Last updated on June 28th, 2023 at 01:53 pm

Walking in Rome is like traveling back in time, from over 2000 years ago in Roman-occupied Italy to 500 years ago in the arms of the Renaissance. It is like roaming in an open-air museum. You don’t necessarily need to enter a world heritage site or museum to see the ancient ruins. Rome quite literally beholds its history in every nook and corner, and some remains are still unearthed.  

You can imagine the joy it brought to history buffs like us when we visited Rome. So here is an elaborate guide we put together based on our experiences to help you all.

Read: Important travel tips to know before going to Italy

Gregory Peck might very well have charmed his lady love, Audrey Hepburn, in the classic movie Roman Holiday but you will have to go visit Rome yourself to be enamored by the charms of this city.

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Public Transportation in Rome

TRAIN: The best and fastest route would be intercity trains and local metro trains.

BUS: Within Rome, taking the metro buses is super convenient if you have a Roma Pass and google map to find the right bus. Riding on the metro buses provided us with a sneak peek of lot more of Rome that we would have missed otherwise being on the trains.

WALK: Grab your best walking shoes and get ready to explore Rome on foot. This is the best way to see a lot of lesser-known attractions.  

TIP: All local transportation (trains + buses) are included in the Roma Pass. 

Related Read – How to spend 3 fun days in Florence!

How Many Days to Spend in Rome?

If this map is any indication you can easily spend a lifetime exploring Rome. Alas, noone has that kind of luxury so give yourself anywhere between 3-5 days in Italy to see the highlights. If you are visiting for a longer period of time then check out this 10-day itinerary for Italy.

For more historical adventures add a Rome to Pompeii day trip to your itinerary.

Top 10 Things to Do in Rome

Our guide below should help you explore Rome at your own pace. TIP: We highly recommend using a map when exploring Rome, you can ask for it at any visitor center, your hotel or B&B if you don’t already have it.  

If not for anything, carry a map to spot the many important ruins you might stroll by without even paying attention to. For e.g. the ruins across the streets from the enigmatic Colosseum arena were actually the housing where once the Gladiators lived and ceremonially entered the arena from.

Below are the must-see 10 things in Rome especially if it’s your first time here. TIP: You can click on each of the pictures we took below to enlarge and watch them as a slideshow.

1. Colosseum

Colosseum is of the most enigmatic structures ever built by humans (after the Pyramids of Giza of course) built almost 2000 years ago (80 AD). It is nothing short of an indication of the architectural excellence of that era.

If you really want to learn the intriguing history and the grueling stories then we definitely recommend going for a guided tour. There is even an underground guided tour available which the regular audio tour doesn’t take you through.

For “Gladiator” movie fans. remember these famous words by Maximus (Russell Crowe) standing right in the middle of the Colosseum – “Father to a murdered son. Husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next”. TIP: Do yourself a favor and buy the kind of ticket that allows you to escape the never-ending entrance lines (a guided tour or getting Roma pass helps here).

2. Roman Forum & Palatine Hill

The forum was once the heart of Rome, a market place and meeting spot for the Romans under the Capitoline hill. Today you will find the ruins of several important historical government buildings from centuries ago.

FUN FACT: Much before it became a market place, the forum was a garbage disposal ground for the ancient Romans living in the Palatine and Aventine hills.

TIP: The three major tourist attractions i.e. Colosseum, Roman Forum & Palatine hill can be easily done on the same day. There is just one entrance ticket for all three sites and their entrances are so close to each other. However, you are allowed to cover any of these 3 sites in a span of 3 days with the same ticket.

3. Piazza Navona

Piazza Navona boasts the three famous fountains in Rome and is also a bustling plaza with tourists and street artists alike. In the center of Piazza Navona is the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers), on the southern end is Fontana del Moro (Moor Fountain) and at the northern end is Fontana del Nettuno (Fountain of Neptune). 

FUN FACT: Piazza Navona was originally built by ancient Romans as a competitive games arena (much like Circus Maxima). This is a great spot to find the local Italian artists at work.

TIP: Beware of some of these artists and vendors, you get what you pay for.. i.e. fake art. We ended up buying a painting which turned out to be a few strokes of watercolor over a print.

4. Pantheon 

This is the best preserved ancient Roman (and Greek) monument which miraculously managed to survive the barbarian raids in Rome. FUN FACT: Pantheon’s dome was the inspiration for the then-budding architect Brunelleschi to create the now famous Duomo in Florence. 

Almost 2000 years after it was built Pantheon’s dome is the still the largest unsupported concrete dome in the world.  FUN FACT: The famous Renaissance painter Raphael is buried at the Pantheon.

5. Trevi Fountain

This one turned out to be much grander yet space-constrained than we had imagined. The beautifully carved baroque style fountain is the largest in Rome. It’s aptly featured in several movies due to its magnificent beauty.

TIP: Visit Trevi fountain during the day and then again at night to see it lit up.

 6. Spanish Steps

Spanish steps were built to connect the Trinità dei Monti church on top to the Spanish square below. At the bottom of these steps  is Fontana della Barcaccia (Fountain of the Old Boat). The steps were under renovation when we visited it. 

TIP: The above four attraction i.e. Piazza Navona, Pantheon, Trevi fountain and Spanish steps are free of charge to all. They can be easily seen on a pleasant walk in the city which we like to call “A classic Roman walk”.  Crowd alert if you are going in peak tourist seasons such as Summer and Autumn.

7. The Vatican City 

The Vatican is the smallest country in the world. But what many people don’t know is that the Vatican consists of a working church i.e. St. Peter’s Basilica & the famous Sistine chapel. In addition, it is home to an array of museums with various priced artwork commissioned by the church over several centuries.

TIP: Photography is not allowed inside the Sistine Chapel. If the guards see you sneaking a picture, they will take your camera and erase the picture themselves. True story. 

When you buy your tickets you are actually going to start walking through the assorted collections displayed in the many museum halls until you make your way to the Sistine chapel. Once you exit from here, you are free to go visit St. Peter’s basilica.  

TIP: We took a private guided tour of the Vatican and would highly recommend it to anyone who likes to delve deeper and darker into history. 

We booked our tour from a company called Walks of Italy.  Don’t forget to read reviews of the tours before booking them.

8. Capitoline Museum

Located on top of the Capitoline Hill, one of seven sacred hills of Rome, is the world-class Capitoline Museum.  There are many ancient Roman and Greek artifacts on display here.

FUN FACT: In ancient times, Capitoline hill was the heart of the Roman empire where the temple of Jupiter stood. It was in this temple that Brutus and other assassins hid after brutally murdering Julius Ceaser.

TIP: If you get overwhelmed by museums by this point then just take a stroll through the top of this hill and enjoy the panoramic views of Rome from up here.

Next to this hill is Rome’s National Monument, Altare della Patria which also goes by the nickname ‘the wedding cake’ building.  

 9. Galleria Borghese

Another museum,  I know!! But then we didn’t want you to miss out on this popular spot either. In all honesty, we were not able to visit this museum.  We picked the Capitoline Museum over this instead. If you have the time then do visit this famous galleria built by the Borghese family of Rome. There are plenty of other things to see around Villa Borghese such as Piazza del Popolo.

TIP: Both these museums are included as one of the attractions in the Roma Pass. Galleria Borghese requires you to call and make a time slot reservation in advance (no charge for this service) whereas Capitoline accepts walk-ins. 

10.  The Mouth of the Truth (Bocca della Verità)

This is one of the hidden gems of Rome. Since we started the blog off with Roman Holiday, the movie, how could I not have mentioned this church here? And if you haven’t watched this classic movie yet, what are you waiting for?!

The mouth of the truth stands on the portico of the  Basilica of Saint Mary in Cosmedin. FUN FACT: The Basilica of St. Mary in Cosmedin houses the relic of famous Roman Saint Valentine who is commemorated on February 14 which the world now celebrates as the day of love. 

Where to Stay in Rome?

It really depends on which attractions in Rome do you want to stay the closest to and if there is a train or bus station nearby. In our case, we knew we wanted to be within walking distance from the Colosseum so we booked a bed and breakfast nearby called Colosseum B and had a fantastic experience.

Based on the above attractions we’ve listed, make your choice on where to stay in Rome. Fyi, Rome is very conveniently connected by public transport. 

To end this long post in a cliché – ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’

So no matter how long it takes, you must visit Rome once in your lifetime. Hope this extensive guide we put together helps you plan an amazing trip to Rome. 

If you are looking for an off the beat adventure besides Rome then do check out this post on a secret beach in Italy called Tremiti Islands. We sure have this in our bucket list!

As always we love hearing from you so please leave us your comments 🙂

Happy Traveling!