Rome, Italy
Mon, May 18, 2020
Last August, Nate and I set off on our two week tour of Italy! We decided to visit Rome, the Amalfi Coast, Florence, and Cinque Terre. We planned to stay 3-4 days in each spot but as it turned out, our time in Cinque Terre got a little derailed and we ended up in Tuscany for a few days instead (with a day trip to Cinque Terre at the tail end of our trip). We started off our Italian excursion in where other than…Roma!
Rome. What a place. People have SO many opinions about Rome as it turns out. Some people told me it was their favorite place in Italy and others told me to leave it out of our itinerary completely. When it comes down to it, so much of your impression of a place is dependent on how well you plan your time there though. If you have terrible weather, get ripped off by a cab driver, pick a shoddy neighborhood to stay in, or spend too much of your time in touristy spots…it doesn’t really matter how great that place is, you aren’t going to like it. And let’s be fair, these things are usually avoidable if you make a little extra effort. To really enjoy a place, I think you need to plan well and some people just don’t want to make the effort to do this. I think Rome falls victim to this, like many big cities often do.
All that to say, I can see how someone would be easily overwhelmed by Rome, but our three days there were my favorite of our whole trip and I cannot wait to go back and do it all over again! We got tickets in advance to almost everything and didn’t have to wait in any long lines. We also made dinner reservations for every night we were there and loved the restaurants we had picked in advance. I think that these two things made all the difference in making our time there fun and relaxed. We soaked up everything Rome had to offer and I absolutely adored it! Walking down cobblestone streets with gelato in hand, people watching in the piazzas, sipping wine and eating pasta as the warm summer sun sets- is there anything better? Obviously you know my feelings on Rome now, so below I will list the best places that we ate along with all of the fun activities we did while in the eternal city.
All of the restaurants and bars listed below have outdoor seating, which I highly recommend. I couldn’t even tell you what the inside of any of these restaurants looked like. I picked them based on their menu/reviews and the cuteness level of their outdoor dining. I also made reservations about a month ahead of time and requested an outdoor table, it was definitely worth it!
Eats & Treats
Coffee: Faro, Pergamino Caffè
Bakery: La Casetta a Monti, Antico Forno Roscioli
Breakfast: Vivi Bistrot
Snack: Trapizzino, Supplizio, Forno Campo de ‘Fiori
Lunch: Roma Sparita, Alle Carrette
Pizza: Pizzarium, Ai Marmi, Emma
Aperitivos: Ombre Rosse, Osteria Delle Coppelle, Salotto42
Dinner: Osteria Delle Coppelle, Dal Bolognese, Da Carlone
Gelato: Gelateria Del Teatro, Come il Latte
Activities
- Take a tour of the Colosseum and Roman Forum. We booked a tour guide to take us through both historical spots and it was some of the best money we spent! If we hadn’t booked the tour, we would have had no idea what we were looking at and it honestly wouldn’t have been that interesting. We booked a small group tour (6 people or less so you didn’t need to carry around headsets) for a more personal experience. It was so chill and our tour guide was wonderful, nothing felt rushed and it felt like we had a personal tour guide. Here is the tour we did.
- Spend an evening in Trastevere. This neighborhood is the evening hot spot in Rome with the most popular restaurants and bars. It’s lively and beautiful and the vibe is so fun. We got aperol spritzes and watched the neighborhood come to life before dinner, this is a place you can’t miss while in Rome!
- Visit Borghese Gallery & Museum. This museum is nice because it’s very small but packed full of gorgeous sculptures and ceilings. You could only spend an hour inside and see the whole thing, which is a nice break from the bigger museums in Italy that can seem daunting. I would recommend just getting your tickets when you get there, there wasn’t a line and the website wasn’t very easy to navigate.
- Spend an afternoon in Villa Borghese. The Villa Borghese, is a garden but more like Rome’s version of Central Park. It’s named after the museum I just mentioned which resides inside of the garden itself. The park is huge and you could spend a whole afternoon just walking around seeing the sights, stopping for lunch at one of the many cute cafe’s, or grabbing a gelato as you stroll around.
- See St. Peter’s Square and St. Peter’s Basilica. Vatican City is so grand and unique and obviously a must do while in Rome. Seeing the square and going into the church could be time consuming but it doesn’t have to be. St. Peter’s Basilica has free entry but we spent about $10 to buy a “skip the line ticket” online before hand and passed hundreds of people to walk right in. Here are the tickets we got.
- Visit the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel. This is another place with a 3 hour line just to get tickets if you don’t book them ahead of time. We got our tickets online weeks before our trip and again, walked right in with no wait. “Skip the line” tickets are pretty much sold for every big tourist sight in Rome and worth the $ a million times over. Here are the tickets we got.
- Walk around and explore the neighborhood surrounding Piazza Navona. This is the area of Rome that you picture in your head. It’s picturesque and perfect. There are little cobblestone alley ways that open up to the beautiful Piazza Navona, and adorable gelato shops at every corner. It is exactly what you dreamed of Rome to be.
- See the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps. I’ll be straight with you, the fountain is stunning and you have to see it, but there will be 1 million tourists there all crammed together. I have heard if you go first thing in the morning it is less crowded, so head out early if you want a more peaceful experience. We were there at sunset, which gave us beautiful light, but crowds as well. The Spanish Steps are nearby the fountain and also a must-see. Not so fun fact: you cannot sit on the Spanish Steps anymore but we watched the sunset from the top of the steps and it was really romantic!
- Check out the Pantheon and go inside to see the amazing dome ceiling. This is free, quick, and easy and something you have to do because…it’s the pantheon…in Rome!
- Walk along the Tiber River with some gelato. The river runs right through the middle of the city and offers some beautiful views!
