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My travel diary: four days in rome.

  • Tea Gudek Šnajdar

View on St. Peter's basilica in Vatican city

My travel diary: Four days in Rome blog post was first published on Culture Tourist on 14 February 2017 and updated on 16 May 2023.

Last month I spent four days in Rome. The city was busy, loud, and filled with cars, but also calm, monumental and beautiful at the same time. It was my first time in Rome, so I wanted to see everything: Roman ruins, museums, beautiful architecture. But I also wanted to get a glimpse of the everyday life in the Eternal City and enjoy wandering its streets, meeting some locals and tasting delicious Italian food.

Four days in Rome

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During my four days in Rome, I managed to experience all of that. It’s a beautiful city and, for a reason, one of the most popular places in Europe.

Day one in Rome

View on the city of Rome from the balcony

My four days in Rome started rough. The night before, there was a massive storm in Amsterdam, so I was worried about our flight. But everything was more than perfect in the end. It was a calm flight, and we came to Rome around 2 pm.

After checking in at our hotel, we went for a short walk towards one of the most famous sites in Rome, the Colosseum. It’s always exciting to see those very famous buildings for the first time in your life. I felt like a child, remembering when I saw that fantastic building for the first time in my school book. And how far and distant it looked to me back then.

⤷ TIP : If you’re planning to spend four days in Rome as I did, getting Roma Pass Card is a good idea. It includes free public transport and free or discounted entrances to many museums and attractions. You can check out the Roma Pass card on this link .

Learning how to cook like an Italian

Drying home made pasta on the table

Oooh, Italian food… It’s my favourite cuisine! I could eat pasta every day and finish every single meal with tiramisu .

We wanted to learn more about Italian food during our trip to Rome, so we booked a cooking workshop for that evening. First, we made the pasta dough, and our teacher Roberto taught us which flour combination works best. I expected making pasta to be much more complicated, but it was pretty easy. We also made a matriciana sauce for pasta, tomato bruschetta,  some antipasti as a starter and a nice dessert – c iambelle al vino . And I am very proud of us because everything was delicious!

⤷ Read more : Exploring Rome with the Urbs App

Day two in Rome

Exploring vatican city.

Hallway with statues in Vatican Museum

After a delicious Italian breakfast and a coffee, we walked towards the Spanish steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon and Piazza Navona. Rome is filled with beautiful architecture, so you stumble to fantastic masterpieces around each corner.

We planned to visit Vatican City in the afternoon to see its famous museums and St. Peter’s Basilica. Since it’s such a fantastic piece of art and home to numerous paintings and statues, we decided to have a guided tour there and learn as much as possible about it.

After a long search, I booked this small group tour in the Vatican . And it was such a wonderful experience! Our guide Alessia took us on a three-hour-long walk around the Vatican museums, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica. The Vatican is so huge and filled with incredible artwork it would be completely impossible to see it on our own.

Roman statues in Vatican Museum

Vatican Museums is undoubtedly one of the best museums in Europe , treasuring so many masterpieces from Antiquity to the Renaissance time. I especially liked the mosaics and the gallery with frescoes depicting old maps of Italy. And the stories behind them – stories about artists, popes and aristocratic families of that time.

Interior of St Peters basilica in Rome

At Sistine Chapel ,  we were amazed by Michelangelo’s persistence and artistic talent. And St. Peter’s Basilica is a masterpiece itself. It really is the Cathedral of the World. Every detail in it is beautiful, from Michelangelo’s Pieta to Bernini’s Baldacchino.

⤷ TIP : If you’ll visit the museum on your own, get your online ticket in advance and avoid long queueing that way. You can get your Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel skip-the-line ticket on this link .

St Peters square in Vatican Rome

After our tour, we went to St. Peter’s Square. While looking at the famous Basilica, I was overwhelmed with the feeling of appreciation and respect for all the people working on those masterpieces I’ve just seen. Standing there and looking at the sky just cleared from the rainy clouds gave me the feeling of standing in a special sacred place. It was one of the moments I will remember forever!

⤷ Read more : What to see in Vatican City

Day three in Rome

Ancient rome.

Roman Forum in Rome Italy

Rome is best known for its old Roman architecture and archaeological sites. Colosseum and Roman Forum are the most famous places from the Classical Antiquity. We wanted to see both, so we arrived right after breakfast, and it was already quite busy.

Although the place could use a lot of organisational improvements, it is still stunning! It is a massive archaeological site with triumphal arches, columns and old temples. We should have bought tickets in advance before we got there. Because we didn’t do that, we had to wait for quite some time to get inside. However, I’ll get there with a guided tour if I revisit it.

⤷ TIP : To avoid repeating my mistake, here is the Colosseum and Roman Forum online ticket . And here is the three-hour-guided tour around them.

Inside the Colosseum in Rome

We spent the whole morning exploring this interesting area of Rome. So, after that, we were ready for a nice Italian lunch!

We listened to the recommendation we got from our guide and went to Trattoria Luzzi , which is close to Colosseum. It had everything a typical Italian restaurant in Rome should have. A long line of people was waiting to get inside, the waiters were loud and entertaining, and the food was terrific! I just loved it! The food was so delicious that I didn’t have time to take any photos of it.

⤷ Read more : 20 Archaeological sites you have to visit in Europe

Afternoon in Trastevere

Small street in Trastevere in Rome

If you’ve been following the Culture Tourist blog for some time, you know how I love to explore local residential areas of the cities I’m visiting. It always gives me a great insight into the local culture and everyday life of people living there.

That’s why we spent one afternoon exploring the charming Trastevere neighbourhood during our four days in Rome. It’s a colourful area with narrow streets, clothes drying on the balconies and plenty of small cute cafés and restaurants.

Gelato ice-cream in Rome

As a massive fan of ice cream, I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to try some gelato during our four days in Rome. We went to an excellent biological patisserie at Trastevere, where I treated myself to a delicious scoop of ginger-honey gelato!

Well, I am really craving it right now…

Best european myths and legends

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon, so we wandered alongside the Tiber River. There are so many beautiful buildings next to it, with Castel Sant’Angelo being my favourite. The bridge in front of it, with all those sculptures of angels, is just stunning. It would make a perfect setting for some exciting thriller movies.

With a combination of beautiful Roman architecture and golden hour, we couldn’t resist taking our cameras out and trying to capture that beauty. We definitely understood why Rome is called the Eternal City.

Day four in Rome

Entrance to pantheon in Rome

It was our last day in Rome, and since we had a few hours left before catching our flight, we met the Angel Tours again to join their short free Pantheon tour . Everyone knows that building well, but I started to look at it with a new pair of eyes after our guide explained its architecture, symbolism and significance. It’s such a magical place.

⤷ TIP : Get your Pantheon entrance ticket on this link .

Street art on tarmac in Rome

After I spent four days in Rome, I realised it is not an easy city. You can feel it has its own problems. But it is an eternal city! The one that will always inspire people and the one to which they will always return. Read about it before your trip, buy the tickets for museums and archaeological sights in advance, and learn about it during the guided tour! And then just wander around it for the rest of your trip.

And in the end, don’t forget to throw a coin to the Trevi Fountain, so you’re sure you’ll come back!

Finally, I recommend Angel Tours and our great tours with them in Rome. I am not related to them, and this is not a sponsored post. I am just genuinely amazed by their work, the great guides we had and their professional approach. So, a big shout-out here for the Angel Tours! Thanks for the lovely time we had in Rome with you!

Would you like to explore more of Italy?

10 Cultural spots to visit in Florence

How to travel around Tuscany on public transport?

North Italy road trip: Milan, Lake Como, Trento & Verona

Three days at Lake Como

Quick Verona Guide

Four days in Rome , Italy , rome , Travel diary

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Story: A Trip To Rome Essay Example

Type of paper: Essay

Topic: History , Church , Islam , Rome , Muslim , Tourism , World , Hotels

Published: 01/14/2020

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Last month, I visited Rome with my family and evidenced the glorious and sumptuousness of this place. My tourist guide informed me a lot about the city and its history. Rome has a history of more than two and half centuries and has enjoyed the status of the center of one of the greatest civilizations of the world. I visited the Colosseum that used to be an amphitheatre in the ancient times. I was informed that it was used for a number of different purposes including executions, public speeches, and for several entertainment purposes. It used to host gladiator contests which were one of the most popular entertainments of ancient times . Imagining about the gladiators and the enormity of the colosseum, we decided to return to hotel as all of us were very tired. My father sent the tourist guide and called him again in the morning. Next day we started our tour by visiting pantheon, a temple for the ancient roman gods as told by the tourist guide. The pantheon is huge in size, rich in historical importance and a gorgeous edifice that reminds the glory of ancient Rome. The next destination, as suggested by our tourist guide was the roman forum, an additional structure of ancient Rome that tells the story of Rome’s elegance. Roman forum used to be the centre of politics in the ancient times. After visiting this place, we returned to the hotel as Sylvia, my younger sister was hungry and tired. Next day, we decided to visit castle saint’ Angelo, a huge museum that tells the story of Rome to its visitors. We visited St. Peter’s basilica and basilica of St. John Lateran, where the pope resides. Our tourist guide suggested us to visit basilica di Santa Maria maggiore and saint’ Andrea Della Valle. After that we visited the great synagogue of Rome. This beautiful and elegant building is worship place of Jews. The next building that we visited was mosque of Rome which is the biggest mosque of Europe. This mosque is very beautiful and one of main centers of Islam in the world. This was more than enough for one day. Next day my mother insisted to visit Trevi fountain and our guide took us there. Guide told us that throwing coin in the fountain brings good luck and we all threw coins in the fountain believing that our wishes would be fulfilled. We visited piazza colonna, piazza navonna and roamed on via Veneto Street. Antico café Greco, a famous café house was our next stoppage where we had our coffee. Monument of vittorio Emanuele II was the last place that we visited and after that we returned to the hotel as we had to pack our bags. We all thanked to the tourist guide, Rosily and after paying him, returned to hotel. The tour of Rome is an unforgettable experience and we all have decided that whenever we plan to visit next time, we will visit Rome once again.

Dyson, Stephen L. Rome: A Living Portrait of an Ancient City. Maryland: JHU Press. , 2010.

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ROME & VATICAN CITY: TRAVEL GUIDE with Budget Itinerary

ROME & VATICAN CITY: TRAVEL GUIDE with Budget Itinerary

By continuing to read this article, you agree to double check with the authorities or other concerned entities for the latest updates.

When we were planning our European backpacking trip, we knew from the get-go that our starting point would be Paris. The French capital was a dream for both of us, and the fares going there were the lowest we found at the time. Most importantly, Yosh had been there before, which meant it would be familiar to at least one of us, making it a great place to start.

But as we continued plotting our route, it became increasingly difficult to pick our last stop. One thing we were looking for was that this city should be spectacular enough to match Paris. We wanted to end our European adventure on a high note, with a bang, so to speak. It wasn’t long until we set our eyes to the city that gave birth, for better or for worse, one of the most powerful empires the world has ever seen. When Rome was brought up, it became clear as day that this was the proverbial bang that we were looking for.

WHAT'S COVERED IN THIS GUIDE?

UNDERSTANDING ROME AND VATICAN CITY

The founding of Rome, the Eternal City, is immortalized in myths. The legend begins with Rhea Silvia, a Vestal virgin, who gave birth to twins, Romulus and Remus. She claimed that the father was Mars, the god of war. The king at the time was Amulius, her uncle and usurper of her father. When he found out about the twins, he ordered them killed. But the servant who was tasked to do the job did not have the heart for it, so the twins were set adrift on the river Tiber. They were then found by a she-wolf who suckled and nurtured them. It’s a long epic story from there, but to cut it short, the brothers eventually overthrew Amulius and restored their grandfather as king.

my trip to rome essay

After a series of arguments — Spoiler alert, jk, lol — Romulus ended up killing Remus. He went on to found the city and named it after him — ROME. This new city would turn out to be one of the greatest civilizations in history, conquering much of the “known world.” Its influence is still clearly evident to this day. The proof is in the calendar, among countless others.

For over two centuries, early Christians were persecuted in Rome. But during the reign of Emperor Constantine the Great, Christianity would begin to emerge as the dominant religion and would amass unprecedented power. For many periods in history, the Pope was the most influential person in Rome, at times having temporal jurisdiction, centered in the Vatican. The Catholic Church would prove to be an enduring institution. In 1929, Vatican City became an independent state.

Today, Rome is the capital of the Lazo region and of Italy as a whole. It is home to over 4.3 million residents. Tourism plays a vital role in its economy. Drawing in almost 10 million tourists a year, it is the 13th most visited city in the world and the third in Europe. Many tourists who come to Rome set foot in the Vatican too, and those who intend to visit Vatican would have no other way of access but through Rome.

my trip to rome essay

Here are other things you need to know:

  • Location : Rome is in Italy’s Lazio region. Coordinates: 41°53′N 12°30′E.
  • Time Zone : UTC+1 (Central European Time). Rome is 7 hours behind the Philippines, Singapore or Malaysia; and 8 hours behind Japan. However, daylight saving time is in effect from the last Sunday of March until the last Sunday of October, which puts it at UTC+2, only 6 hours behind PH, SG, and MY.
  • Language : Italian. Most signs have English translations.
  • Currency : Euro (EUR, €). €1 is roughly USD 1.11, SGD 1.53, PHP 57.46 (as of August 2019)
  • Modes of Payment : Many establishments accept credit cards, but most still prefer cash.

WHERE TO STAY IN ROME

Rome is divided into several districts, but for tourists, it would be beneficial to be familiar with these four key areas:

my trip to rome essay

  • Modern Center. The most prominent landmark here is the Roma Termini, the city’s central station. If you’re planning to travel to other Italian cities, this is a good base because there’s a big chance you’ll be using the train. This area also has a high concentration of hotels on both ends of the price spectrum. Attractions here include the Trevi Fountain and the Quirinal Hill.
  • Old Rome. This is the center of the city during the medieval and Renaissance periods. This is where most tourist spots are located including the Pantheon, Piazza Campo de’ Fiori, and Piazza Navona. The area also has a rich selection of accommodations, but they are more expensive.
  • Colosseo. This used to be the center of ancient Rome. Its map is dotted and shaded by historic sites including the Colosseum, the Palatine Hill and the Capitoline Hill.
  • Vatican City. This is not a district but a completely independent state. But because the Vatican is only accessible via Rome, it is often included in Roman itineraries. If you’re most interested in the Vatican, you may opt to stay in the surrounding districts of Prati or Borgo.

IMPORTANT! Rome collects city tax from tourists , ranging from €3 for 1-star hotels to €7 for 5-star hotels per person per night. For AirBnB, it’s €3.5 per person per night. It’s often NOT included in the hotel booking and has to be settled upon arrival.

What is the Best Area to Stay in Rome?

Because Rome is a generally expensive city, many guidebooks suggest staying outside the city center. The outskirts offer lower prices and a quieter time away from hordes of tourists.

In my opinion, however, I still think that the city center — Old Rome, Modern Center, Colosseo — is still the most ideal place to stay. Yes, it is pricier, but I am the type of traveler who looks at time and energy as currency just as much as money. Staying in the city center means you don’t need to spend much time or money to get to the key tourist attractions.

In particular, I stayed in the area southwest of Roma Termini within the Modern Center. The Roma Termini is the city’s central railway station, which means it would be easy to travel to other parts of Italy from here. It also has a connected metro station, which you can take to other key spots. Or if you’re the type who enjoys walking, you can also reach the Old Rome on foot. It was a long walk, but definitely doable.

Top Budget Hotels and Guesthouses in Rome

Here are the top properties as scored by Agoda users.

my trip to rome essay

  • Corso Vittorio 308. Check Rates & Availability!
  • A Roman Tale B&B. Check Rates & Availability!
  • Vinci House. Check Rates & Availability!
  • B&B Bless & B. Check Rates & Availability!
  • Hotel Leone. Check Rates & Availability!

Top Rome Hostels

Here are some of the top-ranking hostels in Rome, as scored by Agoda customers.

  • The Yellow. Check Rates & Availability!
  • The Blue Hostel. Check Rates & Availability!
  • Roma Tempus. Check Rates & Availability!
  • Blu Stella. Check Rates & Availability!

Search for more Rome Hotels!

Klook TPT2024

HOW TO GET TO ROME

Rome has two commercial airports:

  • Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport or simply Fiumicino (FCO). This is Rome’s main airport and one of the largest airports in Europe. It connects Rome to dozens of major cities around the world. Located southwest of the city center, around 40 minutes from Roma Termini.
  • Ciampino–G. B. Pastine International Airport or simply Ciampino (CIA). Located southeast of the city center, around 30-40 minutes away. It serves mostly low-cost carriers like Ryanair and Wizz Air.

If you’re coming from other parts of Italy or Europe, you can also reach the city by train. The city’s central station is Roma Termini , which is not too far away from the key attractions.

MANILA TO ROME

There are no direct non-stop flights from Manila to Rome. Most airlines make a connection in another Asian city. Here’s a quick search on Skyscanner.

my trip to rome essay

The cheapest flights are offered by China Eastern (connecting in Shanghai), Alitalia (connecting in Abu Dhabi, operated by Etihad), Turkish Airlines (connecting in Istanbul), and Cathay Pacific (connecting in Hong Kong).

MILAN, FLORENCE, VENICE TO ROME

If you’re on a bigger tour around Italy, you can easily reach Rome from Milan, Florence, Venice and other Italian cities by train. There are multiple trains a day.

There are two high-speed train companies in Italy: the state-owned Trenitalia and the privately owned Italo. Both use dynamic pricing (much like airlines). This means that fares are not fixed. They change over time. Hence, it is best to book in advance. If you don’t have fixed plans yet, you can book on the same day, but expect to pay more for your seat.

Usually, the fare is between €35 and €45. But you can fine fares that are as low as €14.90 if you book way in advance. If you don’t have fixed plans yet, you can book on the same day, but expect to pay more for your seat.

FIUMICINO AIRPORT TO ROME CITY CENTER

Although the Fiumicino Airport is located 31 km from the center of Rome, it is well connected to the city. You can travel to and from the airport in three ways: by train, by bus, by taxi, and by Uber.

  • BY TRAIN. A train line directly links the Fiumicino Airport to the city center. After making it through Immigration/Customs and picking up your luggage, follow the signs that read STAZIONE FS. At the station, buy a PER TERMINI ticket. A Leonardo Express train leaves the airport station every 30 minutes from 6:23am until 11:23pm. Travel time: 30-40 minutes. Fare: €14 per adult.

my trip to rome essay

Because taxis and Uber are expensive in Rome, let’s skip them for now. LOL.

HOW TO GET AROUND ROME

my trip to rome essay

Rome is a scenic and walkable city, so the best way to travel short distances is on foot. However, make sure you’re sporting a good pair of walking shoes because the city’s terrain is pretty slope-y. We stayed near Roma Termini and we walked whenever we could, but it got really tiring at times. It added a bit of excitement to our Rome adventure, though. And we felt like we lost a few pounds after our trip. Felt like. In reality, whatever weight we lost was cancelled out by our pigging out. Haha. We ate a lot and often!

By Public Transportation

For medium and long distances, you can rely on Rome’s trusty public transportation system, which is operated by ATAC (Agenzia del Trasporto Autoferrotranviario del Comune di Roma). It is a network of various transportation modes: buses, trams, metro and trolleybuses. All you need to do is find out the nearest station to your origin and destination, and enter them to the Journey Planner on the ATAC website and it will tell you the lines you can take and the fare to settle.

Rome’s public transportation system is fully integrated, which means one ticket can be used on multiple transportation options. For example, you can use the bus and then the tram using the same ticket.

That said, tickets come in various types and costs:

  • B.I.T. (Single ticket) – valid for 100 minutes. Price: €1.50.
  • Roma 24H – valid for 24 hours. Price: €7.
  • Roma 48H – valid for 48 hours. Price: €12.50.
  • Roma 72H – valid for 72 hours, Price: €18.

The BIT (single ticket) allows unlimited bus/tram rides within the next 100 minutes. However, it allows only a SINGLE JOURNEY on metro/train (urban route).

The Roma 24H, 48H and 72H tickets allows unlimited use of the whole urban public transportation network including metro, train, bus, tram, and trolleybus. Again, only on urban routes. You cannot use it to travel to another city.

Here are more information about using Rome’s public transportation.

  • The validity starts as soon as you “validate” your ticket. I’ll explain below.
  • At the metro station or onboard the bus or tram, you’ll find yellow machines. These little boxes will validate your ticket. Just insert your ticket and take it back when it spits it back out.
  • For BIT tickets, you need to validate the ticket at the start of your journey.
  • For Roma 24H, 48H and 72H tickets, you only need to validate once, at the first time you use it.
  • Spot checks are done and if you’re caught without a ticket or with a ticket that isn’t validated, you’re in for a hefty fine.
  • You can purchase tickets at automatic ticket machines, staffed ticket counters at the station, or even tobacco stores and news stands.

By Hop On Hop Off Tourist Bus

my trip to rome essay

If you’re a fan of sightseeing buses, you’ll be delighted to know that they’re also available in Rome. The I Love Rome Hop On and Hop Off Panorama Bus will show you around the city and take you to its most recognizable tourist spots including the following:

  • Vatican City
  • St. Mary Major
  • Trevi Fountain
  • Piazza Venetia
  • Roma Termini

As usual, there is a multilingual audio guide which will give you information about each stop. The bus has a wi-fi connection too! Available in 24-hour, 48-hour, and 72-hour variants. You can get a slight discount if you purchase your ticket from Klook!

my trip to rome essay

If you want to maximize your time by checking out as many attractions as you can, the ROMA PASS can give you a great deal. With this pass you can enjoy the following:

  • unlimited rides on bus, tram, and metro within the city
  • FREE entry to one or two museums or archaeological sites (including Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, Castel Sant’Angelo)
  • discounts on various museums, theaters, shops, and other attractions
  • skip-the-line access to Capitoline museums and Castel Sant’Angelo

Available in 48-hour and 72-hour versions. You can book with Klook and claim at the airport or Roma Termini!

my trip to rome essay

PLACES TO VISIT IN ROME

The first written record of the term “Eternal City” as reference to Rome was traced to the poet Albius Tibullus. But legend has it that ancient Romans strongly believed that no matter what happens, the mighty city of Rome will remain standing with the last of men. The Roman Empire was one of the greatest this world has ever known, but it eventually fell in the 5th century CE. Yet, even after its collapse, Rome has changed the world forever. Its imprints and influences are everywhere, so in a way, Eternal City remains a fitting nickname.

From its museums to archaeological sites, most of what modern-day Rome has to offer to tourists are historical in nature. While it is entirely possible to explore the city DIY-style, we still strongly suggest to have a guide — a human guide, an audio guide, whatever guide — that can give you loads of information about the places you’ll visit. Otherwise, there’s a chance that you might miss the insights for the sights. What looks like a random rock may have had some curious significance back in the day.

Anyway, here are some of the must-visit attractions in la Città Eterna.

Vatican City Tour

No stay in Rome is complete without spending some time in the Vatican City, the smallest country in the world. The Vatican’s history has long been entwined with Rome. Even today, the independent state is fully enclaved within the Italian capital.

my trip to rome essay

Tourists may visit the Vatican museums, St. Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel in day.

  • St. Peter’s Basilica. The largest Catholic church in the world, which also showcases iconic creations like Bernini’s Baldacchino and Cathedra Petri and Michelangelo’s Pietà.
  • Vatican Museums. Composed of 11 different museums, collectively home to over 20,000 historic artifacts and artistic masterpieces.
  • Sistine Chapel. Don’t forget to look up and be awed by its spectacular ceiling, painted by Renaissance man Michelangelo.

Entrance to St. Peter’s Basilica is FREE, but an 8€ access fee is charged to climb to the dome.

Entrance fee for Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel is 17€. If you’ll rent an audio guide, the total fee is 24€.

The queue for these attractions are notoriously long. We saw it ourselves during our visit. Good thing we have pre-booked a skip-the-line ticket. You can also book online!

my trip to rome essay

How to get to Vatican City: Take the Metro Line A and get off at Ottaviano Station. From here, the Vatican City is just a short walk away. Vatican Museums/Sistine Chapel Operating Hours: Monday-Saturday, 9am-6pm (Last entry 4pm); Last Sunday of every month, 9am-2pm Closed: Sundays, except last Sunday of every month St. Peter’s Basilica Operating Hours: Daily, 7am-6:30pm

Papal Mass and Angelus

my trip to rome essay

Many Catholics travel to the Vatican to see the Pope and join the Papal audience. If this is also a big reason why you’re flying to Rome, it is important to plan your trip well. Timing is everything because the Pope doesn’t appear publicly every day.

Usually, the Pope leads the celebration on three occasions: for the General Audience, for the Angelus, and for the Papal Mass.

  • General Audience. It’s not a mass. The Pope greets the crowd, delivers teachings, and leads prayer(s). This happens at St. Peter’s Square every Wednesday, usually at 9:30am. However, you are strongly advised to arrive much earlier if you want to secure a seat. Some show up three hours before. To get a seat, you need a ticket. If you fail to get a ticket, it is fine. You can still attend the event standing at the back.
  • Angelus. The Pope also leads the Angelus prayer at St. Peter’s Square every Sunday at 12 noon. This is a shorter ceremony, lasting only 15 minutes. NO TICKETS needed for this.
  • Papal Mass. The Pope leads the liturgical celebration, usually inside St. Peter’s Basilica. But when the number of expected attendees is too big, the mass is moved to the square outside to accommodate more faithfuls. If the mass happens inside the basilica, TICKETS ARE REQUIRED. Otherwise, you can find your spot in the standing room at the back. This doesn’t happen weekly.

IMPORTANT! Check the Papal calendar when you’re planning your trip. Occasionally, there are deviations from the weekly schedule. The Pope is not in Rome all the time. There are Wednesdays when he is not in Rome so no Audience that day. Some Sundays, he is not in town to lead the Angelus. Likewise, there are extra days of appearance added to the calendar. Check the VATICAN CALENDAR here!

HOW TO GET TICKETS: You can reserve tickets in advance by following these instructions . You can also get from the Swiss Guards at the Bronze Doors from 3pm-6pm the day before the schedule and from 7am on the day itself. But like I said before, if you’re here for the General Audience, you don’t really need tickets if you’re willing to stand.

Note that ALL TICKETS ARE FREE OF CHARGE.

Can you attend the General Audience or Angelus and tour the Vatican Museums on the same day? Yes, it’s often possible. But we recommend doing these on two separate days to avoid overloading your itinerary. You also get to dodge the big crowds that will flood into the museums that day. Instead, we suggest that you visit Castel Sant’Angelo, which is not too far away!

How to get to Vatican City: Take the Metro Line A and get off at Ottaviano Station. From here, the Vatican City is just a short walk away.

Castel Sant’Angelo

Completed in 134 CE under the rule of Emperor Hadrian, the Ponte Sant’Angelo is sometimes referred to as the Bridge of Hadrian. The bridge straddles River Tiber and connects the Old City to Castel Sant’Angelo, a massive cylindrical structure originally commissioned by the emperor as a mausoleum for him and his family. Over the years, it has been transformed numerous times into a military and papal fortress, and a prison. Today, it houses a museum.

It stands close to the Vatican City, so you might want to drop by before or after your Vatican tour.

How to get to the Vittoriano: From Roma Termini, take Bus 40 to Borgo Sant’angelo. You can also take the Metro to Lepanto Station, but it will entail a 15 or 20-minute walk. Hours open: Tuesday–Sunday, 9am–7pm. Closed: Mondays. January 1, May 1, December 25. Entrance fee: €15 adult.

Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill

my trip to rome essay

The Colosseo district was the heart of ancient Rome, adorned by impressive structures like the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. Although it has lost much, the Colosseum remains standing. You can still easily see why this was such an ambitious project at the time and effortlessly picture all the festivities and gladiator battles that were showcased here back in the day. Nearby is Palatine Hill, littered with important ruins of the palaces that once home to emperors.

You can purchase tickets and explore on your own. To avoid super long queues, you can book tickets in advance. Reservation fee applies.

  • Ticket (Entrance to Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill): €12
  • Reservation fee: €2

If you have the budget, I recommend joining a guided tour so you get to appreciate these sites better. You can also book official tours online. Here are the links:

  • Entrance only (without tour)
  • Entrance + Guided Tour
  • Entrance + Underground Tour

For ROMA PASS holders: You don’t need to book a ticket, but you will still have to reserve and pay the reservation fee online. There is an option for Roma Pass holders when you reserve. If you want to book a tour, make sure you BOOK THE TOUR ONLY.

If you’re a fan of Klook’s services and you don’t want to deal with all these complications, you can book your ticket or guided tour with Klook instead. The guided tour covers not just the Colosseum but also the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill.

my trip to rome essay

How to get there: Take the Metro Line B and alight at Colosseo Station. The Colosseum stands right in front of the station exit.

my trip to rome essay

More formally known as Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland), the Vittoriano is a massive white marble monument that commands attention. Rising majestically over Piazza Venezia, it was constructed in honor of Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of the unified Italy. It also houses the Museo Centrale del Risorgimento, which narrates the journey to unification.

You can climb to the panorama terrace by boarding a glass lift for a splendid view.

How to get to the Vittoriano: The closest bus stop is the Piazza Venezia Station. The closest tram stop is Venezia. The closest Metro Station is the Colosseo Station, but you will have to walk around 20 minutes. However, the walk from Colosseo Station will also take you to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, so it’s best visited on the same day you’re visiting these sites. Hours open: The museum is open daily, 9:30am-5:30pm (4:30pm in winter). The elevator is open until 7:30pm. Closed: Christmas and New Year’s Day. Entrance fee: Museum and monument, FREE. Elevator to panorama terrace, €7.

Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps

my trip to rome essay

Toss a coin into the fountain, and you’ll be back in Rome someday. Toss two coins, and you’ll find new love. Toss three, and wedding bells will be ringing for you. At least, that’s what the legend says.

The Trevi fountain is perhaps the most famous fountain in the world. So famous that it generates over a million euro per year just from people tossing coins into it. At the end of every day, the municipality collects all the coins to fund charity projects. So whether or not you believe in its rumored wish-granting features, the coin you toss is still going to do some good.

Just a few blocks from the Trevi Fountain is the cinematic Spanish Steps at Piazza di Spagna. Built between 1723 and 1725 to allow easier access to Trinità dei Monti Church, this picturesque staircase is one of the most popular tourist spots in the city. The romantic appeal of these 135 steps was imprinted on the global consciousness by the film “The Roman Holiday” starring Audrey Hepburn.

You can visit the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps on your own, but if you want a more insightful experience, you can join a walking tour!

my trip to rome essay

How to get to Trevi Fountain: The closest metro station is Barberini Station on Line A. The closest bus stops are Tritone/Fontana di Trevi and Largo Chigi. How to get to the Spanish Steps: The closest Metro Station is Spagna Station (Line A). Admission Fee: FREE (if DIY).

my trip to rome essay

Constructed almost 2000 years ago as a temple, it is one of the best preserved ancient structures in the city. It is also the final resting place for Renaissance artist Raphael, whose tomb is one of the many reasons tourists visit this site.

How to get to the Pantheon: There isn’t a Metro Station nearby. The closest are Spagna Station and Barberini Station, which are both 15-20 minutes away on foot. Hence, it’s best to visit the Pantheon (and the rest of Old Rome) on the same day you’re seeing the Trevi Fountain or the Spanish Steps. The closest bus stop is Argentina Station, near Largo di Torre Argentina. Hours open: Monday-Saturday, 9am-7:15pm; Sunday, 9am–5:45pm. Closed: When there is a mass. Also closed on some national public holidays. Admission Fee: FREE.

WHERE TO EAT CHEAP IN ROME

my trip to rome essay

Rome is also famous for its heavenly cuisine. The city’s signature pasta dish is cacio e pepe , literally “cheese and pepper”. It’s pasta tossed with parmesan cheese, butter or olive oil, and crushed black pepper. Another iconic dish is carbonara, pasta with white sauce, pancetta, parmesan cheese, and egg. They even have the National Museum of Pasta or Museo Nazionale della Paste Alimentari in Italian.

Food in Rome is relatively expensive, but there are cheaper options. We’ve tried several of these budget-friendly restaurants, but these three stood out.

  • Ristorante Sora Lucia. Their bestsellers are cacio e pepe (€8) and carbonara (€10). It’s a small restaurant near the Trevi Fountain. Address: Via della Panetteria, 12, 00187 Roma RM, Italy. Price Range: €10 to €50.
  • La Prosciutteria Cantina Dei Papi Trevi. Cold cuts, cheeses, and a bottle of wine. Their specialty is prosciutto. They also serve bruschetta. Order one of their platters! Address: Via della Panetteria, 34/A, 00187 Roma RM, Italy Price Range: €10 to €30.
  • Cantina e Cucina. We recommend their Cartoccio Scfizioso di Calamari and their Funghi pizza. Address: Via del Governo Vecchio, 87, 00186 Roma RM, Italy

Street food is also very filling. You can find a panini or a slice of pizza for €6-8 only.

SAMPLE ROME ITINERARY

Below is a sample 5-day Rome and Vatican itinerary. The times here are just estimates and for sample purposes only. Actual schedules may vary so give allowance or cross check before your trip.

This itinerary also assumes the following:

  • You’re arriving at Fiumicino Airport.
  • You’re staying at a budget hotel near Roma Termini for €30 per person per night.
  • You’re a party of 2, splitting some expenses.
  • Your food allowance is €15 per lunch/dinner.
  • Prices below are in euro.

Needless to say, you should also make the necessary adjustments to fit your schedule and the Papal calendar. For example, if the General Audience with the Pope coincides with your Day 4 instead of Day 3, feel free to switch them up. Similarly, if your Vatican Tour falls on a Sunday, move it because the museums and the Sistine Chapel are most likely closed.

DAY 1: TREVI FOUNTAIN & SPANISH STEPS 10:00 am – Arrival at Fiumicino Airport 11:20 am – Train to Roma Termini, €14 12:00 nn – Walk to hotel, check in 01:00 pm – Stroll toward Trevi 01:40 pm – Ristorante Sora Lucia, €15 03:00 pm – Trevi Fountain 04:30 pm – Spanish Steps 05:30 pm – Walk back to La Prosciutteria 07:00 pm – La Prosciutteria, €15 08:30 pm – Walk back to hotel

DAY 3: OPTION A – PAPAL AUDIENCE 06:00 am – Wake up call 07:00 am – Metro to Ottaviano Station, €1.50 07:30 am – Enter St. Peter’s Square 09:30 am – General Audience with the Pope 12:00 nn – Lunch, €10 01:30 pm – Castel Sant’Angelo, €15 02:30 pm – Cross the bridge to Old Rome 03:00 pm – Old Rome (Pantheon, etc.) 07:00 pm – Dinner, €15

DAY 3: OPTION B – ANGELUS WITH THE POPE 08:00 am – Wake up call 09:30 am – Metro to Ottaviano Station, €1.50 10:00 am – Enter St. Peter’s Square 12:00 nn – General Audience with the Pope 01:00 pm – Lunch, €10 02:30 pm – Castel Sant’Angelo, €15 03:30 pm – Cross the bridge to Old Rome 04:00 pm – Old Rome (Pantheon, etc.) 07:00 pm – Dinner, €15

DAY 5: DEPARTURE 06:30 am – Wake up call 08:00 am – Hotel check out 09:00 am – Train to airport 10:00 am – Flight check in 11:00 am – Lunch, €15 01:00 pm – Flight out, €14

If you follow the itinerary above, it will set you back at least €270 (USD 302, SGD 418, PHP 15750) per person excluding the airfare, accommodations, and travel taxes.

If you spend €30 per person on hotel room and pay €3.50 city tax per night, prepare to shell out €404 (USD 452, SGD 626, PHP 23570) per person, excluding airfare and travel taxes.

There are still plenty of ways to further reduce the cost! See the next section.

MORE TIPS FOR THE POOR TRAVELER

  • Find a hostel that allows you to cook or heat your food. This way, you don’t have to eat out for each meal! You can hit the grocery and shop for ingredients and prepare your own.
  • Avail of FREE entry to museums. Many museums throughout Rome allow free access on specific days of the month or year — usually the first Sunday of every month. The actual day varies per museum so check beforehand.
  • Join FREE Walking Tours. I indicated paid tours above, but if you’re really traveling on a shoestring, you can join free walking tours instead. There are plenty of them available in Rome, most starting at Piazza Spagna or another piazza within Old Rome. The guides depend on tips though, so while it is “free,” you should still give the guide some amount if you like their service.
  • Don’t dine anywhere near touristy spots. These overpriced restaurants cater primarily to unsuspecting tourists. Walk for 10 minutes or so into the deeper alleys and you’ll find small cheaper places where locals eat.
  • Hungry but thrifty? Try paninis. These sandwiches cost only €5 or €6 each, but they are very filling. Pizza slices are also cheap, at €6-8 each.
  • Tap and fountain water is potable. They’re safe to drink. It’s just a matter of taste for most people.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT ROME

Do i need a visa to visit rome.

Italy is part of the Schengen agreement. If you’re a Philippine passport holder, you will need a Schengen Visa to visit Rome. If Italy is the only country you are going to visit or if you’re traveling to multiple countries but staying in Italy the longest, you will need to apply for a visa via the Italian Embassy.

For more information about how to get a visa from the Italian Embassy, READ: ITALIAN SCHENGEN VISA!

Is Rome safe?

Rome is generally safe. It’s easy to imagine Italy as a land of gangsters just because of the word “mafia”. Sure, there is organized crime in Italy, but they’re not directed at tourists.

What tourists should be worried about are petty crimes like pickpocketing and scams, which are quite prevalent in the Italian capital.

What scams are common in Rome?

Like other major cities in Europe, scams are very rampant in Rome. Here are some of the most common:

  • Rose or bracelet scam. A random person (sometimes a child) will approach you and give you a rose or a bracelet. You’d think it’s for free, but they will charge you exorbitantly for it. Don’t accept anything from strangers, especially at touristy spots!
  • Switching bills. The seller or taxi driver switches notes and claims you’re not paying enough. For example, you hand them a 50-euro bill but he will quickly replace it when you blink and tell you that you handed him only 5 euro. Because you’re not that familiar with their money and it happened so fast, you’d actually think that you made a mistake but you didn’t.
  • Overcharging taxis. You know this. It happens in every other city on earth. Just insist on the meter and keep an eye on it.
  • Pickpocketing. Rome is notorious for pickpockets. Most common at touristy places and buses! Not even the St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City is safe. Someone opened my bag while I was there to pray the Angelus with the Pope. Thankfully, they didn’t take anything valuable. Make sure you keep your wallet in hard to reach parts of your body/clothes and always be vigilant.

When is the best time to visit Rome?

March and April are the best months to be in Rome. The weather is pleasant, not too hot but not too cold. The attractions aren’t that crowded either. October and November are great options, too. It’s shoulder season, so it’s almost like March and April. My only problem with this period is the rain because November is the wettest month.

my trip to rome essay

Rome is best enjoyed when it is not jam-packed with tourists. In general, October to April is okay. Winter is also when airfare and hotel rates drop significantly, enabling you to enjoy more with your budget. But avoid the weeks surrounding major holidays like Christmas and Easter (Holy Week).

May to September is high season (peak season). Not only is anything tourism-related much more expensive, you’re also elbow-to-elbow with other vacationers. The summer months of July and August, in particular, are when locals go on holiday and international tourists come flooding in.

If you’re visiting to attend a mass led by the Pope, check the Vatican schedule and build your itinerary around it. To see the Papal schedule, visit www.papalaudience.org/schedule.

How much is the Rome tourist tax? Is it included in hotel bookings?

Rome collects city tax from tourists ranging from €3 for 1-star hotels to €7 for 5-star hotels per person per night. For AirBnB, it’s €3.5 per person per night.

It’s often NOT included in the hotel booking and has to be settled upon arrival at the hotel.

What is the tipping policy in Rome?

Tipping is not expected in Rome. It is appreciated but not really expected.

At restaurants, the “tip” usually takes the form of something else (service charge, bread, etc.) and is already included in the bill. No need to tip more unless you really enjoyed the service. Note that coperto , while normal in most parts of Italy, is illegal in Rome.

At hotels, you can tip €1 per bag for porters or €1 per day for hotel chambermaids.

In taxis, tips are not expected.

Is tap water safe to drink in Rome?

Yes, it’s safe to drink. It’s just a matter of taste.

Also, you might want to refill your water bottles. There are over countless drinking fountains in Rome. No need to buy bottled water each time.

What type of power plug / socket is used in Rome?

Electricity Info : 230 volts, 50 Hz. Common sockets are Type F, which also accept plugs that have two round pins (C and E).

my trip to rome essay

Co-written with Yosh Dimen. 2️⃣0️⃣1️⃣9️⃣ • 8️⃣ • 8️⃣

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guest

The place is simply beautiful and the itinerary is a great help…

Yosh Dimen

Thanks, Katherine!

Thomas

What a fantastic post! keep sharing such nice things………………….. Thank you.

Sonam Pandey

Great to read your post. Amazing pictures that you mentioned in your post, thanks for sharing with us. We are taxi service provider in India as the name of Bharat Taxi.

Coba Grills

Wow. Wonderful article about the beautiful place. The itinerary is really useful. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for visiting!

Govt Yojana

I really liked your article. In this article you give some information. I read your article and i satisfied with your article. I really appreciate your work so keep doing this article. You did such a fabulous job. This article is rally helpful for me. Thank you very much for sharing this such a beautiful article.

nicole

hi po, need po ba ng transit visa sa Istanbul pag may connecting flight dun pero ibang airline? thanks!

Hi Nicole, if you need to get out to pick up your luggage and check it in again, you might need a visa.

Vacation Saga

What a fantastic blog! Keep sharing such interesting travel-related content. It helps us to choose the vacation destination. Thank you.

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The Constant Rambler.

I stumbled out of the airport jet lagged, sleep deprived, and frankly a little drunk, but as I looked out at Rome I felt myself falling in love. There is something magical about Rome that makes it more than a city. It’s an experience.

Vatican Rome

I knew if went looking for a hostel, the overwhelming urge to sleep would take over. Not an option! I had  waited to long for this; there was no way I was going to spend my first day in Italy sleeping. I quickly came up with a plan that involved fueling my body with a dangerous amount of espresso and maintaining a sugar rush by overloading my body with the sweetest bakery pastries I could find.  I put my plan into action and slung on my backpack. I was prepared to explore Rome.

For years the Colosseum had been at the top of my bucket list, so it was naturally my first stop. The caffeine and sugar hadn’t quite kicked in yet and I felt my jet lag getting worse but I kept going, hunched over by the weight of my backpack. By the time I was near the Colosseum, I looked like a zombie. As sweat poured down my blank face, I caught people staring at my ragged figure as they muttered to one another. A little old Italian women scurried out of my path like I had the plague. It didn’t bother me. I was a man on a mission. Then suddenly, I saw it. I had worked, dreamed, and saved for this moment and I was finally here in front of one of the greatest wonders of the world. The Colosseum! I felt a smile cross my face and new life enter my bones. It was as beautiful as I imagined it.

The  Colosseum Rome Collage

After another quick espresso, my next stop was Trevi Fountain. This masterpiece is not just one of the most stunning sites in Rome but in Western Europe. This massive fountain depicts Neptune riding a chariot atop the ever changing moods of the sea. Legend says if you throw a coin over your shoulder into the fountain, you will one day you will return to the city. Over 4,000 euros are thrown into the fountain each day further proves that everyone who visits Rome falls in love with city. Trevi Fountain is so impressive I made a point to visit it at least once every day.

Trevi

Italy has a strong culture and the streets of Rome are alive. I wandered the cobbled streets the rest of the day, letting myself get lost. I found squares full of aspiring artists painting their beautiful surroundings. I walked in amazement for hours stopping only to refuel with espresso and sugar in small patio cafés’ until I found a hostel and finally collapsed.

Roman Streets Collage

No trip to Rome is complete without spending a day at the Vatican Museum. This is how I spent the following day. This impressive museum has a large collection of statues and masterful paintings. You could easily spend a whole day walking through the museum before ending up at the Sistine chapel, which will leave you staring in awe at its beauty. The Vatican museum will leave you speechless.

Vatican Museum Rome

Rome seems to have an endless amount of things to see, do, and experience. I couldn’t think of a better way to launch a trip in Europe than experiencing this city. Rome will leave a lifetime impression and you will soon find yourself planning your return. I know I did.

624115_300x250 Hang out in an empty Sistine Chapel

Stephen Schreck is a world traveler, nomad, and mistake prone backpacker. Knowing traveling the world full-time was the only life for him he set out to make his dream his reality. He is currently trying to tackle his bucket list, a quest that leads him to many entertaining misadventures, and random locations. Find more of his writing at A Backpackers Tale or connect with him on Facebook or +Stephen on Google ! &nbsp

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6 thoughts on “ rome : a photo essay – a backpacker’s tale ”.

Stephen, you should consider patenting that sugar and espresso diet as some sort of magical jet lag cure. I’ve used it a few times myself, and it’s amazing what wonders caffeine can work when you’re straight off the plane. We haven’t been to Rome (yet!), but soon I hope – thanks for the inspiration :)

Ha That diet saved me that day for sure. I should patent it, and try and sell it to airline cafes. Rome is wonderful, definitely worth a visit the next time your in Europe. Thank you for the kind words Micki :)

Rome is a great place to start a European trip. I agree with you visiting Rome is an experience, I love Rome. Beautiful photos

Glad to see we share a mutal love for Rome.I can’t wait to get back there this summer. What was your favorite part?

This brought back such sweet memories of the same places I visited many years ago. Thanks for posting!!

Thanks Sage. I’m glad I could help you remember such great moments.

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Ultimate First Trip to Rome Itinerary: 10+ Top Things to See!

Guide to seeing the best of this amazing city from the classics to the lesser-known sites..

Last updated May 20, 2023

Ultimate First Trip to Rome Itinerary: 10+ Top Things to See!

I have fallen in love with many places throughout our travels, but without hesitation, Rome is my favorite city I’ve ever been to. This was a total shock to me since I really didn’t enjoy Paris (sorry!!) and I thought it would be similarly over-stimulating … but it wasn’t. Not at all. Our Rome itinerary was the perfect combination of everything Buddy and I love – amazing architecture, rich history, great views, kind people, and delicious food.

Plus, Rome just had this romantic, relaxing vibe we couldn’t get enough of. I think of that amazing first trip to Rome and I still swoon a little bit. Ahh Rome …

It is impossible to see even a portion of what this stunning city has to offer on one short trip, but I think we did a pretty good job packing in a mix of touristy, relaxing, and inspiring places along with all the best things to do.

first trip to Rome Italy - Roman Forum

Table of Contents

11 Must-See Rome Top Activities

Much of our time was spent just wandering the narrow, gorgeous streets of this historic city, which led to stumbling across places like the Spanish Steps without even meaning to. We heard public transport is great, but we loved walking everywhere! It really is the best way to see Rome (considered the “Eternal City” by the Ancient Romans who believed it would always be there).

first trip to Rome Italy

However, we did have a list of our must-sees that we made sure to plan for. But since it was the off season , we were able to book tickets a few days in advance and make it work. (This wasn’t our intention, but for some reason, our credit card would not work on many Italian websites, like the Vatican, etc.) This likely would be impossible in high season, so definitely try to book ahead!

It is recommended to book on the official website of an attraction much further in advance for these popular attractions, and although many are free – it is a good idea to get there extra early to beat the crowds.

Here are some of our favorite planned and unplanned stops and activities during our three days in Rome!

1. Pantheon

Our first day in Rome happened to be my birthday, so we started with an amazing Italian food guided tour which met at the Pantheon. Although there was a long line for this popular place to open after Sunday morning mass, we were able to walk right in later in the day. This free-entry stop is definitely not one to miss.

italian food tour rome

The Pantheon is said to be the best-preserved building from ancient Rome. This 2,000+-year-old structure is most well-known for its dome with a hole at the top ( oculus ) that opens to the sky.

While it was originally created as a temple to Roman gods, it is now a Christian church and offers a weekly mass. On Pentecost Sunday, rose petals are showered over everyone after mass from the dome’s oculus – as a reminder of how Jesus shed his blood for his people.

first trip to Rome Italy - pantheon

As magical as a rose petal shower sounds, it is still an amazing place to visit even without any special event going on. Just be prepared to be bumped into as people wander around with their eyes wandering up toward the hole in the ceiling. While its functional purpose was to provide light, it is also meant to make those inside think of the heavens above – which it clearly is still doing.

first trip to Rome Italy - pantheon

And don’t forget to take a look at the fountain under the obelisk in front of the Pantheon. The unique carvings and detail is just amazing and even humorous to look at.

first trip to Rome Italy

2. Piazza Navona

Around the corner from the Pantheon is the gorgeous Piazza Navona. This is a very bustling area with street performers and lots of great people watching . We laughed as we watched kids play in giant bubbles while a small band played a relaxing tune.

first trip to Rome Italy

Plus, the fountains in this area – and really, all over the city – are very impressive. We loved finding interesting new details every time we passed by during our many hours of explorations.

first trip to Rome Italy

3. Spanish Steps

As noted before, we kind of just stumbled upon the iconic Spanish Steps. We knew we were somewhere important when we found a huge crowd, so we Googled it and joined in the hordes of people taking photos!

first trip to Rome Italy

4. Roman Colosseum

The Roman Colosseum was the big one for us. This was the place we wanted to see most. And while our previously mentioned credit card issues prevented us from locking in the underground tour we wanted, it was still an amazing place to explore.

first trip to Rome Italy - coloseum

This amazing structure – used for gladiator combats and other shows – was opened in 80 A.D. It is always so hard for us to comprehend something could still be around that is so old and filled with so much history – which is why we are drawn to these places.

first trip to Rome Italy - coloseum

It is even crazier to have this huge reminder of ancient history amid a bustling urban city, with cars driving by and shopping malls around the corner. Such a strange and wonderful mix!

first trip to Rome Italy - coloseum

5. Roman Forum & Palatine Hill

While standing in the Colosseum was definitely one of those awe-struck travel moments, the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill area were actually much more enjoyable to walk around and was included with the Colosseum admission.

first trip to Rome Italy - Roman Forum

We spent hours wandering around this gorgeous area, admiring all the history it had to offer at every turn. Within the Roman Forum are dozens of different ruins – from temples to arches to statues . The greenery surrounding, or even covering, these iconic places made what was left of the gorgeous stone architecture stand out even more.

first trip to Rome Italy - Roman Forum

Once we made our way up the hill, the views out over the ruins offered yet another stunning look at this amazing place. And we couldn’t have had better weather. What a special treat on a February day in Rome!

first trip to Rome Italy - Roman Forum

6. Trevi Fountain (Fontana di Trevi)

The iconic Roman landmark is in the popular Centro Storico area near the Tiber River. We knew going to the iconic Trevi Fountain mid-day would be crazy, but it was off-season, so we were curious how bad it would really be. Well, I’m not sure how crazy this area gets in the summer, but we definitely weren’t going to be enjoying a peaceful look at the fountain. 

first trip to Rome Italy - Trevi Fountain

So, we decided to go back realllly early in the morning the next day to get the photos and experience we craved. And it was so worth waking up before the sun to be alone in front of the stunning fountain. Early morning is the best time, we think!

first trip to Rome Italy

Eventually, we did have another tourist come by and since she was kind enough to try to stay out of our shots as she took her selfies, I offered to take some for her. After taking some epic shots of this spunky little Asian woman doing her favorite poses, she offered to take some of us – and gave us examples of poses we should do . Ha!

first trip to Rome Italy

While the fountain was amazing, it was that hilarious 5a.m. mini photo shoot that I’ll always remember!

Vatican City Explorations

On the last morning of our trip, we ventured over to Vatican City to take in the main sites. We had wandered around what we thought was the main area of the city (near the Basilica) on our first night. But, little did we know,

Vatican City is much bigger and the museum is about 10 minutes away, when walking as fast as possible. Let’s just say, realizing this with about nine minutes to get there was fun.

first trip to Rome Italy - Vatican City

While we would highly recommend giving at least a full day to this area, if not two, we made it work in about five hours. And we had the sore feet and exhausted, sweaty faces to prove it.

7. St. Peter’s Basilica (Including Dome Viewpoint)

While entry to St Peter’s Basilica is free, there is a must-do add-on for about €10 that allows you access to the inside of the top of the dome of the stunning church and the best views outside of the surrounding Roman countryside and cityscape. This was the favorite stop of our trip. We loved looking down on famous landmarks, archeological sites, and beautiful buildings.

first trip to Rome Italy - St. Peter's Basilica

Exploring St. Peter’s Basilica Dome & Views of Rome

It is slightly less to take the stairs all the way up, but we opted for the elevator to save time. However, there is no getting out of stair climbing. To see the inside of St. Peter’s Basilica dome and the views on the outside means going up (and back down) 300+ steps.

first trip to Rome Italy - Vatican City

As we went around and around, our curiosity increased. Then we finally got to the entry to the dome and were blown away. We had gone straight to the elevator to the dome, so we hadn’t really seen much of the church below. But, we did remember thinking all the wall art was painted on.

first trip to Rome Italy - St. Peter's Basilica

However, as we stood right in front of this exquisite artwork, we realized it was all mosaic. Everything. Needless to say, this made us appreciate the Basilica so much more when we ventured back down.

first trip to Rome Italy - St. Peter's Basilica

But the most stunning part of this experience was a few more flights up at the outdoor viewing area. We were in awe of how far we could see all around us on the perfect blue-sky, winter day in Rome. It was breathtaking to look around and take in this amazing city we had the pleasure of exploring for a few unforgettable days.

first trip to Rome Italy - St. Peter's Basilica

We made our way back down to the inside of the Basilica with full hearts and wide-open eyes. The perfect state of being to enter such a famous spiritual place.

first trip to Rome Italy - St. Peter's Basilica

Inside St. Peter’s Basilica

Unfortunately, we were slightly rushed during our visit since we were trying to make it to the Vatican Museum in time for our pre-booked tickets. But, even a short walk through was enough to understand why people flock here.

first trip to Rome Italy - St. Peter's Basilica

The ornate art and architecture all around us left us in awe. And just the size of this place was enough to make you take pause and appreciate the grandeur. It really is worth dedicating 3-4 hours to in order to take in all the many details. Next time!

first trip to Rome Italy - St. Peter's Basilica

8. The Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel

As we noted, we were confused as to how close the Basilica was to the Vatican Museum entrance, so we pretty much ran to get there in time. Of course, all that rushing was to stand in the long line of other people shuffling through to see everything.

first trip to Rome Italy - Vatican Museum

We had to be back at our hotel in two hours to check out, so we rushed by all the tour groups straight to the Sistine Chapel. Then we just sat there in silence with a couple of hundred other people and took it all in.

I won’t lie, it isn’t the most gorgeous, awe-inspiring art we’ve ever seen. But there was something powerful about it – just knowing how long it had survived and how much it meant to so many others who came from all over the world to see it.

It was well worth all the rushing just to sit in that room and take it in. However, the rest of the museum was fascinating as well. We loved the hallway of maps, the many interesting sculptures, and the Egyptian exhibit that was on display during our visit.

first trip to Rome Italy - Vatican Museum

Yes, it was a lot of money to spend for such a rushed visit. However, with how many people we were having to share our personal space with, I’m not sure we would have lasted very long, even if we had plenty of time. If we were to do this again, we’d definitely splurge on the early entry tickets!

first trip to Rome Italy - Vatican Museum

Eating ALL the Italian Food: Priority One on Our Three-Day Rome Itinerary

While a trip to Rome is definitely all about the history and architecture, it is impossible to walk through this divine city without taking in some of the food scene.

Since this trip was also to celebrate my birthday and the end of our five-month adventure in Europe, we really went all out. Regardless of what the scale said afterward, there were no regrets other than not buying some more supplì and cannoli for our long plane trip back to the U.S.

italian food tour rome

9. Food Tour of Rome with a Local Guide

We tend to be a little picky, but Italian food is one of the exceptions to that. So, we couldn’t resist planning a day of eating all of our favorite foods – and some new-to-us dishes – in the place that invented those recipes.

You can read more about this amazing part of our trip here . But, a few highlights of the tour were the espresso, supplì (seasoned and fried risotto balls with cheese in the middle), fresh cannoli, and ending the tour enjoying the best gelato we’ve ever tasted with all our new friends.

Everything was easily walking distance from the next stop and it was a great way to spend a good chunk of our first visit to Rome! We learned almost as much as we ate!

italian food tour rome

10. Pasta-Making Class

For my birthday dinner, I wanted to find something truly memorable. So, when I found a pasta-making class for that night, I was ecstatic. At about $100 each, it was definitely a splurge. But, I just knew it would be worth it. And, after hours of laughing and cooking and eating with some amazing people, it was without a doubt the best birthday celebration I’ve ever had.

first trip to Rome Italy - pasta making class

Not only were we well fed as we were taught the different pasta-making techniques, we had plenty of wine as well! This was in Italy, after all. But the best part was how hands-on our lesson was.

first trip to Rome Italy - pasta making class

Our instructor showed us how to do everything, then let us do the work ourselves to make two of the most popular pasta dishes – Ravioli and Amatriciana (made with cheese, pork cheek and tomato sauce).

first trip to Rome Italy - pasta making class

The best part of the night was rolling out the dough then rolling it onto the instrument-looking device that cut it into fettuccine-shaped pasta for the Amatriciana. It was wonderfully romantic to get to try out this new skill as a couple and there will definitely be more homemade pasta making in our future!

first trip to Rome Italy - pasta making class

Of course, at the end, we all sat down to eat our pasta – after our fabulous instructor showed us how to make the sauce and how long to boil the pasta. It was just SO fresh and delicious, we almost licked our plates clean.

first trip to Rome Italy - pasta making class

As we looked around at the end of dinner, our fun little group of amateur chefs was all full and smiling, with no leftovers to be found. What a night!

first trip to Rome Italy - pasta making class

11. Pizza & Gelato-Making Class

And because we just don’t have any self control in beautiful, delicious places … we also took a class on how to properly make (and eat) pizza and gelato. You can read more about that here . But, long story short, making these classics is way easier than we expected, and eating our freshly made meals in a gorgeous Roman apartment was unforgettable!

If you have enough time, I’d highly recommend taking a few recipe classes or food tours 0 it’s seriously the best time!

pizza gelato in rome cooking

Other Best Places to Add to Your Rome Itinerary:

Additional Stops to Make on Your Rome Trip:

  • Victor Emmanuel II Monument (Altare della Patria)
  • Circus Maximus – where chariot races once took place
  • Baths of Caracalla – second largest Roman public baths
  • Day Trip to Ostia Antica – ancient Roman city outside Rome
  • Domus Aurea – palace constructed by Emperor Nero

Galleries & Museums:

  • Villa Borghese & Borghese Gallery (Galleria Borghese)
  • Doria Pamphill Gallery (in privately owned palace)
  • Villa Farnesina (Renaissance suburban villa)
  • National Roman Museum for Roman History
  • Maxxi National Museum of Art
  • Castel Sant’Angelo (originally built as Emperor Hadrian’s mausoleum)
  • Capitoline Hill & Capitoline Museums (next to the Colosseum)

Other Popular Piazzas (town squares/gathering places):

  • Piazza Venezia
  • Piazza del Popolo
  • Piazza della Madonna dei Monti
  • Piazza del Campidoglio
  • Piazza di Spagna (base of the Spanish Steps)
  • Piazza della Rotonda
  • Campo de’ Fiori (home to popular outdoor market)

Read more about these and more Roman piazzas in this great blog post!

Where We Stayed in Rome

We usually go pretty cheap on trips like this where we know we will be out exploring more than relaxing in our room. But, since it was a special occasion, we decided to stay somewhere a little fancier. After sharing my dreams of a romantic roof-top view, Buddy went on a mission to find the perfect place. And his choice did not disappoint.

first trip to Rome Italy - hotel isa

Located a short walk from Vatican City and about 20 minutes from the Trevi Fountain, Hotel Isa was a gorgeous, comfortable option . And yes, they had a fantastic little roof-top terrace with a great view where they served breakfast in the morning and drinks at night.

We loved getting to watch the sun rise over the surrounding buildings as we ate the phenomenal breakfast every morning. And the staff was extremely kind and helpful. They even brought me to tears on my birthday when they surprised us with a bottle of prosecco and chocolates in our room. Seriously, the sweetest – such a great place!

first trip to Rome Italy - hotel isa

Getting Around Rome

Depending on how you first arrive in Rome, you will likely either get to the city by train or plane. But once there, your feet will likely get you anywhere else you may want to see. However, there is also a tram for longer treks.

If time allows, we highly recommend opting to walk just because you will see so much more of this gorgeous city . We ended up averaging about ten miles per day, and it was totally worth the sore feet. Just make sure you have access to Google maps or a good physical map of the city.

first trip to Rome Italy

One big note is to make sure you have a plan for getting to and from the airport, if traveling by plane. For us first-timers, it can be a surprise that the airport is more than 30 minutes away! There is a train route from city center to the airport – just plan ahead for extra time.

Our 2 Best Tips for a Trip to Rome

Have a plan..

This was our biggest mistake when we visited Paris, so we made sure to redeem ourselves in Rome. Decide what you want to see most, do some research on best times to go, book tickets if needed, and then leave plenty of time to wander and eat. In no way would we say to plan out every hour of your trip. That will definitely ruin the magic of Rome. But, if you don’t plan some of the biggies, you’ll likely miss out.

Plus, with some research, you may discover things like the weekly market is on Sundays. Or that every first Sunday of the month has free entry to museums and other attractions (but you still need to reserve a spot for some). Use that Google, people!

first trip to Rome Italy

For amazing photos, plan for the right time of day.

If you are serious about getting THE photo at places like the Colosseum or St. Peter’s Basilica, do some more of that all-important research to find out when the best lighting will be. Of course, to avoid having other people in your photos, that may take a little more effort – like waking up ridiculously early or staying out late.

first trip to Rome Italy - Vatican Museum

But no matter what, we hope you just take some time to let Rome work its magic on you. It is just so so good.

Read more about our Europe travels here . And to learn how we traveled in Europe for five months on a budget by house sitting, read this guide .

Ultimate First Trip to Rome Itinerary: 10+ Top Things to See!

About the Author: Brooke Baum

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Brooke is a freelance writer, editor, and content manager for various blog sites. After five years of full-time travel with her husband Buddy, they made the beautiful island of Oahu, Hawaii, their permanent home base. However, they still travel regularly and are always planning their next trip.

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The Roman Guy

Italy Travel Experts Tours and Vacations

Rome Travel Tips

The Complete Guide To Planning Your Trip To Rome: Tips, Restaurants, and More

Sean Finelli Last Updated: August 29, 2023

Traveling to Rome for the first time? Nobody wants to pick a hotel in the wrong part of town or sit down at a bad restaurant. The good news is you’re reading this article, so you won’t have these problems! This guide will cover some of the Rome basics and links to a ton of great resources to make planning your trip to Rome easy and fun. 

Pro Tip: Bookmark this post and other helpful articles, like where to stay in Rome in a trip folder on your browser so you can quickly find them when you need them. Rome is an expansive city worthy of a tour or two, explore our top-rated Rome tours and experiences . Also, check out our other resources on planning your trip to Rome .

How To Plan Your Trip To Rome: A Complete Guide

In this guide, you’ll find everything you need to know to plan a memorable vacation in the Eternal City, with plenty of additional resources to explore. From the logistics of where to stay and how to get around the city to the finer details of how to get your coffee, basic Italian phrases, and top things to do, we’ll help you prepare for your dream trip in Rome.

  • Airports and Public Transport (Metro)
  • Where To Stay
  • Things To Do
  • Food Culture
  • Credit Cards, Tipping, and Communicating

When To Travel To Rome and What To Pack

Rome airports and public transport, rome airports.

my trip to rome essay

There are two main airports in Rome, Ciampino and Fiumicino, and they are both roughly the same distance from the city center.

Fiumicino (FCO)

In short, to get from Fiumicino Airport (FCO) to Rome’s city center, the train is the most popular means of transport, taxi is the most convenient, and the bus is the least popular.

By far, the most popular way to get from Fiumicino airport to the city center is by train. For €15, you can get the Fiumicino Express from FCO to Termini station (main station).

A taxi is the most convenient way to get to the center. There are regulated rates from the airport to the city center that fall between €45 – €50, depending on a few difficult-to-explain criteria, such as what type of license the taxi has. If you’re staying outside the historic center of Rome, you may also have to pay more or less. You can normally pay with a credit card in taxis but always ask.

Ciampino (CIA)

The bus is the most popular way to get from Ciampino Airport (CIA) to the city center. Buses tend to cost around €6 – €7, depending on the airport and the coach company. They run based on arrivals. Terravision has been around for a long time and is pretty cheap. 

Taxi, again, is the most convenient. They cost between €35 – €45 depending on the same factors mentioned above, which are difficult to understand.

BEST ways to get to ROME from the AIRPORTS (FCO & CIA)

Rome Transportation Options

Rome has plenty of transportation options. How you decide to get around Rome on any given day on your trip will depend on your preferences, what you have planned to do, and where you’re going. We’ll go over all of them:

Walking in Rome

Rome is an extremely walkable city. If you’re in reasonably good shape and the weather isn’t overly hot, you can walk Rome’s historical center very well. However, the streets can sometimes be confusing. If you aren’t using a mobile map app, it could get tough.

The Colosseum is a 35-minute walk from the Piazza del Popolo and around a 60-minute walk from the Vatican Museums Entrance. However, it’s important to pick your battles. For example, you may not want to walk to the Vatican from the Colosseum, considering that you’ll be on your feet for at least three hours when visiting the Vatican Museums with a guided tour. Some of our top-rated Vatican tours last up to 5 hours to give visitors an enriched experience of the museums. In this case, it might be better to take the subway or even a taxi to conserve energy.

That said, be prepared to walk when you’re in Rome. If you aren’t already doing so, walk at least an hour each day to get your legs ready for your trip!

Rome Bus System

We have a great video on what you need to know to use the buses in Rome . It’s a little dated but fun to watch, and you’ll see exactly where to get bus tickets, how to ask for one, and how to conquer Rome’s bus system. There are three fundamentals that you need to know when using the buses:

  • Buy a ticket before you get on and validate it when you’re on the bus.
  • The bus signs are pretty confusing unless you know the city really well. So, download an app .
  • The buses go literally everywhere. They’re a good option but get hot and crowded in the summer—just something to keep in mind.

Walking around Rome can get really tiring. Hopping on a bus for a kilometer or two can make all the difference. Save your energy for the highlights of your trip.

Rome Metro (Subway) System

The Roma metro system has two lines: the red A-line and the blue B-line. As a visitor, you’ll find yourself on the A-line the most. It goes from Termini past the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Piazza del Popolo, and most importantly, the Vatican.

The B-line will get you from Termini Station to the Colosseum and Circus Maximus. These are the most popular stops for visitors using the metro to get to Rome’s top attractions .

You can’t get to Trastevere by metro, but you can get close to Testaccio by getting off at Piramide. Both Trastevere and Testaccio are known for their lively nightlife and great food. Your hotel and most Airbnbs will have a metro map that you can keep handy.

Getting a Taxi in Rome 

I use public transportation for short, direct rides to get from place to place. For example, going from the Vatican to the Spanish Steps or from Termini Station to the Colosseum. For anything complicated, I normally pony up and take a taxi. They’re relatively cheap if they don’t rip you off—which they will try to do.

A good workaround is to search for your destination in your phone’s map app, get directions from your current location, and hit go. Then, show that map to the taxi driver when they ask where you want to go. This way, they know you’re tracking. Otherwise, there’s really nothing you can do. Just don’t pre-negotiate the rate. There’s a meter in the vehicle that determines the cost.

Renting a Scooter in Rome

If I’m in Rome for more than a couple of days, I’ll rent a scooter. It’s a good option if you have scooter experience. If you don’t, I wouldn’t recommend it. It can be dangerous getting around an unknown city when you don’t even know how to drive the thing, let alone negotiate traffic and figure out where to go.

Where To Stay in Rome

my trip to rome essay

Rome is a large metropolitan city, but the area most visitors are interested in is the historical center or  Centro Storico because it’s pretty condensed. You can walk from the Colosseum to the Vatican, almost on opposite sides of the historical center or “center” for short, in an hour.

The center is the place to be in Rome, and each neighborhood is really great. I prefer the northern sections like Piazza Navona and Spanish Steps.  To me, they are classical Roman/Italian and super nice. Here are the best areas to consider with links to in-depth neighborhood guides:

  • Spanish Steps
  • Pantheon/Piazza Navona
  • Prati (Vatican)

Again, I really like anything near the Spanish Steps, as I like being in the thick of it. It will come with a price tag, but savvy travelers find deals. Check out our in-depth guide on where to stay in Rome, covering the city’s best neighborhoods.

Top Things To Do in Rome

my trip to rome essay

From visiting the Sistine Chapel to an underground apothecary run by priests, there are unlimited things to do in Rome. One of the best ways to see a city with this kind of history is to join local guides on fun tours with exclusive access and endless stories to tell. There are so many things to see and ways to see them. Check out all our Rome tours that include the top monuments and museums, plus incredible day trips.

This is a list of the top things to do while you’re in the Eternal City. Be sure to follow the links for more in-depth information on visiting each one of these monuments and museums.

Top Museums

Rome has over 60 incredible museums containing some of the world’s most important works of art. It may be difficult to decide which of them you’ll see. Check out our guide on the seven best museums to visit in Rome for details. Here’s a quick list:

  • The Vatican Museums
  • The Borghese Gallery
  • The Capitoline Museum
  • Palazzo Barberini
  • Palazzo Altemps
  • Palazzo Massimo alle Terme
  • MAXXI Museum

Top Monuments

Rome is filled with historical monuments and attractions. Some of them you have likely heard. Others may be new to you. Here is a list of what you should see on your Rome trip. Check out this guide for the stories behind these top monuments and attractions in Rome .

  • The Colosseum
  • The Basilica of St. Peter
  • The Catacombs of Domitilla
  • The Roman Forum
  • The Pantheon
  • The Palatine Hill
  • The Trevi Fountain
  • Piazza Navona
  • The Spanish Steps
  • Belevedere of Gianicolo Hill
  • The Tiber Island
  • The Mouth of Truth
  • Trajan’s Column
  • Il Pincio and Piazza del Popolo

Must-See Gardens and Parks

If you love beautiful manicured gardens and green spaces, this is for you. There are a number of must-see gardens and parks in Rome . The Villa Borghese and Vatican Gardens are the more well-known among them, but you may also want to visit some of these:

  • Villa Doria Pamphili
  • Villa Borghese
  • Park of the Acquedotti
  • Giardino degli Aranci
  • Vatican Gardens
  • Villa Ada Savoia
  • Villa Sciarra

Absolutely Free Things To Do

You may be surprised by the cool free things you can do in Rome . Some of the city’s most well-known sites are completely free to explore. Check out this list:

Food Culture in Rome

my trip to rome essay

Where to start with Italian food? It’s often one of the top reasons why tourists come to Italy, and for good reason. Every region serves amazing, fresh, handmade delicacies.

A traditional Italian meal will go like this: antipasto (starter), primo (pasta), secondo (meat and vegetables), dolci (dessert), followed by coffee and liquors. Do Italians eat like this every day?

Fortunately for those of us who live here, no! But these are typically the headings that you’ll see on a menu, so it’s best to have an idea of what they mean. There’s a lot to cover in this section, here’s a breakdown: 

  • How to Find Local Restaurants

Types of Restaurants

Rome meal times.

  • Coffee Culture
  • Drinking Fountains

How To Find Local Restaurants in Rome

Rome is a very touristy city, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t good places to eat in the city center. Check out our Rome restaurant master list that we regularly update . From there, you can navigate and see our restaurant recommendations near every major Roman attraction. 

In general, avoid restaurants within sight of a tourist attraction, particularly if they have pictures of the food on the menu or people standing outside trying to hustle you in. Even in the most authentic restaurants, don’t expect particularly friendly service.

Some of the best food is often flung at you without so much as a “hello,” but it’s guaranteed to be worth it. Areas a little more off the beaten track are where you’re more likely to have an authentic experience. For example, the area of Testaccio is well-known for being a classic Roman foodie area, packed with local restaurants.

A really great way to experience a wide variety of Roman cuisine in good restaurants is to join a food tour. They’re a trendy and fun way to get to know the local food scene. Check out our top-rated  Trastevere food tour in Rome .

In Italy, there are stereotypical classifications for almost anything, including restaurants. When you’re in Rome, you’ll notice restaurants don’t just have a name, like “Tony’s,” but also a classification, such as “Trattoria.”  Each one means something specific, and it lets you know what kind of food and experience to expect. Unfortunately, very few visitors to Italy know the difference between an osteria and a trattoria . We’ll solve that for you right here.

Imagine waking up at 6:30  am, rolling over to your significant other, and saying, “Want to head to the bar?” This is what happens almost every morning to millions of Italians.

No, they are not alcoholics. You can get alcohol at an Italian Bar, but you normally don’t. It’s where you get breakfast. You’ll see the “Bar” sign all over Italy, and when you walk in, you’ll find espresso drinks, cornetto, and panini. You can also get freshly squeezed orange juice or vegetable juice. I highly recommend it!

Unlike the bar, you definitely shouldn’t wake up at 7 a.m. asking you’re significant other to go to the enoteca . This is where you go for an alcoholic drink like a glass of wine or a beer.

A good enoteca will serve tons of wine by the glass in many different price ranges. They’ll often also serve cured meat plates for a snack or even warm meals at times. I definitely recommend stopping by one of these on your travels in Italy and Rome.

Tavola Calda

One of my favorite types of places to eat lunch is a tavola calda . They are normally unassuming and serve many different types of dishes, from cooked vegetables to lasagna and pasta dishes. The dishes normally change from day to day based on what is in season and other factors.

For example, gnocchi in Rome is only served on Thursdays. If you see it on the menu seven days a week, you may be in a tourist trap. Authentic Roman restaurants only serve this dish on  giovedí.  You have been warned.

These are pretty cool little sandwich shops. Dotted all over Rome, they range in quality. Don’t refer to your sandwich as a “panini” unless you get more than one. The “i” makes it plural. Italian’s order a  panino. 

Check out 200 Gradi by the Vatican. It’s an awesome place. Campo dei Fiori also has an awesome drive-up stand open for lunch that serves porchetta.

Osterie are pretty cool if you can find one. They are basically super cheap and simple places to eat. A true osteria would have communal-style tables and serve very cheap meals. Back in the day, when Italy was extremely impoverished, they’d even allow you to bring your own food and just drink there.  Imagine that today?

You can find restaurants with the title “Osteria” in Italy, but you shouldn’t bring your own food or normally expect to eat with strangers. There is a place in Florence, Da Mario , which says it is a trattoria, but it feels more like what a traditional osteria would have been like.

Expect a warm and cheap meal if you happen to go inside an osteria in Rome, and even more so in the Italian countryside. The menu will either be non-existent or small. In the countryside or in small towns, they can be really cool. The waiter may rock up to your table and say, “Today, we are serving pasta with clams. Would you like fettucini or spaghetti with that?” Enjoy!

The trattoria of Rome sits somewhere between osteria and ristorante . Almost all Italian restaurants are family-run, bu t trattories are quintessentially family-run. They are normally inexpensive but have a larger menu than an osteria.

Expect traditional regional cuisine at a trattoria. If you go to two different ones, you may find the exact same things on the menu. This is because they offer their family’s version of that regional dish.

This is basically the Italian equivalent of a more formal restaurant. They’ll have a menu with all the Italian courses, and you’ll be expected to eat each course. You should definitely find a top-rated ristorante in Rome and budget 3 hours for your meal. Really indulge in the food, wine, and desserts.

Pasticceria

This is an Italian bakery serving all types of delightful local treats. They are probably the best places to go for breakfast as they’ll make their cornettos fresh and supply them to all the bars.

You should be able to get a coffee here, too, but that isn’t a given. If you’re staying in an Airbnb or apartment rental, find a pasticceria close by and pick up a bunch of  cornetti  for your group. You’ll be everyone’s favorite person!

Rosticceria

You won’t find this is in Rome, but it’s worth mentioning. A rosticceria is a place you can go to find pre-cooked meals like roasted meats and high-quality products. If you do find one and you’re renting an apartment, consider doing take-out one night from a rosticceria.

Taverna or Rifugio

You’ll find restaurants in Rome with  taverna in their names, but this is more a colorful play on words.  Taverne  are secluded restaurants in the Italian mountains where you could get a hearty meal, something to drink, and possibly a warm bed to sleep in.

Today, you can still find a few dotted in the landscape, but you’re more likely to find an agriturismo, which is more of a B&B. A taverna in Rome is most likely going to decorate its interior in a rustic countryside style and have hearty meals on its menu. It’s kind of like going to a seafood restaurant that’s decorated in a nautical theme but nowhere near an ocean.

One of the biggest cultural differences is that Romans tend to eat much later than basically everyone except the Spanish. In fact, many of the best restaurants won’t open until at least 7:30 p.m.

Lunch: 12:30 pm – 2:30 pm

Dinner: 7:30 pm – 11 pm

To avoid eating in an empty restaurant and to really make the most of your evenings in Rome, try and fit in with them and eat a bit later. Around 8 pm is a good time to sit down.

Coffee Culture in Rome

espresso italy

Italians take their coffee culture very seriously, and there are almost as many rules about coffee as there are for food. Here’s what you need to know to get your coffee fix in Rome:

Espresso “un Café”: A very small shot of coffee. Unless you’ve been to Italy, it’s never been this small.

Café Doppio: Double shot of espresso.

Café Macchiato:   Basically a mini cappuccino. Imagine an espresso and foamed milk all in a tiny espresso cup. Normally, men order these in the morning.

Cappuccino:  This is espresso and foamed milk in a small cup. It’s larger than a macchiato, but nowhere near that tall cappuccino you are used to. You won’t find a larger size.

Café Americano:  Espresso with hot water. The name is from WWII, when American troops would ask Italians to put hot water in the espresso.

Latte: A cup of milk—don’t order this if you want caffeine.

Café Latte: Warm, non-foamy milk with espresso.

The Coffee Rules (Yes, there are rules)

  • No cappuccino or milk-based espresso after 11 a.m. You can do it, obviously, but it’s not really the culture.
  • No cappuccino or milk-based espresso with meals. Don’t do this.
  • It is cheap when you stand up at the bar (€1 – €2), expensive when you sit down. Same for everyone, not just tourists.

Rome Water Fountains

rome water fountains

One of the best things to know about Rome is that there’s no need to buy plastic bottles of water when you get thirsty—there are tons of fountains dotted around the city, and Romans are very proud of them.

Bring a refillable water bottle, and fill it up whenever you see one. There’s also an app to help you find them called I Nasoni di Roma. If you’re going in the heat of summer, you’ll find this tip invaluable!

People are always surprised that you can drink from these fountains, which is crazy if you think about it. Their original purpose was to provide running water to each neighborhood since most houses didn’t have running water. Today, we forget that fact and are astonished by this basic concept due to our many creature comforts.

Credit Cards, Tipping, and Communicating in Rome

tipping in italy

Cash or Credit?

The currency in Italy is the euro. An important thing to remember about Italy is that cash is still king. It’s necessary to carry a reasonable amount of cash around with you at all times to avoid getting stuck.

In general, most restaurants will allow you to pay on a card, as will large shops and tourist attractions. But for drinks, coffee, transport tickets, and small items, cards often aren’t accepted. There may even be a €10 minimum on card payments.

Rule of Thumb:  If it’s less than €10, pay cash. It’s more than €10, and you can probably pay credit as long as there isn’t a “Solo Cash” sign on the door.

The Good News:  The Italian word for credit card is carta di credito . Any Italian shop owner will understand when you ask, “Credit Card?” They’ll also know to respond, “Cash” if they don’t accept credit cards. So, there’s no need to stress.

Tipping isn’t really expected in Italy. I’ve tried to convince visitors that you just need to leave some extra change, a euro per person, regardless of check size, but it normally falls on deaf ears. To simplify things, I have created different levels of tipping to help people understand:

Don Corleone:  Leave 20%, and when you go back, the restaurant staff will celebrate your return as if you were the Godfather. You may get some sneers from other restaurant goers who can’t get your waiter’s attention.

Super Nice : Leave 10%. It’s less than you are used to but far more than anyone in Italy would expect.

Roman : Leave a euro or two extra per person. The wait staff will be very happy.

Nothing at All : Leave nothing and nobody will say anything. Your food will not be poisoned upon returning.

Communicating in English or Italian

One of my favorite things to watch is travelers trying to string together Italian words into sentences from a guidebook. I have been that traveler in many countries. The worst part, though, is when you actually make sense, and the person responds, much to your bewilderment.

Let’s not romanticize the key phrases part of a guidebook here and keep it simple. The phrases below will make you look like a pro because you’ll get simple responses such as si (yes) or a finger pointing to the bathrooms. Remember that c’s have a hard “ch” sound, unlike Spanish.

How much does this cost? Quanto costa?

Check, please. Il conto per favore.

Do you take credit cards? Posso pagare con la carte? 

Where is the bathroom? Dov’è il bagno? Or simply, “bagno?” 

Water?  Acqua?

Table for two, please. Tavolo per due, per favore.

Can you order for me? Fai te?

The last recommendation is by far my favorite. If your waiter is Roman, they will accept the challenge and bring some tasty food. A key phrase is certo (pronounced cherto), which means “of course”. Romans use this all the time, so you may hear it instead of si .

my trip to rome essay

When To Travel

Part of the reason why people love Rome is the weather. It’s pretty much always nice, and bad weather is when it is too hot. That’s a good problem to have.

Temperature

Avg Rome Temp (NOAA)

The average monthly temperature in Rome ranges from a low of 37 degrees Fahrenheit (F) to a high of 89 F.  It snows once every 10 to 50 years, and people don’t know what to do when that happens—it’s the greatest.

To decide when you want to travel to Rome, you can use this equation to get a rough idea.

How much am I willing to spend / Am I ok with cooler weather = Daily budget

Cheapest Months:

  • December (1st – 20th)
  • Jan (7th – 31st)
  • March (1st – 20th)

Mid-Range Months:

  • March (21st – 31st)
  • April (excluding 5 days on either side of Easter)
  • October (although it can be higher in price early in the month)

Full-Price Months:

  • Christmas to New Year
  • Easter (5 days on either side)

What To Pack

Check out the infographic below on what to pack. While it’s very useful, the ideal amount to pack is one change of clothes and a mostly empty suitcase. Shopping in Italy is great, so the more space you can leave in your suitcase, the better.

You don’t need to pack an umbrella. As soon as it rains, hundreds of people will appear out of nowhere selling umbrellas. It’s magical. Also, you can’t wear heels in Rome. Let me clarify, you can wear flats and pack heels in your purse for when you are inside bars and restaurants. The cobblestones make wearing heels nearly impossible.

my trip to rome essay

Rome has a rich cultural history and many iconic landmarks to explore. Plan where to stay in the magnificent Eternal City in the best neighborhoods.

people with smartphone looking for directions in an app

Reader Interactions

Comments (12).

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September 3, 2019

What a lovely description of Italy and Italians you have given to us! I love to read about the transport, food and most importantly the people. Awesome work done! Keep them coming!

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September 4, 2019

Ciao Tanisha! What a lovely comment. We are so happy to provide you with helpful tips for your vacation!

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October 24, 2019

A very informative article. Thank you so much for sharing these things.

October 28, 2019

Ciao! Thanks so much for reading our blog! It’s our mission to provide you with the most useful information possible for your trip.

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November 19, 2019

Nice quality post. Thumbs Up from my side. Special thanks to theromanguy for sharing this valuable information. Once again appreciated!

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January 6, 2020

Nice tips. I’d add the 48 euro fixed rate from the airport to the centre as the best option if there are at least 2 people. By the time you take the train then Metro or taxi from Termini it just about equals out.

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January 21, 2020

Thanks for the tip, Gary!

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May 15, 2020

Rome really such a beautiful city, wish more people will be able to experience it. Thanks for the insightful article.

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June 9, 2020

It is nice you included few basic lines of Italian language everyone should know when visiting Italy or and other country. People are so friendlier to you if you can say “Hi” to them in their language.

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July 21, 2020

Hey, thanks for sharing this, I enjoyed reading it looking forward to my next trip to Italy.

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April 23, 2021

Admiring the time and energy you put into your blog and detailed information you provide.

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September 27, 2022

thank you – very helpful and have taken notes for our trip 🙂

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My Trip to Rome

Okay, well, you may as well know, Roman Holiday is one of my favorite movies (and if you have never seen it, in 1953 it won the oscars for best picture, best director, best screenplay, best actress, best cinematography, best supporting actor-- go rent it. See link at bottom for a complete examination of all the locations). Because of that movie I had always longed to go to Rome and see it first hand. So one day I realized that my credit card had enough miles for a free trip-- sort of-- and I found a reasonably priced (for Rome) hotel, and with 3 day's notice, off I went.

With a little sliver of sky above you . . .

On the one hand, it's very charming and medieval, on the other, it was kind of hard to enjoy that with the occasional Mercedes Benz sedan whipping around a corner and coming up behind you. I thought it strange that, in all the guidebooks of Rome that I studied before my trip, I can't recall seeing one picture of a street like this, yet this is what most of the city looks like.

Roman Holiday fans: the sidewalk cafe scene at "Rocca's" took place in the far right of this pic (I didn't realize this until I got back so I didn't go over to the spot, darn it-- but I don't think the cafe is there any more).

Okay, back to the reality of modern Rome. Here is a bit of my Rome bus map. The buses can do a lot for you, but I caution you, it took me four days to understand the system, and even then . . . You need to learn the bus system because other than spagna, vatican city and colloseum the subways really don't go where you want to, and the escalators up from the depths are often broken. You have to buy tickets for the bus somewhere besides the buses. I bought a one-week unlimited ticket and that worked out great. you have to validate your ticket on a little machine in the bus (I rarely saw the locals bother to do this). If the machine is broken the driver tells you to write the date and time on your ticket. Pretty silly system. (Okay, figured it out yet? here's how it works. let's say you're in the lower right in piazza venezia and you want to go to the vatican. you need to find a number in that group of numbers that matches a number up by the vatican. in this case, you can see a #271 in piazza venezia and there is a #271 listed by the vatican. So you find the stop (you have to decipher the signs at the stop) and hop on and hope it's a reasonably direct route. if you look carefully you can see the #271 all along the route. it's almost like a board game. But obviously, the route you take varies when your starting and end point change, as mine did hourly. took some getting used to, but by the end of the week I was hopping on buses right and left.)

Okay, this may not look like much (due to low light and the tungsten film in this CVS camera) but this was the highlight of my trip-- discovering "Via Margutta-- 51." (Where the ficticious Joe Bradley lives in Roman Holiday .) It really is there, it's a whole courtyard leading to numerous apartments, with artisan shops on the courtyard level (in what used to be stables I suppose-- anyway, that's why the Joe Bradley character makes a phone call from a sculptor's shop). This is the staircase where Joe Bradley gives the Princess a few dollars with the old landlord looking askance. (That's the courtyard at street level, center, at the bottom of the stairs thru the tunnel.) The overhanging greenery has grown some in the past 50 years! No pilgrim to Rome ever had more of a religious experience than I did at this place. I sat there for quite a while, and went back again another day.

Here, another staircase in the Via Margutta 51 complex . . . I should mention that most of modern "public" Rome does not have a lot of greenery. so this was a nice break from the non-stop concrete of the street. I looked around but could not find the terrace of Joe Bradley's apartment.

Took some doing to find this, as it's not in many tourbooks . . . the room which was the setting for the ending of Roman Holiday -- The Main Room of the Palazzo Colonna, not to be confused with Piazzo Colonna . . . (!) It's only open Saturday mornings. If you go downstairs, out the door, take a right and go four blocks, you come to this . . . .

This ruin of sorts known as the Theatro Marcello, (also used as a brief background for one of the "scooter tour" shots in Roman Holiday ) . . . . Note the apartments built on top of the ruins. If you were to follow the car in the shot about 4 blocks you would come to this little parking lot/piazza

Known as Piazza della Bocca della Verità. The white building was the Police Station in Roman Holiday . To the right, the little tower is part of the church that houses

However, what was not shown in the movie is the never ending line of tourists who, one by one, step up to the Mouth of Truth, stick their hand in, and turn to have their picture taken by a fellow tourist. I confess, I was fascinated by this ritual that was repeated over and over again. I figured I just happened to be there at the same time as a tour bus, so I went by on another day to hopefully just ponder it by myself-- but the line of tourists was even longer.

The ceiling of one hallway in the Vatican Museum (the gallery of maps) was made up of all these amazing sculptures . . . This was the NORAD of its day, the paintings are topographical military maps of all the pope's renaissance-era territrories.

At the end of the vatican museum tour you finally come to the Sistine Chapel which . . . what can I say? I was awestruck. I kept thinking I was done and tried to move on but I went back four times. This is a pic (borrowed from another website) of what i found to be my favorite part of the ceiling: Jonah and the "great fish." (The chapel is very echo-ey, was very crowded when I was there, and the crowd's talking gradually crescendos, until a guard says "SILENZIOOOOO" . . . and you're not allowed to take pics inside the Sistine Chapel-- so when the guard sees a camera, he chants "NO PEECTURES . . . NO VEED-YO . . .")

Borrowed from another website, a shot looking down on the back of St. Peter's. Bear in mind, the church is laid out like a big cross and this is just the top of the cross, in back of the main alter, so this doesn't really show you the immensity of it, but . . . My pix of the inside of St. Peter's didn't come out, not sure they would capture it anyway-- SIX ACRES of floorspace. The interior of this church was more spacious than most of the exteriors of Rome.

Well it took 3 frames but i almost got all of the front of St. Peter's in here (slide your browser bar for the full effect-- it's a whole lot bigger than it looks here. Apologies for the photographic distortions). Turns out Michelangelo, the original designer, wanted the main church to be a Greek cross (same size up and down as left to right) but some Peter Keating-type added an extra hundred feet or so to the front, which makes it a lot bigger obviously but really makes the front look kinda strange with the dome so far back from where it was supposed to be. The Sistine Chapel is next to the main hall of St. Peter's on the right side. You enter the Sistine Chapel from what was once the Pope's bedrooms, so the effect of coming into it through the public entrance is now lost-- it's a magnificent upward-climbing marble staircase, which you now see only as an exit. In the foreground is one of the 13 Egyptian obelisks that there are in Rome (in all of Egypt there are only 5). You can see the view from the top of the dome here , in a pic that will also show you how densely built the city is and how few trees there are.

The one one thing I couldn't stop pondering was, how in the world did they build such mammoth structures using nothing but ropes and horses??? Well I guess there's no limit to what you can do if there's no union demanding overtime.

The Vatican Police in their bizarre uniforms.

In the many the churches of Rome (and there is one every 45 feet) you will come across all these artifacts from the New Testament. It really is an experience to encounter such things up close and personal, you would think these things would be locked up in a vault somewhere but instead they are just sitting out there in the open. In a church across the alley from my hotel you will find part of the post that Christ was tied to when whipped by the Romans. You can put 50 cents in a slot and its little alcove lights up.

In another church down the block you can find a set of chains that apparently were used on St. Peter himself.

The Castel de Sant' Angelo. The bridge with its statues was part of the barge dance scene in Roman Holiday. It is now closed to vehicles. I was surprised at how narrow it was, just barely wide enough for 2 lanes if that.

Taken from the bridge shown above, for Roman Holiday Fans, this is the staircase that led to the barge dance on the Tiber. Unfortunately, the river was at least 12 feet above normal levels when i was there, so this was a big disappointment for me . . . sad to say everything was under water, including the place downstream where they kiss for the first time . . . if they had fallen in the river the day I took this pic I suspect that would have been the end of the story as, the current being what it was, they both would have been drowned and washed out to sea! Fellow Roman Holiday pilgrims, brace yourselves if you go here, another big disappointment of this day was the unpleasant stink I encountered here.

Some mimes who spookily looked like sculptures outside castel de sant' Angelo. It's worth mentioning that as this photo illustrates, Rome doesn't have a lot of greenery. Tired travelers take note, park benches are also a rarity.

Turned to the right from the previous pic, here is another shot of the Forum, looking toward the colloseum. The forum is laid out in sort of a long rectangle, and this sort of gives you a sense of looking at it lengthwise toward the colloseum (the opposite angle from the drawing above). The Palatine Hill section (an even older part of the forum, and while the forum is free, you have to pay to get in to that part) is on the center/right. There is a better pic of it at greatbuildings.com (click on "continue to image")

Well those are my Rome pics . . . I don't want to dissuade anyone from visiting the eternal city, and I admit I was in a somewhat stressed and fatigued state when I got there, but I feel compelled to caution you, it is a very URBAN environment, with lots of traffic and cheap pizza places and hucksters everywhere. You have to have the nerve of a bullfighter to cross any main street-- I would just wait for a local to cross (and let them stop the crazed constant oncoming traffic) and duck in behind them. The public transportation is a disgrace-- the subways and buses are incredibly crowded. You should take the warnings about pick-pocketing seriously-- even if you are extremely wary, the fact that you are so severely crammed into the buses and subways makes it impossible to know if you're just being bumped or if your pockets are getting picked. I had no problems, but I think i was mostly lucky. I can't fully describe the experience of riding the subway in Rome, it was like the biggest game of "Twister" you can imagine. People just piled in every which way.

My own impression of Rome, of going from site to site, was that it in many ways has become a sort of public amusement park . . . There are more tourists than residents, or so it seems, and while there are many wonderful things in it, I found it was, for me at least, not a very pleasant place to be. I was truly astonished by tourists who would walk, by the hundreds, in and out of churches and wander about like they were at a mall, taking flash photos while an actual service was going on . . I am not making this up.

I found most Romans to be just barely tolerant of the tourists . . . I often felt like an unwelcome guest, being politely ignored. My fellow tourists were a whole lot friendlier than the locals. To be fair, some Romans were helpful, but they were always in a rush to get somewhere. As I have thought about it, I realized that the tourist industry has probably taken much of the housing of Rome and turned it into cheap hotels, driving average people out of the city. I never saw any school-age children in Rome. I think people still live in Rome but, like the folks in modern day via margutta 51, they live behind walls in gated communities that protect them from the hordes of tourists. Seeing all the sights was fun but I felt really frustrated in that there was no "culture" of Rome to experience, everywhere I went I encountered more tourists. Perhaps if I had had more time I would have discovered that part of Rome, but . . . I didn't.

The rank and file Romans themselves, I have come to feel sorry for-- I could sense, from riding the buses with the working class folks in the afternoon, a tremendous collective eagerness on their part to get out of the city as soon as possible.

I really didn't feel like I had gone to a foreign country-- just about everyone speaks english, and all the signs are in both english and italian.

I will admit, my assessment of Rome is strongly influenced by the fact that the trip was mentally exhausting . . . this was not a vacation. I went there to learn, and in that sense, it was very successful trip. But trying to grasp all the historical information coming at you at every turn of the road is very taxing. The influence that ancient, renaissance, and modern Rome continues to have upon all our lives is just so immense that I find I am still processing it, and I may never finish the job. This trip had a profound effect on me, and I am still assimilating it. I think it is always good to replace ignorant imagination with fact whenever possible, and this trip certainly did THAT. We have all heard about Rome through history classes and books and movies, so it is impossible to go to Rome without a lot of pre-conceived notions about it; for me, encountering so much conflicting reality was a little jarring, to say the least.

If you decide to go, I hope these pics were of some use to you! Bye for now -- JL

My trip to Paris

My trip to Rio

Come visit the Justin Locke Productions website

Jones Around The World

How To Spend a Weekend in Rome | The Perfect Itinerary

Planning on spending a weekend in Rome soon and wondering what to do? Well, look no further because I’m here to give you some travel inspiration and loads of helpful tips for your weekend trip to Rome!

Roma, the “Eternal City,” is a destination that I believe captivates every single person who steps foot onto its ancient cobble-stoned streets. I actually studied abroad here during my junior year of college, and it will forever be one of my favorite places in the world.

While I do think you should try and spend more than a weekend in Rome, I’m here to help you plan your visit with some unique things to do, places to check out, awesome tours, accommodation recommendations, and random travel tips. After reading this, you’ll know exactly what to do in Rome for a weekend.

Weekend in Rome itinerary

WHY YOU SHOULD CONSIDER A WEEKEND ROME TRIP

There’s simply no other place like the Eternal City, and walking around Rome is basically the same as exploring a massive museum. At every turn, there is a stunning monument, church, or statue that was built centuries ago. Now it really just depends on if this is your first visit to Rome or not because a lot of these touristy things aren’t necessary if you’ve been here before.

While only being in Rome for the weekend might not seem long, it will still provide enough time to explore so many different parts of the city. This is my weekend in Roma guide, and I hope you find it useful.

As always, feel free to shoot me an email with any travel questions. Also, be sure to read through my article on the top 20 music festivals in Italy . It includes some of the best performances to see on a Saturday in Rome or on any day of your Rome weekend trip.

Rome Sunset- Best things to do in rome for a weekend

WHERE TO STAY FOR A WEEKEND IN ROME

Now, there are tons of different beautiful neighborhoods to explore when visiting Rome, but I think the smartest move is to stay near the Termini train station . Not only can you access both of the main metro lines in Rome (so you can easily get around the Eternal City), but it’s also the start/endpoint for all the major buses within the city’s public transport.

Plus, if you’re only flying into Rome for a weekend, you’ll want a pretty easy check-in/check-out process. And you want to be able to get to/from the airport really quickly. Here are a few places to stay in that would be a fantastic addition to your Roman adventure.

  • The Hive Hotel : With its immaculately clean rooms and luxurious modern design, it’s no surprise that the Hive is consistently reviewed as being a top 4-star luxury hotel in Rome. It boasts an enviable location and serves delicious meals to its guests. It’s definitely the perfect place to stay on your Roman weekend trip.
  • Muzio 48 Private Suites : Enjoy your Rome weekend trip at this stunning guest house. You’ll find the rooms blooming with beautiful blue and white furnishings in a soothing atmosphere. This accommodation is less than a mile from the Spanish Steps and other famous attractions. If you’re spending a hot, long weekend in Rome, you can kick back and relax with a cool beverage from your room’s fridge and be refreshed by the cool air in your air-conditioned room.
  • Plum Guide in Rome : If you’re looking for a top-rated apartment, I’d recommend checking out some of the incredible apartments in Rome’s city center on Plum Guide. It’s one of my new favorite Airbnb alternatives, and it provides an unforgettable place to stay while spending your weekend in Rome.

Where to stay in Rome Weekend

FUN THINGS TO DO DURING A WEEKEND TRIP TO ROME

First things first, you need to decide what type of time you want to have on your weekend Rome trip. Do you want to spend your days walking as much as possible and crossing every corner of Rome? Or do you want to focus more on food and culture or maybe even get to know a specific neighborhood? 

There are so many important things to see, like the Colosseum, The Vatican / St Peter’s Basilica, Trevi Fountain, Piazza del Popolo, The Pantheon, Piazza de Spagna, Piazza Venezia, Castel Sant’Angelo, etc., the list goes on and on . Rome is teeming with famous attractions.

It is technically possible to see all of these in one weekend in Rome, but it honestly would be very time-consuming. I’m just here to discuss a few things that I think are absolutely essential and super fun.

Rome Weekend Travel Itinerary

ENJOY A BOTTLE OF WINE AT THE TREVI FOUNTAIN

There are no open-container laws in Rome, and I’ll never forget my very first time drinking a bottle of delicious (and cheap) Italiano vino on the steps of the Trevi Fountain.

It’s such a classic experience, and you never know who you’ll meet or where the night may lead. This entire area becomes really lively at night and is one of the best places to relax in Rome, allowing you to people-watch and soak up the Italian atmosphere. It’s personally one of my favorite things to do during a weekend trip to Rome, and I guarantee you’ll love the experience.

So pick up a bottle of wine and a couple of glasses, and start your Friday night in Rome the right way by pregaming at one of the world’s most famous fountains.

Oh, and don’t forget to toss a coin into the fountain for good luck (and a return to Rome).

Trevi Fountain -Rome Weekend

MERCATO CENTRALE

It’s no doubt that Rome is a food lover’s paradise, and I’m sure that the majority of travelers coming to Italy want to try real, authentic, and delicious Italian cuisine. While I could probably write dozens of articles on the best restaurants, cafes, and bars to check out, one of the few places you must visit while in Rome is this new project Mercato Centrale Roma .

Conveniently located inside the Roma Termini train station, it’s an easy and awesome place to visit while you’re spending a weekend in Rome and you’re seeking to enjoy an Italian meal or two.

Okay, so what is this place, and what makes it oh-so-special?

Well, it’s an exciting culinary endeavor that offers its visitors a wide range of traditional Roman dishes from a variety of artisan vendors. It’s similar to a food court in a mall (or a farmer’s market), but you’ll find top-rated cuisine from quality retailers who pour their heart and soul into their craft.

From delicious pizza, pasta, suppli, truffles, tiramisu, gelato, and loads more – they’ve got it all. Mercato Centrale is a one-stop shop for your Italian food bucket list. Check out my article on Italian dishes to feast on while in Rome. I’m guaranteed you’ll find mouthwatering ideas and recommendations on more of their culinary delights.

While here, you’ll discover that there’s weight to their claim that:

“The food artisans and their stores are the stars of Mercato Centrale Roma, presenting and talking about their produce. Mercato Centrale Roma is a unique experience made by people for people, where goodness is elementary because it speaks for itself.”

Talk about a commitment to culinary excellence.

La Pasta Fresca

WALK ALONG RIVER TIBER AT DUSK

This Rome itinerary would be incomplete if you didn’t go for a stroll in a gorgeous setting. Rome is a gorgeous city during the day, but it’s actually one of my favorite cities to explore when it gets dark. Each of the monuments lights up in such a beautiful way, and the reflections of the buildings along the river are so stunning.

There’s a really nice walk stretching a few kilometers along River Tiber that is a great way to work off those dinner calories (hey, no judgment here) and fall in love with all the Roman architecture and city at night. Trust me, it’s quite a pleasant stroll. If you’re planning to do Rome in a weekend as a couple, this can be quite a romantic evening walk.

Long Weekend in Rome

TRY THE GELATO AT CIAMPINI

I’ll honestly never forget when my cousin took me here for the first time. It’s seriously the best gelato I’ve ever tried , and I am always telling people if they visit Rome, they have to check out Ciampini Roma for silky, smooth gelato. It’s such a sweet treat. My favorite flavors are Pistacchio, Crema, and Nocciola. The staff is also really great, and you can sample as many flavors as you’d like.

There’s a restaurant that has a sidewalk terrace for small meals and beverages, and you’ll pay an extra cost to fill your belly a bit. But you can just walk to the side entrance where the gelateria is located. If you make it here, I promise you’ll absolutely love it. It’s located about 5-10 minutes from Piazza di Spagna, right in the heart of the city center.

ENJOY AN APERITIVO IN TRASTEVERE

If you don’t know what an “aperitivo” is, it’s basically an offer where you can try a bunch of different appetizers that are buffet style as long as you purchase a drink (typically a glass of wine or beer). They’re quite popular all over Italy and are one of my favorite ways to start the evening.

Trastevere is my favorite neighborhood in all of Rome , and it definitely needs to be a stop on your Rome itinerary. It’s one of the few parts of the city where you can forget you’re in the busy capital and will fall in love with the charming alleyways, cobblestoned streets, and picturesque piazzas. This is quite a vibrant spot, as it’s filled with bars, cafes, and restaurants. Oh, and if you just walk around, you’ll find several different places that offer a delicious aperitivo to indulge in.

Also read: Get the lowdown on aperitivos and more with this fun happy hour guide.

Trastevere - Rome Weekend Itinerary

DRINKS IN CAMPO DI FIORI

What would a weekend trip to Rome be without a little bit of nightlife?

So after you’ve enjoyed a nice aperitivo in Trastevere, walk across the Ponte Sisto bridge. Once you’ve arrived at the bridge, continue straight, and you’ll find yourself in the nightlife hotspot of Campo Di Fiori.

This is one of the main squares in Rome and has a pretty wide selection of bars to grab a drink and mingle with the locals. Naturally, it’s very lively at night, and a lot of people will just bring their own alcohol and hang out in the square.

While the younger crowd may prefer spots like “The Drunken Ship” or “Sloppy Sams”, there are several other more relaxed places for you to grab a drink (and small bite) as well. You can pay a visit to the industrial-chic Chapter Roma or head to 1920s-inspired Jerry Thomas Speakeasy.

Places to visit in Rome - Weekend Itinerary

TOUR THE INCREDIBLE VATICAN MUSEUMS

Your trip from Rome to the Vatican Museum in Vatican City will take you a little over ten minutes if you’re taking the Rome Metro. Be sure to take Metro line A, as it’ll stop right outside the Vatican’s walls at the Ottaviano-S stop. Once you’ve arrived, you can take a short walk to the museum.

Referenced throughout pop culture, media, and literature, the Vatican Museums hold significant cultural and historical relevance. Not to geek out or anything, but you’ll be blown away by major attractions here, like the Sistine Chapel boasting Michelangelo’s stunning ceiling frescoes and the artwork in the galleries here. Amongst these, you’ll find the Gallery of Tapestries and the Gallery of Maps.

There are plenty more artworks you’ll see in the museums, with impressive marble sculptures collected by the Roman Catholic Church over thousands of years.

For an idea of what you can expect on a tour of the Vatican Museums , check out this short excerpt:

“Take a stirring journey through art and religious history with skip-the-ticket-line entry to the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel. Avoid the long ticket lines and then enjoy your visit at your own pace.

Wander through the Greek Cross Gallery to see elaborately-carved sarcophagi that might just contain the earthly remains of some of antiquity’s famous kings and queens.

Peek at the Cabinet of the Masks or tour the Sala degli Animali to see a virtual menagerie of fantastic beasts, real and imagined. Walk the Upper Galleries, including the Gallery of Maps, to see how cartographers depicted the world through the ages.”

https://www.getyourguide.com/vatican-museums-l2738/skip-the-line-vatican-museums-sistine-chapel-ticket-t62214/?partner_id=TD1UM4U

Price: From $31 USD per person (valid for one day)

Review: “Absolutely amazing day spent at the Vatican. I felt truly overwhelmed at times. Would highly recommend. Please always book your tickets as we did, as the queues for people who hadn’t booked were mikes long. And in the heat. Not a good idea. Truly worth a visit” – Nicola

View Photos, Read Reviews & Check Availability

Rome Vatican Tour

GET CULTURED AT THE BORGHESE GALLERY AND MUSEUM

As you can tell from the thousands of well-preserved artwork contained in the Vatican Museums, Italy is a powerhouse in the art world. And Borghese Gallery and Museum houses some of these world-renowned pieces of art.

Located in the lush greenery of Villa Borghese Park, Borghese Gallery and Museum is a relatively laidback but delightful place for you to admire art. You’ll find the latter to be spot on, especially since it tends to be less packed and quieter compared to the Vatican Museums that overshadow it.

Some people say that if you were to spend a minute admiring all the artwork in the Vatican Museums, it would take you about 12 years to do so. In contrast, you can take a 2-hour-30-minute tour at Borghese Gallery and Museum and comfortably see everything .

With twenty rooms shared on two floors, you’ll be able to explore the museum at your own pace.

Your tour will take you to the ground floor of the art gallery, which has eight rooms, and the first floor has the remaining twelve. On the ground floor, you’ll witness an impressive collection of sculptures by Bernini, one of which includes Apollo and Daphne. The painting room on the second floor is where you’ll find equally exquisite paintings.

Oh, and remember you read about crowds not being an issue here? Well, you have the gallery’s reservation system to thank for that. But it also means you’ll have to book ahead of time.

https://www.getyourguide.com/borghese-gallery-l3271/skip-the-line-borghese-gallery-gardens-half-day-tour-t3095/?partner_id=TD1UM4U

Price: From $76 USD per person (2.5 hours)

Review: “Exquisite gallery! Guide was very detailed. Loved it. We decided not to go out to the gardens, it was very warm, and it did not pose a problem. We were told we could stay inside, or sit outside in the shade which we opted to do. After the garden tour, we continued the rest of the tour inside. Magnificent sculptures, and paintings. Loved it.” – Nancy

VISIT THE CHIESA DI SANT’IGNAZIO DI LOYOLA

Have you heard of this church before? Probably not, but it’s absolutely stunning and definitely worth the visit. Chiesa Di Sant’Ignazio Di Loyola (also known as the Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola) is completely free to enter , and honestly, I think it’s one of the most gorgeous churches I’ve ever stepped foot inside.

It’s just a few minutes walk away from the renowned Pantheon and should be added to your Rome weekend itinerary and sightseeing list. I’m sure there are hundreds of other churches like this in Rome I don’t even know about, but I always enjoy taking people here.

Weekend Trip to Rome

TOUR ANCIENT ROME – COLOSSEUM, ROMAN FORUM, AND PALATINE HILL

There’s no doubt you’ve most likely wondered what past Rome was like. And now, you don’t have to, thanks to this tour of Ancient Rome .

You’ll learn about the festivals the Romans held and marvel at the magnificent structure that is the Colosseum. Once you’ve taken in the grandeur of this place (at your own pace, of course), you’ll head to the Roman Forum.

The Roman Forum was first a marketplace where Ancient Romans could shop, but as time went by, it became an area of social and political significance. It was around 500 B.C. when public events were held here.

On the other hand, Palatine Hill used to be a top neighborhood. Today, it is mostly an archeological site where you can explore the ruins of the Stadium of Domitian and the Flavian Palace.

Here’s a little snippet of what you can look forward to on this otherworldly tour of Ancient Rome:

“Start your tour right outside the monumental Colosseum where you will meet your guide. Here, your expert in Roman history will give you an introduction to the finest arena of the Roman Empire.

Explore the magnificent Colosseum, which had 80 entrances and could accommodate around 65,000 spectators. Hear about the spectacular festivals the Romans held here, which could last up to 100 days.

https://www.getyourguide.com/colosseum-l2619/colosseum-and-roman-forum-guided-tour-with-priority-access-t195566/?partner_id=TD1UM4U

Price: From $69 USD per person (2.5 to 3 hours)

Review: “This tour was excellent. Our guide was very knowledgeable and also considerate (showing us several places to stop for both water and restrooms). He was able to provide excellent historical background on each of the sites visited. The tour was easy to follow and well worth the price to skip the lines at the forum/palatine hill and the colosseum. The arena entry was definitely worth it too. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone wanting to see historic Roma.” – Jenna

Colosseum Tour Rome

LEARN TO MAKE PASTA FROM SCRATCH

Italy is world-renowned for its delicious cuisine, so why not take the opportunity to join a cooking class on your trip to Rome?

This Pasta and Tiramisu Workshop is the perfect place to meet new people in a laidback environment. Here, you’ll not only learn how to make pasta from scratch, but you’ll get to make fresh tiramisu, too (and enjoy a glass of wine).

A local chef will help you out by demonstrating how to make fresh pasta, and you’ll even get to choose your own pasta shape. You’ll also get to make tiramisu once your pasta is ready and then enjoy a sit-down dinner with other students at the end of your cooking lesson. Choose your very own topping sauce to go with your pasta. Whether it’s alfredo or carbonara you’re interested in, you’ll find your desired sauce here.

Read this snippet to whet your appetite and learn what you can expect on this culinary adventure:

“Uncover the secret to making authentic homemade pasta from a local chef with this cooking class in Rome. Craft your own tasty Tiramisù to compliment your pasta. Feast on your creations paired with a glass of Italian wine .

Greet your chef at the established restaurant in the heart of Rome. Put on your chef hat and your apron, and prepare yourself for an amazing cooking experience.”

https://www.getyourguide.com/rome-l33/rome-pasta-tiramisu-workshop-with-dinner-t179951/?partner_id=TD1UM4U

Price: From $65 USD per person (2.5 hours)

Review: “We had an Amazing time with Chef Desi! 100% worth it. She took the time to check on us and the food was delicious at the end and served with a glass of wine and was even given a shot of limoncello! Our group also made it great, would do it again, the next time I’m in Rome!” – Rya

I could honestly go on and on when it comes to things to do in Rome, but if you’ve only got a weekend, I don’t want to add everything. I still highly recommend visiting places like Vatican City and/or doing the tour through the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill, but those are pretty time-consuming activities!

GETTING AROUND ROME

Honestly, public transportation isn’t quite the easiest to understand for first-time visitors. There are only two metro lines, but they actually do get you to the majority of major attractions in the city. I always recommend choosing accommodation close to a metro line, as it definitely makes things easier for heading back home after a long day of walking around the city.

When it comes to the buses, I’d recommend checking out this article on “ How To Use Public Buses in Rome” To be honest, I very rarely take buses in the city because I find them overcrowded and rarely on time , but sometimes they can be helpful.

Also, you can always ask your hotel/hostel staff for tips on the closest bus stops/route numbers.  They are typically really helpful when it comes to local transport.

Weekend Away in Rome

AM I MISSING ANYTHING FROM MY ROME WEEKEND ITINERARY?

Having just recently visited Rome after several years of being away, I really did re-discover my love for this city. It’s such a unique destination, and I wish I had more time than the 2.5 days I spent here. That’s actually what inspired me to write this article because sometimes a weekend in Rome is all people have time for.

There are so many more incredible things to do in Rome, epic day trips to take, and beautiful places in Italy to continue your travels, but I hope you found this guide helpful.

If you think I need to add anything to this itinerary, feel free to reach out and let me know! I’m hoping to make it back to Europe this summer, and Rome might just have to be a stop on my list.

Have you been to Rome before? What was your experience like? Did you find a favorite spot, places to eat, etc? Is there anything important I’m missing? Let me know in the comments below.

Things to do in ROme

PLANNING A TRIP TO ITALY & EUROPE?

Check out a few of these other articles to help you plan your Italian adventure. It’s truly one of my favorite countries, and I know you’ll love it as much as I do. Keen on visiting another European country instead? No worries. I’ve got all you need for a fantastic trip no matter where in Europe you go.

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Weekend in Rome

THANKS FOR READING MY WEEKEND IN ROME ITINERARY

Share this rome itinerary with your travel squad.

Love the photos! I’ve visited a number of countries in Europe and find the architecture one of my favorite things. These images really give us the feel of Rome’s great buildings.

Rome is a really great city. Must surely visit anyone. Thanks.

I’m a tour leader in Italy and Roma is one of my favourite places in the world.

Just to leave my top 3 here if anybody is interested

1. Museum, mine would be Montemartini… arts of the antiquities set in an old power plant. The juxtaposition between marble busts and ‘modern’ machinery is quite something to behold.

2. Church- without a doubt is Basilica di San Paolo fuori le Mura. Home to Paul’s mortal remains, wonderful architecture and portraits of all the Popes that have ever served the Roman Catholic Church. Watch out for the empty spaces after Francis, there is a legend relating to these!

3. Restaurant- Flavio Al Velavevodetto. Ever wanted to eat authentic roman pastas in a mountain made of 2000 year old terracotta pots (basically an ancient Roman dumping ground)? Now is your chance. Food is great and the area of Testaccio is different and wonderful.

Thanks so much for this! More great tips for people visiting Rome :-)

I love rome

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my trip to rome essay

First Trip to Rome? Here’s Everything You Need to Know

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January 23, 2023

Teeming with character and brimming with personality, Rome is a city of contradictions; loud, gritty and frenetic; charming, beautiful, and captivating. Visitors quickly learn to take Rome as they find it; what you see is what you get with the Eternal City, and what you get is a truly memorable experience. Nevertheless, it’s always worth taking certain words of wisdom into account when embarking on an exploration of any new city, so here are just some of the most important points to consider!

Table of Contents

How do I plan my time in Rome?

When your time in a new city is limited, it’s normal to fear that your all-round experience will be equally limited, but when it comes to Rome, there’s no need to panic about ‘fitting it all in’. OK sure, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to see each and every single sight that the Eternal City has to offer, but thankfully, Rome’s biggest attractions are concentrated in certain areas of the capital. This means that with a small amount of forward planning, you can earmark certain sights (and therefore certain areas) for certain days, thereby avoiding unnecessary dashes back and forth across the Italian capital! One very easy way to do that – and ultimately ensure you get the most out of your trip – is to plan your exploration of the Eternal City thematically! In other words; ask yourself what comes to mind when you think of Italy’s capital. Is it the popes, the paintings, the piazzas, and the Pantheon? Or maybe it’s the the Colosseum, the catacombs and the cobbled streets? Depending on which cultural touchstones take personal precedence, you can easily allocate certain time slots – or indeed entire days – to certain themes, and then sightsee accordingly! It really can be as simple as that!

What’s the best way to see the sights in Rome?

Rome, Italy

Rome, as we all know, is a bucket list destination for most visitors to Europe, not to mention Italy. Art enthusiasts, history buffs and devoted foodies descend upon the Italian capital in their millions every year, and so it’s no real surprise that visitors are encouraged to consider crowding issues when sketching out their sightseeing schedule. We’ve all been there; shuffling from one foot to the other while waiting in line for an attraction, jostling shoulder to shoulder with fellow tourists as you eventually gain entry, moving en masse through the attraction as you struggle to hear your guide. Sound familiar? With all the best intentions in the world, it’s not the most ideal way to view any city’s cultural or historical landmarks, is it? Experiences can be marred by queues, lines, crowds and slow moving tours, and there are few among us who don’t have memories of such a situation. So, given the number of attractions Rome boasts and the numerous sights the city has to offer, it’s certainly advisable to book tours in advance, especially ones which feature skip-the-line access, and opt for small-group, local-led tours! From taking the aforementioned thematic approach to booking a tour in advance, you will ensure a truly hassle-free experience of Rome for yourself! Read more: 12 Alternative Things to Do in Rome for 2020

Where should I stay in Rome?

Rome, Italy

When it comes to visiting a new city, one of the first questions that arises is the matter of accommodation. Where you choose to stay can often make or break a trip, depending on your needs and wants. Too far from the hustle and bustle of a city, and you run the risk of isolating yourself. Too close to the centre, and you may struggle with noise pollution among other things. Indeed, seasoned travellers know that finding the perfect balance in terms of accommodation is an art, and it largely depends on what you want from your trip. Ahead of your trip to the Eternal City, you will have likely familiarised yourself with well-known neighbourhoods including Trastevere, the Jewish Quarter, and Testaccio, but what exactly can you expect from them and others? Let’s start with Trastevere; one of the liveliest neighbourhoods in the Italian capital, it’s also one of the most popular areas in the Eternal City. Known for wallet-friendly accommodation, enticing eateries and a variety of bars, Trastevere is a hive of activity and certainly worth considering as a base if you enjoy being in the midst of the action while on vacation! Moving on to the Jewish Quarter! If you tend to gravitate towards slightly less hectic areas, but still appreciate a charming, bustling atmosphere, opting for accommodation in the Jewish Quarter may be the best move for you. Teeming with must-see historical landmarks, time in the Jewish Quarter guarantees an authentic Roman experience! Heard of Testaccio? If not, that might be because it’s one the least tourist-oriented areas of Rome which, as we all know, is a major plus among many visitors to a new city! Located in the 20th rione of Rome, the area is known for its vibrant nightlife while also giving more than a passing insight into the edgier side of the Eternal City. And what about Quartiere Coppedè? When it comes to neighbourhoods in Rome, Quartiere Coppedè is every fantasy fan’s ideal daydream, but interestingly, it isn’t a regular feature on the well-worn tourist track. While not far from central Rome by public transport, the area still feels ever so slightly hidden, utterly enchanting in its aesthetic and the perfect spot for the architectural buffs among us to enjoy some R&R in Rome. Located near the Vatican, the Prati neighborhood is often associated with the finer things in life. Think spacious tree-lined avenues, elegant buildings and an array of high-end bars and restaurants. Oh, and if exploring a city’s selection of designer stores is always high on your list of priorities, it’s definitely worth making Prati your base during your time in the Eternal City! Read more: Where to Stay in Rome: How to Choose the Right Neighborhood for your Visit

Is Rome expensive?

Rome, Italy

In recent times, Rome has come in for intense criticism among visitors – and managed to make global headlines in the process – due to the excessive restaurant bills presented to unassuming tourists dining out in the Italian capital. Think lunches which cost in excess of €400 and you’ll get the idea! Like many international cities, Rome has a somewhat poor reputation for overcharging tourists. Indeed, many visitors to the Italian capital arrive having been pre-warned to avoid establishments targeting tourists. Often located mere metres away from a major attraction, these establishments tend to attract passersby with pictorial menus in a variety of languages, and generally don’t tend to deliver on the cuisine the country is renowned for! Nevertheless, it is actually very easy to eat and drink incredibly well in Rome – indeed, just like a local – without breaking the bank at all! All it requires is the inclination to meander off the city’s main streets and into the laneways and side streets which house some of Rome’s most authentic and local-loved eateries! It’s as simple as that!

What’s Rome like in summer?

Rome, Italy

One word; hot. In fact, Rome in summer is known for being particularly hot. For example, temperatures in the Italian city reached highs of 38 degrees Celsius / 100 degrees Fahrenheit in August 2019, which makes planning an itinerary all the more crucial if you hope to avoid crowds during the summer’s hottest days. There’s no doubt that Rome and hot days go hand in hand, but it’s not just the sweltering heat that’s set to make summer 2020 in the Eternal City a particularly memorable one! If you’re a fan of the Beautiful Game, and eager to get in on the UEFA Euro 2020 action, remember that Rome will be hosting the tournament’s opening game in June, as well as three others in the Stadio Olimpico. UEFA will be celebrating the first  UEFA Festival which promises to ‘bring the city of Rome to life, with a celebration of arts, culture, music and most importantly football!’ Word to the wise: If football fatigue sets in, why not join us for an evening of  pasta making  or sink beneath the surface of the city for a stroll through  Rome’s catacombs ?

What’s Rome like in winter?

Rome, Italy

If you have an aversion to hot weather or always hoped to see the Eternal City during winter months, it may be worth planning your trip to the Italian capital as the year draws to a close, when temperatures begin dipping and the heat of the summer has finally abated. Indeed, December 2019 in Rome saw highs of just 18 degrees Celsius and lows of 10 degrees, making it more agreeable among sightseers or those who tend to shy away from the sun’s rays…. and the city’s crowds. So, let’s talk winter in the Italian capital! Once the Christmas and Epiphany Market pops up at the Piazza Navona, you can be sure the festive season in Rome has kicked into full swing! The rest of the city plays host to a variety of trees and decorations, and the city seamlessly segues from a prime summer destination into a much-loved winter spot, complete with cosy bars, festive stands and Christmas merriment. Read more: Italy in the Off-Season: A Guide to Winter in Italy

How do I tip in Rome?

Tipping; it can be a real minefield on vacation, can’t it? Luckily for visitors to Rome, it doesn’t have to be! Tipping in Italy is neither mandatory nor expected, but if you do decide to do so while visiting Rome, the gesture is a very clear indicator that you appreciated the service provided. As many of us like to tip – or are, at the very least, accustomed to doing so – it’s worth remembering that different etiquette applies depending on the service provided.  As explored in a previous article , there are just a few handy rules to keep in mind before parting with your cash in Rome! From coffee and cocktails to taxis and tour guides, there is no reason to feel out of depth (or out of pocket!) when it comes to eating out, getting around or enjoying a drink in the Eternal City. Read more: How to Take a Taxi in Italy Without Getting Ripped Off

What rules should tourists be aware of in Rome?

Rome, Italy

With the matter of cover charges… well… covered, it’s now time to consider other areas of cultural etiquette that should be considered upon your first trip to the Eternal City! In recent years, a number of new rules and regulations were introduced in Rome, many of which put a halt to certain conduct typically associated with the city’s most iconic attractions. Long to jump in the city’s fountains? No longer an option. Hoping to attach a ‘lovelock’ to a bridge? ‘Fraid not. Plan to spend a moment sitting on the Spanish Steps? Nope, not happening. Oh, and if you think flouting the rules will result in a mere slap on the wrist, think again. Choosing to ignore the regulations can result in hefty fines in some cases, so heed the warnings and behave accordingly! And there you have it folks; from landmarks and lovelocks to tipping and tours, consider yourself well-equipped, well-informed and well-prepared for your first foray in the Eternal City! Read more: 11 Surprising Ways to Get in Trouble in Italy

my trip to rome essay

by Niamh McClelland

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My Trip to Rome

My Trip to Rome, Italy was an experience of a lifetime. My family and I left sometime in December 2006, and came back in mid to late January 2007 ( I can’t really remember when). I was only 7 years old at the time that we went . The trip had good food, great sites, and wonderful adventures that will have an impact on me for the rest of my life. My trip to Italy had great food, now I am not saying all we ate was italian food, actually we ate quite a lot of different food there. In Italy, there was some American food, we actually ate at an Italian McDonald’s like 2 or 3 times. I would not have thought that they would have had because it American. We also had pasta, pizza, and even gelato. Gelato is an Italian form of ice cream, but it is more a mix of like an american frozen yogurt with ice cream, its more soft and creamy. It is like soft serve ice cream that you might get from this one company called Nitro Freeze. It’s usually served with an Italian whipped cream (which has absolutely no flavor at all), and all the toppings that you want, but most of the time, just a cherry. The sites my family and I saw on my trip to Rome were amazing. We saw the Colosseum, an ancient Roman arena where they pitted criminals to fight to the death against anything from fierce creatures to Roman Soldiers. We also saw the Trevi Fountain, a fountain where it is said to be good luck to throw a coin in while facing the other way, hence having your back to the fountain. Right after we threw coins in, I wished we could go get gelato, and then we did, so I guess it works. Another site we saw was Vatican City, which is where the pope lives. That’s right the Pope has his own city. It is only 0.29 square miles and has a population of about 129 people. We got to see where the pope lives, at that time it was Pope Benedict XVI. We got to go to a mass said by him, and all of my three nephews got kissed and blessed by him. We even saw him go in the popemobile, the things he travels around Vatican City in. In Vatican City there is also a thing called Saint Peter’s basilica. We were fortunate to see it, it is the most famous basilica in all of the world. The final amazing site we saw was the Sistine Chapel, a chapel which on the ceiling contains a very famous painting of the Creation of Man by Michelangelo. When we went, there were many guards and they all told us the same phrase , “No Photos, No Video”. It was scared that they might think I was taking a picture of the painting, when I was just filming myself, luckily that did not happen though. The experience grew me closer to God, because while my family was over there, my dad got really sick, life threatening. I remember sitting in the hospital praying as hard as I possibly could that he wouldn’t die. After a while of him being sick, the doctor said that he was not gonna make it till the next morning. I can never remember a time when I prayed so hard for God to keep him alive. I remember I did not sleep at all that night because my mom was crying so much that all of my family had to stay up and comfort her. I mean my dad makes all of our money, and my mom is busy at our house all day. If she had to work all day and take care of the house chores and everything else, we would probably not have survived this long. Luckily, he next morning he was alive, the doctors couldn’t even believe it, they said there was no medical reason how that could have happened, it was a miracle from God. We also had great adventures, first of all I got to experience a new country for the first time, and actually go out of the country. I am about the only kid around my friends, who can saw that I have been to Europe. I also got to see things that were used centuries ago and that are still preserved today, take the coliseum, it was used in ancient Rome, and is still mostly preserved today, or at least it was when I went there 6 years ago. And it also grew me closer to God with that big scare that almost took my dad’s life away from my family and I forever.

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my trip to rome essay

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My trip to Rome (Roma)

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It was the night of my dad’s birthday that my godmother Jill explained how she had free air miles, and wondered if there was somewhere I’d most like to visit? Jill had already invited my mother to go with her. I replied, “I’d love to go anywhere”. “What about you where would you like to go the most,” I said. Her answer to this was “I would love to go to Rome” and I said, “That’s where we should go”.  

By the time we got to the airport I was feeling rather hungry. I kissed and said good-bye to dad. Jill, mum and I waved goodbye to dad and headed in to the airport. Once we got in side it was really busy. It was hard to get through the people queuing up waiting to check in, so we squeezed through the people to the right checking desk. As we waited for our turn, even though it was busy we got our tickets and passports ready to show the lady behind the desk. When we finally made it to the desk we handed in everything and we where checked in in no time. After doing this Jill led us to the exclusive lounge. This is because she uses this airline a lot, which means she can sit in the lounge and have food and drink depending on what time of day it is. Here we waited and ate our breakfast before we were called for boarding.

After an hour and half’s wait we were called to board our flight. I grabbed my case and braced my self for the flight as we walked to the boarding area. We showed our tickets at the boarding desk and walked down the tunnel to the plane and took our seats. As I sat there looking out through the small window I started to feel nervous, but it was ok because mum and Jill reassured me. However, I was still a bit nervous and I found it hard to breathe as it was quite packed. When we started to takeoff I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and felt as if was going to pass out but luckily I didn’t. I stared out the window as the land below became smaller and smaller. A little while in to the flight they hostesses came round with food and drinks for us, which was really enjoyable and tasty.

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For the rest of the flight I fell asleep and by the time I woke up we were in the motion of landing. Once we had landed and it was safe to leave our seats we left the plane and went to collect our cases. Then we boarded the airport train, which took us to the main train station where we went on a train to Rome.  

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When we arrived at Rome’s train station we had to walk down along platform, which was very busy, and we had to avoid being trampled by the herds of people that were heading towards us. Luckily once we were outside the train station we didn’t have far to walk before we were at our hotel as it was only a couple of roads away. When we arrived at the hotel we went straight to the front desk to sign in and get the key to the room we were staying in. We took the lift to the third floor. Mum opened the door and I went in first and sat my case on the floor. Jill and mum followed after me. Jill and mum decided it would be a good idea if we unpacked and have a rest before we went out for our meal.

We walked down the stairs to the ground floor and handed our key in before we left the hotel. As we walked we discussed where we were going to eat. Jill suggested that we eat at the restaurant just round the corner and that’s where we went to eat that night. When we arrived there was an old man playing beautiful Italian music on his violin. We sat out side, as it was a warm night and there was good music. Jill tried to order dinner in Italian but to our surprise the waiter spoke better English than we did. For our appetiser we had thin dried ham and juicy orange melon. I wasn’t sure about it but once I tasted it was really delicious. The second course I had pizza, which was delicious also because it had a buttery cheese topping on a really thin crisp base. By the time we had finish our meal it was late and we were all tired so we went back to the hotel to sleep.

The morning after arriving in Rome my deep sleep was interrupted by the loud chiming of the church bells. I got up and went to see mum and Jill in the other room. I went into their room. They looked at me tiredly and I smiled at them. I said morning and went into the bathroom. When I came out they were dressed and ready to go down and have breakfast, so I changed into my clothes and followed them down to the restaurant. After we had eaten we went back to our room and got our things ready for the day ahead. Mum and Jill had planned what we were going to see the night before. The first thing we were going to see was the Trevi fountain and that’s where we headed.

When we arrived at the Trevi fountain it was swarming with people selling goods, advertising their restaurants, people who giving tours and people who had just come to see the fountain. Once we were closer I understood why there were so many people who had come to see the fountain. It was a wonderful and beautiful sight. The sculpture and the size were amazing. But there was one thing missing which would of given the full affect of the fountain ‘the water’. There was no water to be seen in it at all because it was being cleaned. We took a few pictures and headed to the next thing on our list, which was The Spanish Steps. When we arrived   there the first thing that grabbed our attention were the monumental steps. As I looked up the steps I could see the church of SS . We walked up the steps to the church and had a look inside. After looking round the church we come out and walked back down the stairs and headed back to the hotel. As headed back we past the Trevi fountain that was now full of water and as it had gotten dark it was all lit up. This made it even more beautiful than be for and we stood and looked at it and toss a coin into the water of the fountain and made a wish.  

Over the next four days we were woken up at seven in the morning to the church bells chiming and going out at about half nine. We visited many of the main tourist attractions such as, Vatican City where we saw St. Peter’s church and walked up the 320 steps to the top of the building, which was hard work, but the view was breath taking. We also walked around St Peter’s square where people were having tours into The Vatican, which we joined. Inside The Vatican it was huge and the detail and sculptures were incredible. We also visited the Sistine   Chapel after it had been restored to its original colours and the paintings were astonishing. When you looked up at the ceiling you could tell that each painting got bigger and bigger. This is where Michelangelo realised that the first scene was too small and made the next one bigger and so on. Then we went to The Colosseum where they were restoring it to its original state. But they’ve had to redo I what they had done because they had restored it wrong. We walked in and around The Colosseum where we took pictures and took in the remarkable building. We went from there to The Roman Forum where the remains of ancient Temples of all ages were still standing at incredible highs. The next thing we visited was the Monument to Victor Emmanuel ll. The size of this monument was the size of the houses of parliament. Then we went in to the Pantheon, which is also a monument. As we went inside this building the sculpture was startling. When I looked up, I noticed this hole in the roof that actually lets in the rain when it does. Following the Pantheon we visited Piazza Navona. This is a square with three big fountains going down the middle of it.

We also visited the Villa Bognese garden, which was enormous. We walked through the garden as the sun shone through the leaves on the trees which sent a warm happy felling though my body. It such a beautiful day we found a mini restaurant in the garden, which we sat out side of with a cold glass of water each. We walked around the garden we notice that the pond had lots of terrapins rest on rocks in the sun. We took a few pictures of them and then sat by a little fountain and rested in the shaded to cool down. We on through the garden and found our selves out side of a zoo. We then decided to sit down and read a book but Jill when to sleep instead. Once we were relaxed and hungry we went into the town and had lunch. When we had finished our lunch we head back to the hotel.  

After visiting each of these places we would have meals at different Italian restaurants where we ate proper Italian foods and wines. The food was filling and really got you taste buds tingling. Jill and I had Italian ice cream whenever we had the chance. We tasted all sorts of flavours which where really yummy. At the end of our trip we still couldn’t speak great Italian but we all enjoyed our selves. We will treasure the time we had there.  

My trip to Rome (Roma)

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Narrative Essay – My trip to Italy

Filed Under: Essays Tagged With: italy , rome

I could feel the anticipation rising within myself knowing that my trip to Italy was just a few weeks away. I had waited my whole life for this one moment. It was near the month of April, and that meant spring break was just right around the corner. To give a little bit of background, I come from an Italian family. I have yet to see the beautiful terrain where my ancestors had originated, but I do know that my family stems from Naples, Terre, and Rome, Italy. The Terraciano name traces back to Terre, Italy and my ancestors originated from Naples, Italy. My ancestors immigrated into Ellis Island, thus, most of my family lives in New York. Going to Italy was a figure of speech in our household. We would talk about it, but I didn’t believe that we would actually go through with this idea. This figure of my imagination was soon developing into reality.

Earlier in the year, the whole family and I all sat down and talked about what the next adventure as a family would be. Everyone had their own opinions, but one idea stood out from all the others. My dad had suggested that we all go to Italy for the reason of learning more about our family history. By this point everyone was on board with the idea, and for about the next four months, my family and I were preparing for a trip of a life time. As time passed by, I could see the excitement build. I had about a week before spring break, and this trip to Italy was still on full throttle. There was no turning back. The days became eternal, but then after a mere five long days had passed, my long awaited and beloved Italy trip had smacked me in the face and I found myself at the airport. The flight to Italy was mind numbingly long, as it was ten hours without layover time. The plan was to land in Rome, then take a train to Florence, and a train to Venice.

The Essay on Family Trip

The most memorable vacation ever, was our family trip to Idaho two years ago. We were excited for weeks leading up to our departure from the Memphis International Airport. This was my husbands’ first time to fly. When the day finally came, he was extremely nervous, about the flight. I remember him telling me his stomach was in knots; he must have said I love you 25 times that day. The girls ...

It was a Sunday morning in Rome, Italy, but my internal clock was telling me differently. We drove to our hotel and got settled in, but sleep was not even in our vocabulary at this point. I was on spring break, so I only had five days to see the sights of each town I wanted to visit, which meant I only had two days to spend in each city. It was a lovely Sunday morning here in the bright and alive city of Rome, that my family and I decided to take a stroll around Vatican City. The city was a little chaotic, but I quickly realized the reason why there were so many people screaming and yelling. Pope Francis was in the middle of making a speech. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay too long and neither could the rest of the family due to our battle of jet lag. Our fun filled day ended by two o’clock, but the next morning wasn’t so bad. We were excited to start our day, so we quickly got ready and headed out the door. Today marked the day of touring all around ancient Rome.

I’ve read so much about Italy in books, learned about the country in school, and I have watched shows about it on the history channel when there was nothing else better to watch, but I never really knew how special this place was until I saw it myself. I visited many places, and some of those historic places included: the Fontana Fountain, the Colosseum, and Caesar’s Palace. The Fontana Fountain is located within the Trevi district. This fountain is made from Travertine stone, and is said to hold thousands of wishes. The Colosseum, also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre is an elliptical amphitheatre that is located in the center of Rome, Italy. With its concrete and stone architecture, it is known to be the greatest works of the Roman Empire.

While there was nothing much left of Caesar’s Palace but three lonely columns, just being in the presence of the palace was breath taking. Ruins that surround what used to be the center of the Roman Empire, still show an impact on people. While on the tour, I saw one building in particular which had so many intricate statues. I was curious to know who these people were, and what was the meaning behind them. The tour guide said that one of the statues was in the likeness of a Greek goddess. The tour guide told me that her name was Nike, like the shoe brand. She was the goddess of victory, and power. The brand “NIKE” stems from this goddess simply for the meaning. The “check mark” on the shoe is actually the symbol of her wings. Although our time in Rome was fun, it was time to head to the next adventure, which was Firenze.

The Essay on Rome Italy

I had learned I was being sent to Italy in March of 2000 for a machine tool exhibition. I found out the happy news just before leaving work. Excitedly I jumped into my car and started my journey home. As I drove home down I-95 through all of the usual evening traffic I just kept thinking about ho I was going to tell my husband we were going to Italy. That night I continuously paced the floor ...

Welcome to Florence, Italy! The only place you can go to get the famous unsalted bread. To give a little bit of history, salt was hard to come by back in the day in Italy. Salt was considered a sacred item that only the wealthy were able to obtain. Due to this, many Italians just ditched salt out of the baking process of their bread recipes. Since then, Florence has kept the tradition going strong. To this day, Florence, Italy is the only place where travelers will find a different tasting in bread. In my opinion, it actually tasted better without the added salt. After our bread tasting, my family and I had just stepped off of the train and were immediately amazed by our surroundings. Florence had such a different vibe and look to their town rather than Rome. Florence is to Atlanta, as Rome would be to Kennesaw.

Our first adventure in this new town was to go visit the museum of Michael Angelo. Within the museum, the world-renowned Statue of David was on display. Due to its extreme fragileness, viewers were not allowed to take pictures of the works of art, including the Statue of David. This was a trip of a life time, I wasn’t going to let this chance pass me by. Even though there were a billion cameras watching my every move, and security guards staring people down suspiciously as if everyone had some secret to hide, I still went in for the infamous picture. While visiting the lovely city of Florence, I managed to take part in a food tour. Along this food tour, I tasted some cured ham, which is known as prosciutto. I also tasted some fine chocolates, wines, and aged cheeses. The time I spent in Florence was nothing less of amazing, but sadly that adventure had to come to an end. Say goodbye to Florence, and hello Venice!

The sweet sounds of gondoliers singing, and the smell of fresh pastries making their way out of the oven reminds me that I have reached the city of, Venezia. When I finally stepped foot into the new environment, my expectations of the city was quickly fulfilled. When I think of Venice, Italy, I think of gondolas, and old intricate buildings. Venice was everything I have ever imagined. The gondola ride was very soothing, and relaxing. The gondolier sang beautifully even though I couldn’t understand a word he was saying.

The Essay on Early Renaissance in Florence and High Renaissance in Rome

The Early Renaissance was founded in Florence, Italy in the 15th century. It probably flousrished in Florence because of its location, being that it is in the center of Italy. This period was called Renaissance because it means “rebirth” There was a revival of interest in the classical art, targeted especially towards the ideas of Ancient Greece and Rome. Artists during the period of ...

What’s so unique about Venice is that the citizens live off of historical and traditional value. Every building was roughly from the 1500’s. Citizens of the city do not approve of tearing down history and tradition. Every building still had its traditional and historic value, but anything new was only built on top of the structure. For example, while on a mini tour around the area, I came across a building that had a stairway that traced back to the 1500’s in the medieval time period. The only historic piece left standing on the building was the stairway. Venice sure did have a lot to offer.

In conclusion, this was a trip of a life time and I hope one day I get the chance to come back and explore more places I have yet to discover. By attending this trip with my family, I was able to learn more about my background and became more passionate about where my family had originated. Out of all three of my adventures to Rome, Florence, and Venice, Rome Italy would have to be my favorite. Rome has more of the historic aspect of Italy, which I find very interesting. My family and I do plan on continuing to travel the world in search of finding out more about our family roots. On that note, the trip to Italy was a definite success and I am looking forward to many more trips to come.

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my trip to rome essay

I've been a tour guide in Rome for 16 years. Here are 9 of the biggest mistakes tourists make.

  • Tourists visiting Rome often make mistakes that detract from their experience in the city.
  • I've worked as a tour guide here for 16 years, and many people forget to plan their trip in advance.
  • Disregarding dress codes, ignoring local customs, and booking short trips can also be mistakes.

Insider Today

My husband and I have 25 and 16 years, respectively, of guiding experience in Rome. He's a licensed guide who leads cultural, archeological, and art tours, and I am a certified sommelier who leads food and wine tours.

When visiting Rome , tourists often make several common mistakes that can detract from their experience in the Eternal City — ranging from simple cultural misunderstandings to more serious breaches of etiquette.

My husband and I often discuss some of the more frustrating things we wish guests knew before they visited. Here are the top mistakes we've seen.

Disregarding dress codes

Tourists often fail to adhere to dress codes when visiting religious sites, such as St. Peter's Basilica or the Sistine Chapel.

Wearing revealing clothing can be seen as disrespectful in these sacred spaces, so make sure to look up guidelines beforehand.

Typically, at least the knees and shoulders must be covered.

Ignoring local customs  

Many visitors overlook the importance of local customs , such as greeting people with a polite "Buongiorno" in the morning and "Buonasera" in the evening.

Small gestures like this can go a long way in showing respect for Roman culture.

Not tipping their servers

Tipping is less customary in Italy than in some other countries, and it's not expected or mandatory. But leaving a few euros per person on top of the bill is considered polite in Rome.

I don't know why so many guidebooks and articles state that the "coperto" is a service charge that goes to the server. This is untrue — it covers things like the bread, olive oil, and vinegar for the restaurant.

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But if you see the word "servizio" on the receipt, that money goes to the server.

Booking too short of a trip

Rome is more than just the Colosseum, Sistine Chapel, and Trevi Fountain — it deserves time. It's the Eternal City with over 2 millennia of history to get through, after all.

Confining yourself to the most heavily touristed areas usually means missing out on some authentic local experiences off the beaten path.

Many tourists are only in Rome for two or three days, which doesn't give them much time to visit lesser-known sites like Ostia Antia or contemporary museums like Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna.

As we say in Rome, "Roma, non basta una vita" ("In Rome, a lifetime is not enough"). I know people's holidays are limited, but instead of trying to visit four Italian cities in a week , maybe slow down and give Rome at least five days.

Relying solely on English

English is widely spoken in tourist areas, but learning some basic Italian phrases or using a translation app can significantly enhance your interactions with locals.

It's also a way to demonstrate respect for the host culture.

Not planning ahead

Visitors often need to pay more attention to the time and effort required to visit Rome's most popular attractions if they want to avoid long lines and frustration.

Tours of the Colosseum or Vatican often sell out months in advance.

One of my favorite websites for up-to-date advice for travelers planning trips to Rome is Rome Wise . You can find information on anything from the best cocktail bars and hotels to art exhibits and even general helpful information.

Visiting at the wrong time

If you're deciding when to come, most guidebooks and travel sites advise people to skip Rome in August.

But I think July is more unbearably hot and crowded — August is much cooler. Since more Italian people tend to be on holiday in August, it can also be less crowded.

Disrespecting art and architecture

Tourists occasionally disregard the rules against touching artwork, leaning on ancient structures, or sitting on historic fountains, which can damage these important cultural treasures.

You don't want to end up on the local news as a tourist who took a piece of marble from the Roman Forum or left graffiti on the Colosseum.

Missing out on the local cuisine

Tourists often stick to familiar dishes or opt for restaurants in high-traffic areas — missing out on the incredible diversity of Roman cuisine and the charm of neighborhood trattorias (small restaurants).

Italian food is seasonal. Rome might be famous for artichokes, but if you're eating them in June, they probably aren't local (the vegetable is only in season from February until April).

I recommend following advice from the local food experts at Casa Mia . They have excellent information on seasonal cuisine, and they offer food and wine tours.

Watch: See Rome at its best — through the eyes of a local

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Why I Chose to Study Abroad in Rome: My Experience

October 26, 2023

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By: Carolyn Schwartz

Traveling abroad as a student can be an incredibly enriching and transformative experience. I studied abroad during the fall semester of 2023 and it was an amazing experience! I wanted to share my personal experiences while studying abroad and some advice to those thinking about studying abroad! 

Studying abroad is great for culture exposure. Studying abroad exposes you to new cultures, traditions, and ways of life. It's a chance to broaden your horizons and develop a more global perspective, which can be valuable in an increasingly interconnected world. It is also a great way to challenge yourself! Living in a foreign country challenges you to adapt and become more independent. You'll learn to navigate unfamiliar situations, solve problems, and develop self-reliance, all of which contribute to personal growth and maturity.

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Read More: Why Study Abroad? Top 7 Benefits of Studying Abroad

The CIEE abroad program offers unique courses and educational opportunities that you may not find at your home institution. This deepened my knowledge in my field of study and allowed me to explore new subjects while also immersing myself in a different culture. My major at ASU is communication and being able to study courses for my major in a different country was so fascinating and I felt I learned topics in a new light. If you're studying in a country where a different language is spoken, like I was, you'll have the chance to improve your language skills significantly through immersion. Being bilingual or multilingual is a valuable asset in today's job market. While living in Rome CIEE offered a FREE Italian class that met a couple times a week. I took advantage of this free class and now I know some Italian! 

Studying abroad leads to lifelong friendships and even romantic relationships. The connections you make during your time abroad can be incredibly meaningful and enduring. While attending CIEE I met so many people all over the world. I also met so many friends from my home institution that I would’ve never had the opportunity to meet if I didn’t chose this program! Studying abroad has helped me to make so many great connections and it forces you to really put yourself out there in ways you aren’t used to. Building a global network of friends and professional contacts can open doors to future opportunities. You'll meet people from diverse backgrounds who can offer unique insights and perspectives.

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Lastly, what better way to travel the world than to live in a country outside of the United States! Being in a foreign country allows you to explore neighboring regions and countries more easily. Take advantage of weekends and breaks to travel and see new places. While living in Italy there wasn’t a single weekend I didn’t take full advantage of living abroad and being able to travel for much cheaper. I have visited over 7 countries in my semester here and it has made me realize how much I LOVE to travel!!

To make the most of your study abroad experience, immerse yourself in the local culture, engage with the community, participate in extracurricular activities, and maintain a sense of curiosity and open-mindedness. Be sure to plan your finances carefully, stay organized with your coursework, and keep in touch with your loved ones back home. Ultimately, studying abroad is an investment in yourself and your future, offering a unique opportunity for personal and academic growth that you'll carry with you throughout your life.

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Grab a snack and your favorite beverage and get ready to settle in, as you’re about to read some truly inspiring travel stories about life-changing trips.

In this roundup, some of my favorite bloggers share their best travel stories.

You’ll hear about travelers embarking on sacred pilgrimages, growing after a first solo female travel trip, deeply connecting with locals on the road, and getting out of their comfort zones in ways that completely alter the course of their life.

And if you’re looking for a unique travel experience, you’ll likely find it in the short stories about travel below.

Table of Contents

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On that note, let’s dive into the inspiring travel stories .

1. Travel Experience Stories In South America

My travel story takes place in South America, back when I used to travel solo for months at a time.

I was in my mid-20s, and even though I’d backpacked Europe, Southeast Asia, and China and had studied abroad in Australia, the mix of intense excitement and nerves I had leading up to my South America backpacking trip was different.

And despite family and friends warning me that South America wasn’t a place for a solo female traveler , it ended up being my best trip ever.

There are so many interesting short travel stories and unforgettable travel experiences woven into this trip, like:

  • Getting invited to have dinner with my Brazilian plane seatmate and her grandma
  • Having a group of complete strangers on Couchsurfing take me out for dinner and dancing on my birthday in Mendoza
  • Attending a small house party in Argentina and learning about the tradition of mate
  • Getting stuck on a broken-down bus and having an impromptu language exchange with an elderly woman in Peru
  • Having a love interest back home break up with me via text, and then experiencing the kindness of strangers as a woman in my hostel who I barely knew treated me to ice cream to cheer me up
  • Having a romance with a hostel mate in Ecuador and then traveling through the country together
  • Living in a giant treehouse with a group of strangers during a solo trip in Brazil and spending our days exploring hiking trails and swimming and our nights drinking and exchanging stories about traveling
  • Taking a 4×4 from Chile to Bolivia across the Siloli Desert to see otherwordly sites like rainbow lagoons and train graveyards in the middle of nowhere
  • Experiencing some of the world’s most incredible natural wonders, like Iguazu Falls, Torres del Paine, the Amazon River, Uyuni Salt Flats, and Perito Moreno Glacier

At times the trip was also challenging, from dealing with long bus rides and car sickness to flipping over my bicycle handlebars in Peru and getting my body (and ego) badly bruised.

But, I was okay.

In fact, I was more than okay, as the trip showed me how independent I could be and what I was truly capable of. It also showed me the beauty of immersing yourself in cultures different than your own and connecting with locals who want to share them with you.

Years later, when people ask what my best travel experience has been this is the trip that comes to mind.

-Jessie from Jessie on a Journey

A travel experience story about Brunei

2. Traveling With An Open Mind

Many people think of travel as an experience and rightly so. Sometimes, however, you cannot choose the places you travel to.

This happened to me in 2019.

My husband found himself posted in Brunei for work.

Three months pregnant meant that I had a choice:

Either stay with him in Brunei for three months before returning back to India or remain in India, alone.

I chose the former. Not because of my love for the country but because I wanted to be close to him.

Brunei had never held any appeal to me. Whatever research that I pulled off the Internet showed me nothing other than one beautiful mosque.

The flights in and out of the country were expensive so traveling frequently out was not an option either.

I was engulfed by a sense of being trapped in a remote place.

Needless to say, I reached Brunei in a pretty foul mood. I think one of the things that struck me the most even in the midst of that bad mood was the large swaths of greenery that surrounded us.

Mind you, we were not staying in the big city but as far away on the outskirts as you could imagine. I’m not a city girl by any stretch and the greenery eventually soothed my nerves.

It took a week, but I soon found myself interacting with people around me. Fellow expats and locals all went out of their way to make me feel comfortable.

The more comfortable I felt, the more we explored. We trekked (yes, while pregnant!), we joined the board game community, and we enjoyed the local cuisine.

Three months later when it was time to leave, I found myself reluctant to say goodbye to the warmth of the country I had called home for a short while.

I think that my time in Brunei taught me a valuable lesson:

Don’t judge a place by what others say or a lack of information.

Sure, you may not always like what you see, but there will always be something that you will like. You just need to look hard enough to find it!

-Penny from GlobeTrove

A slow travel experience across the Portuguese Camino de Santiago

3. From Half-Day Hiker To Walking Holiday Enthusiast

I’ve always enjoyed walking but never in a million years did I imagine I’d end up walking over 200 kilometers (~124 miles) in 10 days, become a fan of walking holidays, and end up developing self-guided hiking routes in Portugal with a local tour operator as part of my business.

The shift from being someone who was content with an easy three-hour walk to an experienced multi-day hiker began with a brief taste of the Portuguese Camino de Santiago, an ancient pilgrim trail through Portugal to Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in Spain.

Back in 2013 I did a guided one-day hike along one of the most beautiful stretches of the Camino, north of Ponte de Lima. It’s also one of the most challenging sections so it was hard work, but the views from the top of Labruja Mountain made the climb worthwhile.

My guides were so enthusiastic about the thrill of arriving at Santiago de Compostela Cathedral after the challenges of day after day on the Camino that I began to think I might want to give it a go, despite not being religious.

Fast forward a few years and I set off from Barcelos with a friend of mine to follow the Portuguese Camino de Santiago.

Apart from suffering from chronic back pain, I thought I was quite fit but nothing had prepared me for how utterly exhausted I would feel at the end of each walking day.

This was truly a slow travel experience, as we were averaging about 20 kilometers (~12 miles) per day and by the time we reached our hotel, I would barely have enough energy to get cleaned up and find food before collapsing. I had envisioned plenty of sightseeing but that ended up being minimal.

Quickly, I realized the moral of this unique travel experience:

The Camino was all about making the most of the journey rather than the destination.

For me, that was quite a shift in thinking as I am usually all about getting to where I want to be as soon as possible so that I can start exploring. It was, perhaps, also my first step on the path towards mindfulness.

I will never forget the sense of achievement and progress at the end of each walking day, and the relief and pride I felt when we finally made it to Santiago de Compostela.

We met people who had walked the Camino several times and I can totally understand how it can become addictive. 

-Julie from Julie Dawn Fox in Portugal

A story about traveling the Banda Islands

4. A Story About Traveling & Its Ripple Effect

Tucked away in far eastern Indonesia is a tiny archipelago of islands called the Banda Islands.

Apart from world-class snorkeling and some crumbling colonial buildings, the Banda Islands are mostly forgotten and would be described as a backwater by all accounts.

However, the Banda Islands are possibly the main reason that I am who I am today. 

Well, the Bandas are the original Spice Islands.

Nutmeg used to grow on this tiny group of islands alone and nowhere else. The Dutch colonized Indonesia and promptly became the owners of islands where money grew on trees.

The only problem was that Indonesia was so far away that they needed a halfway stop to and from Indonesia.

That’s where my travel experience story comes in.

The same Dutch East India Company that traded in spice set up a halfway station at the foot of Table Mountain to break up their long journey. As a result, my Dutch ancestors arrived in the southernmost point in Africa , and generations later we are still there.

When I visited the Banda Islands, it dawned on me how something happening on the other side of the world can ripple out and affect people on the other side of the planet.

And I’m not the only one!

The spice trade was so important to the Dutch that they even traded a tiny island in the Banda archipelago for a much bigger island…Manhattan.

Yes. That Manhattan.

Before visiting the Banda Islands I never really knew about this part of my history.

Along with the spice that the ships carried back to Amsterdam, it also carried slaves. These slaves, more often than not, ended up in Cape Town.

Just like my European ancestors, they too became a part of Africa and added another shade to our beautiful Rainbow Nation.

It was in the Banda Islands that I realized how much of my culture, food, stories and even words in my mother tongue, Afrikaans, actually originated in Indonesia.

Because of these tiny islands, I am a true mix of Europe, Africa, and Asia. While I always thought I knew how all things in life are somehow connected, I didn’t really grasp it until my visit to Indonesia.

This could have been a resort travel experience story, as I went to Indonesia to swim and snorkel and relax on the world’s best beaches. And while I did get to do that, I also learned a lot about who I am as a person, my people, and my country…on another continent. 

My visit to the Bandas has sparked a fascination with Indonesia, which I have visited seven times since. I’m already planning another trip to this spectacular country!

-De Wet from Museum of Wander

The best trip ever in Costa Rica

5. Awakening My Spirit In A Costa Rican Cloud Forest

In February 2017, I was just coming out of a decade of mysterious chronic illness that had shrunk my world.

And one of the things that finally helped me to resurface during the previous year was an online Qi Gong course I stumbled upon: 

Flowing Zen .

To the casual observer, Qi Gong looks a lot like its better-known cousin, Tai Chi — the ancient art of moving meditation — but it’s actually energy medicine for healing.

In fact, it’s commonly used in Chinese hospitals.

My daily practice that year made such a difference for me that I dangled a reward for myself:

If I stuck with it all year, then I’d head to Sifu Anthony’s annual retreat in a cloud forest in Costa Rica the following February.

And I did! It was my first trip out of the country for more than a decade.

Just like that, I booked a solo trip — something I hadn’t done since I was an exchange student to Europe 30 years earlier — to San Jose where I met up with a dozen strangers and Sifu Anthony, our Qi Gong master.

We boarded a tiny bus and rode up, up, up around carsick-inducing curvy mountain roads into a magical cloud forest jungle where we finally arrived at The Blue Mountain (“La Montana Azul”) for a weeklong Qi Gong retreat. 

There were no Internet or distractions here — just delicious organic vegetarian meals made with love and shared with the community under a gorgeous open-air palapa.

There were also colorful tropical birds singing in the jungle, as well as the largest arachnid I’ve ever seen in my gorgeous (but also roofless) room for a little extra adventure.

I’d felt a little energy movement during my year of online practice, but during that week on The Blue Mountain, my body began to really buzz with Qi — life force energy — as I Lifted the Sky, stood in Wuji Stance, and practiced Shooting Arrows.

I felt electrified and joyful. 

And that was when everything changed for me.

At home, I had a successful career as a freelance writer, but I decided during my week in the cloud forest that I wanted more from life.

I wanted to explore the beauty, diversity, nature, and culture in every corner of the world.

And I wanted to share this intoxicating joyful feeling of life-giving freedom and adventure with anyone who wanted to come along for the ride.

Shortly after that, at age 53, I launched my travel blog.

Dreams really do come true. They are just waiting for you to claim them.

-Chris from Explore Now or Never

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6. From Rome With Love

This wasn’t the way I wanted to see Rome. 

Sure, I was happy to spend Christmas in Rome and stand in awe of the city’s many iconic attractions. But, life wasn’t meant to turn out like this.

I was supposed to go to Rome with my mom back in 2012; however, life had different plans, because a week before our trip, I got a double kidney infection. A condition that required a week of hospitalization.

Although I was annoyed I had missed my trip, it wasn’t the end of the world since I was fine and everything seemed okay…until my mom developed a cough.

A cough that later became a heartbreaking diagnosis of stage four ovarian cancer. 

My mom spent the final months of her life in chemo, desperately trying to fight a horrific disease so that she wouldn’t let her family down.

And she didn’t.

Instead, she showed us how to never give up on life, even if it was a losing battle. 

So, when she eventually passed away, I booked a trip to Rome. 

Sure, it wasn’t the trip I had hoped for. But, I knew that as her daughter, it was my job to live enough for the both of us. 

And that’s exactly what I did.

Was I an anxious, sad, angry mess of a person?

Absolutely. I was still getting used to a world that my mother wasn’t a part of. 

And honestly, you never get used to that world. You just deal with it because you don’t really have a choice.

But I also knew that I wanted my mom to live on through me and that I didn’t want to live a life where the haunting phrases “should of,” “could of,” and “would have” swirled through my head and ate away at my happiness.

So, I went. I packed a boatload of tissues, sobbed my heart out, and attended Christmas mass at the Vatican. 

I also threw a coin in the Trevi Fountain, walked through the Colosseum, chowed down on gelato, and spent two weeks doing all the things my mom and I had wanted to do. 

And that’s when it hit me. I had never gone to Rome alone because my mom had always been there with me. Maybe she wasn’t physically there, but I thought of her and felt her presence every minute of every day. 

Her presence also reminded me that life isn’t about the things we buy or the money that we have.

It’s about making memories with the people we love; people that never really leave us since they are constantly influencing our lives in countless ways.

And after my trip to Rome, I finally knew that my mom would always be there because she had forever changed my life in the best possible way. 

-Kelly from Girl with the Passport

inspiring travel stories in Finland

7. Studying In Finland

One of my major life-turning points happened during my exchange studies in Finland.

Until then, I was studying at a university in Prague, had a part-time job at a renowned management-consulting firm, and thought I was on the right path in life.

At the University of Economics where I studied it was notoriously difficult to get on an Erasmus exchange trip abroad since the demand was huge. Everyone wanted to go!

Regardless, I decided to sign up early for my last semester, just to see what the process was like to be better prepared for applying again in a year.

I did make it through all the three rounds and surprisingly got a spot at a University in Turku, Finland! I was ecstatic. The success brought its own challenges, but once you set your eyes on the goal, nothing can stop you.

And I had the time of my life in Finland.

I met the most amazing people, traveled a ton, partied a lot, and bonded with friends from all over the world.

Given I was one of the few people there who really needed to pass all her courses and additionally write her thesis, I managed to run on an impossible sleep schedule of four hours per night. But I made it!

My studies in Finland opened up my horizons, too.

The summer after, I wrapped up my life in Prague and went on to study in Germany and China . The whole time I traveled as much as possible, often going on solo adventures. It was only a matter of time when I’d start my own travel blog.

My Finland adventure led me to a life of freedom made up of remote work, travel blogging , and plenty of traveling. I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome. And it gave me one of my favorite true adventure stories that I can now share with others.

-Veronika from Travel Geekery

Travel experience stories in Cuba

8. How Cuba Changed My Life

One of my favorite inspiring stories about travel takes place in Cuba.

I visited Cuba in February 2013 and it changed my life — and I like to think it did so for the better.

Interestingly, I expected a completely different country and was compelled to write about it when I got back home.

But let me tell you more.

I read copious amounts of blogs and travel diaries to prepare myself for the trip to Cuba so I thought I’d go in with a fairly good idea of what to expect. Each and every post I read spoke of marvelous landscapes, pristine beaches, crumbling but charming cities, and welcoming locals.

All of it was true, in my experience — except for the locals.

I didn’t find them so welcoming. At least, not genuinely so. They only seemed to welcome me as far as they could get something in exchange: money, clothes, pens, soap, you name it. 

Each and every day in Cuba was a challenge to avoid the scams, to avoid being ripped off, to fight off each and every attempt of people trying to take advantage of me. I usually managed, but it was exhausting and it left a sour taste in my mouth.

Once I got back home I felt the urge to write about my experience — not for other sites or papers as I’d often do. This time I was afraid I’d be censored.

So I opened my own blog. With zero tech knowledge, zero understanding of online content creation and SEO, I started writing and telling people what they should really expect during a trip to Cuba.

I’d put up the occasional post, but continued with my usual job.

At the end of the year, my contract as a researcher in international human rights law at the local university ended, and I decided to stop pursuing that career for a while.

I packed my bags and left for a long-term trip to Central and South America . I started writing on the blog more consistently and learning, and eventually took my blog full-time , turning it into a career.

As of today, I have never looked back and have no regrets.

The one thing I’ll do, as soon as I can, is travel to Cuba to say thank you — because it changed my life in a way nothing else has ever done. 

-Claudia from Strictly Sardinia

inspiring travel stories in Patagonia

9. A Short Travel Story About Finding Inner Peace In Patagonia

Life in London is hard.

Life in London as a gay single brown refugee is harder.

Juggling between work, my passion for traveling, and the prejudices that I dealt with on a daily basis eventually took their toll on me and I reached a breaking point.

The fact that I couldn’t return home to see my family and being away for them for almost nine years was enough to hammer in the final nail in the coffin.

I almost had a nervous breakdown and in that moment of desperation, which I knew would define the rest of my life, I took a month off and headed to Patagonia.

It was probably the best decision I’ve ever made in my life. The 36 hours it took me to get to El Chalten from London were tiring but Patagonia blew me away.

On my first day there I did a 28-kilometer (17-mile) hike which included a steep mountain climb. It was incredible how moving through the forest helped me clear my mind. And as I stood in front of Laguna de Los Tres, the rain and clouds gave way to sunshine and a rainbow.

I felt at peace.

The countless hikes, great food, and the warmth of locals in Chile and Argentina helped me get back in my skin and find the peace I was missing in my heart.

Nature is indeed the best medicine when it comes to stress relief and I won’t be coy about hugging trees to speed up the process (it did).

Patagonia was life-changing for me.

The beauty of nature struck me at each point and every time I thought it wasn’t possible to beat the view, the next one did just that.

I came back a changed, resilient, and most importantly, a happy person.

-Ucman from BrownBoyTravels

A unique travel experience in Colorado

10. Looking Inwards & Making Connections With Strangers

It was decades before I traveled solo for the first time in my life.

This trip — a six-day escape to Colorado — was the first trip that was not for business or family reasons but just to travel and discover.

As I prepared for it, I had a strange feeling of excitement and nerves at the same time. I had all sorts of thoughts and doubts:

Would it be fun?

Would I be bored?

Would I stay in bed all day or would I bounce with excitement to do the next thing?

I wasn’t sure. Little did I know that it was going to be a memorable journey of self-discovery. 

As a good wife and mom, for me travel is always about the family; always thinking of who would enjoy what. It’s about family time and bonding. It’s about creating memories and travel stories together. It’s all so wonderful.

But on a solo trip who would I connect with? What would I say?

Well, I found that I got to do anything I wanted!

Usually when I travel with my family, if I feel like going on a drive that’s not on the itinerary or getting a snack no one else is interested in, we simply don’t do that.

So it was weird to just go do it. Really, that’s a thing?

As for making connections, it was so easy to meet locals while traveling and also to connect with other travelers. Honestly, I had conversations everywhere — on planes, while hiking, in restaurants, in the hotel lobby.

It was quite an eye-opening experience to meet a mom of 18 kids and hundreds of foster kids, a cookie baker, a professional photographer, a family of Fourteener hikers, and an internationally ranked marathon runner.

The inspiring stories I discovered were amazing and nothing like my wonderful safe life at home. 

In terms of travel safety , I got to go rock climbing, solo hiking, driving up a Fourteener, eating alone.

And it was all fine. Actually, it felt surprisingly normal.

It was was just me, my SUV, and my backpack for a week. Most of all, it was a breath of fresh air that I didn’t know existed. 

It’s wonderful to be back home and know that possibilities are endless and there is so much more out there to explore and be wowed by!

-Jyoti from Story At Every Corner

life-changing travel experience stories in Colombia

11. A Solo Hike To Find Connection

I have traveled solo many times, but I admit I was a bit uneasy booking my trip to Colombia . In part, due to the country’s dark past. But also because I desperately wanted to do the Cocora Valley hike, and if I’m honest, I was terrified.

This hike is located in the Coffee Triangle, an area recognized for its beauty as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It features both rainforest and a stunning green valley speckled with cartoonishly-tall wax palms rising 200 feet or more.

It’s incredibly beautiful.

It’s also a long hike and quite challenging — it generally takes between six and eight hours and there is a steep area with over 3,000 feet of elevation within a quarter of a mile.

I wasn’t in hiking shape, so I was a little concerned. But, worst of all for me were the seven dodgy-looking suspension bridges. 

I’m terrified of heights.

And, I’d be going alone.

I decided to go anyway and I met an incredible woman on the bus to Salento, the town near Cocora. She was also traveling solo and we agreed to hike together.

The town is a backpacker enclave and we met up with a small group of people all traveling solo. As the days passed, our group got larger and it was such a magical experience.

As much as I love city travel, this small town won my heart.

My new friend and I set off on the hike and met two other women who were nervous to do the hike. We all went together.

When we got to the first suspension bridge, I paused. I was embarrassed to admit my fear, but the bridge swayed widely and there was nowhere to hold onto.

When they realized how out of my comfort zone I was and how scared I felt, everything changed. Instead of me dealing with it alone, they were all there to encourage me.

One crossed the bridge to encourage me from the other side and they stayed off of it to limit the sway. Crazy enough, I not only crossed the seven suspension bridges, but I also crossed one an extra time when we went the wrong way on the trail.

I did it! 

I was prepared to be blown away by Cocora Valley’s beauty, but what I wasn’t expecting was what a life-changing travel experience my time there would be.

 -Sam from My Flying Leap

short stories on travel and sustainability

12. How A Pet Sitting Travel Experience Led To A Passionate Career

We wanted to go to the Caribbean but didn’t know much about the islands or how we were going to afford it.

By chance, a friend of ours in Australia mentioned “pet sitting” and that it is something you can do all over the world.

We quickly created an account on a pet sitting website and began searching for options. There were only a couple of sits available in that part of the world, but we tried our luck, sent a request, and to our surprise landed a three-month gig in a beautiful house in the US Virgin Islands — with an infinity pool overlooking the British Virgin Islands.

A month into our sit, we had explored the destination pretty well and so had a lot of time on our hands. We managed to secure another sit in Grenada, so our year was going to be taken up with Caribbean pet sits.

Inspired by a Canadian couple that had previously stayed at our Grenada housesit, we decided to start our own travel blog. We began by writing about The Virgin Islands, highlighting the beautiful beaches and funky bars.

But for every photo of a beautiful beach there were 10 photos of trash.     

It was hard to ignore the plastic pollution issue, especially on such pristine and remote beaches.  So, we began to share photos of the trash we saw and how much we could pick up on our daily dog walks.

The more we looked into plastic pollution, the more we realized the severity of the global plastic pandemic. From that point, we used our platform to create awareness and highlight ways to say no to plastic and travel plastic-free .

We changed our daily routines, our way of living, and even our diets to accommodate more organic foods and little to no plastic packaging.

It’s been over three years now and we continue to do what we can. This journey has led us to some amazing places, working with great conscious brands and even organizing a country-wide beach clean-up campaign in Grenada.

Our aim now is to keep on going.

We love connecting with like-minded people and love the shift over the last few years that brands have made towards creating more sustainable products and services.

It’s been an amazing few years that was sparked by a conversation about pet sitting. Who would have guessed?

-Aaron & Vivien from The Dharma Trails

travel for experience in Uganda

13. Learning To Slow Down The Hard Way

On Christmas of 2017, I was born again.

We like to spend our Christmas holidays somewhere warm abroad, and that year we chose Uganda.

Nature, wildlife, and sunny days were a blessing when it was so cold and dark in Europe. Life was beautiful, and we had a rental car and a busy schedule ahead to explore the country.

This is where this short travel story turns into one of my more scary travel experiences :

At Murchinson Falls National Park, we had a car accident.

I lost control of the car, and it rolled over, destroying windows, chassis, and engine.

But we were alive! My right arm was severely injured, but we managed to walk to our lodge, not far inside the park.

In the lodge, I was happy to learn that there was a pretty decent American hospital in Masindi that was just a one-hour drive from the lodge. Moreover, one of the lodge’s guests was a nurse who cleaned the wound while we were waiting for the taxi from/to Masindi.

The hospital took care of us, and after a couple of injections and stitches, I was ready to head to our new hotel in Masindi; however, my wound required daily dressing and more injections, so we were asked to stay in town for a few days.   

Masindi is the kind of place where you may want to stop to buy some food or water, but that’s it.

The town’s highlights were the market and our daily visit to the hospital, so we ended up looking for the small things, chatting with the medical staff, the hotel staff, the people in the market, and learning more about their customs.

We learned to slow down the hard way.

When we were allowed to leave, we took a road trip south through the country to see something else. We did not care about our travel bucket list anymore — we were alive, and we wanted to enjoy Uganda’s unique nature and its people. 

In the end, our Uganda trip was not about the places that we saw, but the people that we met. It was travel for experience vs sightseeing.

I hope to revisit Uganda one day, with a stop at Masindi for some food, water, and maybe something else.

-Elisa from World in Paris

short travel stories about cycling

14. A Cycling Trip To Remember

During the summer of 2019, I cycled solo from London to Istanbul. This huge bicycle tour took me 89 days and through 11 countries.

As you might expect, it was a challenging yet incredible journey, which saw me pedal along some of Europe’s greatest rivers, pass through some of its best cities, and witness some of its most beautiful scenery.

It’s becoming more and more important for us to think about the impact that travel can have on our environment. This was the inspiration for my bicycle tour; I wanted to find more responsible ways to explore the world and avoid flights where possible.

I discovered that bicycle touring is one of the most eco-friendly ways to travel, as using nothing but a bicycle and your own pedal power you can carry everything you need while covering surprising distances each day.

The simplicity of life and the sheer amount of time I spent cycling alone gave me a lot of time to just think . This really helped me to come to terms with some personal problems rooted in my past and, as a result, I arrived solo in Istanbul with newly found confidence, independence, and liberation. 

Cycling across the entire European continent may seem like an impossibly daunting task, but I assure you, it will make you feel like a new person, just like it did for me.

-Lauren from The Planet Edit

Best travel experience in Jamaica

15. How The Caribbean Shaped Me Into A Fully Sustainable Traveler

One of my first international trips as an adult was traveling around the Caribbean .

I checked into my hotel in Jamaica and asked for a recommendation for a local place to eat. The receptionist told me that under no circumstances should I should go into the town because it was really dangerous, but that — to my luck — the hotel’s restaurant offered wonderful Caribbean food.

I pondered my options:

Did I really want to spend all my time on the beach without getting to know a single local?

I was a very inexperienced traveler and very young, but there was only one answer to my question:

Absolutely not. I was not going to be visiting a new place and staying hostage in a hotel chain. So out I went.

The poverty hit me in the face. After only seeing fancy resorts, the reality was hard to swallow.

A few locals approached me and were super curious as to what I was doing there alone, since most tourists didn’t go there.

I told them I was interested in meeting them and experiencing their culture. And just like that, I was embraced.

We met more people, had some food, and then we danced the night away. They had so little, yet they wanted to share it with me. They wanted to make me feel welcome.

And they undeniably did.

The next morning all I could think about was how all the money most tourists spend goes to big corporations. The locals have to be thankful if they get a job that pays minimum wage, while foreign businesses earn millions.

I have always been environmentally conscious, but this trip made it clear that sustainability goes well beyond nature and wildlife.

It’s also about communities.

From then on I always look for locally owned accommodation, eateries, guides, and souvenirs.

Sustainability, with everything it entails, became a motto for me and changed the very essence of the way I travel.

-Coni from  Experiencing the Globe

Short stories about travel in Peru

16. Lessons From My Students In Peru

One of the most life-changing trips I’ve ever been on was a volunteering experience in the stunning city of Cuzco in Peru.

I spent a month there teaching English and Italian to a group of local adults. And even though my time there was short, the travel experience was so humbling that it changed my outlook on life.

My lessons took the form of active conversations, which essentially turned into a massive multilingual cultural exchange between me and my students. Hearing my students talk about their lives — and realizing just how different they were from mine — made me look at my own life with a fresh new perspective.

One person spoke about the three years he spent living in a jungle with his dad, where they fed off of animals they hunted in order to survive.

Another student told me about her ultimate dream of mastering English so that she could become a tour guide and have a more stable future.

For me, these stories were a reminder of just how small I am in this world and how much we can get consumed by the small bubbles we live in. 

Most of all, my students showed a passion and appreciation for life that I’d never witnessed before.

This is true for the locals I met in Cuzco in general. The quality of life in Cuzco is very modest; hot water is scarce and you learn to live with little.

But the locals there do way more than just that — they spontaneously parade the streets with trumpets and drums just because they’re feeling happy, and their energy for the simple things in life is incredibly contagious.

It was impossible to not feel inspired in Cuzco because my students always had the biggest smiles on their faces, and the locals showed me again and again that simply being alive is a blessing.

I went to Peru to teach, but ended up learning more from my students and the locals there than they did from me.

Ever since I got back from that trip, I made it a goal to slow down and not take the simple things in life for granted.

Every time I get upset about something, I think about the Peruvians in Cuzco parading their streets in song and pure joy, and I tell myself to stop complaining.

-Jiayi from  The Diary of a Nomad

inspiring traveling stories about overcoming obstacles

17. Braving Travel With Chronic Pain

Santiago de Compostela is a beautiful city with a prominent cathedral positioned centrally within the city.

While the historical cathedral attracts numerous visitors, even more well-known is the route to Santiago de Compostela, Camino de Santiago –- the world-famous pilgrimage route that has a plethora of trailheads and ends in Santiago. 

Home to locals, students, English teachers, and those on a spiritual pilgrimage, personal conquest, or a great outdoor hiking excursion, Santiago is a magical city.

My introduction to Santiago de Compostela doesn’t begin on the pilgrimage route, yet ends with a spiritual awakening analogous with those other unique pilgrimage stories.

It was my first solo trip abroad teaching English in Spain, a country that’s always been on my travel bucket list. A small town outside of Santiago was selected as the school I’d be teaching at for the year.

Unknowingly, this teach abroad program chose the perfect city for me to live in. 

A year prior, I suffered a traumatic brain injury that left me unable to function normally and complete average tasks. Migraines, headaches, and dizziness became my body’s normal temperament, a hidden disability invisible to the naked eye. 

Braving travel with chronic pain was the first lesson I learned during the trip.

The vast green outdoors and fresh dew from the morning rain enlivened me daily and reminded me about the importance of slowing down so I could enjoy traveling with my hidden disability. 

I also learned to stop often for daily tea breaks and to embrace the long lunch hour,  siestas , with good food, company, and a nap to rest.

Meeting locals , indulging in local food, and learning Spanish allowed me to connect deeply with the beautiful culture of Santiago. After all, my dream was to travel to Spain, and I more than accomplished that dream.

Difficult or not, I learned to own my dream and I was more than surprised with the results.

Who knew that a year after my injury I’d be traveling the world with chronic pain, and for that, I’m eternally grateful.

-Ciara from Wellness Travel Diaries

travel experience stories in China

18. A Blessing In Disguise

2020 has been a wild year for all of us and foreign students in China are no exception. As soon as the malevolent virus began to make its rounds in China, our university sent us home for “two weeks.”

However, within a short time, countries began to shut their borders and these “two weeks” turned into months, a full year even.

Crushed by the burden of online lectures and virtual labs, my boyfriend and I packed our bags and caught one of the first flights to his home country of Pakistan.

I had always been an over-ambitious traveler. I believed numbers were everything — the number of countries I visited, the number of hours I spent on a plane, the number of international trips I took in a year. These numbers were what defined me.

My feet were constantly itching and I never liked to spend more than a few days in a place before heading to the next country. Revisiting a place felt superfluous to me.

That’s why I was hoping to spend a month or two in Pakistan and then continue to check new countries off the list — after all, my online classes finally granted me the freedom to “work on my numbers.”

But as is usually the case in 2020, things turned out quite different from what I had expected. Borders remained closed and worldwide infections stayed rampant. At this point, I have already spent nearly half a year in Pakistan.

During this peculiar time, however, an amazing thing happened:

My mindset about travel started to change and I began to look at my long stay in Pakistan as perhaps my most valuable travel experience ever.

I may not have visited dozens of countries like in previous years but my experiences were deeper than ever before.

From trekking to one of the world’s tallest mountains to sharing tea with heavily armed officers at nearly 5,000 meters altitude to exploring hidden beaches in the most secluded regions to spontaneously being invited to village homes, my adventures in Pakistan couldn’t have been more incredible. They opened my eyes to the sheer diversity of many countries and completely transformed my idea about traveling. 

It took me nearly a full year of heavy restrictions on international travel and a few months in one of the world’s most fascinating countries to give up on my superficial ideals and become a more mature traveler.

This time will always have a special place in my heart.

-Arabela from The Spicy Travel Girl

short travel stories about life-changing trips

19. What The River Taught Me

My travel story takes place in the summer of 2017 — the final summer before I graduated university — as it continues to play a significant role in the person I’ve become.

When I say that, people ask me if it was the portion of the summer I spent solo backpacking in Europe . And to their surprise, it wasn’t. It was actually the latter portion of the summer where I stayed closer to home.

For July and August I worked as a canoe guide leading whitewater canoe trips on remote rivers in Canada. It was here that I got to canoe the powerful and iconic Missinaibi River, a river that continues to influence me all these years later.

The Missinaibi River flows from the powerful Lake Superior to the even more powerful salty waters of James Bay. Here, I led a group of eight teenagers through dozens of whitewater rapids over 500 kilometers (~311 miles).

With no cell service for 25 days, we were forced to disconnect from anything other than the river.

During this trip I learned two important lessons:

First, I learned to be confident in my own abilities as a leader and problem solver.

There were a few rapids where my campers’ boats flipped and I had to rescue the campers and the canoes. One rescue saw two boats flip on a mile-long rapid. It took six hours to make it down the rapid, and during this time I managed stuck canoes and crying campers.

And while this was one of the most difficult rescues I’ve done, I was amazed at how calm I was throughout it. I gave clear directions, prioritized effectively, and kept my campers safe throughout the entire experience. Following the rescue, I had a newfound sense of confidence in my abilities.

The second lesson I learned on the Missinaibi was the power of disconnecting from society and connecting with the people around you.

A wild river commands all of your attention. Each day, you and your group must take down camp, load canoes, paddle up to eight hours while navigating both rapids and portages, get to a new campsite, set up camp, cook dinner, and go to bed.

And without the distraction of technology, your attention has nowhere else to be. You focus on the river and your teammates.

As someone who had wrestled with anxiety and depression prior to this summer, I felt at total ease on the trip. Now I seek societal disconnection and human connection as much as I can. 

Sometimes the most profound, life-altering trips are the least expected trips closer to home.

-Mikaela of  Voyageur Tripper

More Short Travel Experience Stories

25 Crazy Travel Stories You Need To Read To Believe

23 Inspiring Travel Stories Sharing The Kindness Of Strangers

17 True Short Adventure Travel Stories To Inspire Your Next Trip

38 Inspiring Travel Love Stories From The Road

16 Short Funny Travel Stories That Will Make You Laugh

20 Embarrassing Travel Stories That Will Make You Laugh & Blush

21 Travel Horror Stories About Scary Travel Experiences

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These stories are so much fun to read! Thanks so much for putting a post like this together. It’s great to be able to check out other people’s blogs and read about other people’s experiences!

Always great to read about travel experiences of others. Some great stories to read over coffee. I’ve Pinned your post for future reference and to share with others. Will check out each story author’s blog as well. Great Job! 🙂

Amazing story for new traveler like me thanks for your contribution

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my trip to rome essay

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My trip to Rome – A2 English Reading Test

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For each question, choose the correct answer..

My trip to Rome

I had a great time in Rome with my family. It was my first holiday outside my own country and I couldn’t wait to go. I found out all I could about Rome from the library and on the internet. Knowing about the history made seeing all the old buildings, like the Colosseum, much more interesting. We were able to do lots of sightseeing because the taxis and buses and the metro were cheap and fast.

It was really hot when I arrived at Rome airport with my parents last summer. I love walking around famous places like the Trevi Fountain, but all the cars and buses in the city sometimes made walking difficult. I really loved the food. The Italians have a special kind of ice cream called ‘gelato’ which is wonderful, but the best thing I had was a pizza at a local market. I also got some great things to take back for my friends.

It was so hot when my dad and I went to Rome last year that we usually waited until after the sun went down to explore the city on foot. During the day we went to museums, shops and restaurants. The pasta there is amazing, and I had some Italian ice cream, called ‘gelato’, for the first time. That was the thing I liked most. After a few days in Rome, we decided to take a train into the countryside for a day. It was nice to see all the small villages and farms.

1     Who says it was easy to travel around in Rome?

      A Rhodri     B Patrick     C Josh

2     Who says he felt very excited before his holiday?

3     Who says there was a lot of traffic in Rome?

4     Who says he prepared carefully for his trip?

5     Who said his favourite food on the trip was Italian ice cream?

6     Who bought some things to give as gifts?

7     Who took a short trip outside Rome?

1 A   2 A   3 B   4 A   5 C   6 B   7 C

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my trip to rome essay

8 replies to this topic

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Does he speak Italian? Not all younger Italians speak English but some do and some speak a little, others very well.

He can meet locals pretty much anywhere and bars are not just for foreign students in the area of the university, it is a very very lively area with lots of cafes, bars, etc

There are clubs - he could check http://www.romeing.it to see what's on at night, etc - it is not for tourists but for everyone.

my trip to rome essay

Will the College not honor a request to house American students with students of other nationalities? I find that the apparent procedure of segregating students by nationality to be incredibly myopic and counter-productive.

It's odd because it claims to have students from 80 different countries

He's going to be meet people - how many locals he meets will be up to how he chooses to spend his time

my trip to rome essay

Perhaps he can look for some volunteer opportunities, such as the excellent Retake Roma, which does clean up projects throughout the city: https://www.romeing.it/volunteering-in-rome/

And, as suggested here, maybe join a local gym, or find a casual sports league: https://www.romeing.it/how-to-make-italian-friends-as-an-expat-in-rome/

I am sure, if this is what he is actually interested in, he can find some ways to reach out and meet locals.

Is he asking for new friends? If not you won't be able to force him.

When I was much, much younger I did a study abroad in Spain. (I was already almost bilingual before I did this, however, and I had studied in Latin America when I was in high school, and I was very well traveled). We were housed with Spanish families, who spoke little to no English, so we had to speak in Spanish. All our classes were taught by Spanish professors--all our papers had to be written in Spanish. Our textbooks were in Spanish, and we had an intense course on high level Spanish grammar.

Okay, I did not really want to hang out all the time with the other Americans anyway--many of them were not the most serious students.

What did I do? I got a part-time job teaching English to Spanish children in an after-school program. I became an unpaid tutor for Spanish university students who wanted to practice English (and French). I went to Spanish discos and made friends with Spanish girls. I joined a local group that took weekend tours of the surrounding area. I dated a few Spanish guys. I went to church. I also traveled by myself all over the country by train during school holidays, so I had to learn everything on my own, and talk to locals everywhere.

This was in the days where international phone calls were only made by dropping lots of coins into a slot, or going to a phone operator bank, and letters took a few weeks to go back and forth.

I will say that if a young American has not had a lot of international experience, he/she may be a bit overwhelmed. Some Americans become very homesick. Some suffer from culture shock. Some never get out of the "tourist" mindset. Finally, some feel more comfortable in groups.

I agree that going to a gym or taking up a sport or other activity is a way to expand horizons.Perhaps getting involved with a soccer team, or taking lessons is another way to connect with locals.

The possibilities are endless! Best wishes!

Here are some resources for you and your son:

https://www.cmu.edu/studyabroad/tartans-abroad/adjusting/index.html

https://blog.internationalstudent.com/2023/03/09/experiencing-different-culture-studying-abroad/

https://abroad.rice.edu/adjusting-new-culture

Excellent suggestions above for getting out into the community to meet people, because the school likely isn't going to be much help with that.

A long time ago study abroad required speaking a foreign language, but that business model doesn't work for Americans who have very little incentive to learn anything but English.

In order to grow the market, programs developed that require very little of the student that wouldn't be required by their college/university in the States. Imagine if they had to take classes in a foreign language (as foreign students in the US do), how many would pass? How long would Mom and Dad continue to pay for it when no credits are earned? The programs had to adapt in order to attract the numbers they need to survive. Unfortunately, that means the students don't really get a lot of exposure to the culture, certainly nothing close to immersion.

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Pope Francis reflects on his life and mortality in memoir

Friday, 15 Mar 2024

Serena Subania reacts while she hugs Pope Francis after she lost her five-year-old child Angelica, as the Pope leaves Rome's Gemelli hospital in Rome, Italy, April 1, 2023. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis, at 87 increasingly weak and wobbly, takes a trip down memory lane and speaks of his hopes for the Roman Catholic Church's future in a new book reflecting on his life and its intersection with major world events.

"Life - My Story Through History," a memoir written with Italian journalist Fabio Marchese Ragona and published by HarperCollins, goes on sale on March 19, the 11th anniversary of Francis' installation as the first Latin American pope.

While offering little that is new, the 230-page book is a breezy, conversational-style read starting with his childhood in Buenos Aires to today.

It is punctuated by events including World War Two, the Holocaust, the Cold War, the 1969 Moon landing, the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall, the September 11, 2001 attacks and the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI in 2013.

Francis, whose health recently has shown signs of strain with successive bouts of bronchitis, a spate of hospital stays and difficulty walking, repeats that he has no intention of resigning like his predecessor unless "a serious physical impediment were to arise".

He jokes that while some of his conservative critics "may have hoped" he would have announced a resignation after a hospital stay, there is little or no risk of it because "there are many projects to bring to fruition, God willing".

He again defends his recent decision to allow blessings for people in same-sex relationships, reiterating that they are not blessings for the union itself but of individuals "who seek the Lord but are rejected or persecuted".

The Church, he says, does "not have the power to change the sacraments created by the Lord" and that "this (the blessings) does not mean that the Church is in favour of same-sex marriage".

HOPING FOR AN EMBRACING CHURCH

Addressing the controversy about the recent ruling, he says: "I imagine a mother Church that embraces and welcomes everyone, even those who feel they are in the wrong and have been judged by us in the past".

Francis writes that even if some bishops refuse to offer blessings for those in same-sex relationships, as in Africa, "it doesn't mean that this is the antechamber to schism, because the Church's doctrine is not brought into question".

Throughout the book he leans on historical events as backdrops to make appeals relating to current, sometimes similar, situations.

Speaking of World War Two, he writes that still today "Jews continue to be stereotyped and persecuted. This is not Christian; it's not even human. When will we understand that these are our brothers and sisters?"

Reflecting on the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States by Islamists, he writes, "It is blasphemous to use the name of God to justify slaughter, murder, terrorist attack, the persecution of individuals and entire populations - as some still do. Nobody can invoke the name of the Lord to wreak evil."

He dismisses as "fantasy, obviously invented", recent reports by conservative American Catholic media that he would change the rules of conclaves to allow nuns and lay people to enter conclaves to choose future popes.

On the lighter side, he speaks of the controversial "Hand of God" goal by fellow Argentine Diego Maradona at the 1986 World Cup soccer final against Germany, which the referee allowed, presumably because he did not notice Maradona had used his hand.

Years later, when Maradona visited the pope at the Vatican, "I asked him, jokingly, 'So, which is the guilty hand?'" Francis writes.

(Reporting by Philip Pullella; editing by Mark Heinrich)

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    In fact, many of the best restaurants won't open until at least 7:30 p.m. Lunch: 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm. Dinner: 7:30 pm - 11 pm. To avoid eating in an empty restaurant and to really make the most of your evenings in Rome, try and fit in with them and eat a bit later. Around 8 pm is a good time to sit down.

  10. My Trip to Rome

    Okay, well, you may as well know, Roman Holiday is one of my favorite movies (and if you have never seen it, in 1953 it won the oscars for best picture, best director, best screenplay, best actress, best cinematography, best supporting actor-- go rent it. See link at bottom for a complete examination of all the locations). Because of that movie I had always longed to go to Rome and see it ...

  11. Why Visit Rome: Argumentative Essay

    One such place is Rome. In this essay, I will analyze what exactly makes Rome a place worth visiting. Save your time! We can take care of your essay. ... (2018). Experts Talk Threat of Overtourism and Possible Solutions. Travel Weekly, 77(40), 6+. Mosebach, Martin. (2018). ETERNAL ROME. First Things, 281, 1-18. Withycombe, L. (2018). Rome: City ...

  12. How To Spend a Weekend in Rome

    Craft your own tasty Tiramisù to compliment your pasta. Feast on your creations paired with a glass of Italian wine. Greet your chef at the established restaurant in the heart of Rome. Put on your chef hat and your apron, and prepare yourself for an amazing cooking experience.".

  13. First Trip to Rome? Here's Everything You Need to Know

    Staying cool in Rome in the summer. One word; hot. In fact, Rome in summer is known for being particularly hot. For example, temperatures in the Italian city reached highs of 38 degrees Celsius / 100 degrees Fahrenheit in August 2019, which makes planning an itinerary all the more crucial if you hope to avoid crowds during the summer's hottest days.

  14. My Trip to Rome

    My Trip to Rome. May 10, 2013. By Liam Holley BRONZE, Bloomington, Minnesota. More by this author. My Trip to Rome, Italy was an experience of a lifetime. My family and I left sometime in December ...

  15. My Favorite Travel Essays, Rome/Italy Books (non-guidebooks)

    Re: My Favorite Travel Essays, Rome/Italy Books (non-guidebooks) For those who would rather watch a DVD... PBS put out a series called "Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance" that was very fascinating. The 4 DVDs show the succession of rulers, their inflluence in supporting the arts and role in the church. 6.

  16. My trip to Rome (Roma)

    GCSE English. Personal Writing. My trip to Rome (Roma) It was the night of my dad's birthday that my godmother Jill explained how she had free air miles, and wondered if there was somewhere I'd most like to visit? Jill had already invited my mother to go with her. I replied, "I'd love to go anywhere". "What about you where would you ...

  17. Narrative Essay

    The days became eternal, but then after a mere five long days had passed, my long awaited and beloved Italy trip had smacked me in the face and I found myself at the airport. The flight to Italy was mind numbingly long, as it was ten hours without layover time. The plan was to land in Rome, then take a train to Florence, and a train to Venice.

  18. Mistakes Tourists Make in Rome, From a Tour Guide of 16 Years

    Andrew Linscott/Shutterstock. Tourists visiting Rome often make mistakes that detract from their experience in the city. I've worked as a tour guide here for 16 years, and many people forget to ...

  19. Personal Narrative Essay: My Trip To Italy

    From Venice to Rome to Tuscany, Italy is one of the top destinations to travel to. From the ruins of Pompeii to the colosseum Italy has many historical venues for visitors to see. For its beautiful scenery to its historic significance Italy is ranked fourth in the world's top tourist destinations with an amazing annual of 39.1 million ...

  20. My Trip To Rome (Roma) Essay Example

    Order custom essay Spontaneous Trip to Rome with Free Air Miles with free plagiarism report 450+ experts on 30 subjects Starting from 3 hours delivery Get Essay Help. When we started to takeoff I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and felt as if was going to pass out but luckily I didn't. I stared out the window as the land below became ...

  21. My Journey to Italy

    My Journey to Italy. This essay sample was donated by a student to help the academic community. Papers provided by EduBirdie writers usually outdo students' samples. Traveling is my favorite thing to do in my life. I like discovering new cultures, meet new people, and try new food. So far, I have traveled to many countries in the Middle East ...

  22. Why I Chose to Study Abroad in Rome: My Experience

    Top 7 Benefits of Studying Abroad. The CIEE abroad program offers unique courses and educational opportunities that you may not find at your home institution. This deepened my knowledge in my field of study and allowed me to explore new subjects while also immersing myself in a different culture.

  23. 19 Inspiring Travel Experience Stories About Life-Changing Trips

    8. How Cuba Changed My Life. One of my favorite inspiring stories about travel takes place in Cuba. I visited Cuba in February 2013 and it changed my life — and I like to think it did so for the better. Interestingly, I expected a completely different country and was compelled to write about it when I got back home.

  24. My trip to Rome

    My trip to Rome. Rhodri. I had a great time in Rome with my family. It was my first holiday outside my own country and I couldn't wait to go. I found out all I could about Rome from the library and on the internet. Knowing about the history made seeing all the old buildings, like the Colosseum, much more interesting. We were able to do lots ...

  25. ROME Studying Abroad John Cabot until may 2024

    Answer 1 of 8: My son is currently studying abroad in Rome. We are from USA. ... Rome ; Rome Travel Forum; Search. ... All our classes were taught by Spanish professors--all our papers had to be written in Spanish. Our textbooks were in Spanish, and we had an intense course on high level Spanish grammar.

  26. Pope Francis reflects on his life and mortality in memoir

    VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis, at 87 increasingly weak and wobbly, takes a trip down memory lane and speaks of his hopes for the Roman Catholic Church's future in a new book reflecting on ...