Rome is so gorgeous. Everywhere you look, you will see an amazing Piazza or a stunning architecture. Rome is full of history, good restaurants, cool bars, Delicious gelato, cute coffee shops and more.
Tips before traveling to Rome
SIM card
I personally recommend using an ESIM, which is an electronic SIM, and recommend Airalo. I was very satisfied with their user experience (simple tutorial videos for operating the SIM card) and everything worked without any special problems. I wrote more about them in an extended post on the subject of taking a SIM card abroad and also about other options such as buying a local SIM card.
Blog followers have a 15% discount code for the Airalo company to purchase an ESIM โ to redeem the discount, click on this link. The discount code is already included in the link. See it at checkout.
The biggest drawback at the moment is that some devices do not support an electronic SIM. How can you know if your device supports the electronic card? Very simple: go to this link and you can see. Link to which devices support ESIM.
Where to sleep in Rome?
We slept in an Airbnb apartment near the Campo de Fiori market. We liked the location even though it was quite noisy in the evening (so try not to sleep too close to the market but in a quieter alley especially if you come with children). The apartment itself was small and stuffy so I donโt recommend it ๐
To search for a hotel or apartment in Rome.
Car rental in Rome
In Rome there is no need to rent a car and it is even better not to because there is excellent public transport and there are no parking spaces. But if you plan to make a trip and leave Rome (like we did), then the most convenient is to rent a car.
You can search for a car in the search engine Papam Papam. Personally, I really like to search through them because they save me time (instead of going to several websites) and they also have the option of filtering out non-recommended rental companies.
Attractions in Rome
There are many more things to do in Rome that I did not do and do not appear on the list. You can get ideas for other cool things you can do on the various attraction sites and even order through them (sometimes at a discounted price). The first attraction site is called tiqets, the second is the site Get your guide or via Viator.
Eat with the locals
We really love local experiences and when I looked at the โEatWithโ website (a cool website for recommendations from the locals) I saw a nice option for a dinner in a local house. The hostโs name is Francesca. The meal including the hosting in the local house, a meal and wine. I thought it was a really great idea, so we made a reservation for our second evening in Rome. Link to Francescaโs experience
Francescaโs home is a little bit far from the center (about an hour ride in bus), but it was nice to ride in the bus to a different area that was less crowded in Rome.
When we arrived at her home, we were amazed at the way the table was designed and the smells from the food were so good .The apartment itself was decorated really nicely.
Francesca welcomed us with a smile and she also invited a partner, Pasquale, to join us for dinner. On the table the appetizers were already served, which were very delicious and Pasquale opened a great white wine for us. As a second dish we ate a really good pasta and for the main course, an amazing meat. For dessert Francesca made tiramisu. Everything was so delicious and simple; exactly the way I love it. The atmosphere was very clam and we had a great conversion with both of them.
All the experience was excellent and we loved the combination of good food and good companions.
We are definitely going to try this kind of meal in other destinations that we visit.
Visiting the Vatican at night
The Vatican is one of the places that you must visit in Rome, but I wanted to show you an option that maybe you werenโt aware exists. From the end of April till the end of October, every Friday you can visit the Vatican at night.
Fortunately, while we were staying there, it was the first Friday that people were allowed to visit in the night, so we booked our tickets in advance from the internet.
An entrance + audio + tax for the internet order. The advantage in ordering on the internet is that you can skip the line (which is really good if the line is long).
In our case there was no line but we couldnโt predict it.
We arrived at the Vatican at 20:30
In the beginning we thought of taking a tour but Iโm happy that we did it only with the audio. That way we could stop and listen about places that interested us and skip places that didnโt. Another great thing about visiting it by night is that itโs not too crowded. There were even a few times that we were almost alone in a room.
I must admit that in the beginning I wasnโt sure if I wanted to visit the Vatican, but Iโm so, so glad I did. Itโs absolutely gorgeous. There were some rooms that left me speechless. What an amazing art. Itโs hard to believe that in the past there were people who painted the same wall for 8 years. Itโs one of my best art & museums experiences.
If you want to visit the Vatican during the day, then I recommend ordering tickets in advance so that you can also save standing in line. Link to order discounted tickets.
If you plan to visit both the boutique and the Coliseum then I recommend purchasing the combined ticket.
Link to order tickets for a combined visit.
Rose and Orange gardens
One of the places I loved the most in Rome. Why? Because itโs so beautiful and less touristy (at least when we visited).
In the Rose garden there are benches above the stairs which overlook the garden and city. You can sit there for hours and enjoy the beauty. You can also have a little picnic there.
The Orange garden is at about a 10-minute walk from the Rose garden. Itโs less impressive than the first, but itโs really nice and the great thing about it, is that it has a great viewpoint over the city.
The gardens are located pretty close to the colosseum (about 30 minutes walking) so you can visit them on the same day.
The entrance to the gardens is free. In the summer they are open from the morning until the evening and in the winter they are open until the afternoon.
Free walking tour
As usual, we booked a free tour (based on tips) in advance. We booked it for our first day in Rome for the afternoon (16:00). We wanted to get to know the city as fast as possible and there isnโt a better way to do so, other than a tour.
We arrived at the tour pretty exhausted because our flight was in the early hours of the morning, so we slept about 2 hours in the night, anyhow the tour was so fascinating that we did all of it and had a blast.
The tour was with the company โRomeโs ultimateโ.
There were several things that I really loved about this company.
Their tours are only for small groups of up to 15 persons. Thatโs awesome because in large groups itโs hard to ask questions and the guide canโt pay attention to everyone.
And because the group is small the guide doesnโt need to walk with an umbrella (as a sign) so it feels less touristic and the best thing was that our guide was amazing. His name is Jobe and he was funny and told us a great story about the places on the way (instead of boring facts). He really described the way it was in the past so it was easy to imagine it.
I really recommend this company. They also have other tours but we only tried the free walking tour.
Bone church
We heard about this church from our guide in the tour. We asked him for unique recommendations of things to do in Rome and this was one of his recommendations. It sounded interesting so we went there.
There are two churches in the building, so in the beginning we accidently went to the wrong one. But then we went to the right one. The Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini church. The entrance cost 8.5 euro. A little bit pricy but we were curious to see how it looked. Itโs forbidden to take pictures there and I think itโs good because it keeps it mysterious and surprising when you go there (so donโt look at pictures from the internet). I canโt say itโs a pretty church, but itโs definitely different from all the churches Iโve seen before and itโs really interesting and impressive. In this church there are more than 4000 bones.
Campo De Fiori market
There is no way we would visit a city without going to at least one local market. In Campo De Fiori we visited one every day and sometimes even several times a day because it was 100m from our apartment (we chose the Airbnb apartment because of its location).
This market is so great/ itโs not crowded itโs filled with local, fresh ingredients. I ate fruits there, Roman bought a sausage and cheese sandwich. In our last day we bought 5 different cheeses in order to have a picnic on our way to Lucca. The cheeses were delicious.
If you are renting an apartment in Rome, this market is a great place to buy local ingredients to cook in the apartment. The market is surrounded with many good restaurants, bars, and coffee shops.
The market is open from Monday-Saturday 07:00-14:00 (sometimes even later) closed on Sundays
Palatine Hill and the Colosseum
After the Rose and Orange Gardens we wandered around and saw the Palatine Hill by accident. Itโs such an incredible place. โThe Palatine Hill is the centremost of the Seven Hills of Rome and is one of the most ancient parts of the city. It stands 40 metres above the Roman Forum, looking down upon it on one side, and upon the Circus Maximus on the otherโ (from Wikipedia).
We wandered around there for about one hour and a half and then we went by foot to the Colosseum. All this area was so impressive and huge and so amazing. It is worth visiting for several hours.
To order tickets to the Colosseum
Thai massage
Iโm a massage addict ๐ and luckily during our stay in Rome I had my birthday, so it was a great excuse as to why I should so a massage and Rome is so big and every day we walked there so much time that in the end of the day my feet needed a massage.
I searched for a recommended place and I found โNora Thai massageโ. They have great reviews and one of their branches was close to our apartment.
Address: Via Del Gesรน 56Roma.
A traditional Thai massage cost 50 euro for 60 minutes. Itโs not cheap but itโs a reasonable price.
I really liked the place itself. Very clean, it smelled very good and with calm atmosphere. The room treatment was very welcoming and it even had its own private shower.
The massage itself was fantastic; it was a great present for my birthday.
Eating Gelato
Even though Iโm not a huge fan of ice creams, everyone told me I should try it in Italy, so I just had to. And I have to be honest; it was really good. We stopped on the way in Venchi Gelateria that afterwards we discovered that itโs one of the most famous and best in Rome so we were lucky.
I tried the caramel flavour in a cone topped with chocolate and nuts. And Roman tried the mango and strawberry sorbet. They were so good and the Gelateria itself is really awesome. They have a chocolate waterfall wall. Wow.
Wandering around Rome and enjoying its beauty
Rome is so stunning, itโs hard to describe it with words. Every few seconds we would stop and say, โWow, this is amazingโ/ every five minutes of walking you will encounter a beautiful Piazza (where you can sit to relax). Every two minutes you see another impressive structure. Rome is full of great restaurants, coffee shops, shops, wine bars, and people. Itโs a city that is a must.
Booking tickets for popular attractions in Rome
- Visiting the Colosseum โ booking tickets
- Visiting the Vatican โ booking tickets
- Vatican + Colosseum visit โ booking tickets for a combined visit
- Visiting the Pantheon โ booking tickets
- Tourist bus Hop-on Hop-off Bus โ booking tickets
- Rome tourist card โ booking tickets
I hope my post helped you. If so, I would very much like you to respond here in the comments, and if you have any more questions, then you are also welcome to ask them in the comments or on the blogโs social networks: Facebook and Instagram. Looking for more information about Rome ? I have in the blog more posts about Rome and posts about Italy.
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More posts I wrote on that
Best things to do in Lake Como
Lucca โ An incredible city in Tuscany
Our Top cafes & bars in Rome
Great Italian restaurants in Rome
10 days in Italy โ Our itinerary from central to north Italy
Things to do in Venice โ The city of bridges and canals
What to do in Girona in Costa Brava โ An impressive, medieval town
A legendary town โ Sintra, Portugal