The old saying Rome wasn’t built in a day… well that’s a true saying in this beautiful city. Rome is full of outstanding architecture from ruins to beautiful buildings. You certainly need a couple of days just to fully explore its best features.

Getting into Rome and where we stayed.

Once you arrive at Rome airport its really easy to get a taxi. All taxis have a flat rate of 50 Euro for a Taxi to the centre of Rome. We stayed right near the Colosseum at the Mercure Roma Centro Colosseo. This was a lovely hotel, and had a lovely rooftop bar and pool with a view. So once we arrived we set off to explore.

Let the Sightseeing commence…

The Colosseum was the highlight for me in Rome. You can certainly see why its an iconic feature in Rome. It attracts 6 million visitors per year so this is on landmark not to be missed. It’s a must to see it both during day and night time as it becomes quite magical at night time.

We chose to do a self guided tour but there were plenty of options for guided tours as well. We also went early to avoid some of the crowds. We pre booked our tickets which also included going on to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill as part of the ticket price.

Other tourist attractions to visit

There are so many truly magnificent buildings to visit in Rome, some of the most famous landmarks include, Spanish Steps, Fountain de Trevi, Pantheon, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, Altar of the Fatherland and the Vatican.

Eat like an Italian and learn to cook like one too!

The food is stunning in Rome and the pizza’s and pasta’s are simply the best in Rome. We didn’t book anywhere for lunch or dinner but we did avoid restaurants and cafes directly near the tourist attractions as they are overpriced and we found the ones slightly further away were friendly.

Another favourite thing we did in Rome was to book a Pizza and Gelato making class. This was located in the centre of Rome near Piazza Navona. It’s a class with an Italian chef and there was a small group of 10 people. We made gelato and pizza from scratch and the pizza was the best I had ever tasted. We were given the recipes to recreate the pizza and gelato back at home. I booked this through ‘Walks inside Rome’ via Viator and there are other options to make pasta instead of pizza.

A few Tips for Rome

• Book the attractions you really want to see to avoid disappointment.
• Visit restaurants that are a street or two away from the main attractions to get better value and service.
• If you love your coffee don’t order a latte or cappuccino after noon. Its coffee etiquette in Rome to only drink these in the morning.
• However gelato is another matter and these can be enjoyed anytime throughout the day. Gelato flavours in Rome are delicious so don’t leave Rome without trying one.