I have visited Rome four times over my life and have always been impressed with it. There is a definite reason a whole movie was made about a Roman holiday. It has wide streets dotted with antiquities at every turn.
If you visit Rome in summer, expect it to be hot!
Getting Around in Rome
I generally walk everywhere, as most of what you will want to see is close by. But it can get over 100 degrees F in the summer, so you may want to use cabs.
Cabs can be hard to find in Rome; many are not real cabs. Real cabs are white, have a blue license plate and a taxi sign on top, and will have a meter in the car above the rearview mirror. Out of desperation, we were forced to take imposter cabs at some points, and they were much more expensive.
Taxis may be waiting at taxi stands, but you can also get them through Uber, which directs you to a taxi company. Sometimes no cabs will accept your fare, and you either have to move to a better location, take an imposter, or get an Uber Black for more money.
Where to Stay in Rome
We stayed in a beautiful hotel near the Trevi Fountain that I highly recommend, Hotel Delle Nazione, with a great location, big rooms, and breakfast.
Things to Do in Rome
Visit Vatican City
Not only is Vatican City a country, but it also contains the biggest church in the world, St. Peter’s Basilica, the famous Sistine Chapel, some of the best views in Rome, and one of the biggest museums in the world.
If you are only in Rome for two days, you will only get to see the highlights. However, you could spend a few days touring the museums, which include art from all over the world, including the Renaissance art you would expect, such as Michelangelo and Bernini, but also surrealist artists, such as Dali, an Egyptian museum, and a collection of “pope mobiles.”
Tour the Vatican Museums
Most of the museums are not air-conditioned, so I recommend booking a tour through the Vatican website for the first thing in the morning. Prebooking saved us hours of waiting in line in the heat. No matter what, expect huge crowds, especially in the Sistine Chapel. If you are too late to get the ticket straight through the Vatican, you can likely still get it through Get Your Guide.
The Sistine Chapel’s ceiling, painted by Michelangelo, is one of the world’s most important pieces of art, and the chapel is where a new pope is elected.
St. Peter’s Basilica
You can only get into St. Peter’s Basilica without standing in a very long line if you do a guided tour.
This Renaissance and Baroque papal basilica was built over St. Peter’s grave. The current version of the basilica was built in 1607. It is filled with art, recesses, chapels, and one of the world’s largest domes, designed by Michelangelo.
Don’t forget to visit the Vatican Grottos under the church, which is free and accessible by going down the stairs in the middle of the basilica.
Try to visit the Vatican necropolis crypts under the basilica to see the tombs of popes and St. Peter. You can only have a chance at taking part in this Scavi Tour by emailing
Go up St. Peter’s Dome for Some of the Best Views of Rome
You can buy a ticket to climb to the dome when you exit the basilica on your right. Even on a busy day, the line wasn’t too long, and the ticket wasn’t too expensive. Be warned that even if you spend the extra few dollars to take the elevator halfway up, there are a lot of steep, claustrophobic stairs you will take to get to the reward of the views from the top.
Vatican Gardens
I love gardens, and the Vatican Gardens are one that I still haven’t had the chance to explore. You can only visit them as part of a tour, such as this one.Â
Vatican City is about 4 km from the main tourist area of Rome.
Walk Back into the Center of Rome
If you walk back, you can walk along the Tiber River. I would highly recommend popping into some random churches on your walk, as what looks plain on the outside in Rome can often be stunning inside. Also, stop for gelato whenever possible.
Last time we were walking to the Vatican, we walked into the Church of the Sacred Heart of Suffrage (Chiesa del Sacro Cuore del Suffragio) and stumbled upon the Museum of Purgatory.
We also had coffee at the Biblio Bar, a cool coffee shop and bar, where you can sit overlooking Castel Sant’Angelo and borrow a book.
Spanish Steps
This set of 135 steps is enveloped by the Trinità dei Monti church at the top and the Piazza di Spagna at the bottom, one of Rome’s most famous plazas.
Borghese Gardens and Museum
This public English-style garden is free of charge to enjoy and is near the Spanish Steps. The museum is set in an exquisite 1600 villa built for Cardinal Scipione Borghese. It is full of artworks by artists such as Carravagio, Bernini, and Raphael, with themed rooms featuring sculptures and paintings. You must pre-book a ticket to enter the museum well ahead of time, which is more than worth your time.
Have Lunch at Tritone 1884 or Da Cicero
Tritone 1884 – We enjoyed lunch at this traditional Roman trattoria near the Trevi Fountain, with housemade wine and tiramisu. Speaking of tiramisu, try the Roman version, which is more like a custard than a cake, even if you don’t like it in the US.
Da Cicero has the best pizza I have had in Italy.
Learn about Amaro at Il Marchese
This restaurant has 400 kinds of this Italian herbaceous liquor, and the bartender will make a flight for you to learn about it.
Trevi Fountain
This Baroque fountain was built in the 1700s of travertine marble over one of Rome’s most significant natural springs, making it part of its aqueduct system, which ran through the Roman walls. It is now crawling with tourists (and pickpockets) and surrounded by restaurants and stores. You buy a ticket and wait in line to get close during the day. If you go after 10 pm or before 9 am it is free to enter.
Pantheon
The oldest intact building in Rome, the Pantheon, was first started in 27 BCE by Agrippa as a temple to the Roman gods (Pantheon means all gods). It was taken over by the Roman Catholic Church in 608 AD. The Pantheon has the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world, with a hole allowing light to flow into the space. It also contains the grave of the artist Raphael.
The entrance just recently required a ticket, which you can buy here.
As of this writing, the Pantheon closes at 7 pm, which will be the perfect time for…
Dinner at Pantheon Pallazo or at Ad Hoc
We love either location of Ad Hoc.
Vittorio Emanuele II Monument
End your night with a walk by this enormous marble monument to unified Italy’s first king, Vittorio Emanuele II, which is especially beautiful at night due to the eternal flame. The memorial also has Italy’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Vittorio Emanuele II is buried in the Pantheon.
Colosseum
Try to beat the heat by starting your day at the Colosseum, the oldest and largest amphitheater in the world, designed to seat around 50,000 people. The theater housed fighting competitions between gladiators and between animals and was built in 72 AD.
There are four basic tour options to see the Colosseum. Every ticket also includes entrance into the Forum and Palatine Hill.
- You can look at the structure from the outside.
- You can buy self-guided general admission tickets, which will allow you to be on the top level. You may be able to buy these on the same day online, but expect long lines to enter the Colosseum.
- Book a tour of the Colosseum, Forum and Palatine Hill. These must be booked around a week in advance.
- Book an underground Colosseum tour and see the labyrinths and where the animals were caged. Very few people are allowed in this area at one time, so you must book these tickets far in advance.
The Roman Forum
Next door to the Colosseum, you will find the Forum and Palatine Hill.
The Forum is the ruins of ancient Rome’s governmental center and marketplace. The street, Via Sacra, that leads to it, is lined with the ruins of temples.
Palatine Hill
This is one of the Seven Hills of Rome and is supposedly where Romulus founded the city in 758 BCE. In the Forum times, it was an upper-class residential area. It now provides excellent views of the city and the Forum. There is also an antiquities museum and papal gardens on the hill.
Catacombs
Escape the heat of the day by touring any of the numerous catacombs on the outskirts of Rome. The underground cemeteries, usually built under churches, were used as places to bury and celebrate funerals when it was illegal to be Christian. Not only are they cool, but they are an excellent way to see Roman lasagna, layers of archaeology found in Rome.
On a past visit, we toured Catacombe San Sebastiano. We could see the underground labyrinths, a middle layer of Roman temples, and a ground-level currently operating church. I found it fascinating, and it is my favorite catacomb.
On our last visit, we toured the Catacombs of Saint Callixtus, which is a 4-layered cemetery deep underground with graves of popes and Saint Cecilia. My dad, who is very Catholic, enjoyed this catacomb more.
If you want to explore multiple catacombs, consider a golf cart tour to the catacombs or an e-biking tour of the Appian Way.
Eating Rome Food Tour
We have taken two Rome food tours, which my family enjoys in any city.
One was the Trastevere Twilight Tour, which brought us to a different part of Rome than we had previously explored. Trastevere is known as the “left bank” of Rome. Most of the stops were small, family-owned establishments and included alcohol. It was a favorite activity for most of our group of 16, and I would highly recommend it. If you are ready, book your Rome Twilight Trastevere Tour here.
We loved it so much that the next time we visited, we tried the Golf Cart Food Tour.Â
Next time, we will try their pasta-making class.
I hope you can see why Rome is a city I am happy to continue returning to. Are you headed there soon? If you have been, what is your favorite part of Rome?
Hello, interesting reading. Especially, as we visited Rome early June and stayed there for a week renting an apartment in Travestere. The apartment was perfect but the area, sadly, run down, dirty, covered in graffiti, rubbish bags strewn all over the streets and big bins never emptied.
We saw all the sights and enjoyed the history and antiquities. Not much good to say about Rome though. The city is filthy, smelly, rubbish prevails on the pavements. Traffic is heavy. We had problems finding taxi stands but figured out the bus routes. Buses are old, dirty, crowded and have no air conditioning. It was difficult to walk around Rome as the temperatures were getting high. The pavements are narrow and made of cobblestones which are hard to walk on. The cars just brush against you as you try to walk on. The cafe tables out on the streets make the movement even more difficult.
We did the walk from St.Peter’s and then by the banks of the river to Trasvestere – despite some nice architecture along the way, it was dirt and graffiti that hit the eyes.
We had a week in Rome, so enough time to see the sights . The impression we were left with was, unfriendly, filthy, unkempt city. Dirty with dog faeces, strewn with uncollected rubbish, only worth visiting to see the marvels of ancient monuments and history.
Rome is such a wonderful city! It’s actually one of my favorites in Europe. Even included a lot of great things in this post to send you plus I really appreciate the food recommendations! Thank you for sharing.