My Top Rome Travel Tips (+ Sample 2-Day Itinerary)

Last year, I had the chance to visit Rome during my 12-day trip to Italy (here are some past posts you might also want to check out including My Complete Italy Itinerary and My Amalfi Coast Guide. Since summer is pretty much in full swing, I thought I'd finally get around to posting some more helpful tips from my trip. So without further adieu, here are some tips when it comes to traveling to Rome and tips I picked up along the way.

Buy Tickets in Advance:
The most important thing is to make a list of the things you want to see and do. I love using Visit A City. It's a site I use for all my travels (and no, this is not sponsored). You can basically customize your own travel itinerary and find out which are the must-see attractions.

Also, find out which tickets you can get in advance and buy them ahead of time. You'll avoid the long lines and if you're traveling in the summer you'll be grateful you did. For example, I bought tickets for the Coliseum and the Vatican online. There are so many "non-official" sites online, so just be careful. Here's are the official websites for each:

Vatican: www.museivaticani.va (under Shop) I did the guided tour, which was great and 64 euros for 2 adults.

Coliseum: www.coopculture.it

Quick tip: Try to go to the Coliseum in the early morning if you can, before it gets really hot!

Where to Stay:
Try to stay at a hotel near the Centro Storico (historical center), this way you are walking distance from all the main attractions. This is the one thing I wish I would have done differently. Although I stayed at a nice hotel in the Parioli district (one of Rome's wealthy residential neighborhoods) I had to take an Uber to get everywhere.

Don't eat near the attractions: As a good rule of thumb, try to never eat near attractions. The food is typically a tourist trap (over-priced and tastes horrible). It's like eating on Ocean Drive in South Beach lol. Instead, try to walk a little further and go off the beaten path.

My Sample 2 Day Rome Itinerary:

Day 1: Arrived at the Rome Termini train station from Florence S.M. Novella Train Station then took a taxi to my hotel. Once I arrived at the hotel (approx. at 10 am) we had breakfast, rested and then headed to the Coliseum around 11:00 a.m. This day, you can also plan to visit the Palatine Hill/Roman Forum (right next to the Coliseum) and the Pantheon. If you still have energy, you can also visit the Trevi Fountain or leave it for Day 2.

Day 2: Rest at the hotel until our scheduled 1:10 tour at the Vatican. After your visit to Vatican City you can use the rest of your day to just relax and do some strolling around some piazzas. Then check out the Trevi Fountain if you didn't do it on Day 1

Some famous piazzas (plazas) you might want to check out include:

Piazza Navona- One of the mot beautiful piazzas in Rome. Also a great spot to stop and grab lunch.

Piazza Spangna (where the famous Spanish Steps are- great for picture taking)

Piazza del Popolo (I loved visiting this piazza with my toddler, he got to run around while other children played. There was even a man blowing bubbles, which kids loved).

Fun Tip: No need to buy water in Rome. You'll find public water fountains (known as a Nasoni) where you can refill your water bottle for free. And yes, it's clean and safe to drink. Here's my mom filling up her water bottle at one of them.

Next up I'll be posting my travel guides for Thailand, Bali and Malaysia....so stay tuned. In the meantime, let me know if there's anything else you'd like me to cover (using trains in Italy maybe).

HAPPY TRAVELS!