Rome Travel Guide
When in Rome do what the romans do
Rome. Straight roads, ancient architecture and empires come to mind. The capital of Italy is impressive and definitely worth a visit! This summer, we couldn’t hit Venice and Florence without going to Rome!
Impressions:
There were a lot of things that I loved and found to be unique about Rome:
- Hundreds of sites to see!
- A good range of restaurant types – in other Italian cities you are restricted to Italian restaurants alone.
- There is a brilliant contrast between ancient and modern architecture, educational museums/art galleries and family friendly attractions.
However, some things to be aware of are:
- Metro Tubes and Buses get VERY busy and are rather claustrophobic.
- It’s difficult to find somewhere inexpensive to eat unless you go out into the suburbs.
Sites and attractions
Ancient Rome:
You can’t go to Rome and not see the Colosseum! The largest amphitheatre ever built is one of Italy’s most renowned attractions and built beside the Forum and Palatine, makes an exciting day out.
On Palatine Hill you get some incredible views of the city and the forum ruins!
You can buy a combined ticket that grants a pre-selected, timed entry into the Colosseum and then also one entry into the Forum and Palatine. This ticket lasts two days to enable you to take your time in each since the Forum takes up a vast expanse of landscape itself.
However, don’t be fooled! Whilst the ticket is a two day entry, you can only go in once – no return. We discovered this when we came back a day later to finish seeing the Palatine, not realising that the Forum and Palatine Hill don’t have separate entries. Thankfully we managed to persuade the staff to let us in as the ticket was not very clear.
The Pantheon
The Pantheon was built as a roman temple to the gods. It has no windows and it’s only light source is a huge hole in the top of the domed roof. Apparently it does rain into the Pantheon but the floors are designed to allow the water run straight off towards the edges of the building.
Now the Pantheon is used as a church so you get free entry. Whilst statues of the roman gods have now been removed, the interiors are still very royal.
Trevi Fountain
The fountain makes for a pleasant place to sit for a little while but I wouldn’t allow too much time there. It’s a very busy site and whilst beautiful, takes time to find and there’s not much else there! But if you fancy an ice cream, then why not?
Spanish steps
The Spanish steps connect Piazza di Spagna with the upper Piazza Trinita dei Monti, and are considered to be Rome’s most romantic spot. They were built to represent peace between France and Spain. From the top you get some lovely views of the city. The place seems to come to life during the evening where most people congregate to enjoy the fountain after dinner.
The Vatican
The Vatican is the state belonging the the Pope and technically the smallest country in the world. Here you can visit the Vatican Museum, St.Peter’s Basilica and the famous Sistine Chapel where Michelangelo’s incredible works can be found on the ceiling.
We didn’t get chance to go into any of these sites because we didn’t prebook fast enough – the earliest tickets (unless you want to waste 4 hours queuing in the sun) were for two weeks after our trip! However if you know you’re heading to Rome, I would definitely recommend the Sistine Chapel. Why? You aren’t allowed to take photographs inside and it holds some of the world’s greatest paintings – they are a must see and you won’t find any pictures of them online!
Bioparco Di Roma
A day out to a zoo always goes down well with the family! We find that it’s a relaxing break from site-seeing and something that all of us can enjoy. Bioparco is easy to get to on the bus and the animals are really well cared for. Every hour they have scheduled feedings, including hippo feeding! Tickets are €16 per adult which is amazing value and the park offers some good, valuable food choices too.
Why you don’t need an organised tour
So many people these days opt in for organised tours – you see offers everywhere! It’s almost as if people aren’t willing to ‘risk’ it and try to see the city themselves…
This is why you don’t need one:
- They are extremely expensive (€50-80)!
- Long and awkward hours: often tours last all day but start as early as 7am and finish at 5pm. This means you are up early and doing most of the tour in midday heat. Most places in Rome open late so it’s a lot better to go in the evening when it’s cooler.
- Large groups: I mean why do you want to be carted round in a group of forty, camera-clicking tourists? I’ve been there, done that and I can tell you that it’s one of the most stressful things ever!
Are the benefits actually benefits?
- “You get to skip the queues.” Perhaps it’s satisfying to skip the queue and not worry about handling tickets but you pay a fortune to do so. The best way to skip queues is to prebook tickets because you just pay a standard price.
- “It’s easy to use the hop on and hop off buses.” This is ridiculous! These sorts of buses charge a premium when you can buy a Rome day ticket for the metro and bus. You can buy a 24 hour pass for €7 or a 72 hour pass if you stay longer.
- “The audio guide provides all the information you need.” Most museums and sites will either sell a paper guide or have a free audio guide app – so you really don’t need a personal tour guide! Or save even more and buy a good Rome travel book!
Practicalities
Of course you want to know where to stay and eat…
We actually stayed in a Holiday Inn Express in the suburb of San Giovanni. It only took 15 minutes on the metro and since it was a more residential area, we found a brilliant pizza restaurant and bistro. It was a lot cheaper than central restaurants and greater quality too – we actually ate there twice after trying two not so great places in the centre.
over and out
That’s it for Rome! There are so many more museums and galleries that we could have visited but we didn’t quite have time. I would definitely recommend Rome if you are looking for a city break or holiday.
Our Italy blog ends here too. Of all the countries I’ve visited, Italy definitely wins for transport – the trains are irreplaceable! It makes touring the country easy, quick and affordable. If I were to pick a single destination, it would have to be Rome simply because of the range of sites to see – Venice is beautiful but at the end of the day, it is just canals and art galleries!
I definitely recommend splitting your flights and using the trains. We flew to Pisa, then went Florence, Venice and flew back from Rome. However there isn’t a great deal in Pisa besides the leaning tower so it might be worth flying to Venice first and passing through Florence on the way to Rome!
I hope you have found all the information and inspiration you need to hit Italy yourself!
Is there anything else you would like me to write about?
Florence in 48 Hours
Your train arrives at 12pm and you have forty eight hours to explore the vast and beautiful city of Florence. What do you do? On the way to Venice, we stopped off in Florence for two nights. Working out what you want to see and how to see it can be a little confusing so today I’m sharing my experience of Florence! I’ll take you through a jam-packed forty eight hours and share a few tips and things I wish I’d done better.
First of all, I want to highlight how beneficial it can be to reduce the length of your trips when travelling. Not only does it save on accommodation, but it also motivates you to go and see more in a day that perhaps you usually would if staying for a week. Whilst you do have to prioritise and cut a few things from your list, it’s surprising how much you really can fit into a weekend in the city.
Day 1
My train (from Pisa) arrived at 12pm and after dropping bags at the hotel, my family and I decided to explore and walk in the direction of the city centre. We were about fifteen minutes from the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore and we ambled down Via Faenza.
Normally in Italy, you have to pay a cover charge and the nearer the centre, the greater this cost – we once got charged €4 each to sit down. Therefore, if looking for a place to eat, it’s definitely worth it to stop in one of the first cafes you see. We managed to find Caffe Sabatino on Via Faenza – they had very reasonable lunch prices!
Ponte Vecchio
After a spot of lunch, we walked straight through the city centre. With plans to return later, we headed for the river. Here we visited the Galileo Museum which I recommend to anyone interested in science. It’s home to many important instruments and the free museum app is a brilliant educational guide. After an hour or so in an air-conditioned museum, we headed towards the famous Ponte Vecchio. This medieval bridge is lined with jewellery shops and is certainly worth a visit!
We then continued over the Ponte Vecchio and with the aid of google maps, wandered through quieter areas to get our bearings. We decided to search for churches using google maps and see how many we could find in a circular route. You could choose anything from churches to art galleries, or even just public squares! On this walk we discovered a small square and accidentally walked onto a film set… oops!
A photo in the square – turns out this guy was part of the film crew…
By evening, it’s time to eat in one of the many restaurants. We decided to go to a pizza place but if you would rather save on the pennies, there is the “mercato centrale” food market which is basically a food court – but good food! There’s pizza, gnocchi, fresh handmade pasta, burgers, sushi and even a vegan restaurant! We actually ate here on our second night and wish we’d eaten there both nights. There are plenty of places to sit too!
After eating what better than to watch the sunset over the Ponte Vecchio? You could take a bus up onto the hill for panoramic views but just standing on a bridge further down the river gave a good enough view!
Day 2
For your second day you might want to prebook a museum, gallery or cathedral visit. We chose to book the Uffizi Gallery – the Uffizi is Italy’s largest art gallery. We headed straight to the gallery to pick up the tickets and avoid queues, then spent some time in the Piazza della Signoria adjacent, where you can find many statues including Michelangelo’s David.
If choosing the Uffizi, you can easily spend three to four hours viewing the artwork and still leave some things out! It’s a great way to spend the late morning and escape the midday sun. However, after being on your feet so long a rest back at the hotel is certainly due.
Michelangelo’s David
Finally, it’s always a good idea to spend you last evening wandering through the centre before sunset. You may even stumble across the odd opera singer! Besides it’s much cooler and quieter at this time and a lot of street artists are about too.
The next morning we had a few hours to kill before our train – you can get the tram from the station to a riverside park called Parco Delle Cascine. It only takes five minutes and is a lovely place to explore.
I hope you enjoyed this guide to spending forty eight hours in Florence! It’s a really beautiful city and it’s certainly possible to do it in a weekend!
P.S. Did you see the Venice Moments post? It’s worth a read!
Venice Moments
Venice is the definition of creativity. Built on water, this slightly wonky city is full of photographs ready to happen. There are art galleries, gondolas and of course, the Grand Canal. Built on one hundred small islands in the Adriatic Sea, there are no roads – you enter this interesting world of water buses and speed-boat-taxis…
I spent four days in Venice when travelling through Italy. Whilst Venice can be expensive, we found that renting a house in a residential area made the experience very affordable, and allowed us to see the reality. Most of our time was spent visiting art galleries, riding the water buses and walking down alleys. We did also make trips to other islands such as Burano (as you will have seen here on Instagram) and Murano which is famous for glass making.
Venice is ephemeral. Everywhere you look, there is a new moment about to unfold and last only a split second. As a photographer this was definitely something that I wanted to capture – I’ve always been excited by capturing moments! It’s truly beautiful.
