A stopover in Rome means choosing which Rome fits the hours. Fiumicino is 37 km from Termini and the Leonardo Express covers it in 32 minutes, leaving about every 15 minutes; Civitavecchia, the cruise port, is some 80 km north-west and an hour or more by train. In the centre, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon and Piazza Navona are a short walk apart, and the Colosseum is a longer stroll. With five or six hours you get one of the big interiors or a walk through the centre, rarely both.
At present no guided layover tour sits in this category. What does is bike hire, from two points. Lungotevere delle Armi stands on the Tiber in the north-west and suits the centre and Villa Borghese; Via Appia Antica 175 is on the old road south of the walls, for the Appian Way park, the Aqueducts and Caffarella. Both rent regular and electric bikes with helmet, lock and suggested routes on the Komoot app. E-bikes need a rider of at least 140 cm, and the operator advises a mountain bike, not a city bike, on the Appian Way.
Practical. Count the airport leg first and leave a margin before the return flight. July and August average highs of about 32C, so ride early; April and October run 20 to 23C. The old paving on the Appian Way is rough, which is why sturdier bikes are recommended there. If you keep a bike for more than a day, the operator asks you to check that your hotel has a safe place for it, since street parking overnight is not recommended.
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