Using buses in Rome

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/rome/transport/getting-around/local-transport

The most useful routes:

n1 Follows the route of metro line A.

n2 Follows the route of metro line B.

n7 Piazzale Clodio, Piazza Cavour, Via Zanardelli, Corso del Rinascimento, Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, Largo di Torre Argentina, Piazza Venezia, Via Nazionale and Stazione Termini.

Buses From Termini

From Piazza dei Cinquecento outside Stazione Termini buses run to all corners of the city.

Destination	Bus No
St Peter’s Sq	40/64
Piazza Venezia	40/64
Piazza Navona	40/64
Campo de’ Fiori	40/64
Pantheon	40/64
Colosseum	75
Terme di Caracalla	714
Villa Borghese	910
Trastevere	H

Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/rome/transport/getting-around/local-transport#ixzz4DTHhViCs

Buses no. 64 and 40 - The Tourist Express

Useful ItalianTicket - biglietto 
City bus - autobus 
Bus stop - fermata 
Subway - MetroSubway station -stazione Metro

I'm getting off! -scendo!
Excuse me (to get though crowds) -permesso
Excuse me (to get attention) - scusa
Excuse me (to apologize) - mi dispiace
more»

The single most useful bus line is probably the 40 (and its slower, local-stops cousin, the 64), which makes a beeline from Stazione Termini to the Vatican, passingPiazza Venezia (for central Rome) and Largo Argentina (for the historic Tiber Bend area) then across the river to Piazza Pia, right next to Castel Sant'Angelo.

Sadly, the bus does not then continue on all to way to a little square tucked behind the wall just outside Piazza San Pietro at St. Peter's. In its infinite idiocy, Rome's public transport board decided a few years ago to stop offering beeline direct bus service to the Vatican area. Piazza Pia is the new "waiting room" stop for visiting St. Peter's, the place where you pick up the "San Pietro express" shuttle bus 62, which just does a loop down the seven long (and exceedingly dull, souvenir-shop-lined) blocks from Piazza Pia to St. Peter's and back.

Old Rome hands might recognize this route as the same one plied by the famous no. 64 bus,nicknamed "The Wallet Eater," or "The PickpocketExpress" since it is always crammed with tourists, a fact that attracts Light-fingered Luigis like flies to the honeypot. It is. The 40 is merely an express version of the 64, which still chugs along the same route but stops more frequently.

Both, of course, remain thick with thieves, so be extra careful.

The minibuses (116, 117, 119) - A DIY bus tour of the historic center

For info on tickets, click here.

For more on Rome's transportation system (buses/trams and the Metro) visit www.atac.roma.it.

For more on Rome's general layout—its major streets, squares, and neighborhoods—click here.

Also terribly useful for tourists are a trio of teensy electric buses that trundle through the streets of the centro storico (historic center).

• Electric bus no. 116 runs roughly east-west across the centro storico, from theGalleria Borghese, through Villa Borghese park, down the Via Veneto past the Spanish Steps and the Pantheon to Piazza Navona , past Campo dei Fiori and along the Tiber, across the river to a stop near Castel Sant' Angelo then another near St. Peter's before turning around and heading back.
  • (The 116T plies much the same route, only it veers off to swing past the opera house and other theaters in the streets just southwest of Termini, and it doesn't run on Sundays.)
• Electric bus no. 117 (Mon–Sat only) runs north-south from Piazza del Popolo, down the Corso, through Piazza Venezia, past all the ancient Roman sights (Forum, Imperial Fori,Colosseum), then up along the Esquiline and Quirinal Hills (passing San Clemente and San Giovanni in Laterano) to return north by a different route past Santa Maria Maggiore, the Trevi Fountain area, and the Spanish Steps.
• Electric bus. no. 119 is essentially a truncated version of the 117, diverting from Via del Corso to head across the river to Piazza Cavour then back, and also swinging west thorugh the Largo Argentina area before returning north past the Spanish Steps toPiazza del Popolo. It does not, however, continue south past all of Ancient Rome, as does the 117.

Trams in Rome

Roman trams work just like buses, but few lines are of use to tourists—though tired feet might want to hop the no. 8 tram to get from its Largo Argentina terminus into Trastevere

http://www.reidsitaly.com/destinations/lazio/rome/planning/around_by_bus.html

Walking is by far the best way to explore Rome’s fascinating city center, and is completely free.

Take a stroll around the Centro Storico (Historic Center), which comprises the Pantheon, the Jewish Ghetto, and some of the city’s most beautiful historic squares – Piazza Campo de’ Fiori and Piazza Navona.

If touring the ancient sites of Rome is what you have in mind, head to the Colosseo district in the heart of ancient Rome, where the Colosseum, the Palatine Hill, and the Roman Forum are located.

From Rome’s center go north to the area called Tridente, where you can do some window shopping on Via del Corso and soak up the vibe on the famous Spanish Steps in Piazza di Spagna.

using Google Street View, Rome included. You can actually wander the streets of the Eternal City and marvel at its splendid monuments