What did you love about Rome?

magicmushroom

Hi everyone

I'm off to Rome for a week.
I'm going by myself and want to make sure every day is filled as much as possible so I don't have time to feel lonely!

Obviously I know to see all the stuff like the Colosseum, Sistine Chapel etc - however, for those of you that explored the city, do you have any tips or suggestions for lesser known places, maybe you stumbled upon somewhere that wasn't in the tourist book but was wonderful?

Thanks

BailMeOut

the Café's. Our last time in Rome we visited at least 3-4 per day. Sit outside, order coffee, wine, beer, etc. depending on time of the day and a snack (pastry, pizza, bowl pasta, etc..) and watch the world go by.

NIMAN

The sheer history of it all.

I have been in a lot of European cities but never felt surrounded by history as much as I was in Rome.

Also a very compact city size wise, so walking around all the sites wasn't that difficult.

Also agree about just chilling out in one of the piazza's with a coffee or a beer and watching the world go by. You will have plenty of time for that, although prices are high in the cafe's around the famous piazza's.

BailMeOut

PS: get a 'Roma pass' and pre-book the Vatican. Saves a lot of queuing.

DellyBelly

The shopping. It was great and cheaper than here I found. I went to Next, H&M and River island and the stuff they had there was cheaper then here even though it was the same brands. Also there is a great Irish bar there that we went to most evening called Finnegans - http://www.finneganpub.com/ and they even do decent grub there...

eezipc

My fave thing about Rome is just walking around. It's like a free open air museum. It's an amazing place.

magicmushroom

BailMeOut wrote: »

PS: get a 'Roma pass' and pre-book the Vatican. Saves a lot of queuing.

What did you find the Roma pass handy for? I've heard about it but I'm not sure of the actual benefits - is it just for travel?

And if I book the Vatican online now, does that mean I just walk straight in on the day I visit?

I was going to book a guided tour but at €59 I might just go myself and wander - would you recommend that?

Sorry for all the questions!!

BailMeOut

magicmushroom wrote: »

What did you find the Roma pass handy for? I've heard about it but I'm not sure of the actual benefits - is it just for travel?

And if I book the Vatican online now, does that mean I just walk straight in on the day I visit?

I was going to book a guided tour but at €59 I might just go myself and wander - would you recommend that?

Sorry for all the questions!!

Roma Pass saves you queuing especially at Colosseum as you can just walk in with it. Other than that it works like a leap card. You maybe able to pre-book and pay for entrance to the Colosseum as well.

We just booked entry to the Vatican in advance and remember walking past at least 1km of people queuing up to pay and get it. You walk past everyone and just walk in front door so well worth doing. I heard the proper tours are good but some need to be booked many months in advance to get a place. We did it from ' Skip the queue and buy the tickets online' link and just did the admission tickets.

GAAman

Are you still doing the day trip? I'm heading myself soon for a week with a day trip to Florence.

The Vatican museums are huge, I had prebooked ticket and on the day spoke to an independent tour guide company. For an extra €20 (they initially wanted €50 I talked them down) I was part of a small group with an Italian guide who was full of information about the museum artifacts really enjoyed it.

If you're doing st peters as well be prepared for the many MANY steps up it, and it gets tight near the top but the view is absolutely stunning.

Would also recommend you just wander around, the various open top bus tours are all good but I really enjoyed just walking with no particular plan.

Oh and to answer your question, I loved everything!

magicmushroom

GAAman wrote: »

Are you still doing the day trip? I'm heading myself soon for a week with a day trip to Florence.

The Vatican museums are huge, I had prebooked ticket and on the day spoke to an independent tour guide company. For an extra €20 (they initially wanted €50 I talked them down) I was part of a small group with an Italian guide who was full of information about the museum artifacts really enjoyed it.

If you're doing st peters as well be prepared for the many MANY steps up it, and it gets tight near the top but the view is absolutely stunning.

Would also recommend you just wander around, the various open top bus tours are all good but I really enjoyed just walking with no particular plan.

Oh and to answer your question, I loved everything!

I was going to book a day tour through Walks of Italy but I wondered if it's worth the €59...
I'm already booking a tour of the Colosseum which is pricey so if the tour at the Vatican isn't necessary, I'll save the money and go alone!
However, I don't want to miss out either

The day trip to Florence will be amazing...let me know how you get on this time and you discover anywhere new that you think I should go to!

thisistough

I'd recommend not eating anywhere on the main thoroughfares. All of the best food I had was in small places that didn't look like much.

This place was some of the best pasta I had in Rome and really cheap! https://www.tripadvisor.ie/ShowUserReviews-g187791-d4539264-r225039770-Pasta_Imperiale-Rome_Lazio.html

magicmushroom

thisistough wrote: »

I'd recommend not eating anywhere on the main thoroughfares. All of the best food I had was in small places that didn't look like much.

This place was some of the best pasta I had in Rome and really cheap! https://www.tripadvisor.ie/ShowUserReviews-g187791-d4539264-r225039770-Pasta_Imperiale-Rome_Lazio.html

Wow the reviews are fab - thanks - I'll make a note of this and check it out

Gatica

The Appian Way - this was a very little visited area. Despite the odd tourist bus going to the main sites like 1 section of the old road and the catacombs. We took the public bus from the city then it was a 5-10 minute walk to reach the start of the old Appian Way. Hired bikes and cycled pretty a few km out and out to see the old aqueducts. It was absolutely amazing. Really quiet, just a few families out for their afternoon walk. This was my favourite part of our trip.
Apart from that, basically walking the city and spotting a few of the ancient sites, like where Cesar was murdered, the centurions camp...
I also loved the Roman Forum beside the Colosseum, we spent a whole day there.