The Ultimate Rome Travel Guide: Where to Stay, Eat and See

Rome, the eternal city, or better known to the locals as Lasagna… because of all the layers. It was my second time in Rome, Curtis’s first and also the first time to Italy period. We spent 6 days, wandering around, eating, drinking and learning history.

What’s wonderful about Rome is that you can explore for days and still not crack the surface of what it has to offer. There are so many neighbourhoods, each with their own personality, history, you just walk down a street and come across an archaic piece from 200 years ago to even the Roman empire. It’s incredible.

We didn’t want to spend our whole time in tours, so I book a tour to see the colosseum and ancient forum for one morning and then I booked our tickets to see the Vatican (sans tour) on a Friday night. I did the colosseum tour before and this time around I learned some new facts because each tour guide tells you different information than the other. And you bypass the lineups!

I want to share a guide on how to spend a week in Rome, what to do, highlights and a few places to eat! Because if you are like myself, I plan my trips around where I’m eating. I hate wasting time eating crappy food and money, so I really research. For the most part, don’t have a meal in a touristy area in Italy… Those are legit tourist traps, overpriced, not great food, expensive cover charges…

Whether you’re going for a romantic weekend with a significant other, planning a month-long holiday, or doing a family vacation, consider this list your bible.

Where to Eat

Roscioli Salumeria con Cucina

A bustling destination with an eatery serving Italian fare, plus a bakery, deli counter & wine shop. We managed to eat in the deli counter area which was cool! Order the carbonara and burrata plate with sundried tomatoes. Those tomatoes were so delicious, we brought home two jars. This was highly recommended by my cousins who live over there.

Giolitti | Antica Gelateria Pasticceria dal 1900

Besides the delicious gelato in many flavours, the ordering experience itself is something you have to do. Don’t be shy haha, just get in there and grab your order. And do go for that whip on top of the gelato, life-changing!

Antico Carlone

We stumbled onto this old-school restaurant in Trastevere our first day in Rome. The servers have been there since it opened we suspect, but the food was amazing. We both agreed this was one of the better meals we had that week in Rome. Simple, delicious, full of locals at lunch, and the prices were reasonable.

What to Do

Take a tour

If you haven’t been before, take at least one tour. I recommend the one for the Colosseum and Ancient Forum. You skip the lines in the tour group and learn bits of history and insight that you may not know just walking around by yourself. I’ve done this twice now, once when I was younger with the family and this time around with Curtis.

See the Vatican at night

If you are in Rome from April to October, check to see if you are there when they have the Vatican open on Friday nights. Book online, show up at your time and enjoy walking around with literally no one there. We were in some rooms just by ourselves, what a treat! I’ve been before during the day and it’s CHAOTIC. Some exhibits might be closed when you go, it rotates, but the fact you can walk around and explore with 1/4 of the crowds is worth it.

Explore the neighbourhoods

Walk around, if you have a week in Rome, try a different neighbourhood each day. Each day, we made a game plan on what neighbourhood to walk to and spend a day in.

Vintage shopping

Italy has some amazing vintage stores and Rome has no shortage! From every day to luxe goods, you can find something to bring home. Monti has quite a few along with Trastevere and a few other neighbourhoods. Some aren’t online, you just stumble on them.

Enjoy a cocktail on a rooftop bar

Want a view with an Aperol Spritz? Try finding one of the rooftop bars in the city and look down upon the eternal city at dusk.

What to See

Vatican

Iconic, even if you don’t agree with the church’s policies and views, the art collection in the museum is worth seeing. You can book a tour, time to go or just even wing it and wait in line.

Colosseum

Every time I go on a tour, I learn so many more tidbits about it. It’s just extraordinary and that fact that it’s mostly still standing is amazing itself.

Ancient Forum

You could spend a whole afternoon here, walking around and seeing every single place in the forum. Go early or go on a tour to learn about what you are looking at.

Spanish Steps

If I can give you one piece of advice, go early! This is one of the few places in the city that is constantly busy all day, we went at 8AM one morning and hardly anyone was there yet so we actually saw the steps and were able to take some photos and sit and people watch for a bit. Just don’t sit on the steps, they made it illegal after we left to do so I guess to control the crowds?

Trevi Fountain

Again, go early, earlier than the steps, they are around the corner from each other so you are able to see them both in the morning. It’s amazing to see without 40K other people in front of you. Throw a coin in the fountain and I guarantee you’ll return!

Museo Hendrik Christian Andersen

This was a gem we were glad to hear of. When we visited in the morning, we were the only patrons. Henrik was a visionary, sort of another Da Vinci and seeing his visions and sculptures in person was amazing. Located in the residential Flaminio neighbourhood, you are a short distance to the Borghese Gardens.

Trastevere

We spent quite a bit of time in Trastevere during the week. Went during the day, back at night some days for a drink in the piazza, or to just walk because it’s alive at night with people! There are tons of places to eat, drink and pretty streets to get lost on and take photos. I would 100% stay in this neighbourhood next time we are in Rome.

Monti

It’s where the best hip cafés, bars, and vintage shops can be found. There’s a Sunday market of the Monti quarter simply called Mercato Monti and offers a variety of vintage clothes, accessories and jewellery.

Villa Borghese Gardens

This is a must-do! During the summer, it’s much cooler up in the gardens, there’s mini lakes, cafes, live music and much more to see and do. Plus the views from up top of the city are unreal! They are located on the Pincian Hill, close to Spanish Steps and Piazza del Popolo. We went after our morning seeing Trevi, Spanish Steps and Museo Hendrik and wish we spent more time with a picnic. Next time, that is our plan, bring some food and wine and spend an afternoon.

Where to Stay

Airbnb

We love staying in Airbnbs if we are somewhere for a while, we just save so much money, and able to grab groceries and cook meals at home. Which can save you a lot of money for your budget if you do opt for this. We could also watch what we ate, grill chicken, veggies and also have a quick breakfast at home. And buying wine or Aperol spritz at the grocery store is literally a fraction, $3 euros for a 6 pack of Aperol spritz! We would also pack lunches too to bring with us to eat on the go. 

And it’s nice staying in an area and feeling like a local for a week.

We stayed in Ripa at this Airbnb and really liked it. We originally booked for Trastevere and the guy cancelled on us last minute because his friends wanted to stay longer (insert eye roll) so luckily the customer service at Airbnb helped us find another apartment which was convenient too in Ripa by the Colosseum and it was only a 15-minute walk to Trastevere. plus more local stores and a good gelato place on the block. You can use this code to get $50 off your first booking!

What to Know About Visiting Rome

• Grab a bus ticket and use transit
• Save money and take the train into the city from the Airport, will save you at least $80 euros!
• If you want to take photos with no-one in them, then you have to get up at the crack of dawn
• Don’t sit on the Spanish Steps, it is now illegal
• Pre-purchase tickets to monuments if you can, it saves you hours in-line
• Walk around as much as possible, you can stumble upon magical little corners of the city, plus you work off all those carbs hahaIs Rome on your bucket list? I can’t wait to start checking off the places on my travel bucket list!