Rome is the type of city you can visit time and time again and never get tired of! We went to Europe to visit my husband’s family for Christmas and couldn’t leave without stopping by. His family lives about an hour outside of Rome so it works out perfect. The last time we visited we only did a day trip – you can find that blog post here. But this time we were fortunate enough to spend 3 nights in Rome! I’m sharing the travel guide below of exactly what we did to help you plan your future Rome itinerary.
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Day 1
Our first day in Rome was technically just a night since we arrived by bus in the late afternoon. By the time we checked into our room at Hotel Navona, we had just enough time to change and get ready for the evening. There are many hotel options in Rome at various price points to choose from, so you really can’t go wrong if you do your research and read reviews. I also recommend familiarizing yourself with a map of the city you’re traveling to and choosing a hotel that’s near many of the places you’d like to visit. We enjoyed our stay at Hotel Navona and found the room to be clean and location to be easily accessible.
We ate pasta from Taverna del Seminario and also stopped for gelato afterwards (stracciatella is my favorite!) It can be easy to fall for what we call tourist traps when visiting a large city such as Rome. Since my husband speaks Italian we try to ask locals for recommendations and stay away from the main streets which are always the busiest. This restaurant was off on a side street but still full of a good amount of people. The pasta was delicious! After we ate dinner, we walked around to simply admire Rome’s nighttime beauty! We stopped by Castel Sant’Angelo, the Pantheon, and the Vatican. The Vatican is so beautiful at night, especially during Christmastime!
Day 2
Our first full day in Rome was full of exploring and the day that we wanted to hit most of the attractions! Our hotel offered breakfast so we started the day off with that. From there, we walked to the Victor Emmanuel II National Monument. This is one of the many beautiful buildings in Rome and honors one of Italy’s kings. There are also great vantage points of the Roman city from atop the monument.
Next we walked past the Colosseum and down the Via dei Fori Imperiali, one of the most famous streets in Rome! The cypress trees that line the street are absolutely beautiful. You will find many great viewpoints of the Colosseum in this area, as well as the Roman Forum and other ruins. We didn’t go inside the Colosseum this time since we did a full tour on our last visit. I definitely recommend doing that at least once. Rome is not only beautiful but also full of history! We had pizza at Osteria Pasquino and tiramisu at Two Sizes. This place may look like a tourist trap but the tiramisu was actually delicious! This was a hole in the wall spot that sold only tiramisu.
After that, we walked over to the Trevi Fountain. This was definitely the most crowded place as it’s a small area where everyone is trying to take a picture and toss a coin into the water. Definitely don’t miss out on it though! I would recommend trying to see it earlier in the morning as opposed to later in the afternoon. We decided we would try to go back earlier in the day another time to avoid the crowds. For dinner we had another delicious plate of pasta (of course!) at Casetta di Trastevere.
Day 3
We started our last full day in Rome with breakfast at Café et Caffé. From there we went straight to the Pantheon, another stunning building in Rome! It was actually a Roman temple before transitioning into a church. The Pantheon is free to enter but the line can also get fairly lengthy. We didn’t wait very long by going in the morning so it was perfect! Next stop for us was back to the Trevi Fountain. There were way less people so we were able to get a few pictures and toss a coin into the water! We continued walking around all day, including walking to Piazza de Popolo, a well known square in Rome. We walked by Quirinal Palace and were able to see the guards change shift. The courtyard was beautiful for taking a rest from walking!
We found a small local pizzeria called Pizzeria de Boccaccia to have a quick bite of lunch and continued walking back to the Vatican. If you don’t know what the Vatican is, it’s the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church and home of the Pope. It’s one of the most breathtaking, if not the most breathtaking, building I’ve ever seen in my life. You can spend hours simply looking around at all of the amazing architecture. We went inside the Vatican on our last trip to Rome, but decided to go inside again since the line wasn’t too long. We finished our last evening in Rome with dinner at Saltimbocca Ristorante. The food was amazing and they even made my husband a dish of pasta he requested that wasn’t on the menu.
This travel guide certainly wasn’t a comprehensive list of all there is to do in Rome but it does hit most of the hight points! Whether it’s learning in a museum, trying a dish at a restaurant, or walking around one of the many lively squares, there’s always something to do in Rome. I can confidently say that Rome is one of my favorite cities and I’m already looking forward to going back!
