Tips when planning a trip to Rome

04/08/2014

Rome art print
Oh how I love retro prints (image)

As the Goons put it, “Rome, Rome! There’s no place like Rome”. And there isn’t. It is the eternal City, a place of immense beauty, history and culture which makes it one of the most popular places in Europe for people to visit at any time of the year, and annually over 15 million people do. For that reason any visit needs to be planned carefully, because coming unstuck is all too easy, and so a trip that just involves turning up and seeing what happens isn’t really the best approach.


Milano train station
On both my last two trips to Italy have been done by train, going via the beautiful Milano Station


The first consideration is accommodation and where to sleep. For ease and flexibility, getting an apartment is always a good idea since this will put you right into the heart of the city and among the Romans. The advantage over a hotel is that you have complete flexibility and you are sorted for where to sleep without the worry of having to be out of the room too early so that the maid can clean it.



Italian travel
A little travel selfie from my last trip to Italy - sitting outside the backpackers I was staying at


Once there, Rome can be an extremely expensive place, so for the sake of the budget, finding plenty of free things to do seems like a good idea, and Rome has plenty of those.

So a bit of a cultural intake of both ancient and modern is needed, and happily Rome is bursting with things to show you without requiring a rummage in the pocket, starting with the contemporary art on show at the Sala 1 gallery which is fairly unique. You can also simply enjoy the cafe culture and people watch over some an espresso


Rome cafe
A beautiful corner cafe in Rome (image)



Definitely on the to-do list is to throw three coins into the Trevi Fountain. According to legend, doing so guarantees that the thrower will come back to the city, but even if you don’t, the fountain is an astonishing construction by Nicola Salvi.

One doesn’t need to be Catholic to visit the Vatican, and this can be on the free things to do timetable, as long as you get it right. The Vatican museum is free on the last Sunday of every month, and on Wednesday anyone can have an audience with the Pope (as long as he’s in), and there are trips below the Vatican offering an inspection of the excavations there.

Any visit to Rome is going to be memorable; so much to see, do, experience and just absorb in a place that has existed for so many centuries.


Rome
The Colosseum in all it's glory (image)

Joining in with Travel Tuesday

9 comments:

  1. I just got back from a trip to Italy on Saturday! We spent 3 days in Rome--what a cool city! I enjoyed reading your thoughts about it! :)

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    1. Thanks so much for stopping by Erin and so happy you enjoyed reading this post and hope you had an amazing time in Rome :)

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  2. Great pictures!It looks amazing. I recently went to Florence and was really sad that I couldn't get to Rome, you've really convinced me into looking into a trip there x

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  3. Great pictures!It looks amazing. I recently went to Florence and was really sad that I couldn't get to Rome, you've really convinced me into looking into a trip there x

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  4. Some good tips. Rome is one of my favourite places in the world, absolutely beautiful and so much to do. The Pantheon was my favourite place to visit.

    #UKBloggers

    http://fashion-mommy.com

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  5. We visited Rome for the first time a few weeks ago, and I completely concur about making sure you *plan* before you go. We were able to skip the queues at both the Colosseum and the Vatican Museum thanks to a little bit of pre-trip planning!

    (Found you through #TravelTuesday)

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  6. These photos really make me want to go there! Hopefully one day :)

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  7. Very nice post about Rome! I definitely want to head there soon ish (I mean my flatmate in uni was Italian and I def want to see her beautiful country!) And I'm always in for some free things - sometimes flying there and renting a flat or hotel room can be quite pricey and also if you're in Italy you want to splurge on food! :D

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  8. Rome consider as awesome place for traveling. And thanks for sharing things about Rome. And I really appreciate your effort. And nice collection of picture you have shared. And there are also so many places to visit which one can enjoy Colosseum etc. I am also wishing to have been over there with online cheap flight booking to Rome with my family.

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Lovely comments

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