one of those opportunities to troop the streets of the city, really getting to know Rome’s shopping districts as you buy for Christmas.
The problem is that shopping in a big city can be very tiring, especially if you want to look good while doing it.
So in the interests of helping you out, here are some tips for shopping in Rome that will help you get around.
The high period of shopping goes from December 8 to 24 (until 9pm) and then for the after-Christmas sales from January 2 to 30, and the Rome city council is putting on extra transport links and shuttles.
Three shopping buses will be available in Rome, for free, to get shoppers around the city.
“Shopping 1″ takes in the historic city centre from the end of the line in the centre to Porta Pinciana.
The “Shopping 2″ bus goes from Tor di Quinto to Largo Augusto Imperatore, and “Shopping 3″ takes in the via Pieve di Cadore to piazzale delle Canestre/piazzale Flaminio.
Extra buses and trains are planned for the other Rome transport routes and for the Termini and Giardinetti train stations.
If you’re planning on driving in Rome for your shopping (which we would advise against), there are additional no entry and no parking zones in the city centre at peak times of the afternoon and evening, and on weekends, so you’d best check before you negotiate traffic only to find you can’t park anywhere.
There are some free parking deals to take advantage of at the Villa Borghese parking station and the Piazzale Partigiani parking station costs just one euro for three hours, with transport deals into the centre of town available.
Additional pedestrian zones have been established so that you can enjoy your Christmas shopping while strolling the streets of Rome.