A week in the Eternal City of Rome

Welcome to Rome, dear readers!

Back in 2017, we decided to take a trip to the Eternal City for the first time. We were in much need of a break and we heard beautiful things about this city, so we took one week off and headed to Rome!

We started by booking our flights through Skyscanner, which is the platform we usually use, and were able to get round-trip flights for 70 EUR each! This is the magic about Skyscanner, we are able to get a monthly overview of the prices and choose the cheapest dates. We traveled with EasyJet, which is not the most comfortable airline (especially to Sebastian, since he is quite tall and doesn’t have much leg room), but it’s ok. It was a 4 hour flight, nothing we couldn’t handle.

We landed in Fiumicino airport, and headed to our Airbnb by bus to Termini Station. We paid around 14 EUR for a round trip, and the trip lasted for about 50 minutes (it is quite far, however it was the most viable option).

Our Airbnb was about 15 minutes walking from Termini, which is the central bus/train station in Rome. We thought this would be a very central location and we decided to book this amazing Airbnb! Our hostess was the sweetest, the apartment was super welcoming and clean, and all the amenities promised were there. For two people, 6 nights, we paid a total of 315 EUR.

However, unlike we thought, the location was not the best. This was quite far from the old center and was one of the areas of the city that was a bit dirty and dark. Although the apartment was perfect, I will be staying closer to the old center the next time I go to Rome.

We moved around Rome mainly by public transportation (buses mostly, but we also tried the underground), Uber and many kilometres walking! When you’re already inside the old center, it is very easy to walk around as long as it is not raining. Public transportation is also very easy to use. We paid 24 EUR for a weekly pass that allowed us to move around using all public transportation (buses, trams, metro and some rail services). We personally love riding buses whenever we are not within walking distance to the place we’re going to, as we have the chance to gaze the city while riding around. I would rather do this than ride the underground, and Rome did not disappoint.

Now, moving on to the fun stuff!

The Attractions

What I consider to be the main attraction in Rome is to actually wander around and get lost in its streets. This is how we ended up visiting amazing places such as Trastevere, Piazza Navona - where you can see the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, do some shopping in Via Del Corso, Piazza Del Popolo and many more. This is also how we ended up seeing the Pantheon, which is another major attraction in the city. We decided not to go inside since the queue was quite long, but it is definitely on my “Next Time In Rome” list.

Colosseum, Palatino and Roman Forum

We bought our Colosseum tickets online through their official website, and paid around 10 EUR each (we had a reduced fare since we were students at the time). You can buy this “triple ticket” that includes the entry to the Colosseum, the Palatino and the Roman Forum.

Take your online tickets printed in paper! We thought it would be enough for us to have them in our email since they had a QR code, but we needed to print them. We walked about 2 km until we could find a place to print them. It was an absolute nightmare since it was early morning and most service stores were closed. We learned our lesson.

We started by visiting the Roman Forum, which is where many of the most important ancient government buildings’ ruins are gathered. This was the main centre of the ancient Roman city, and you can still see many of its structures almost intact, some of them pretty well conserved and some that you need to read about to understand what they are.

From the Roman Forum, you can go straight to the Palatino. It is said that the Palatino is where the city of Rome was founded, and these ruins used to be palaces where upper-class Roman citizens lived during the Republican Period. You can still see many traces of the ruins of these palaces and houses, including a Hippodrome and a museum.

Lastly, we headed to the famous Colosseum. This was the first (and, so far, the only) of the new 7 wonders of the world that I saw! As you might have learned, or even seen in movies, the Colosseum is an old amphitheater, and the biggest one ever built at the time. It was used to hold gladiatorial fights and some other events. Part of the Colosseum was destroyed during the 1349 earthquake, and this is the reason you will see that a part of the top on one of the sides is not there anymore.

Unfortunately, we were not aware that some parts of the Colosseum were accessed only through guided tours, so if you have the chance to book one, I would recommend it. Also because you always get a better insight on the place’s history while listening to someone who knows about it.

Fontana Di Trevi

I was prepared to see the beauty of the famous Trevi Fountain, however I was not ready for its size! It’s about twice as big as I thought it would be, and when I saw it I think I skipped a few breaths, ahah. We had just had dinner and were making our way to the fountain, and it was on the opposite wall of where we were coming from, so I turned around and was completely shocked.

The Trevi Fountain is the biggest fountain in Rome - it is approximately 20 meters wide and 26 meters tall, and is one of the oldest water sources in the city. Its name comes from the words “tre vie”, which means three roads, since the fountain was the junction of three streets.

We went there the first time at night and it was completely crowded, it was insane. We wanted to take some pictures with it but could not get close to the center, so we decided to go there at around 7h30 the next morning, and we were lucky enough to only find a couple of other people around, it felt like we had the place to ourselves! Definitely worth the early-birding.

The fountain is composed of the water deposit, and on the back wall you can see beautiful statues placed on top of some rocks, and they symbolize the water gods and creatures.

A fun fact about the fountain is that, according to its legend, if you toss a coin into it you will return to Rome; if you toss two coins, you will find love, and if you toss three coins you will be getting married! This means that the fountain is actually a giant piggy bank, and Rome collects around 3000 EUR per day in coins that were tossed in the fountain. How crazy is this?? According to the internet, this money is donated to charity.

I will say that this was definitely one of the biggest highlights of the city, for me.

Vatican City

We could not go to Rome without visiting the Vatican City, of course. We bought our tickets through their official website, and paid 32 EUR for two people, with an entrance to the museum, Sistine Chapel and Saint Peter’s Basilica.

We headed there first thing in the morning since we wanted to avoid the big queues. On our way there, we crossed paths with some travel agents who were trying to warn us that our ticket did not allow immediate entrance to the Sistine Chapel - that we would have to leave the museum and queue to get inside the chapel, which could take up to 2 hours. They said we could buy a tour from them and get immediate entrance to the chapel for 20 euros. Small tip: don’t fall for this. We suspected we were being fooled, so we decided not to buy their tour and had no issues going inside the chapel immediately and did not have to queue at all.

The museum is absolutely ginormous! It has 1400 rooms (we did not see them all), so if you have limited time like we had, make sure you carefully select the rooms you want to see.

As I mentioned, you can go straight from the museums to the Sistine Chapel - beware that you are not allowed to take pictures inside (although everybody does, you just cannot get caught).

After visiting the museum and the chapel, we headed straight to Saint Peter’s Basilica - again, no queuing. Going inside the Basilica is free, so you are allowed to go inside even without visiting the museum, but I got the impression there’s also a big queue for this because of security checks.

We were so tired that we decided not to go up to the dome, which I now regret since the view looks amazing.

Villa d’Este

This was a last minute program we planned since we were not interested in doing much else by the end of our trip. This is a 16th century villa located in an area of Rome called Tivoli, and it is mostly known by its beautiful gardens and hundreds of fountains. This place really blew my mind with all its greenery and beautifully designed gardens.

We took a train to get to Tivoli, and had to buy a separate train ticket since our weekly pass did not include this transportation. It costs about 3 euros each way and the ride is about 1 hour, so this is not central Rome. We then had to walk for about 15 minutes to get to Villa d’Este.

This was one of my favorite Roman attractions, and if you have the time to visit, this is one of the places I recommend the most visiting.

Galleria Borghese

This was one of the only museums we visited in Rome, and also the most expensive. We paid around 22 EUR (I believe nowadays it is not as expensive, or it might vary according to the exhibition). To be honest, me and Sebastian are not the biggest art connoisseurs, so I don’t believe that for visitors like us the museum is worth the entrance fee. It is quite small. However, the pieces inside are beautiful and for art lovers I believe this is worth it. We were more interested in taking a walk around the gardens, which are also very well known in Rome - and free of charge. At the end of the gardens you can find a big terrace called Terrazza del Pincio with gravel on the floor that has an amazing view of Piazza Del Popolo and a glimpse of the Saint Peter’s Basilica dome, and this is definitely worth the visit to this space (excuse the iPhone 6 photo - the other ones were also taken with an iPhone but are not as bad as the following one, ahah).

Spanish Steps

The Spanish Steps are another major tourist attraction in Rome. They are a staiway that goes from Piazza di Spagna up to Piazza della Trinità dei Monti, where you will find the Trinità dei Monti church. They were designed and built to connect the Piazza di Spagna to the church, since there was no connection from one to another. Before being an attraction to tourists, artists and painters used to come to the steps, since they were inspired by its elegance. At the bottom of the steps, you can also find a beautiful fountain called Fontana della Barcaccia.

This was another attraction that we first walked by when it was super crowded, so we came back early morning on the next day to have a proper look.

Terme Di Caracalla

The Baths of Caracalla was something we decided to visit last minute, it was not in our plans. We heard great things about it and since we had time, we decided to go.

The Baths of Caracalla are one of the most well preserved ancient spa complexes in the world. It dates back to 216 AC and was composed of cold water baths (natatorium), warm water (tepidarium) and hot water baths (caldarium) and exercise and sports areas.

We did not pay any entry fee, however if we go back there I’m sure we will pay for a guided visit - although they have informational boards, the guided visit is 7.50 EUR and it sure gives us a deeper insight to the history of these baths. If you visit it, I would recommend the guided tour, since without it the visit can be quite dull if you’re not a history-junkie.

Castel Sant’Angelo

If you visit Castel Sant’Angelo expecting your typical movie castle, you’re going to be very impressed. This castle has a cylindrical structure different from anything else I’ve seen before.

Its construction lasted from 123 AD until 139 AD, and at this time it was the tallest building in Rome. The castle stands on the end of the Ponte Sant’Angelo (Bridge Sant’Angelo) that connects it to the other side of Rome. The bridge itself is also something worth taking a look at.

You can visit the castle for 14 euros (regular fee) or 7 euros (reduced fee for EU visitors between 18 to 25 years old). Not only do you have the possibility to wander around the castle, but the inside is also a museum filled with history. From the upper patios of the castle you will find an amazing view of Saint Peter’s Basilica (which, when we were there, was completely ruined by a Samsung advertisement).

It is so close to the Vatican City that, in fact, popes used the castle as a refugee during dangerous periods of the Middle Ages, Pope Nicholas III built a tunnel straight from Saint Peter’s Basilica directly to Castel Sant’Angelo.

Inside the castle you will find many beautiful rooms decorated with frescos, a prison and even a torture room.

Standing at the top of the castle you will see a statue of Archangel Michael, holding his sword. Legend tells that the Archangel Michael appeared at the top of the Castle, waving his sword as to announce the end of the 590 plague. This is the reason for the castle’s current name. This statue was already replaced several times for several different reasons (including one of them being made of bronze and used as cannon material).

Bocca Della Verità

Another pit stop we made during our Rome walks. Again, we were not planning to come here, but we were walking around and searched for nearby attractions, and we ended up visiting the Mouth of Truth. This is a marble mask at the entrance of the Santa Maria in Cosmedin church.

Legend says that, if you put your hand inside the mouth and tell a lie, the mouth will bite your hand off. The origin of the legend is unknown, however it was made famous for its appearance in the movie Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn.

Good thing about visiting the Bocca Della Verità is that it is free of charge! We got there and found a small queue but it was from a single group that was touring with a company. Besides that, there were not many people around, so it was quite quick for us to have our chance to stick our hands inside the statue’s mouth. We also had the chance to go inside the medieval church, which is also beautiful!

Aventine Keyhole

The Aventine Keywhole is another fun pitstop while wandering through the streets of Rome. Don’t expect a long visit here: when you face the enormous green gate at Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta, all you have to do is peek into the peephole: you will see Saint Peter’s Basilica dome perfectly centered way far back.

Inside the gates, you can find a building that belongs to the military government of Malta - the estate is granted extraterritorial status by Italy, and this is the magic of this spot: you are standing in Italy, peeking through the lands of Malta territory, gazing the Vatican city state, so truly you are seeing across three nations.

Again, we were lucky since there was no queue at all at the gate (perks of traveling while it’s raining). I heard that this attraction can be quite busy, so make sure you plan your time to visit the Aventine Keyhole. It is a fun plan to do if you’re around the area or have extra hours on your trip - but, personally, I wouldn’t cancel any other plans just to stop here.

The food

The food!!! I wish I could teleport feelings and scents through this post. It was not a surprise that the food in Rome was amazing. In Portugal we are pretty used to eating Italian food (we pretty much adopted this cuisine), but in Italy itself is a different experience indeed.

I was surprised to know that Italians actually have about 5 courses in each meal: the aperitivo (which is an appetizer), the antipasti (a heavier starter), the primo (the first course, which is usually pasta, risotto, gnocchi and other dishes that are more fulfulling than the starters but not as heavy as the second course), secondo and contorno (second dish and side dish, which are fish or meat dishes) and dessert (that can be either a sweet, or fruit with cheese and so on).

I am not the type of person who has the stomach for all this, so we mostly stuck to some starters, pasta or pizza and sometimes dessert. If we ever ordered a fish or meat dish, we usually split it.

Fish and meat are the dishes that can be more expensive, around 20 EUR per dish in the cheapest restaurants. But since we were in Italy, we wanted to make the most of our pasta and pizza, and most restaurants don’t charge much for these dishes since they are not considered the main ones. I ate some pizzas and pastas that were unbelievably good and ranged from 6 EUR to 10 EUR.

Our favorite restaurants during our trip to Rome were:

Please, bear in mind that some of these, specially Nanà Vini e Cucina and Osteria Della Vite, have horrible reviews on TripAdvisor, ahah. We honestly had a good experience in both, so maybe we were lucky.

In Nanà we ate the best gnocchi I have ever had! Sebastian loved it as well but he asked for another dish, and on the next restaurants we went to he asked for gnocchi many times and none was as good as the first one.

Osteria Della Vite caught our attention with the man making fresh pasta at the door, which was a beautiful sight. We were looking for a place to eat and decided to stop here. I had a lasagna and Sebastian had a pizza (according to him, the best he had in Rome). We paid around 25 EUR, including our drinks and appetizers.

Cantina & Cucina is a very touristy restaurant. We loved the vibe and decoration of it, but based on its reviews I was expecting mind-blowing food, and was not that impressed. Even the prices were aiming for tourists, as this was one of the most expensive restaurants we went to in Rome. We also had a hard time being able to have dinner here since the queue was always unbelievably huge. We decided to go there at 6pm on one of the days since we were tired and wanted to go home early, and this was the only time we were able to get inside without having to wait too much. 15 minutes later the queue was already getting bigger and bigger.

Tratoria Gino e Pietro was the place we went to after visiting Piazza Navona. It is a bit further from Cantina & Cucina (which is between the Piazza and this restaurant), but it is within walking distance. Since it is not on a main street, the prices are not as high as Cantina & Cucina, and the food is just as good - or even better. This was one of the restaurants where Sebastian tried the gnocchi, and I had a pizza that did not disappoint.

The restaurant Two Sizes is more like a grab-and-go dessert cafe, that makes some amazing tiramisus (another classic Italian dessert) and some of them are quite alternative, like strawberry tiramisu, peanut butter, as well as Nutella tiramisu. I am not a big fan of coffee, which is one of the main ingredients of the tiramisu, but still I was able to enjoy my dessert. Sebastian doesn’t mind the taste of coffee and this was one of his favorite stops in Rome, so I believe it is worth the try. The name comes from the fact that they serve each tiramisu in two different sizes - as I recall, the biggest size was about 3.50 EUR and the smallest one 2.50 EUR, but I believe it varies according to the type of tiramisu you request.

Naumachia Ristorante was the place we had lunch after visiting the Colosseum. We were actually heading to another restaurant that had amazing reviews (I don’t remember the name), but we were unable to find it, so we ended up at Naumachia eating a pizza, and it was lovely. I had a margherita (basic, I know, nice to meet you) and Sebastian had a pepperoni pizza. I don’t remember the exact prices, but I know Sebastian’s pizza was more expensive than mine and it was about 9 EUR, so quite nice especially considering it’s walking distance from the Colosseum.

We also, of course, stopped by many ice cream shops. Italian gelato is also a very famous dessert, so most of our desserts would be stopping by an ice cream store and trying out some of their flavors. Since we went to so many, I don’t remember any particular one because most of them were amazing, except one called Il Gelato di San Crispino, near the Trevi Fountain. It’s not that the gelato was bad, it was just not up to Italian gelato standards. We tried another one near the Colosseum called La Dolce Vita, and this was one of the best I’ve had! I tried the strawberry and milk chocolate and couldn’t be happier with it.

And to finish our chat…

If you’re in Europe, or traveling through Europe, I think Rome is worth the stop for those who are passionate about history, classic architecture and, obviously, Roman mythology. It is not an expensive city - some attractions can be quite pricey, but many of them are free of charge and the food can be inexpensive if you don’t eat all the courses (which we absolutely didn’t, a pasta or a pizza were more than enough for us).

Rome has so much history and can be such a rich cultural experience. However, some parts of the city, especially further away from the old center, are not as attractive. We spent one week there but I feel we could have spent less time and have done exactly the same things.

Don’t be fooled by the mainstreams, as the touristy attractions are very much worth your time! My favorite ones were Fontana Di Trevi and Villa d’Este, so make sure you plan your time to visit these ones!