Our guide to the Italian capital: how we spent 4 days in Rome

We travelled to Rome from the 28th June to the 2nd July 2022. This trip was a bargain and cost us £300pp for flights and accommodation. The city itself is home to historical sites, beautiful plazas and world class restaurants serving fresh pasta and pizza. If you love to shop, the city is known for luxury designer stores such as Gucci, Prada and YSL. There is so much to do in this astonishing city that combines the historical and contemporary.

This is how we spent our four days.

Day 1: Arrival & stroll around the Piazza di Spagna

When we finally got our passport stamped and walked out the airport, we were hit with the intense heat. Italy was in the middle of a heatwave, it was 40 degrees and our transport from Ciampino to our hotel resembled a sweat bus. There was no working air conditioning which made the journey absolute hell.

We arrived at our accommodation at around 5pm and were met by the nicest guy. After showing us to our room, he gave us a map of the city and recommendations of things to see, do and places to eat. As we were hungry and in need of a nice cold beer, we decided to head to the Piazza di Spagna. Besides the famous Spanish Steps, there are some great restaurants and bars in this area.

After shrugging off all the men trying to sell Roses in the street, we harnessed our inner tourist and began to take photos.

Following the photoshoot, we headed down one of the side streets in search of some beers and food in which we stumbled across Sugo D’oro, a lovely little place. After devouring some pizza and a few drinks, we headed back to our hotel for some sleep, ready to commence our Roman adventure the next day.

Day 2: Trevi Fountain, Piazza Venezia & Piazza Navona.

The day began with a substantial breakfast at our hotel: Croissants, bread, cake and a cappuccino. This set us up for a day of exploration. Whist we are away, we love to spend a day simply stumbling across landmarks. This allows us to get to know where everything is located. We found the Trevi Fountain, Piazza Venezia, Pantheon and the Piazza Navona.

Trevi Fountain

The Trevi Fountain is the largest and most impressive fountain in Rome and stands at approximately 80ft high and 160ft wide. In Italian, the words tre and vie (Trevi) mean three roads, and this fountain is located at a crossroad between three major roads. However, be sure to get here relatively early as it gets really busy during the day and even late in the night.

Don’t forget to throw a coin into the fountain! This is a superstitious practice that derives from ancient Rome. If you stand with your back to the fountain and throw a coin into it over your left shoulder using your right arm, the gods will grant you safe passage.

Piazza Venezia

The Piazza Venezia is located at the geographical centre of the city. This was the most beautiful place we came across whilst in Rome. It’s located at the end of Via dei Fori Imperiale, which leads to the colosseum. You can take in the Altare della Patria, which was built to commemorate Vittorio Emanuele II. The views you can see here are simply breathtaking. Additionally, if you are a history or art lover, you can visit the Capitoline museums located here.

If you fancy some refreshments, head through the Altare della Patria and there is a lovely rooftop cafe/bar. This was undoubtably one of our favourite places to unwind due to the amazing views of the Colosseum.

Pantheon

After relaxing with a drink in hand, we came across the Pantheon, located in the Piazza Rotonda. Although we didn’t go inside due to the huge queues, this place looked spectacular from the outside. it is an ancient place of worship from the second century and is still used as a catholic church to this day. If you want to take a look inside, make sure you book in advance.

Piazza Navona

After walking aimlessly for approximately 15 minutes, we unexpectedly found the Piazza Navona. This space was originally occupied by the Stadium of Domitian, built in 80AD by Emperor Titus Flavius Domitianus. From the 15th century it has been declared a public square, and it is beautiful, albeit, not as beautiful as the Piazza Venezia. The three fountains: Fontana de Moro, Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, Fontana del Nettuno, as well as the architectural splendor of the Sant’Agnese Church makes this place well worth a visit.

All this exploring had worked up quite an appetite so we decided to head out to a restaurant we had walked by during the day for some food. We both devoured an amazing rigatoni carbonara at Baccano, paired with a lovely rose wine and limoncello.

Day 3: Vatican City

We prebooked our visit to the Vatican museum and gardens through Musement (approx. £48pp) which meant that our third day was spent in the smallest independent country in the world. But, before embarking on our day in the Vatican, Hannah couldn’t resist a look around one of the largest Zara store in the world.

As you can probably tell, we love to walk, simply because you stumble across things you wouldn’t normally see if you were to use public transport. It took us about an hour to get to the Vatican from our hotel, but we did stop by the Rio Tiber for a drink and to take some photos of the beautiful scenery.

We got to the Vatican Museums a little too early so we headed to Cafe Vaticano for a pizza and a drink as we were a little hungry. It was one of the best pizzas we ate whilst being in Rome.

The Vatican museum was astonishing, it ended with a walk through the Sistine Chapel which is sensational. When you exit the museum, you are led into some the most pristine gardens. After relaxing in the gardens, we decided to head to St Peters Square and into the largest church in the world, St Peters Basilica. This place was spectacular, especially the views from the top of the dome climb.

To find out more about our time in the Vatican, check out our Vatican City blog.

After this long day, we headed back to the Piazza di Spagna to try yet another restaurant we saw on our walk. Angie’s Roma served the freshest pasta anywhere in Rome. The spaghetti alla pomodoro and carbonara were delectable. Simple food cooked really well.

Day 4: Colosseum & Roman Forum

Its safe to say we saved the best till last. We booked entry to the colosseum through GetYourGuide, which cost us approximately £29.50 each. This also included entry into the Roman Forum.

Colosseum

The colosseum is the largest ever built and the largest still standing despite being hit by an earthquake in 1349 which caused significant damage. This place used to be an entertainment venue for the Ancient Romans, hosting events such as gladiator battles and executions. Its no wonder this place is one of the seven wonders of the world, its a sight to behold, taking you on a journey through time. There’s nothing more to say about this fantastic structure as you’ve just got to experience it for yourself!

Although you may see engravings of names on the walls, it’s actually forbidden to do this and is punishable by a fine of 1000-3000 Euros. Moreover, outside the colosseum there are many scams. One of which being men dressed up as gladiators who will charge for photos. As they don’t speak, we fell for this and had to pay around £10 for one photo.

Roman Forum

The Roman Forum was the epicenter of day-to-day life in Ancient Rome. There are many ruins to explore here, from important governmental buildings such as the Senate, to impressive temples and arches. We spent a good few hours walking around the old city. There was so much to uncover such as the Arch of Constantine, temple of Venus and Rome, Arch of Titus, Basilica of Maxentius among many other important historical landmarks.

After walking around the Roman Forum, it was time for our Roman getaway to come to an end as we hopped in a taxi to the airport to board the 11pm flight back to Manchester. We left with many reasons to go return in the future. Entering the Parthenon, checking out more restaurants and going shopping are definitely on our next Rome itinerary.