Travel To Rome Italy

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A visitor who tours Italy can make a wonderful itinerary with careful planning. Artists have flocked to Italy for centuries and art lovers will be rewarded by the wonderful feeling of walking into a painting again and again.

If you are staying in Rome, consider booking a hotel in the neighborhood near the centrally-located Termini, which is a hub for the trains serving the airport as well as most subway and bus routes. It’s easy to orient yourself because no matter where you go in Rome, most transit routes intersect through the Termini station.

Hadrian’s Villa (Villa Adriana) and Villa d’Este in Tivoli are examples of day trip destinations just outside of Rome which are easy to get to by bus. Thanks to UNESCO World Heritage funding these sites are beautifully maintained and will remain in the world’s cultural patrimony for generations to come.

The Villa d’Este is a Renaissance villa originally commissioned as a summer residence by the son of Lucrezia Borgia. The main reason to visit is to see the the gardens, which are built on multiple levels with dozens of ingenious water features. Even in the twenty-first century, the fountains provide relief from Roman summer heat. Several fountains were engineered with pipe organs which after five centuries continue to tweet with birdsong or produce music on the hour.

Down the hill from the Villa d’Este, the Villa Adriana is a huge 250-acre complex. Originally created as a summer residence two millenia ago, Emperor Hadrian eventually made his Villa the permanent seat of his Imperial government, conducting the business of the Roman Empire from there.

Roman residents are justly proud of their history and anyone who tours Italy, even during the high tourist season, will find most locals are willing to help tourists do as the Romans do.

Further Information

A quick review of travel guidebooks reveals an interesting dichotomy in how Rome is described. On the one hand, you have words like “timeless,” “fascinating,” “magical,” and “romantic” – and on the other you will find “chaotic,” “overwhelming,” “sprawling,” and even “brutal.” How can one city inspire such seemingly polar opposite descriptions? Or are they really opposites? Rome is all of those things and more, an incredible city with a few hard edges. All it takes is a little preparation to tilt your visit more toward the amazing side than the frustrating one.

Italy’s capital city has been an important city – not just for Italy but worldwide – for millennia. Once the epicenter of the vast Roman empire, Rome still contains some of that era’s most important structures as well the historic buildings of the empires that followed. But beyond that, the Eternal City is a bustling and often crazy modern city whose residents live in the shadow of their past without being dwarfed by it. It is precisely this meeting of old and new – with little to no buffer in between – which makes Rome simultaneously enchanting and difficult. It is, however, most people’s port of entry into Italy, as most Italy flights from overseas fly into Rome Fiumicino Airport. It’s helpful to do a little research in advance to ease your time here.

What To Do in Rome

Rome could feel overwhelming, especially if it is your introduction to Italy, so don’t feel like you need to “conquer” Rome in your first try, and do not feel like you failed if you don’t fall in love with the city right away. Sometimes Rome needs to grow on people. While there’s more than enough to do and see in this enormous city to last the intrepid traveler easily a week or longer, you might want to limit your first visit to a few days to see the highlights and plan a second visit when you don’t also have to contend with the shock of the city itself. And plan on mastering the Rome transportation system to save your feet from untold wear and tear, too.

>> Here are my suggestions for the top 10 things to do in Rome!

>> On a budget? Don’t forget to keep track of all the free things to do in Rome!

For a three-day trip to Rome, the following sights are must-see stops:

* Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, Capitol Hill and Colosseum – The stomping grounds of ancient Rome

* Vatican City (Vatican Museum and St. Peter’s Basilica) – Catholic Church World Headquarters

* Pantheon – The 2nd-century dome that inspired all domes to follow

* Spanish Steps – This fantastic staircase is a hopping meeting point at night

* Trevi Fountain – Stop grumbling and throw the coin already

* Piazza Navona – Shaped like a stadium because it used to be a stadium

Other sights you can add to that list if you have more time, you want to skip something above (shame on you!) or you’re not interested in just wandering are the Borghese Gallery, the National Museum of Rome, the Cappuccin Crypt (a personal favorite), Castel Sant’Angelo, the old Jewish ghetto area, the Catacombs and the Capitol Hill Museum. You can join one of the many Angels & Demons tours in Rome to cover some of those sights and see them through the lens of the popular book, as well. And if you’re craving a little quiet corner in a city that feels like it has no quiet corners, may I recommend the Trastevere neighborhood? (It’s quite in the daylight hours, at any rate. At night, it’s a whole different story.)

Be sure to read about my more complete list of things to do in Rome, including some more weird sights in the city.

And if you’re bringing the wee ones to the Eternal City, don’t miss these great tips for traveling with kids in Rome.

Should your Rome trip be long enough that you can check everything off your to-do list and still have time leftover, you may be interested in the many options for day-trips from Rome.

How Much Time to Spend on Each “Must-See” Sight

It is easy – and advisable – to spend a whole day in Vatican City, checking out the acres of treasures in the museums. And really, once you’re inside, you don’t want to think about leaving early and coming back another day – do you remember that line you just stood in for hours to get where you are? Stay, see what you want to see, and be done with the Vatican Museums once and for all. Oh, and reward yourself with a stop in St. Peter’s afterwards – with no fee and (often) no line, it’s bliss.

The highlights of ancient Rome can be seen in a day, from the Forum, Colosseum and Palatine Hill to the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. A day spent visiting those sights (and the views of the Forum from Capitol Hill) is a day spent walking – a lot. So wear your comfortable shoes, and bring sun protection if your visit is during nice weather. In the Forum especially there is no respite from the heat (ruins provide little shade when they lack rooftops). Oh, and you’ll need to save extra cash for a gelato or espresso on Piazza Navona – the prices are exorbitant, but the views are fantastic.

The Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps might be kitschy, but you sort of have to do them anyway. Get in line, stand with your back to the fountain and throw your coin – even if you don’t really want to return to Rome by the time you squeeze your way up to throwing distance. (The coins are collected once a week and donated to the Italian Red Cross, so at least there’s that.) A visit to the Spanish Steps just might make you want to watch “Roman Holiday” again, too, which is never a bad thing.

The bottom line is that although a visit to Rome might not inspire the heartfelt sighs that a view of Tuscan hills or a stroll through Venice at dusk might inspire, Rome is not a city you can skip when you visit Italy. So, rather than worry about what might happen, plan ahead to make sure that a great visit to Rome does happen.
Where to Stay in Rome

There is no shortage of places to stay in Rome, but as you might expect, the closer you are to one of the big attractions the more you’re going to end up paying for your room. On the flip side, if you’re more focused on saving money, there are clusters of cheap hotels and hostels that are further from the main sights – but because Rome is so spread out, you’ll want to make sure you’re comfortable with the Rome transportation system (buses and subway) so you don’t completely wear yourself out hoofing it all over the city.

Here are some of the articles I’ve written about accommodation in Rome, depending on what you’re looking for:

* There are countless hostels and cheap hotels around Termini Station in Rome, but there are also hostels away from Termini, too.

* I visited (and reviewed) many of the hostels in Rome that are around Termini, including what I think are the best party hostels in Rome.

* If it’s proximity to the city’s most famous landmark you’re looking for, then here are some hostels near the Colosseum as well as some cheap hotels near the Colosseum.

* On a honeymoon in Rome, or just wanting to sweep that special someone off their feet? Here are some of the most romantic hotels in Rome to help you do just that.

* I’ve also written about some of the best-reviewed hotels in Rome, though these aren’t location-specific (nor are they particularly cheap!).