Rome

Rome was my first stop in Italy and as soon as I got off the plane, I dropped off my luggage at the train station and hit the ground running. There are a ton of things to see in Rome, but I narrowed this post down to include my top 5 favorites of Rome.

Tip: I bought the RomaPass 72 hours which included the admission to 2 museums, transportation around the city which definitely came in handy, and discounted prices for other attractions around Rome. I highly recommend looking into this pass if you’re going to be in Rome for a couple days and plan on taking the bus or metro – it really is a money saver. One other general tip is to wake up early and go explore the city to beat a ton of tourists!

Roman Forum

The Roman Forum is a must see if you go to Rome and since the €12 admission ticket also is good for the Colosseum and Palatine Hill its money well spent. If you buy a RomaPass than the admission price is already covered and you can skip the lines!

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Colosseum

This was probably my favorite thing in Rome. It may have been because I had to walk by it to get to the metro from my airbnb so I had the pleasure of seeing it throughout the day in different lights. I thought it was stunning throughout the day – the morning it looked bright and white, the afternoon/dusk it was a warm orange color, and at night it was lit from each opening. The inside is just as cool to see! You can picture and imagine where they kept the lions and gladiators locked up by looking at the ruins.

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Altare della Patria

Its free to go into the Altare della Patria which is monument to honor Vittorio Emanuele (you will see statues of him ALL throughout Italy) because he was the first King of a unified Italy. While the outside of this building is impressive, go up to the roof terrace (cost a few euros) to see what this monument really has to offer – an awesome panorama of Rome! From the top you can see the Roman Forums from above.

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Trevi Fountain

I went to the fountain during the day (crowded) and late at night (crowded) so maybe EARLY in the morning there won’t be a crowd of people in front of it? Regardless of the swarm of people or not, this fountain is beautiful and I still managed to sit on the ledge of it trying to resist the urge of putting my feet it.

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Villa Medici

If you haven’t heard of the Medici family, you will if you travel to Rome or Florence. The family basically had their hands in all the pots – they had a lot of money, political power, and a couple of them even became popes! There’s even a couple good Netflix shows about the family if you’re into some historical drama shows.

If you visit Villa Medici, use your RomaPass because you get a discount on the admission ticket. The actual villa is neat to see, but the garden and buildings throughout the garden were even better. My favorite was the ceiling of a room they suspect was used as an office/ where the mistresses would come since it was on the edge of the garden and people could come and go without being seen. The ceiling looks like a trellis with vines twisting around it and different types of animals throughout.

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Favorite Roma Gelateria

You can’t go to Italy without eating gelato and my favorite gelateria in Rome was Gelateria Della Palma. They have an extensive list of flavors so its hard to choose just a couple, but I tried basil and palmero rosa (grapefruit) – they were delicious! Another bonus is it’s a short walk from the Pantheon!

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Check out more great places to travel and eat in Italy on my page and if you have any favorites or awesome places that weren’t listed feel free to leave a comment, its much appreciated!