Touristy tips for Rome
Some handy hints for those of you planning a trip to Rome:
Discount passes:
The guide books write up a bunch of passes that make it more affordable to visit a lot of the sites. The one we got was the Archaeologia card worth 22 euros, which got us in to the Palatine, Colosseum, Crypta Balbi – a museum dedicated to Roman excavations, and about 7 other places. The cost is recovered once you cover the Colosseum and Palatine and so the rest is a bonus. If you buy it at the Palatine, the queue is shorter, and you can by-pass the queue at the Colosseum once you pass security (yay, modern culture of fear, excuse cynicism!).
Another pass that you can get is the Roma Pass (not mentioned in our guide book). It’s a 3 day pass that gets you in to two museums of your choice for free and discounts to other sites, the advantage is that it also gives you free public transport for those 3 days, great if you’re not in town for that long! I believe its 18 euro. 
Transport:
Although most things are within walking distance if you stay in or close to the centre, after doing so much walking, a metro ticket is worthwhile. A weekly tickets sets you back 16 euro and is valid from the day of validation till a week thereafter (unlike in Genova where a weekly is from Monday to Sunday). Its good for the metro, busses and trams.
Audio guides (one for the tightarses):
Although tours are great, they can get pricey. We often went the audio guide route, but again costs add up when you’re getting 2. We unexpectedly discovered that a lot of the audio guide units have a spot for headphones and when you plug them in, the sound goes through both the guide and the headphones – 2 for the price of one! 
Unfortunately this doesn’t work at the Vatican, but if you have a standard pair of ipod-style headphones, you can share one ear each.
Eating:
Although not as expensive as in northern Italy, again costs add up. Look out for supermarkets, obvious I know, but they’re not as standout obvious as in other places, so you do need to keep your eyes peeled.
Hope this helps!