Our Italy Vacation Guide: Rome

Rome: Highly Recommend

While we were in Italy over the past few weeks we received SO many requests for details about where we stayed and what we did, that we figured it would be helpful to put together a guide for each location. Our first stop in Italy was Rome and you’ll have to bear with us because even though we’re photographers, we only took iPhone photos in Rome. It was just too hot to walk all over the city with a heavy camera!

Where to Stay

We landed in the morning and our Airbnb arranged a private driver to pick us up. It was only $45 and after a night of flying, it was so nice not to have to figure out how to use public transportation or figure out where our apartment was located.

Our apartment was on a quiet street across the water from the Vatican and we loved the location! It was only about a 15-minute walk to most of the major sites, but the neighborhood itself didn’t feel touristy.

Where to Eat

If you follow us on social media or you’ve visited our about page, you know pizza and wine are our love language. You’ll see pizza and gelato EVERYWHERE but try to avoid places on a busier road near tourist spots. The food tends to be overpriced and bland. The best places we found were tiny cafes on quiet streets without a lot of tourists. If you like recommendations, Papa’s Cafe was inexpensive, delicious and quiet. The Chianti and the pasta carbonara were excellent!

If you’re near the Trevi Fountain, stop by Giolitti for Gelato. The Giolitti family owns our favorite deli in Annapolis and even though the two restaurants serve very different food (Italian Market/Deli vs a dairy store), we were so excited to visit that we made this one of our first stops.

What to Do

Our favorite sites in Rome were the Vatican Museum and St Peter’s Basilica. We’re Catholic, so they were particularly meaningful locations that we wanted to visit. We bought our tickets for the Museum online ahead of time and scheduled our time slot for 3pm. The museum was a lot less crowded in the late afternoon (no line to get in verses a line that wrapped around the street earlier).

We spent about 2 hours in the museum, although more time could have been spent there. The museum did not disappoint. Of course, the Sistine Chapel is incredible, but Davey especially enjoyed the Raphael Rooms. In particular, he loved seeing Raphael’s The School of Athens.

St. Peter’s Basilica was best first thing in the morning (7:30am) on a weekday. The line gets long quick—probably because the Basilica is free to enter. For a few Euros you can climb to the top of the Basilica. Take the elevator—it’s worth it. Even after taking the elevator, you’ll have to climb probably another 500 steps. And if you don’t like tight situations, it’s probably best to skip the climb to the top.

You’ll exit into the Basilica on your way down from the top. Plan to spend 45-minutes to an hour there, and listen to the Rick Steve’s Podcast tour.

We also visited the Colosseum, Spanish Steps, Pantheon and Trevi Fountain. The Colosseum was cool to see, but we didn’t spend a lot of time there because it was super hot and crowded. The Trevi Fountain is cool to see at night because it’s all lit up.

Instead of tours, we downloaded the free Rick Steves audio podcasts. They’re really informative, well-produced and well-timed. You’ll have no problem listening to the podcast as he guides you through whatever tour you chose (and he’s got one for most places you’ll want to visit!). He can be super cheesy, but it’s usually endearing.

Other thoughts about Rome

• We visited two major cities while we were in Italy, and Rome was our favorite.
• I’m glad we did Rome first because there was lots to see, and it’s where we did most of our tours.
• The Vatican Museum and St. Peter’s Basilica were the highlights for us. Like I mentioned, we’re Roman Catholic, so these places held special significance.
• We spent 3 full days in Rome, and I think that was the perfect amount of time.
• Our Airbnb was in a great location, and we’d happily recommend it.
• Uber does operate in Rome.
• Between Rome and Florence, we thought there was better shopping in Rome. Davey found a place called SPADA Roma, which he dubbed the “J-Crew of Rome.” Needless-to-say, I had to monitor him carefully to make sure he didn’t buy everything in the store.
• We want to visit again in the late fall or early spring when it’s not high-tourist season.