Rome Travel Guide - What to see, eat, & do in Rome

Hi guys, Rome was a blast and definitely a sight to see. There are so many tourist attractions that are amazing & delicious food. We stayed for a week but I think you could probably see all of Rome in 4-5 days.

I'm going to break this post down my category, so that it is easier for you guys to locate what you need from this post!

FOOD

First up,  food. Food's always the best part, right?  We tried some really good spots. Something to note about Rome is that it's mostly 'take out' food. Their culture was built on take out & a lot of places don't have sitting areas. It's more of a grab your food & go type of thing. If you want to sit, I definitely recommend going to a nicer spot.

1. Alfredo ALLA SCROFA - Fettuccine alfredo is probably one of my favorite Italian dishes. This spot is the people who originally invented this dish. It was so cool to experience it from where it was made. Service was great & drinks were lovely too. When they bring your plate to you, they cover it in parmesan and toss the pasta for you right in front of you. This spot is finer dining, but I would definitely recommend.

2. La Freschetta - Ok this place was bomb! The drinks were so good  (I had an aperol spritz for the first time, bomb) and the food was even better! My sister and mom got pasta dishes and I ordered a pizza that came straight out of a brick oven. We also tried appetizers of bruschetta, suppli& fried mozzarella. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the food ( I ate it before I could haha) but I would definitely recommend this spot! So yummy and unique.

3.  Al Forno della Soffitta - This was THE BEST pizza of the whole trip. All the ingredients were so fresh and made in an oven right in front of you. If you're looking for tasty thin crust pizza, this is the spot. It wasn't busy around 3 pm so when we ordered the pizza it took literally ten minutes to come to your table. Now that is fresh! I put a picture of the pizza from this spot here!

4. Giolitti- Best Gelato in all of Rome. Don't waste your time at the other spots, this is where the locals go!

5. Pastificio  - For 4 euro you can get pasta & wine. This is an amazing price! This spot is near the spanish steps & is great if you just want something really quick to eat. Not five star dining, but none the less a great spot for a decent lunch! They make two pastas daily and it varies by the day.

6. Caffe Vatican - If you're visiting the Vatican, grab a cappicino or espresso at this spot! So delicious and my favorite one.

                                             

7. Antico Caffe Greco - I had a delicious caffe latte with soy here. This spot is in the spanish steps where the luxury shopping is. I loved it! It was a super old coffee shop and had such cute decor.

8. Tazza d'oro Caffè - A super yummy coffee shop right next to the Panthenon. Extremely busy, be prepared to drink and go.

9. Canova Tadolini - This cafe is so cool! It has sculptures inside of it which I thought was so interesting and unique.

SIGHTS

• Trevi Fountain - You must make a wish here! So touristy but so fun and the fountain is just breath taking. 

• Panthenon - A smaller attraction but the shopping and eating areas around it are lovely 

• Colosseum - We did not go inside, but we went outside & around. A must see! Try to find spots  above where you can see the whole Colosseum from above.

• Piazza de Popollo - the 'peoples' square.  It has some churches and places to eat around it as well.

• Piazza Novana - Another tourist square with beautiful fountains & food surrounding. 

• Vatican - This was gorgeous and one of my favorites parts of the trip. We did an early morning tour which was great because we beat the crowd. We also got a tour through the roman guy which was so helpful and informative. 

• Spanish Steps - The famous steps of Rome which has luxury shopping all around and at the top is a beautiful view of the city. *You can grab pasta from Pastifico and sit by the steps for a beautiful view!*

SHOPPING

 

• Via Condotti - This is a street by the Spanish Steps and has the best luxury stores. I'm talking Gucci, Prada, Dior, everything all in one strip. It's a gorgeous area and it is so luxurious.

• Via Del Corso -This street also has a lot of shopping. A mix of well known brands & small unique shops.

• La RinaScente - This is where I bought my bag. It's one huge mall but it feels like a department store because all the brands flow together through an open floor plan. They also had every designer, like fendi, gucci, prada, ysl, balenciaga, etc. This mall is 5 floors, 2 for men and three for women with one floor of beauty products. It was a gorgeous mall! 

* You can also go to global blue on the first level and be able to complete your VAT request. Any purchase over 150 you can get a tax refund if you are not from Europe. I was able to get almost 300 dollar back for buying my bag in Italy. If you guys would like more info on this, please message me or leave a comment down below!*

MUSEUMS   

• Borghese museum- We saw the Borghese museum. We recommend buying tickets ahead of time to avoid any lines! This museum was beautiful. My sister Jeanette is an artist so she especially loved it. The courtyard and the museum are just stunning and definitely something to do when in Rome.

• Doria Pamphilj Gallery - Another place we went too was Doria Pamphilj Gallery. If you're not the museum type, I would recommend this one because they had a little of everything. It also had an apartment tour and it showed the area where a family used to live that was so luxurious. We bought tickets on the spot for this one. I believe it was 14 euros. There was not much of a wait and we went during the week.

  

• Vatican Museum - We got this ticket in a package with our sistine chapel ticket. It was soo beautiful, my favorite museum we saw.

TIPS

• Avoid the people trying to sell you flowers in the street. They will try to hand them to you & then ask you for money. Just polity decline. Some people even came up to me and touched my shoulder but I remained calm and said no.
• Bring a water bottle! Water is free in Rome at small fountains. The water is clean & good to drink! Bring a bottle and fill it everywhere you go
• Google maps is your best friend. We walked everywhere and used navigation.
• Most people in Rome speak English since it's a really touristy spot!
• Bring cash and exchange money before at a bank local to you! Meals cost quite less than they do in America so you honestly only need about 50 a day for food, unless you're planning on doing expensive meals. I would recommend about 500 euros for a week which is more than enough.  
• To break this down further, there is no tax! So the price of food is the price. Breakfast (an espresso & a sweet is usually around 6) Lunch can be anywhere from 5-15 and dinner would be about the same! 40-50 a day is an ample amount of money.
• The best way to avoid lines is buy tickets ahead of time for what you really want to see!
• If you want to avoid crowds for pictures, Rome is not busy around 7/8 am. Other than that, people are always around.
• Buy charger adapters on amazon! 
• Book the things you want to do ahead of time!

Hope you guys enjoyed a taste of Rome! I definitely recommend Rome as a trip destination. If any of you have any questions, please let me know!

Xo,