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6 ways to make your visit to Rome fantastic

A lifetime is not enough to explore Rome – make that several lifetimes. The ancient ruins are still being excavated, restored, and preserved for the next millennium of those who seek the wonders of the Eternal City. On my last of many trips to Rome, I was not surprised to make new discoveries and to find better ways to enjoy my favorite places and flavors. This trip, I took my daughter and grandson.. Rome Pantheon Two of Rome’s most beautiful piazzas, Piazza Navona with its glorious fountains and Piazza della Rotonda where the Pantheon sits are usually packed with large tour groups and opportunistic beggars. Just getting into the Pantheon is often an experience best reserved for sardines. However, we discovered that early risers know the secret. At 8 a.m. both piazzas are nearly deserted, so empty that an exercise class was in progress in Piazza Navona. We enjoyed cappuccino and croissants at an outdoor café in Piazza della Rotunda while admiring the Pantheon’s closed, bronze doors. Our light breakfast was pricey, but we were paying for an unobstructed view of a 2,000 year-old architectural wonder. The doors opened at 8:30, and less than 20 people joined us as we tried to tell time by the oculus, admired the marble statues, and whispered a few words of gratitude at Raphael’s tomb. Another early bird secret is St. Peter’s. Here, the lines are daunting. But we left our apartment at 7:30 a.m. for a pleasant 20-minute walk to Vatican City and breezed right in – through metal detectors and Swiss guards checking to see that shoulders and knees were respectably covered. The barrier around Michelangelo’s Pieta is farther out than ever before. Days of a close view of the Pieta are over. Masses were being said in several side chapels, closed to casual visitors. The main portion of the church was open, and there was no line to enter the treasury. Here, for a small fee, we saw centuries-old religious relics and vestments and some used by Pope John Paul II. When we left the church about 9:30, the line wrapped around the colonnade – a wait time of over an hour on a hot, humid morning. Rome St. Peters inside Long a fan of pensiones in the city center, my old favorites were booked seven months in advance. I contacted Doorways and rented an apartment that was not much more costly than a pensione for three people. The apartment was a block away from Piazza Navona and completely equipped with linens, kitchen appliances and gadgets, washing machine, guide books, WiFi, and TV. Rome apartment After the frenzy of Rome, it was refreshing to come home to a real apartment with shopping bags of fresh pasta, cheese, and produce – a money saver with very little effort. The food is so fresh, it is a delight to prepare and eat. Shopping at outdoor markets is part of the Italian experience, and it is true that the vendors want to select their best for you. Don’t touch the produce; trust the vendors. A gelato a day is an unwritten expectation in Italy, and Rome does not disappoint in its artisan gelato. Avoid gelaterias displaying large cardboard cones with multi-colored scoops. You won’t find delicious gelato there. Check out the shops that make their own gelato from fresh ingredients. Giolitti’s near the Pantheon is perhaps the most famous. Michele Obama took her daughters there. Considering the lines, everyone else goes there, too. We found a far less crowded artisan gelateria also near the Pantheon: Don Nino Gelateria & Pasticceria, Via Borgognona, 11. In addition to many flavors of gelato, the shop has freshly made Sicilian pastries. We took several cannolis home for “later”, which turned out to be about two minutes after we returned to our apartment. Rome gelato The Coliseum is an ancient wonder every Rome visitor wants to explore. The lines to get into the Coliseum look like the population of Montana, so guided tours that skip the line are a sensible choice. Selecting a tour company is the problem. Some offer multilingual tours of up to three languages, so more time is spent in translation than in imparting information you can understand. Some have such large groups, it is difficult to ask questions or linger at interesting places. Rome Roman Guy The Roman Guy offers individual and small group (12 maximum) tours all around Italy, and its three-hour, no lines, tour of the Coliseum, Forum, and Palatine Hill is outstanding. The guide was a font of knowledge about this area of ancient Rome and surpassed the guide books in information. We explored restricted areas of the Coliseum including the dungeons where wild animals were once kept and saw a construction project that re-creates elevators that raised the ravenous animals to the arena. We retraced the steps of gladiators by walking out onto the arena floor. After that, we climbed to the third tier for a magnificent view of Rome and learned that vomitorium is not a room for overstuffed Romans, but a design feature that allowed 50,000 spectators to spew out of the Coliseum in three minutes. The tour ends in the Forum where participants may stay until it closes. Like Paris, Rome is a moveable feast. A great find one year may have “gone tourist” the next with inferior food and a wait staff that moves patrons in and out like U.S chain restaurants. An Italian dinner is a three to four hour event. Your table is your table for the evening. Thanks to a Roman friend, we discovered Il Bocconcino, Via Ostilia 23, a neighborhood trattoria a few blocks behind the Coliseum, address. With inside and outside dining options and no music to interfere with conversation, Il Bocconcino is an authentic Roman experience. The pasta is made in their kitchen, ingredients are purchased daily from local markets, and desserts are imaginative and house made. Their pasta carbonara is rich and creamy and the best I’ve had in Rome in twenty years. We had no room for dessert. The waiter assured us the 20 minute wait for an off-menu chocolate and cream dish prepared just for us would give us an excuse to walk home slowly and enjoy Rome’s monuments and piazzas lit beneath a starry sky. Rome dessert He poured us complimentary glasses of limoncello while we waited. Both the dessert and the stroll home convinced us that we would not have to throw a coin in Trevi Fountain to assure our return to Rome.

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10 Comments

  1. Definitely think that in Rome you must rent an apartment – like you say it’s a nice place to escape from the hustle and bustle! When I went last year, most of Rome was covered in scaffolding (a little disappointing!) and there were no flowers on the Spanish Steps so I have to return to see it in all its glory!

  2. I am bookmarking this article! We are finally getting to go to Italy in May and I am so excited. This article gives me new ideas. I had been researching tripadvisor, but the idea of an apartment and your ideas for food I want to retain and look into. Thanks for the tips too about getting to the sights early and giving the name of a good guide. I hadn’t even really thought about getting a guide. Any, thanks. This article is immensely helpful.

  3. Thanks Elaine and Cathy — for apartment rentals, Doorways is the best I have found anywhere. We rented an apartment through them for a week in Lucca as well. Both were in great locations and exactly as advertised — except the kitchens had staples we were not expecting so grocery shopping was easier than I had anticipated

  4. I can’t agree more…renting a place in Rome is the perfect way to visit. I lived in Rome for 2 years and loved every minute.

  5. Rome is breathtaking and I’m so glad my husband and I were able to visit, though we only had 10 hours to see most of the things mentioned here. I will never forget. Enjoy, everyone who has the chance to make the trip–an apartment in Rome would be such a treat!

  6. I will look into this company for an apartment. I never even considered an apartment. I just looked at hotels; and they aren’t cheap! I am so anxious I wish I could hurry things along a bit.

  7. Fantastic tips here, the secret really is to be the early bird! Rome is full of wonderful cultural hotspots and it’s great to get an uninterrupted view of these magnificent sights.

  8. I love Rome! I travelled there last year and had a wonderful time. I had my first gelato at Giolitti’s! That dessert looks incredible, I’m very envious.

    Lisabeth
    Giolitti

  9. Thank you plan top visit Rome again soon.
    Last time in Rom I ate at Alfredo’s where the orignal fettucini alfredo was born. A lot of star spotting. The chairman of Man United were eating there last time in Rome.
    Love the plaza outside the Pantheon you mention. Thanks for the tips.

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