Rome Travel Guide

Hey y’all! We are finally back from our big trip to Italy! I’m so excited to share our trip with you guys and all of the details!

We have been planning this trip for months and for those that don’t follow me on Instagram stories we ALMOST didn’t make it to Italy right as we were about to board the plane. We flew to Boston to catch our international flight to Rome. We had an 8 or 9 hour layover so we left the airport to explore Boston for a few hours instead of sitting in the airport ALL day. When we got back to the airport to check in and the lady at the desk checks my passport and everything was good, then she looked at Allens’ and her face turns white. I’m not kidding I will never forget the look on her face when she told us “you can’t go to Italy your passport expires in 3 months”. We were like WHAT are you talking about?! We knew Allen’s passport expired in a few months but we just assumed it was no big deal because it expired after we got back home, just like a drivers license ya know? Apparently to travel to most European countries now you have to have your passport renewed 6 months BEFORE it expires to even enter the country. We had no idea. So we left the airport in a panic thinking the whole trip was ruined and cancelled because it typically takes weeks or months to renew your passport.  Long story short, Boston is one of the 10 or so locations in the U.S. that has a passport agency located in the city. We got a hotel and made an appointment with the passport agency to see if we could get it renewed quickly, but again we had no idea what would happen! The next morning Allen went to try to get it renewed and they ended up renewing it within 5 hours! Delta got us on the next flight to Rome and we ended up only missing 24 hours of our trip! God is good and I’m so thankful that it all worked out! With that being said if you are traveling out of the country double check your passport and make sure it doesn’t expire within 6 months! Now on to the details of our first stop in Italy, ROME! 

Where We Stayed 

Hotel Quirinale – I would highly recommend this hotel if you are visiting Rome! Both the room and bathroom were spacious and clean! It was a nice hotel, conveniently located, and had a free breakfast every day which was really nice! We would definitely stay here again! 

 

Where to Eat

• Mimi E Coco– this was our FAVORITE place for dinner in Rome! It is a tiny restaurant and we had to wait a little bit but it was so worth it! You must order the pesto and prosciutto flatbread it was life changing haha! 

• Nannarella– This was another favorite place we visited in the neighborhood of Rome called “Trestivare”. It is more of a “hipster” area located on the other side of the river. There are a lot of fun places and wine bars for a younger crowd. Nannarella had a fun patio and was very charming! The food was delish too! 

• Ristorante Al 34– Another place we had dinner at that was very good located near the Spanish Steps! Get the meatballs they were so good! 
• Garden Roof Trevi– A small rooftop bar overlooking the Trevi Fountain! Such a charming place and even gave us free bruschetta with our drink! 

• Il Palezetto – A rooftop bar/restaurant overlooking the Spanish Steps! We had pizza and a glass of wine for an afternoon snack and it had the best views! 

What to Do

What I love about Rome is you literally can’t run out of things to do! There is so much to do and see. We were supposed to be there for 5 nights but with our passport mishap we stayed 4 which still felt like plenty! We booked ALL of our tours in each city through the company called Viator. Every tour was great, well organized, and I would highly recommend all of them! What I loved about having tours for some of the main sites is that you learn so much more history and cool things about each place than you would if you just visited on your own. You might walk past a statue and think “oh that’s cool” but when your tour guide tells you exactly how old it is, the meaning behind it, etc. it is just a lot more meaningful so I definitely suggest booking some tours for some of the main things to see! There are essentially 3 lines at every main site: “general admission”, “skip the line”, and “guided tour”. The guided tours are always the shortest and we never had to wait long at all! 

• The Vatican– This was one of my favorite places to visit in Rome. My grandparents told us if we book any tour at all if HAS to be at the Vatican because the line and wait to get in gets crazy and to book the earliest tour that you can. We booked a morning tour and it included a breakfast inside the Vatican, how cool is that?! Since this was one of the first tours of the day we didn’t have any wait and it wasn’t crowded walking around inside the Vatican. Our tour guide was so informative and we loved it! By the time we left it was starting to get PACKED and it was a 2-3 hour wait just to get in. So biggest tip is to book a morning tour I promise you won’t regret it! Allen and I couldn’t get over how grand and huge St. Peter’s Basicilica was inside it is truly breathtaking. You can also walk up to the top of the dome and get the best view ever of the city! 
  • Tips: Wear comfy shoes you will be walking ALL day.
  • You can’t show your shoulders or knees. Make sure if you wear a dress or skirt that it covers your knees and that you don’t wear a tank top! Open toed shoes are fine though! 

• Trevi Fountain – Our hotel was within walking distance of the Trevi fountain and it was beautiful but packed! Make sure you see it during the day and then again lit up at night! Early in the morning is when it is less crowded! 

• The Pantheon– such a cool place to visit and learn about! We got gelato quite a few times and sat outside of it at night! 

• The Colosseum – We went on a tour of the Colosseum and the ancient Roman ruins and it was so neat to learn about. Something I always wanted to see! 

• Borghese Gallery – The Borghese Gallery is an ancient villa that houses a ton of famous paintings and sculptures in Rome. There’s also a beautiful garden to walk around and is definitely worth visiting.

• Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore– Another famous and beautiful church in Rome. 
• The Mamertine Prison– This museum didn’t have a lot to see but the main point of going is that you can see the actual cell where both Peter and Paul were imprisoned in while they were each in Rome. Pretty unreal! 
• WALK AROUND – No matter where you walk to you’ll constantly stumble across beautiful buildings, adorable coffee shops, restaurants and churches. 

 

If you are heading there and have any questions at all, feel free to email me!  I am no expert, but I would love to help you out in any way I can! Florence, Venice, and Positano travel guides will be coming SOON!