A Week in Rome

Ahhh Rome, one of the most culturally diverse cities I have ever visited.  The cultural mecca of the ancient world and ultimate place for a Renaissance junkie to drool over the wonders.  We chose to visit Rome on the last leg of our 2 week trip to Italy.  We planned for 3-4 full days IN Rome with an overnight trip to Amalfi and possible day trips to Assisi or Tivoli.  We paid to rent an apartment for a full week because it was cheaper than breaking up our hotel stays after the overnight to Amalfi.  See my previous post for more ways to save money!  Our apartment was about 10 minutes to the nearest metro station so all we had to do was just hop on the subway and stumble through reading the metro map written in Italian (it’s really not that hard I promise :))!  We were literally only 10-15 minutes away from most of the stuff we wanted to see.  In my previous post I talked about carefully planning the activities that you pay for because believe me, they add up quick!  For Rome we knew that we wanted to cover the Colosseum and explore the Vatican as much as possible.  Just an fyi, most churches are open to the public as long as you are wearing proper attire (they will enforce their attire rules) so just plan ahead and be respectful of their rules.  Now without further ado, here is our itinerary!

Day 1  

After getting off the train from Venice, we made our way to the apartment that we rented for the week.  After checking in we chose to get some light sightseeing in before dinner.  The Spanish Steps was our first stop which sadly did not have the flower display up but it was still beautiful and the view from the top of the steps is totally worth the climb!  We also tried to visit Trevi Fountain to throw our 3 magic coins in but it was closed for maintenance with huge clear barriers surrounding it :(.  We tried…and failed miserably at trying to throw coins over the barrier.  But still the carved statues are beautiful!    We spent the rest of the evening window shopping while chowing down on glorious gelato (try a combination of dark chocolate and hazelnut).

Day 2

The Colosseum

As I said above, one of the things that was on our “must do” list was to really see the Colosseum.  We paid for a fantastic, in-depth small group tour.  This gave us a tour guide and we were able to skip the 3 hour wait for admission!  This was one of the only tours that would take you beyond the view level.  Our guide took us to the ground level and underneath the arena where the gladiator and animal holding cells were.  The tour also took us to the top of the arena where we got fantastic views of the city and the arena.  After we finished inside of the Colosseum our guide took us on a walking tour of the Forum and old city.  This tour was a little pricey but we definitely got our money’s worth!  After the tour ended we wandered around the city’s old historic district and ended up at the Pantheon.  Admission was free so we got to explore the circular building whilst getting some sweet pictures!

Worth the price 🙂

Gladiator Tunnels

Gladiator Tunnels

Day 3

Originally we had planned on either traveling to Assisi or Tivoli for a day trip, but the train for Tivoli wasn’t running that day and we had missed the train for Assisi.  So after being mildly frustrated, my hubby suggested that we spend the day in the public Borghese Gardens.  It actually ended up being one of our favorite days in Rome!  The entire day was spend sauntering through the gardens reading, people watching, and napping.  We even got to meet some Italian speaking dogs!  The gardens were beautiful and sprawled for acres, littered with people picnicking.  So…when in Rome, do as the Romans do :).

Day 4 

Well we knew that our last day in Rome would come 🙁  While we were very excited to go home, it didn’t seem like our trip could be over so soon.  For our last day, we had planned for a tour of the Vatican that included the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel.  It was everything I dreamed it would be plus thousands of people.  There is nothing I can say to describe the gorgeous cathedral or the museums that contain art I have only read about.  It was ALL gorgeous and I would be lying if I said that I didn’t cry.  It was a perfect way to end our wonderful dream fulfilling vacation.  Tune in soon for how to pack 2 weeks into a carry-on!

Up into the dome

Vatican Museums