We (my wife Aracely and me) just got back from our first trip to Rome, we stayed very near Santa Maria Magiore and although many people told us this was not a very good area, we had NO problems of any kind, we almost walked everywhere, we used to take Via Cavour and that would lead us right to Via dei Fori Imperiali... from here you can reach some sights including the Colosseo, Foro Romando, Palatine Hill, Capitol Hill, Vittorio Emanuele II monument... right in front of this last one you'll find Piazza Venezia and from there you can go on Via del Corso and enjoy the street and do some shopping (Aracely did... you should had seen her in Milan...God...) and Via del Corso at some point will leave pretty much in the middle between the Pantheon and the Trevi fountain (enjoy it best at nigth...).

Now if you keep walking strait on Via del Corso you'll end up in the Spanish Steps and the Piazza del Popolo...

I know some of you Ziner would say I'm crazy to walk all this but consider that you can always get a bus to go back... plus you are there to see the city and enjoy it, we walked and walked and sometimes you get tired but you can stop in any piazza have those strange sweet Nuts...

We stayed 6 days in Rome and one day there was a strike going on and there was no public transportation... no big deal we just walked... Of course to the Vatican is quite a walk so we did take a bus to get there and the metro plus tram to the Soccer Stadium...

Hope this helps... and by the way... this where the best vacations of my life...

Fernando