have only been on a day trip to Rome-fabulous place- but had a long weekend in Barcelona. Barcelona is a great city and vey easy to assess by public transport. There is the tourist bus which we used for the first two days. It just goes round in a circuit past all the major attractions( well most of them!) Half way through the second day we started to use the underground to save time getting to the sites we had not seen however the steps may be too much for your wife.You can buy passes for the ordinary buses as well( not so much passes but you buy an amount of journeys)
Rome I would not think would be nearly so easy to get round.But others will be able to help you better with that.

We've been to both.

Barca is pretty reasonable to eat out, while Rome was slightly more expensive. Both have an excellent choice of place to eat. I guess it depends on the class of hotel but the breakfast in Barca was far better than the one we had in Rome.
Both are easy to get into the cityu from the airport. Barca has a cheap airbus that stops are key points where you can either walk or get a metro to get closer to your destination. From Rome airport you just get the railink at the terminal which stops at the Termini station. You can then walk, get a bus or get a cab, depending on where your hotel is.
Fi is right Barca is very easy to get around with the metro and tourist buses, even if you want to go up to Mount Juic you can take the cable car. In Rome some of the sites aren't necessarily grouped together so you may need to get a taxi (we did to the Vatican city). There are plenty of buses and I'm sure we saw a tourist bus of some sort but to be honest we walked everywhere except the Vatican so I'm not too sure of the details.

If you do pick Barca, I'd recommend the Barcalona card (you can buy them at the airport when you arrive). You pick the number of days you want it for and it's free bus, funicular and metro travel, plus lots of free entry into museums, discounts at restaurants and lots more. You'll get a booklet that tells you what you can use it for.

Hope that helps.
Dawn

Thanks.

Barcelona is looking like the favourite now

Andy, if you are going to Barcalona may I recommend this place in this Barri Gothic for a special meal -
Cafè de l'Acadèmia
C/Lledo 1 (93 319 82 53). Metro Jaume I.
Open 9am-noon, 1.30-4pm, 8.45-11.30pm Mon-Fri. Closed Aug.
Main courses €12.85-€17.10. Set lunch €8.56-€13.40 Mon-Fri.
Credit cards - AmEx, MC, V

We had a fabulous meal there but try and book ahead otherwise you may have to wait a little while at the bar.

Also, we bought the Time Out Guide to Barcalona and it was invaluable (that's where we got the abiove place from!)

i am a rome nut and have been back 3 times now, although im sure you would have a wonderfull time there some of the big sites (imperial forum, collesium) do tend include needing to walk up some steps. Having said that the last time we went was this may and we took my gradmother who does have a dodgy hip (just had a replacement) and she was fine it just meant doing things a bit more slowly.
Getting around rome isnt to bad most of the main sites and museams are quite close to each other. and the vatican is reachable by metro although i would highly recomend getting a taxi as the walk from the station to the vatican is a bit far.
All in all its a great place with so much to do and see. But must admit Barcelona sounds really special aswell. imj sure you will have a great time no matter where you end up going

jessop
Is there not a lift at the Colloseum- perhaps I am thinking about somewhere else though!

hey fiona as far as i know no there isnt a lift i dont think they like to do to much as it would damage the structure even more than it has been over the years,most of the damage you see is from people stealing the stone during the reinasience to build new houses etc. i could be wrong but im pretty sure there isnt a lift.

Strange- I thought I could actually picture them! I wonder what I'm thinking of?

are you sure it was rome, and also what building was it? the one with lifts which springs to mind in rome would be the dome of st peters (vatican) the one michelangelo built ring any bells (excuse the pun )

Hi andy ... just in case you have missed any recommendations, we have sticky topics covering both both Rome and Barcelona here in this forum.

David

Defintately no list in the Collusseum when we were there Fi.

incidently andy, where ever you choose to go please let us all know where you decide to go and if you have time a report would be rather spiffing would love to here about barcelona if you go there as am thinking of going there at some point next year
many thanks and cheers

There is a lift in the Coliseum but it's right at the far end to the entrance.

The steps aren't too bad anyway.

I've been to both, and both are fantastic cities. I got back from Barca last Monday (will do a trip report soon).
Rome is easy to walk round all the attractions except the Vatican, and has better shopping IMO.
Barcelona is good for buses, not so much for walking. I think there's less to see in Barcelona but with all the bars and restaurants on La Ramblas, it's easier to find somewhere to go at night to eat/drink. Barcelona is also very expensive, I was surprised at how expensive it was. Beer was between £3 and £4.50 a glass, 8 dish tapas with one drink each cost us 50 euro's, got tickets to see Barcelona play Cadiz and the cheapest seats available were 46 euro's each......not cheap. The metro is excellent though, we were there for four days and got a 4 day pass for 17 euros each this also covers you for the funicular and the bus (not the tourist bus tho' that is different). It's a tough choice really, Barca is a cleaner more modern city, Rome is very historic (LOTS of immigrant pickpockets in Rome too).

HTH

TC