"Places to avoid? How can you suggest avoiding these famous places?" As Henny Youngman might have said, compared to what? Overcrowded, over-commercialized, overhyped, your experience will be trapped in tourism. If you really want to see the Spanish Steps or the Pantheon, your perambulations -- you are walking, aren't you, rather than bus or cab or (God help you) private car? -- will inevitably bring you close enough so that if you want a glimpse, you can get it without planning it.