This Fall I spent a week in the 2,773 year old Eternal City. As we all know, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and it definitely isn’t toured in one either. There is honestly an overwhelming amount of must see spots in Rome. If we are looking at baseline stats here, Modern Rome has 280 fountains and more than 900 churches. That’s absurd.
My desire to visit Rome started around the same time as most other people born in the 90s… the Lizzie McGuire movie. In fact, when I told my best friend that I was visiting Rome, her only response back was… PAOLO! After getting my first glimpse of Rome through the eyes of Disney, I continued my obsession through my interest in archeology. One of the first job occupations I ever dreamt of being wasn’t a princess or a doctor, it was an archeologist. I wanted to dig through the dirt, uncover history and walk through the past. Naturally, Rome’s long and well documented history became an increasing interest for me. As I got older I shifted away from my archeologist passions, but continued to study Roman history in college through history classes focused on the birth and death of Rome. I think those classes are where my passion for Roman history burnt out, but after having to memorize speeches from Cicero and passages from Livy… can you really blame me?
Fast forward to today and my most recent trip to Rome. My love for the city and Roman history has been rejuvenated! Each morning I biked around the city listening to Dan Carlen’s Hardcore History. I saw the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum while listening to the Rick Steve’s walking tours. I even booked a VIP early morning tour to see the Sistine Chapel before it opened! I am so happy with how much of Rome I got to see and I feel like my brain is overflowing with fun history facts.
I loved my week in Rome and after throwing three coins in the Trevi Fountain, I expect to go back.
I loved my Airbnb
I stayed in an Airbnb outside of the city center in an area called the Coppedè district. This district is referred to as “the secret neighborhood of Rome” because it is difficult to reach my public transportation and doesn’t have any typical tourist attractions. However, those who venture 15 minutes north of the Colosseum will discover the magical Art Nouveau and Art Decò architecture of the Coppedè district, This little neighborhood has aesthetic influence from Greek, Gothic, Baroque and even medieval art carved into every detail of the buildings, fountains and streets. Some of the most well known things to see in the Coppedè district are the entry way arch, the fountain of the frogs and the spider palace and the fairy houses.
I highly recommend staying at Nora’s Airbnb in the Coppedè district. The apartment was huge, quiet and only a 15 minute bike ride away from everything. If you want to check out the Airbnb, click here.
Villa Borghese
My favorite park to bike through during my morning rides in Rome was the heart shaped park of Villa Borghese. Villa Borghese was right around the corner from my Airbnb in the Coppedè district, so I biked through the park every day on my way to and from all my adventures in Rome. I particularly loved biking through the park at sunrise when all the locals were walking their dogs and the trees were lit up golden by the sunlight.
FREE AUDIOBOOKS FOR DAYS
The biggest and best tip I received before visiting Rome was to download audio walking tours and wander around the streets with my headphones and a slice of pizza. I did exactly that during a majority of my time in Rome and I highly recommend this approach of viewing the city to anyone. My favorite podcasts and walking tours were: An Audio Guide to Ancient Rome, Rick Steve’s Audio Europe and Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History. They were all available on Spotify and included maps and pictures to accompany the audio guides. My favorite walking tours were through the Audio Guide to Ancient Rome, which has a useful website and Google map that you can download direct onto your phone. The Dan Carlin podcast series, Death Throes of the Republic, was perfect for biking around Rome because it gave an overview on the rise and fall of Rome.
Colosseum
The classic symbol of tourism in Rome, the Colosseum! I visited the Colosseum at sunset and surprisingly there were very few people in the arena. I had heard that Rome tourist spots were always overflowing with people, but visiting in the Fall meant that I got to skip out on the long Summer queues and crowds.
While I was in the Colosseum I Facetimed my brother and we walked through the history of the ancient killing arena together. One of the craziest facts that I learned about the Colosseum is that in addition to Gladiator fights to the death, the arena was also flooded and used to reenact naval battles and mythological sea tales.
ARCH OF CONSTANTINE
The Arch of Constantine is right outside the Colosseum and was built to commemorate, you guessed it, Emperor Constantine. The arch is beautiful and one of the largest arches to remain mostly intact throughout all of Rome’s history. The history of this arch is interesting for anyone who grew up Christian because it was erected after Constantine dreamed about carrying a cross into battle and won the war. So in some ways, it’s a physical marker highlighting the start of Christianity in Rome. My favorite fact about this arch is that most of the decorative sculptures and details on the Arch of Constantine were actually incorporated from other monuments that were popular at the time. Constantine chose to incorporate influence from other monuments in order to built up his status as “one of the greats.” Okay Constantine, fake it till you make it I guess.
ROMAN FORUM
After the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill are the next best known sections of the city. I have heard about these sections of the city for years, but it wasn’t until visiting that I realized how close they are together. They’re all in a part of Rome referred to as the Ancient City and entering the area feels like you’re stepping back into time.
The Roman Forum was known as the city center in Rome and it housed many major government buildings and temples. The Temple of Antoninus Pius and his wife Faustina is one of the first temples that you see when entering the forum and it is also one of my favorites. The temple was built by Antoninus for his wife Faustina, who dedicated her life to education and helping poor children throughout Rome. The Temple of Castor and Pollux is another structure easy to spot by it’s three pillars. The three remaining pillars of this building are referred to as ‘the three sisters.’ The Temple of Saturn is one of the largest remaining structures in the Roman Forum and it is identified by finding the eight pillars. A fun fact that I learned from one of my walking tours is that 2 of the pillars in the Saturn Temple were stolen from another monument and you can tell because they are slightly a different color. Similar to the Arch of Constantine, the Arch of Septimius Severus is another giant triumphal arches commemorating a victory in battle. Lastly, one of the famous buildings that falls within the Roman Forum is the Temple of Vesta. During it’s time, this building was one of the most important structures in Rome because it housed the Vestal Virgins who guarded the Sacred Fire. On each new year, Roman citizens put out the fires in their house and relit new ones using the flame from the Sacred Fire.
PALANTINE HILL
Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum are almost indistinguishable from each other because there is only one entrance for the two sections of the Ancient City. Palatine is historically one of the most important areas in Rome because legend states that it is where the birthplace of Rome took place. The story goes that Romulus and Remus, the twins of Mars, were abandoned and floated down the Tiber River until they washed up on shore at the foot of Palatine Hill. They were then taken in by a She Wolf named Lupercal and raised on Palatine Hill. Once the boys were older they decided to form a city at the spot where the wolf saved them. In an argument over the exact location of where to form there city, Romulus killed Remus, and thus Rome was formed.
TREVI FOUNTAIN
Like I said in my introduction to this post, if you look at this fountain and don’t immediately think Lizzie McGuire, we had different childhoods. I did a lot of research on what to visit during my time in Rome, but the Trevi fountain was one of the key monuments I knew I had to visit. I decided to wake up extra early and bike to the fountain at sunrise to beat the crowds. My plan worked perfectly and I was able to toss my three coins into the fountain in peace.
One thing that I did learn about the Trevi fountain is what the coins that you toss in actually mean. Before visiting, I thought that you just threw a coin into the fountain and made a wish. Now that I’ve been I know that the fountain has more instructions than most wihing fountains. According to Rome legend, tossing one coin into the Trevi Fountain means you’ll return to The Eternal City (Rome), tossing two coins means you’ll return and fall in love, and tossing three coins means you’ll return, find love, and marry. I tossed three coins in because I need all the help I can get when it comes to finding love…does the fountain accept blank checks?
SPANISH STEPS
The Spanish Steps are a beautiful section of Rome that were were built in the early 1700’s to connect the Trinità dei Monti church with the Spanish square below. It was lovely walking up these steps and looking back out over the city, but my favorite fact from my audio guide was that in 2007 a drunk driver tried to drive down the steps. Nobody was hurt, but obviously the man was arrested.
SISTINE CHAPEL
The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is one of the most iconic paintings of all time and so naturally as an art lover, it was a top bucket list item for me. I decided to book an early morning tour of the Sistine Chapel that started an hour before the museum even opened. The tour was called “Prime Experience – Vatican Museums” and I highly recommend this option to anyone planning to visit the Vatican. You can book your tickets through the museum here, but make sure to book them far in advance before they sell out.
The extra early wake up and chilly morning bike ride to the Vatican were all worth it when I finally got to enter the almost empty Sistine Chapel. Before entering the room I was worried that it would be underwhelming compared to the years of praise these paintings have received, but honestly the experience matched the hype. The paintings were breathtaking.
The room is divided into 5 major sections – the ceiling, the North wall, the South wall, the West wall and the East wall. The ceiling is decorated with Michelangelo’s famous frescos depicting nine stories from the Book of Genesis, including the iconic Creation of Man. The Northern and Southern sides of the Sistine Chapel are more frescos that depict the story of Moses (Southern Wall) and the story of Jesus (Northern Wall). The Eastern Wall shows two major paintings, the Resurrection of Christ and the Disputation of Moses’ Body. Lastly the Western Wall is another famous Michelangelo piece, the Last Judgement. The Last Judgement painting was equally as breathtaking as the frescos on the wall and was full of interesting and weird details. For example, Michelangelo painted his own self portrait on the flayed skin held by St. Bartholomew in the Last Judgement.
While you are inside the Sistine Chapel you are not allowed to take photos, so instead I took this selfie after leaving the Sistine Chapel.
ST. PETERS BASILICA
I still can’t get over how beautiful the sky was on the morning that I visited St. Peter’s Basilica. I toured the Basilica and climbed the dome early in the morning, which I think is the best time to visit this architecturally astounding structure. The morning sun hits the building direct and makes everything look and feel that much more magical. Once I was inside the Basilica, the church is shockingly big. I wandered around the chapel for awhile admiring all of the statues, including more famous work by Michelangelo with the Pietà. The sheer size of the building, coupled with the history and significance of St. Peter’s Basilica was inspiring and made me slightly nostalgic to my Catholic childhood.
RAPHAEL ROOMS
In addition to Michelangelo’s work in the Sistine Chapel, the Vatican also contains work from Raphael. The Raphael Rooms are a series of four main reception rooms leading into the Sistine Chapel – Sala di Costantino, Stanza di Eliodoro, Stanza della Segnatura and Stanza dell’incendio del Borgo.
VATICAN MUSEUM
I am so happy that I booked the early morning tour of the Vatican Museum before. It was amazing being able to enter the museum before it opened and walk through all of the exhibits without hallways full of tourists. The tour lasted for about two hours and during that time we walked all over the museum. We saw the Pinacoeteca, the gallery of geographical maps and the Pio-Clementino exhibit and so much more.
CIRCUS MAXIMUS
I went to Circus Maximus on my first day in Rome because I didn’t pre-book tickets for any of the larger attractions. That being said, it worked out perfectly because Circus Maximus was one of the items on my must see list, and it doesn’t require any tickets. Circus Maximus was once an ancient chariot racing stadium, but now it is an open park where people picnic, walk there dogs and play pick up futbol.
Pantheon
The Pantheon is one of the most well preserved buildings from ancient Rome and it has an interesting purpose. The Pantheon was originally built to give the Roman people something to be proud of, so it’s main purpose was to show off Rome’s amazing engineering skills. It also was built to worship all Gods, so unlike other temples that focuses on one entity, the Pantheon was for everyone. Nowadays, the Pantheon is a major tourist attraction in Rome and the lines to get in are absolutely absurd. Much like my advice for all other Roman tourist spots, go early.
TRAJAN’S COLUMN
Trajan’s Column can be seen walking along the street and it is one of the first major monuments to Roman victory in battle. The column is also famous because of it’s spiraled design that depicts the history of the war between the Romans and the Dacians.
MOUTH OF TRUTH
Legend says that if you place your hand inside the Bocca della Verità and you are lying, you’ll your fingers. I didn’t want to wait in line for an hour to place my hand inside a stone mouth, but you can see the Mouth of Truth easily through the fence!
MARCELLO THEATER
The Marcello Theater was most known for hosting the Secular Games, but even more interesting is the history of the theater’s owners. The origins of the theater started when Julius Caesar cleared the area in 13 BC to prep for the construction of the theater. However, he was assassinated before the construction started. Later on, Augustus completed the construction of the theater and dedicated it to his favorite nephew Marcellus. Unfortunately, Marcellus died at a young age and similar to Caesar, he was never able to see the theater in it’s grandeur.
capitoline hill
Similar to Palatine Hill, Capitoline Hill is one of the seven major hills in Rome. The hill was dedicated to the God Saturn and was referred to as Mons Saturnius. Today it is home to the popular Capitoline Museums.
ALTAR OF THE FATHERLAND
The Altar of the Fatherland is a giant monument dedicated to Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of a unified Italy.
“aMERICAN” bREAKFAST IN ROME
While I was at the Vatican Museum I ordered an “American Breakfast” and when it was delivered I couldn’t stop laughing. It consisted of coffee, two pastries, eggs, bacon, fries and pancakes. Gotta love the perception of America in Europe.
