There’s more to do and see in Rome than possible to enjoy in just one lifetime. This we were told on our first visit to the eternal city and even after spending quite some time in the Italian capital, we feel we have barely scraped the surface.
That being said, there is far more to see and do in Rome than the famous tourist attractions, which can often be busy. In fact, it is these less touristy attractions that make the city special and are more often than not astoundingly empty. So what should you do when in Rome?
Obvious big ones
Obviously, Rome’s biggest draws are still mostly worth seeing. The Colosseum is of course remarkable and well worth the queue (don’t listen to touts outside telling you the queue will be hours long, even if it looks long it moves pretty quickly), and they offer combined tickets so you can also visit the forum opposite. Even if you don’t go inside, it’s a must-see for any trip to Rome, with the nearby arch and forum also being worth it.
Colosseum
Another major is St Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican City in general, including the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museum. If you do visit, we recommend booking a guide to skip the queue as the queues here are no joke. It’s expensive and if you don’t fancy paying the price, don’t worry, there are many more free and much less touristy churches and basilicas in Rome that we personally prefer. It is still worth heading to St Peter’s Square for a sense of history.
St Peter's Square
Other worthwhile popular attractions include the Pantheon (a Roman temple now Catholic church built in 125 AD), Nicola Salvi’s Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona (where a statue recoils at a church built by a rival architect) and the nearby churches, the Centro Storico, Trajan’s Column and the Palatine Hill (the birthplace of Roman civilisation).
The Pantheon
Many will want to visit the Spanish Steps, but in all honesty, it’s overly touristy and not a great representation of what makes the city special. If in the area, do however take a look at Zuccari Palace’s famous monster-mouth door.
Recoiling in horror?
Trevi Fountain
So where should you visit? To make things easier, we’ve divided this into interesting places and museums, Roman ruins, and religious buildings.
Interesting places and museums
Although this is certainly getting more popular so there may be a bit of a queue, you can peek through the Aventine Keyhole at the Priory of the Knights of Malta and see St Peter’s Basilica framed perfectly in the middle. The nearby Giardino degli Aranci is also one of the best places to watch the sun set in Rome.
Giardino degli Aranci
Janiculum Terrace is also another good spot for sunsets with the Mausoleo Ossario Garibaldino and Villa Doria Pamphili relatively nearby. This area is also close to Trastevere, one of our favourite areas of Rome and a great place to soak int the atmosphere over a gelato or coffee.
Trastevere
Another fascinating thing to do that’s even better than visiting St Peter’s itself is heading to Via Nicollo Picollomini (quite a way out of the centre) and experiencing a remarkable optical illusion where the closer you walk to St Peter’s, the further away it looks.
While the aforementioned Centro Storico is very impressive, with the likes of the Altar of the Fatherland and Trajan’s Column looming overhead, there’s plenty more to see that could be overlooked in this area. One such place is Palazzo Venezia and its piazza, the balcony of which was used by Mussolini for many speeches, including the declaration of war on the UK.
Ostiense
We also recommend visiting Ostiense for its street art, the EUR (the site for the proposed 1942 world fair, filled with fascinating architecture), the Protestant Cemetery (home to the graves of Keats and Shelley), the Palazzo del Quirinale (one of the Italian president’s official residences), the Mouth of Truth of Roman Holiday fame (it’s likely an ancient Roman manhole cover, once believed to be cursed), the free Vatican museum and our favourite museum in the world: Centrale Montemartini Museum in Ostiense.
This museum is in the first electricity plant in the city and houses an impressive collection of Roman artefacts, from mosaics to enormous statues, moved for protection during the Second World War and leading to an interesting contrast between the modern and ancient worlds.
Centrale Montemartini Museum
Roman ruins
There are few cities in the world that come close to the sense of history you get in Rome, with impressive ruins like the Pantheon and Colosseum to remind you of the majesty of the ancient city. However, there’s a lot more out there than just the Colosseum. One of the biggest marvels is the Via Appia, built in 264 BC and connecting Rome to Brindisi right on the heel of Italy’s boot over 500 kilometres away.
Centro Storico
Via Appia and the Mausoleum of Cecilia Metella
Amble for a couple of hours along the route and it’ll take you past the city’s ancient Aurelian Walls (275 AD), the Arch of Drusus (216 AD), the Circus Maxentius (312 AD, impressive although not as old as the Circus Maximus), the Villa of the Quintilii and the Mausoleum of Cecilia Metella (the daughter of a well-connected Roman consul, built in the 1st century BC).
Pyramid of Cestius
Also well worth a visit is the Baths of Caracalla (a colossal bath complex, the second largest in the city) and the Pyramid of Cestius (built in 12 BC as the tomb of a Roman senator and general, who likely saw the design on campaigns in Numidia), which is arguably one of the most impressive sights in the city. The Mausoleum of Augustus and nearby Ara Pacis are also spectacular, while Castel Sant'Angelo (the modified former Mausoleum of Hadrian and once the tallest building in Rome) and its bridge over the Tiber are highly recommended.
Castel Sant Angelo
Keep your eyes peeled around the city and see if you can find the Cloaca Maxima (the remnants of a Roman sewer flowing into the Tiber), the Palazzo Naidi Roman Baths (visible if head into the hotel’s basement, act like you belong and you’ll be fine), the fantastically preserved Temple of Hercules Victor and the Arch of Gallienus, nestled between two much newer buildings. Of course, we also highly recommend a visit to Torre Argentina, which is the site of an ancient forum and where Caesar was assassinated. It is now a cat sanctuary with loving staff looking after the city’s feline population.
Torre Argentina
It’s not just Roman ruins to keep an eye out for, Rome is also home to eight ancient Egyptian obelisks, taken up the Nile some 2,000 years ago. Particularly impressive are the ones in Piazza del Poppolo and Piazza della Rotunda.
Ancient Egypt via Ancient Rome
Religious buildings
Rome is filled with churches, basilicas and cathedrals, each with a story to tell. However, many visitors to the city just visit St Peter’s, which is impressive, but in our opinion, is not as impressive as many of the other free-to-visit and far less visited religious buildings in the city. So which ones should you go to?
St Paul Outside the Walls
St Paul Outside the Walls
To begin, there are four major basilicas in Rome (well, in the world actually, just all of them are in Rome), with St Peter’s being one of them and the others all being well worth a visit. Our favourite is St Paul Outside the Walls, built over the burial place of St Paul and a stunning building with pictures of every single pope ever inside. The Archbasilica of St John Lateran and the Basilica of St Mary Major are the others and are both very impressive buildings.
Church of St Catherine Martyr
Not too far from St Peter’s is the Church of St Catherine Martyr, built only in 2006. However, it is the first Orthodox church in Rome to be built since 1054 and ultimately a sign of bridging the gaps between Christianity in the East and West, not to mention a fascinating building.
Other worthwhile churches include the Chiesa di San Luigi dei Francesi (filled with Caravaggio masterpieces), the Jesuit Church of Saint Ignazio and its trick dome ceiling, the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin (not only a beautiful building, but also the location of the Mouth of Truth), the stunning Basilica of Our Lady in Trastevere, the Santa Francesca Romana (the prints of St Peter and St Paul kneeling are visible, along with the skeleton of Santa Francesca), the Santa Maria della Concezione Crypts (decorated with the bones of thousands of Capuchin friars), St Paul’s Within the Walls (the first protestant church to be built in Rome, a beautiful building built in 1880), the unusual St Ivo at the Sapienza (a baroque masterpiece) and the Basilica of St Mary of the Angels and the Martyrs (built inside the ruins of the Baths of Diocletian, following a design by Michelangelo; it is huge, among the most impressive buildings in the city and also filled with a mix of art and sculpture styles).
St Ivo all Sapeinza
If you have time and are in the Aventine Hill area, head for the Basilica of Santa Sabina, another one of our favourites, built in 432 AD and largely unchanged since. It portrays one of the earliest surviving depictions of the Crucifixion of Christ, while it also has depictions of Jesus and his disciples wearing togas.
Basilica of Santa Sabina
Those with a strong stomach should go to Santo Stefano Rotondo, built in the 5th century and reportedly Charles Dickens’ least favourite church due to the rather vivid depictions of torture and execution painted on the walls. The Great Synagogue of Rome, the largest in the city, is also worth a visit, a sign of the ancient Jewish presence in the city, having an unmistakable impact on its development.
More tips and when to go
Rome is a fantastic city and has a great deal to offer people, naturally leading to a large number of tourists and unfortunately touts and hawkers. In our experience, they only seem to hang out in the very touristy areas and the best thing to do is simply to ignore them and walk away. If someone puts a rose or something in your hand (this happens by the Spanish Steps), then just drop it and walk away to one of the many better and non-touristy parts of the city.
As it also gets crowded, it’s best to visit in non-peak times, such as from January to March (which is also when the famous artichokes are in season), for the best experience. Roman transport infrastructure is also a little difficult to work out and while there is a metro system that takes you to most of the big sites, it can be a little less than what you’d expect for a city of its size (still much better than what we get in Cardiff).
There are many buses, but you will need to buy your bus tickets from a news agent, café, tobacconist or metro station. Taxis can be relatively expensive but are safe and are our favourite way of getting around conveniently.
To read more about Rome and its food, click here.
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