My 3 Day trip to “Roma” felt way too short. Rome is a city where there is plenty to do- many neighborhoods to wander around, tons of history to soak in, great food to eat, and very walkable. In fact, in all of the places I visited in Italy, this is the city I plan to come back to.
I gave myself two rest days with nothing planned so that I could explore freely and acclimate to following a new sleep rhythm for the next 2.5 weeks. I now want to plan this into every international trip- it was absolutely worth it to be able to decide when and where I needed to relax. So on Day 1 (my arrival), I did not do much. I napped, I wandered, I ate pizza at Malaterra and gelato at Gelateria del Gracchi, then I went to bed.
Day 2 was a dream. I discovered the heart of Rome and was amazed- amazed at the history in front of me, how tall everything felt, and how long it must have taken to build the intricate details and paint the ceilings. As I made my way to the major historical sites, I wandered into several churches and took my time embracing the art that religion built into this ancient city.
The lines to get into many of the historical sites (even on Free Sunday) were way too long to stand in. Perhaps if I had an entire week, I would’ve weighed my time differently. So I opted out of organized tours and instead freely explored from the outside. I stumbled upon an open, no-line museum at the site of the Monumento e Vittorio Emanuel. It was a stately building located in a major city circle near the Forum. Climbing to the top of this building was no small feat but the views from the top were well worth the effort. Located across from the Roman Forum, you are able to get an incredible view of the city (including the Vatican dome and the Colosseum).
From there, I wandered through the Forum. I was surprised at how open and easily accessible it was. I cannot imagine walking past it casually every day on my way to work.
From this spot, you can also see the Colosseum looming in the background. It is impeccable to witness- even if your only view is from the outside. The line to get a free ticket was easily over an hour long so I opted to eat at a restaurant nearby.
I saved a lot of recommendations on my map and spotted one close – Ristoro della Salute. I did not expect to get a table, let alone a table with a view of the Colosseum. It was the best pasta (Cacio e Pepe) I had in Rome and some of the best in my tour of Italy. I made friends with an American woman also traveling solo and had a delightful lunch (pranzare).
From here, I made my way to the infamous Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps. The crowd here was overwhelming. Surprisingly there were not a lot of people on the actual steps, but hundreds crowding around and down the street. Once I made my way up the steps, I saw how near the Borghese gardens were and I decided to go that way. I snagged a gelato along the way at Don Nino.
This is where I knew I did not have the right shoes on- I hadn’t planned on walking over 25k steps and my feet had huge blisters. The walk was also completely uphill and exhausting. It reminded me of going to the Sacre Couer in Montmartre– up and up and up. I found an e-bike to rent through the park and that eased my feet a bit. This was actually delightful as there were lots of large paths (sometimes it was hard to navigate through all the people but it didn’t feel as overwhelming as the streets and side streets would have been with a bike!). You could tell this park on a sunny day was a local treasure, as people lounged and picnicked.
Unfortunately, the Borghese Gallery within the park was sold out of tickets, even on “free Sunday”. I made my way back down the hill but regretted that I did not continue in the direction of the Piazza del Popolo. On another day this would have been a great flow, as the center street from this Piazza is filled with major shopping.
I decided to stop for an early dinner at Cybo– partially for necessity because my feet were absolutely wrecked. I was excited to try an Italian meatball and compare it to one of my favorite meals at home. It was delicious and paired well with house-made Focaccia.
My goal each day was to stay out until at least 7PM to help me sleep through the night, so I headed back to sleep knowing I would need to get up early for my Vatican tour.
I booked a guided tour through the museum at an early time to try to avoid lines. When walking up to the Vatican you will see a lot of queues. Because of the time I arrived, it was actually wide open, and there was not a line yet. I opted to grab breakfast nearby before heading in ( a lesson I learned in Paris: eat before museums).
After eating, I had 45 minutes to get inside. There was very little signage or understanding of where I was supposed to go. When I looked at maps of the Vatican, I assumed the correct line was the one forming on the right- as the entrance on the map was on the right. I inevitably stood in line for 45 minutes, then hurried around the colonnades once I passed through security. I asked a worker about my ticket and they mentioned I needed to go outside to another entrance. Because there were no maps or signs, I had to continue to ask very annoyed Italian security men where to go. It turns out the entrance for the museum is half of a mile around this giant Vatican wall, two or three streets beyond the line for the basilica and main square.
Luckily the queue for people with tickets went extremely fast. From there, finding where to go (and getting through security again) was much easier as there were large signs with arrows. I was 30 minutes late and absolutely sweating from running. The woman kindly got me in with a new group.
I have never done a guided tour before. There were several pros and cons to this.
It felt a bit overwhelming to try to take in each intricate space while navigating through so many people (more than any other museum I have been to) and trying to listen to someone. If you get too far away, you lose the reception of your guide as well. Upon reflection, if I had to do it again I would want time to do both- time to get my bearings from the guided tour and then time to walk through it on my own on another day!
While the Sistine Chapel was outstanding to see in person, I was personally awe-struck by the Basilica. What an incredible work of art designed by several renowned artists: Bramante, Michelangelo, Raphael (for a time), and Bernini. The vast gold ceilings, the domes filled with light, and the multiple altar and monument spaces were emotionally charged with beauty.
There was a gift shop just through a space inside the Basilica where you could buy things like rosaries, statues, and holy water jars. You could take the jars to the Sacristy (to the left of the gift shop) where a priest took the jars to fill them with holy water. There is a small line (with people who have jars and then some people who are curious about why there is a line). You could also request that he bless the rosaries you purchased (but he may wait until other people have rosaries too and bless them all at once).
I did not opt for the dome ticket or to see Peter’s tomb- which the basilica was built on top of to memorialize the first Pope of the Catholic faith, Saint Peter. It is believed he was buried below the Vatican, though no concrete proof has been discovered.
After the Vatican visit my feet needed a siesta, so I stopped at a highly-rated ristorante called Cucina del Teatro. I cherished the little green-coated alcove and appreciated the umbrellas to escape the rain. I had a delicious lasagna (with meat-which was not written on the menu) and aqua frizzante, followed by a delicious gelato (dark chocolate with red wine). I love how the small gelatos feel like just enough.
Later in the afternoon, I decided to explore what many call the “colorful” part of Rome, Trastevere. I wanted to try my first Limoncello. Because it was a rainy day, I stopped at the first place I could find that might serve a Limoncello. I hopped upon this very random restaurant filled with candy-themed objects and learned that lightweights should not drink Limoncello. I was then determined to try these rice-filled fried balls at Suppli in Trastevere to absorb the alcohol. It was delicious and cheap!
Trastevere felt similar to the area where I was staying, but a little more gritty and a lot more spray paint. As the rain fell and my feet continued to ache, I decided to opt in for an early dinner. I walked past this small spot on a quiet street with a TripAdvisor sticker and decided to give it a try. This was the first time I noticed the difference between pasta preferences, as the pasta here was more chewy and less enjoyable. I really liked the atmosphere though- the tables had placemat drawings and obscure ordering structures!
It was time for me to pack my things back up and head to Venice the next day. This trip is helping me to solidify my love of early nights-even when traveling. I woke up, grabbed some quick breakfast treats, and hopped on a bus to Roma Termini.
I opted to take a bus from the airport into Rome- with my stop being located in the Vatican area. The buses were affordable, about 8 euro, and easy to find! The perk of this was being closer to my Airbnb than taking the train (which would have caused me to have to hop on a bus after taking the train). In hindsight, I probably would’ve tried to flag down a taxi from the bus stop just to make navigating through the tourist-heavy areas easier. The sidewalks and streets are really hard to wheel luggage through and I was nervous about theft with the crowds being so thick.
You can buy tickets from newspaper stands and Tabacchis. You can also buy the tickets in advance. However, you cannot buy tickets on the bus. Once you “validate” the ticket, you are good to ride for 100 minutes on the ticket. On the bus I took, the validation machine was in the back (unlike in America where you establish pay in the front) and you could not talk to the driver. The bus was packed initially and I had to weave through people with my luggage to validate my ticket. In hindsight, I have no idea why I needed to validate it, as no one checked my ticket on this ride. From research and experience in other cities, I learned that ticket validation really matters when workers randomly hop on to check that you validated it (in some cities the driver or another worker helped everyone validate). Either way, the bus was easy enough and cheap as a mode of transport to the train station. I did need help in knowing where the stop was (and in reverse, if I were to take a bus from the train station it would be hard to know where to request a stop as there aren’t maps on the bus to show you the route/stops!)
Links and comparable options to what I packed (carry-on and the duffel below) on my 16-day trip to Italy!
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