Myself and my sister are back from a three day trip to Rome and we had an absolute ball! It’s the perfect city for a short break as it’s so compact. By total fluke, we ended up having seen most of what we wanted to do by the end of the second day! Get ready for the ultimate guide to Rome!
Getting Around
- Public Transport: It cost €1.50 a trip and this allows travel for 75mins on all public transport. You can buy your ticket in the local corner shop. If you are going to use public transport a lot, it would be worth your while getting a 1, 2, 3 or 7 day pass. More info here. If you’re just using the metro, you don’t need to get a physical ticket. You can just tap your credit/debit card at the turnstiles.
- Taxi: From the airport there is an easy to find taxi rank to get into the city. Prices are set at €50 a taxi.
- Electric Scooter: We had so much fun on these! They have a surprising amount of power in them, so you can get up to 20km an hour. We just used them at night because it felt so much safer with less traffic – the locals in Rome are crazy drivers! 😂 We downloaded the Lime app and bought a pass for €9. Not the cheapest way to get around, but so much craic – I’d definitely recommend!
Where to Stay
We stayed with family when we were there, so I don’t have any accommodation recommendations. But I will say that the center of Rome is pretty small, so I wouldn’t worry about trying too much about where to stay. If you stay anywhere within the circle on the map below, you would be within a half an hours walk of pretty much everything to see! I wouldn’t stay down near the colosseum as there didn’t seem to be much else happening in the area.
Things to Do
Most of the information below is a mix of what we experienced and info given to us by our cousin who is currently living here. He gave us lots of great advice!
- The Vatican museums – make sure you prebook as the queues for this are insane!! If you’re going in the summer, look out for days that have a late opening in the evenings. The museum can feel quite stifling in the summer daytime heat.
- St. Peter’s Basilica – if you want to go in, get there first thing in the morning because the queues are crazy! You can also climb to the very top of the dome – the spiral stairs are pretty narrow!
- Pantheon – free, but could be a long queue
- Trevi Fountain – We visited at nighttime too and it was so beautiful
- Altare Della Patria – cool building to see, but don’t bother going in
- Spanish Steps – overrated
- Villa Borghese Park – we went on the row boats here. It cost €4 for 20mins and it was such a cute thing to do. Felt like you were in the countryside!
- Castel Sant Angelo – the tour is cool and there is a nice view from the top.
- Small hike to Belvedere del Gianicolo – great view at either sunset/sunrise. It’s a 20-25min walk from the Vatican
- Colosseum – The main attraction is just looking at it from the outside. The tour is just ok – if you’re on a tight budget or timeline, I wouldn’t bother doing it.
- Roman Forum – Next to the Colosseum. Maybe it’s just me (cause I’m not a huge history buff), but I was glad we didn’t pay to get into this too. If you just want to see it, walk past the ticket entrance and up the hill. You’ll get a good view of most of it.
- Shopping: Zara home was a total highlight because we don’t have it in Ireland
If you have lots of time:
- Beaches – Santa Severe (no town, just beach) and Santa Marinella (town, but beach not as nice) can be reached by getting on the train from Roma S. Pietro
- Castel Gandolfo – beautiful lake, lovely town, lots of sun loungers and kakyaking also available. Train from Termini station.
- Orvieto – typical old Italian town. Lovely to walk around. 75min train from Termini.
- Ostia Antica – Similiar to Pompeii and the ruins are better, but the story isn’t as cool. Rick Steves does a great audiobook tour on his app for free. Train from Roma Lido station.
- Capuchin Crypts
Shopping
- Zara home was a total highlight because we don’t have it in Ireland – I wanted to buy everything!
- Booktique – small shop, but some cute items and art prints.
- Via del Corso – main shopping street
- Mia Home Design Gallery – really expensive so we didn’t buy anything, but worth a stop if you’re passing. I wouldn’t go out of my way to go there.
- La Bella – gorgeous jewellary and every piece is €15. Well worth a stop. We spotted two locations in the city, one was right next to the Pantheon.
Places to Eat
- Giolitti – ice cream
- Trecaffe Bistro – good places if you’re looking for a quick lunch – lots of sandwiches, rolls and salad options. Good coffee too!
- Caffe Tazza d’Oro – next to the Pantheon, more of a takeway for coffee lovers
- Pane E Salame – really tasty sandwiches and cheese/meat boards
- Virginiae – carbonara, dinner
- Da Tonio – dinner
- Two Sizes – tiramisu
- Fridgidatium – ice cream
- Trastevere area is considered the food spot. It’s a good spot to do a food tour! Tonnarello, Nannarella, Roody’s, Da Enzo, Pasta e Vino Osteria and Impiccetta are all restaurant recommendations for dinner and pasta. You have to book online or on an app called The Fork for a lot of these. You could chill out in the Trastevere area for a few drinks afterwards – Bar San Castillo is a cheaper option!
A few more tips…
- Download Rick Steves Audio Europe App – all free walking tours. The heart of Rome and the Vatican ones are good.
- Use an app called Get Your Guide to book any tour tickets.
- There are four pasta dishes the locals love and eat the most. Gricia, Carbonara, Cacio e Pepe, and Amatriciana. So if you’re undecided on what to order, these will always be a good choice!
If you have any recommendations, don’t forget to add them to the comments below! And if you’re looking for another city break idea, Lisbon is amazing!!
