For those flying into Rome, You’re likely going to want to take the train to one of the train stations and probably walk from there. There are a few train stops near downtown Rome from Fiumicino (airport). Have that mapped out and know which trains (at least routes) you’ll need to take. Should be pretty easy, maybe one transfer. The biggest and most popular train station in Rome is Roma Termini. That’s also where you’ll find trains to other parts of the country as well if you were heading elsewhere.
Have the route to your airbnb/hotel planned out for when you do get to the train station in Rome. It can be a bit of a hike pending on where you’re staying, but it’s gorgeous and you’ll enjoy it. (I’d suggest packing light (in backpacks if possible) The streets don’t quite have the smooth sidewalks we do in the states.
Side note, this one got me for a while. There are no street signs. All of the street names are carved in to the sides of the buildings in Rome, so that’s where you’ll need to look to figure out where you’re going.
Wi-fi is going to be your best friend there if you don’t pay for cell service. I’ll frequently stop outside of a McDonalds or some other huge name store that has free generic wifi you can connect to. Sometimes you’ll have to enter your personal e-mail into the wi-fi system to get connected. That’s totally normal.
Sights to see:
Reference the Vatican, If you can book a tour, or early entrance with a group, if they’re doing tours, do it. (Stopped in pandemic and can be hit/miss) Make your way through the Vatican as fast or as slow as you want. You’ll end up in the Sistine Chapel, which is a religious experience…. Insane. They won’t allow you to take pictures at all in there. Or speak really. There are guards in the building who will yell at you if you either of those things really. I’d do the inside of the Vatican with all the museums first, before getting in line to go into St Peter’s Basilica (the actual church). If you’re part of the tour, the tours have special access to exit the Sistine Chapel and go straight into the Basilica. If you’re on your own, you may be able to sneak up behind a tour group and follow them in. This would avoid getting in the massive line outside to go into the Basilica. Also, for females, they’ll need to wear pants and some type of garment that covers her shoulders, in case it’s hot there. It’s only the world center for catholicism, so it makes sense they have some strict policies. You will have to go through metal detectors as well, so be mindful of that.
Small fun fact about St Peters Square. The “square” which isn’t a square is an oval, flanked by two massive structures that are four columns deep with saints cresting the top of the structures. There are two places in St Peters square where you can stand and see the structures where it looks like the structure is only one column deep, as opposed to four. It’s a geometric point to where all the columns are perfectly in line with each other. Just a “while you’re there” type thing. Below is the marking on the ground where you’ll need to stand on to see the columns as I described. They are approximately 1/3 the distance from the center point of St Peters square towards the center of the structure with the columns.
Another fun fact about Rome, that you can take advantage of in St Peters Square is that all running water in the city is potable. Meaning if you see water spewing out of a lion’s mouth in a fountain, don’t be shy to go put a water bottle up to it and fill up. There are also fountains dispersed throughout the city called “nasonis” They constantly have water running threw them like a faucet. They are about 3 feet tall with a bronze spout pouring water. Fill up your water bottle there OR go up to it, plug the faucet with your finger and the purposely placed hole on top of the faucet will reroute water up and out towards you, creating the perfect drinking fountain.
All the other tourist spots are pretty self explanatory and free. Go enjoy them. Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Colosseum. If you have time, I’d suggest making you’re way up to Villa Borghese, which is their huge park in the city. It’s a nice change from the hustle and bustle of the city. If you make your way there, go to Piazza del Popolo first. It’s a huge Piazza that’s pretty cool. From there, there is a staircase/windy road that takes you up into the park. Once you get up there, there’s a place called Terrazza Del Pincio, there’s an amazing view of all of Rome and the Vatican from there.
Onto the food!
Since we travel almost solely based on food, we do gelato at least once a day. Breakfast should be a croissant of sorts (they have certain ones filled with jelly, crema, or just plain) and a cappuccino or espresso. You pay more to sit down and be served. They may ask you for the bar, to sit down, or take away. Sometimes they may be a bit pushy to have you sit down to pay almost double what it would be at the bar. You can say no. It can be a bit tricky to order coffee/pastries at little shops. Pending on how they do it, so you may want to ask. Frequently, you’ll go to the cash register, order your drink (you shouldn’t stray from the basics, cafe (espresso), Doppio Cafe (double espresso), or Cappuccino (as long as it’s before noon) if you ask for syrups, 2%, or flavors, they may take a swing at you. The Italians order their drink for there mostly, go to the bar, drink it in a minute or so then walk out. The idea of hanging out in a coffee shop isn’t really the vibe in most big cities. So tell the person behind the register what you want, you can order food there too… if you don’t know how to pronounce what you want, you can point, they’ll get it. Or you can try to say the word and they’ll help you out.
They’ll give you your pastry right then. You’ll need to pay. You should always use cash if you can. They have a weird system there, in that there is always a tray of sorts next to the register. It may look like an ashtray or a small piece of plastic. They don’t do “hand to hand” transactions like we do. Put the money you’re paying on the dish, they’ll pick it up and if they need to give you change, they’ll put the change and receipt back on the dish for you. Once you get the receipt for the coffee, you may need to bring it over to the people making the drinks. That’s how they know what to make you and that you’ve paid. It’s a different system, but once you do it, it’ll make complete sense. So that’s breakfast! 🙂
Eat anything and everything you want while you’re there, you won’t regret it. If you’re reading this blog and have the slightest inclination to go to a McDonalds while you’re there (unless you have needy children) you can stop reading. This relationship isn’t going to work out.
Gelato: Our favorite place is Giolitti’s. It’s insane. Make sure and have them put whipped cream on it…. That’s the good stuff. There’s also another place, called Frigidarium. It’s good stuff too. They dip the whole thing in chocolate coating if you want, and it’s pretty damn good.
For an easy Lunch, I frequently go to a place called Antico Forno Roscioli. Address: Via dei Chiavari, 34, 00186 Roma RM, Italy. Here you order slices by holding your hands up to identify how big of a piece you want. All of the pizza’s are amazing, but you have to at least try the plain red sauce one by itself. The amount of flavor from bread and sauce is ridiculous. Then get whatever you want on top of that.
For a fun dinner experience, there is a place called Hosteria Dino e Toni. They are a bit off the beaten path, but it’s a great experience. Go HUNGRY, because they just bring you food until you say no… then they keep bringing it and have fun with you.
There’s a place I’ve been to a few times in Rome that’s pretty damn good food. Called Trattoria Da Enzo al 29. It’s in a neighborhood called Trastavere. Which is more of a local part of town, however it’s becoming more and more busy with tourists. It may be a bit difficult to get into. I’d go there one day early in your trip and see if you can get reservations for a night, or if you’ll need to just show up an hour before they open to wait in line with everybody else.
There’s a big market that can be fun to go walk around very close to Antico Forno Roscioli called Piazza Campo de’ Fiori. Some of the stuff there is sold by people who just import chockis from Asia or things along those lines. They may have some decent fresh food, but it’s not quite the local artisan market you may want. We normally don’t buy anything there, but that’s just us.
When you’re at dinner somewhere, frequently the house/table wine is just as good as anything you’d pay a significant amount of money for here. Pending on where you’re at, it could be as little as 10 euros for a liter, which is a bottle and 1/3.
That’s all I have for now about Rome. Please reach out if you have any specific questions or experiences to share.