When in Rome||My Guide to Rome
So if you have been a follower recently of the blog you will hopefully know I have just spent a long weekend in Rome. Well here I am to tell you all about the trip and what I got up to on my four day visit. It was a perfect way to celebrate turning 25 and certainly memorable. Here is my guide to visiting Rome.
So once we had explored out hotel and unpacked a few things we thought we would get ready for the evening and then we decided to venture outside to see what the streets of Rome had to offer us food and drink wise.
The first place we found was the Hard Rock Cafe. It seems to be a little running joke now that on every trip or holiday we go to we ALWAYS find a Hard Rock Cafe- They seem to be everywhere! Even though I could probably already tell you their entire cocktail menu I thought I had better try something new. So opted for a few fruity signature ones.
After we had a few drinks in the Hard Rock Cafe we then headed to a place called T-Bone Station. T-Bone Station is an American Steakhouse and Grill restaurant chain. There are a few located throughout Rome. (Via Francesco Crispi, Via Flaminia Vecchia, Via di Santa Dorotea & Via Vittoria Colonna) The restaurant we visted was on Via Francesco Crispi. It had a very casual and laid back atmosphere, somewhere I wouldn't really call 'Fine Dining' all though I couldn't complain about my steak it was cooked to perfection. I have been very lucky enough to have eaten in some of the best steak restaurants in the world and I think this one is definitely up there with the best of them.
If you are in Rome I think you should definitely consider checking this place out especially if you are with friends. It is a great laid back restaurant to bring friends and have a few cocktails- The Chocolate Brownie is to die for as well!
We went back to our hotel that night very happy and very full, but ready for an early day of sight seeing.
-Day 2-
As the Trevi Fountain was closed off we decided
to visit the Piazza del Popolo and the surrounding streets instead. I must admit now I was really looking forward to seeing the Trevi Fountain in all its glory, but I guess that is now another good excuse to come back to Rome.
After taking the scenic route we decided to do a spot of shopping on Via del Corso. One of Rome's most famous shopping streets. The street is packed full of all sorts of shops. Some Italian boutiques and some well known high streets brands like H&M, Mango, Zara, Footlocker they also have a Sephora (which of course I spent hours in). This is one of the main shopping areas for tourists so expect it to be very very busy during the day, it is also a very long and narrow road so I recommend stopping for a drink or a bite to eat during your trip as well.
After we had done a spot of shopping and eating/drinking we decided to quickly nip back to the hotel to offload all our shopping. By this point it was very late afternoon and we were hours away from losing daylight completely, so we quickly jumped in a taxi to The Vatican City so we could get a couple of pictures before it got too dark- lucky it was only a short 20 minute cab journey from our hotel.
We were dropped off right outside St Peters Square which is the main square home to the amazing and breath taking St Peters Basilica. Even though I am in no way religious my visit was still very special and I remember seeing it for the first time, it is a day I will never forget. For anyone who has been you will understand just how big and grand it is to look at, and the nearer you get to it the grander it gets.
Here's a few photos I got while at St Peters Square...
Unfortunately for us we got there to late to get inside as it was closed, I know that if we had more time and a few extra days in Rome we would definitely had queued up to go in and have a look. We really wanted to visit the Sistine Chapel as well but again we were rushed for time and the queues were too long, we spoke to one couple who told us they had queued for 5 hours to get inside!!
If you are planning to visit and want to get inside I would definitely recommend this website. You can book early access to the Sistine Chapel & The Vatican Museums which allow you to beat the 5 hour + queues. (Please note this is an early tour, you will gain access before it is open to the public so plan accordingly.)
-Day 3-
We had already bought our tickets to get inside before arriving in Rome. I found this website here to be the most useful when booking our tickets. I purchased our entry tickets and printed them off at home. It also included a queue jump so we didn't have to stand in the long queues for hours on end.
Here's some photos I took on our visit inside...
We had an amazing time visiting the Colosseum, it is somewhere I have always wanted to visit since I was little and saw a photo of it in a book. I can't really believe I finally got to visit it myself and on my birthday of all times! It really was a very memorable afternoon that day.
Once we had a browse about there we then headed to take a few photos of the Arco di Constantino then the Palatino and then finally the Circo Massimo. They were also some very amazing sites to see. Here's the photos we took there.
After our fun filled day out looking at the old ruins we then decided to book into a nice restaurant to celebrate my birthday in style, And in style we certainly did celebrate.
We then found a lovely jazz bar and ended up loving it so much in there we stayed till closing. The bar was called Elegance Cafe and can be found on Via Vittorio Veneto. The bar staff and waiters were very lovely and made our evening very special. They sent me complimentary birthday cocktails and even bought me a out a brownie dessert with a little candle on top for my birthday. They then got the whole restaurant to sing Happy Birthday to me which I thought was a really lovely gesture and certainly made my evening even more special than it already was.
-Day 4-
Day 4 (Monday 19th October) was the day of my official birthday! Unfortunately we awoke to a couple of sore heads, turns out the complimentary cocktails weren't so complimentary the morning after. However I had a fantastic evening seeing in my Birthday so didn't mind the hangover too much.
As we had to be out the hotel by 12pm we decided to make the most of our time left until we had to leave for the airport. We decided to head back to the centre to grab some lunch. We found a traditional Italian Pizzeria to get out last Pizza fix. I also had a cheeky couple of scoops of Gelato which was delicious too.
After our last lovely lunch we then got some last little sights in before heading back to our hotel to pick up our luggage and head to the airport again.
Here's some more sights we saw on our last day...
So that brings me to the end of my short but very sweet Birthday celebrations in Rome. It was one unforgettable experience from start to finish. I am very happy to have finally ticked it off my bucket list.
If you are going to Rome any time soon here are my top 5 recommendations of things to see/do there...
1. Colosseum
2. St Peters Square/ St Peters Basilica
3.The Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel
4. Shopping on Via del Corso
5. Piazza del Popolo
What are some of your recommendations in Rome?
-Day 1-
We awoke nice and early and caught a flight from London Gatwick to Rome Fiumicino Airport . The flight was at 9:45 we were originally told it would take approx 2 hours 20 mins to get there but luckily for us it only took 1 hour 55 in the end.
We flew with Vueling a Spanish budget Airline. This was our second time flying with them (we also flew with them to Barcelona back in April). Once again we had no issues with the airline both on the way to Rome and coming home. I would highly recommend Vueling as an airline over both Easy Jet and Ryan Air. They even let you take 2 pieces of hand luggage and both times we have flown with them they have never once checked our bag weight, so that's another plus!
Once we got there we checked into our hotel which was about a 40 minute cab journey from the airport. The hotel we stayed in was called ' Hotel Splendide Royal' Roma and was situated on Via Di Porta Pinciana. (One thing to note in Rome all the streets start with Via before the street name- yes it does get confusing when following the maps) The hotel was absolutely beautiful and they made our stay extra special. We had champagne on arrival and the staff really couldn't do any more for us. I especially loved the really lovely concierge men they were very helpful and the perfect gentlemen holding doors open and calling us taxi's- They were well worth the tips we gave them.
So once we had explored out hotel and unpacked a few things we thought we would get ready for the evening and then we decided to venture outside to see what the streets of Rome had to offer us food and drink wise.
The first place we found was the Hard Rock Cafe. It seems to be a little running joke now that on every trip or holiday we go to we ALWAYS find a Hard Rock Cafe- They seem to be everywhere! Even though I could probably already tell you their entire cocktail menu I thought I had better try something new. So opted for a few fruity signature ones.
After we had a few drinks in the Hard Rock Cafe we then headed to a place called T-Bone Station. T-Bone Station is an American Steakhouse and Grill restaurant chain. There are a few located throughout Rome. (Via Francesco Crispi, Via Flaminia Vecchia, Via di Santa Dorotea & Via Vittoria Colonna) The restaurant we visted was on Via Francesco Crispi. It had a very casual and laid back atmosphere, somewhere I wouldn't really call 'Fine Dining' all though I couldn't complain about my steak it was cooked to perfection. I have been very lucky enough to have eaten in some of the best steak restaurants in the world and I think this one is definitely up there with the best of them.
If you are in Rome I think you should definitely consider checking this place out especially if you are with friends. It is a great laid back restaurant to bring friends and have a few cocktails- The Chocolate Brownie is to die for as well!
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| Photo Credit: Trip Advisor |
We went back to our hotel that night very happy and very full, but ready for an early day of sight seeing.
-Day 2-
So this was our first proper day exploring the city. Our hotel was about a 5 minute walk on foot from the Spanish Steps, so we headed to this area first.
Unfortunately a couple of the monuments and tourist sites are closed to the public for refurbishment. This is something we were completely unaware about when we got here. So unfortunately we couldn't get anywhere near the Trevi Fountain or get photos of it as was barricaded off from the public. This was also the case for the Spanish Steps on the day we decided to visit (seen in first photo below). We did come back the day we were due to leave and lucky it looked like the steps had been opened so here's a quick snap I got of that before I left- just a shame we didn't have much time to sit about on them.
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| Spanish Steps Day 1 when closed |
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| Spanish Steps day 4 when open |
to visit the Piazza del Popolo and the surrounding streets instead. I must admit now I was really looking forward to seeing the Trevi Fountain in all its glory, but I guess that is now another good excuse to come back to Rome.
After taking the scenic route we decided to do a spot of shopping on Via del Corso. One of Rome's most famous shopping streets. The street is packed full of all sorts of shops. Some Italian boutiques and some well known high streets brands like H&M, Mango, Zara, Footlocker they also have a Sephora (which of course I spent hours in). This is one of the main shopping areas for tourists so expect it to be very very busy during the day, it is also a very long and narrow road so I recommend stopping for a drink or a bite to eat during your trip as well.
After we had done a spot of shopping and eating/drinking we decided to quickly nip back to the hotel to offload all our shopping. By this point it was very late afternoon and we were hours away from losing daylight completely, so we quickly jumped in a taxi to The Vatican City so we could get a couple of pictures before it got too dark- lucky it was only a short 20 minute cab journey from our hotel.
We were dropped off right outside St Peters Square which is the main square home to the amazing and breath taking St Peters Basilica. Even though I am in no way religious my visit was still very special and I remember seeing it for the first time, it is a day I will never forget. For anyone who has been you will understand just how big and grand it is to look at, and the nearer you get to it the grander it gets.
Here's a few photos I got while at St Peters Square...
Unfortunately for us we got there to late to get inside as it was closed, I know that if we had more time and a few extra days in Rome we would definitely had queued up to go in and have a look. We really wanted to visit the Sistine Chapel as well but again we were rushed for time and the queues were too long, we spoke to one couple who told us they had queued for 5 hours to get inside!!
If you are planning to visit and want to get inside I would definitely recommend this website. You can book early access to the Sistine Chapel & The Vatican Museums which allow you to beat the 5 hour + queues. (Please note this is an early tour, you will gain access before it is open to the public so plan accordingly.)
-Day 3-
Day 3 marked our final full day in Rome, and the day we chose to celebrate my birthday. We dedicated this whole day to the Colosseum and surrounding area, and it was by far my most favourite day of the entire trip! We took a taxi to the Colosseum which was only about 10/15 minutes from the hotel. (it is about a 40 minute walk so not that near really) We were dropped off outside and the first thing you notice is the Colosseum itself. It is pretty hard not to notice it as it takes up most of your view in every direction. Here's some of the photos I took here...
We had already bought our tickets to get inside before arriving in Rome. I found this website here to be the most useful when booking our tickets. I purchased our entry tickets and printed them off at home. It also included a queue jump so we didn't have to stand in the long queues for hours on end.
Here's some photos I took on our visit inside...
We had an amazing time visiting the Colosseum, it is somewhere I have always wanted to visit since I was little and saw a photo of it in a book. I can't really believe I finally got to visit it myself and on my birthday of all times! It really was a very memorable afternoon that day.
Once we had a browse about there we then headed to take a few photos of the Arco di Constantino then the Palatino and then finally the Circo Massimo. They were also some very amazing sites to see. Here's the photos we took there.
After our fun filled day out looking at the old ruins we then decided to book into a nice restaurant to celebrate my birthday in style, And in style we certainly did celebrate.
We then found a lovely jazz bar and ended up loving it so much in there we stayed till closing. The bar was called Elegance Cafe and can be found on Via Vittorio Veneto. The bar staff and waiters were very lovely and made our evening very special. They sent me complimentary birthday cocktails and even bought me a out a brownie dessert with a little candle on top for my birthday. They then got the whole restaurant to sing Happy Birthday to me which I thought was a really lovely gesture and certainly made my evening even more special than it already was.
-Day 4-
Day 4 (Monday 19th October) was the day of my official birthday! Unfortunately we awoke to a couple of sore heads, turns out the complimentary cocktails weren't so complimentary the morning after. However I had a fantastic evening seeing in my Birthday so didn't mind the hangover too much.
As we had to be out the hotel by 12pm we decided to make the most of our time left until we had to leave for the airport. We decided to head back to the centre to grab some lunch. We found a traditional Italian Pizzeria to get out last Pizza fix. I also had a cheeky couple of scoops of Gelato which was delicious too.
After our last lovely lunch we then got some last little sights in before heading back to our hotel to pick up our luggage and head to the airport again.
Here's some more sights we saw on our last day...
So that brings me to the end of my short but very sweet Birthday celebrations in Rome. It was one unforgettable experience from start to finish. I am very happy to have finally ticked it off my bucket list.
If you are going to Rome any time soon here are my top 5 recommendations of things to see/do there...
1. Colosseum
2. St Peters Square/ St Peters Basilica
3.The Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel
4. Shopping on Via del Corso
5. Piazza del Popolo
What are some of your recommendations in Rome?
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