A Locals’ Guide to Rome

Rome is a city of contradictions, between the old and new, the ancient and modern as Rome has successfully absorbed and adopted the ancient culture, civilization. And art fused with everything the modern-day development has to offer to its advantage and co-existed effortlessly. If you are looking for a city where you can have a peek deep into the history, into the earliest civilizations, their art, culture, architecture, and also see how it has prospered in modern times, especially post World War II devastation. You need to go slow here in Rome, Italy and not cram too much into your program and adjust to the city’s culture.

You can find several tourist attractions listed in our local guide to Rome to ensure that your trip to the city is as eventful and enjoyable as possible.

These are the biggest attractions in Rome, Italy. These near-by ancient places can be clubbed in one visit. Coliseum is the largest amphitheater in the world and was opened in the year 80 AD. The massive underground theatre believed to accommodate around 70,000 was where the famous gladiator fights used to be staged in the ancient empire. Now about 3000 people are allowed in at a time to view the structure where you can get a feel of the working of the underground theatre system. Palatine Hill ruins are located on top of the central of the 7 hills of Rome. The Roman Empire was founded on the hills during 753 BC, and this place now offers one of the best views of the city. Similarly, the Roman Forum is the ancient Roman Empire’s main square, where you can now see one of the city’s most architecturally important ancient ruins.

You can get entry into the places for Euro 12, better still you can skip-the-line with on-line booking at Euro 14. You can take the metro line B Colosseo, Tram line 3, and Bus line 75, 81, 673, 175, and 204 to reach the place.

The Centro Storico is the modern center of Rome, which is popular for its nightlife, hotels, and dining. Termini train station is also located in this place, and you need to be extra vigilant about pick-pockets in the station. The place is packed with Renaissance palaces, baroque piazzas, and ancient ruins. The streets are lined with boutiques, cafes, lively bars, with street artists working in many places. This is a place for visitors to experience the culture of Rome, Italy, in full view. The Pantheon has the largest brick dome ever constructed. It is one of the most well-preserved structures after it was opened in 126AD in honor of the Pagan gods. Piazza Navona is one of Rome, Italy’s famous squares, and is surrounded by lovely fountains and mansions. This is where young Italian artists exhibit their art. You will get many restaurants and bars around this place where you can go in for a quick drink or bite. Apart from these two places, you have a lot of things to explore here around Centro Storico and discover several churches, monuments, and even museums where even some famous artworks of masters like Michelangelo and Bernini are displayed.

Trastevere is one of the most amazing and peaceful neighborhoods of Rome, Italy, which is famous for its cobblestoned streets, lovely churches, and colorful buildings. It is one of the best places for tourists to stay. It is near the Centro Storico across the River Tiber and also near to the Coliseum and the Vatican. You can visit the lovely Basilica of Santa Maria, which is one of the oldest churches dating back to the 2nd century. The massive and beautiful villa, Farnesina built-in 1506 for which Euro 6 is charged, Palazzo Corsini, which houses a small art collection and the botanical garden behind it.

Above the botanical garden is the Gianicolo Hill, which is a 20-minute climb to get one of the best views of the city, especially at sunset. It also has a place where you can get drinks.

The tiny Tiber Island on the Tiber is connected to Trastevere by the Ponte Cestio Bridge. This island is a lovely place with its old churches and buildings. It is even now considered a healing place, with it once being a seat of the historical temple for Aesculapius, the Greek Goddess of medicine. If you happen to be there in summer, you can also attend the Isola del Cinema film festival.

North Central Rome is an area where you can get to see some of the most iconic structures in Rome, Italy. The best art gallery in the city, Galleria Borghese is located in the Borghese gardens, which is a massive green park with plenty of open green spaces, gardens and a small lake. The famous Piazza de Spagna is located at the bottom of the Spanish Steps, which is a 135-step monumental stairway constructed in 1725 to link the Bourbon Spanish Embassy located at the Piazza below with the Bourbon French Church located above. The visitors are not allowed to sit on the steps and are fined a hefty Euro 400 for violation. The Piazza de Spagna has a column with the statue of the Virgin Mary at the top. It is visited by the Pope every year on December 8^th to celebrate Immaculate Conception.

The mammoth Piazza del Popolo, or the peoples square, is located at the bottom of the Borghese Gardens. You can find a 10 BC Egyptian monolith in the square, and a lot of people gather here every day to visit these places.

Vatican City is the smallest country in the world, with a tiny population of 842 and an area of just 110 acres. This is a completely non-commercial economy with all its revenue generated by donations, museum ticket collections, sale of souvenirs, books, and articles. The Vatican museums are open to all, and you can see everything from the splendors of art, music, architecture, paintings, and sculpture in this impressive, extremely busy museum.

Guided tours with the skip-the-line facility are available to the Vatican landmarks, the Vatican Museums covering its famous sculptures, paintings, Tapestries, Raphael Rooms, the Sistine Chapel with its Michelangelo’s Fresco on the ceiling. Many other creations by many renaissance masters, and the St Peters Basilica, the prime pilgrimage center for all Christians with its priceless collection of renaissance artworks. The tour is priced at Euro 45, which is for 3 hours. Covering knees, arms, and back is the compulsory Vatican dress code for all visitors.

You can also get early access tickets for entry at 7:30 AM before the arrival of crowds at 9:00 AM for Euro 53 for only the Museum and Chapel and Euro 75 for all the three landmarks. The ultimate tour is for Euro 90, for which the Dome climb is also included.

Quadraro is the neighborhood in Rome, Italy, where street art is the way of life, where international artists have contributed murals for this huge art project spread over a vast area turning it into a bohemian oasis. This is a must-see for all street-art lovers. As you wander around the neighborhood, you will be surprised at the spread, variety, beauty, and vastness of the street art. It has integrated with the locals and their culture and has united their social fabric.

The movement was founded in 2010 by David Diavù Vecchiato. This street art project is known as MURo, museum of urban art of Rome is basically to integrate with the community and relate the art to their experiences. Incidentally, ‘Muro” in Italy means “wall”, and as can be seen, these murals are all over the walls of this transforming lovely neighborhood. This a bottom-up project, created by the commoners, unlike the other museums created by the royals, and this is still evolving, free to all and open air.

Generally, the restaurants near the tourist places are crowded, noisy and even pricey whereas you can get the same quality of food just a few streets away at lower prices where the local population normally eats out. A few such places are listed below.

Osteria Bonelli has a wide range of traditional dishes at very reasonable prices.

La Fraschetta di Sandro is a place where you can get sandwiches and nice fresh wine.

Sciascia il Caffe is a 100-year-old place, and this is where the locals go for a tasty cup of coffee and snacks.

Hostaria Lo Sgobbone is the place to go for spaghetti.

Hua Qiao is a Chinese restaurant dishing out the tasty Chinese cuisine.

Farine la Pizza is a place for a perfect pizza and many other traditional dishes at good prices.

Capo Bai is a Sardinian kitchen restaurant where you can have your favorite fish dishes.

Before trying out the restaurants, here are a few Italian foods you can try out while in Rome, Italy.

Cacio e Pepe from cheese and pepper, Carbonara, Suppli, which are balls of fried rice stuffed with many things. Carciofi Alla Giudia, which are Roman Jewish delicious fried artichokes, and of course, the Pizzas.

There are a huge number of restaurants dishing out tasty Italian cuisine, and to make your task easier, we are listing out a few of the best for your selection.

Marigold is easily one of the best in Rome, Italy. This simple micro-bakery and bistro dish out some serious Italian cuisine for brunch and dinner.

Mercato Testaccio is a place you can have lunch if you had been to Marigold for breakfast. You can try out delicious pasta, burgers, tacos, pizzas at the 100 plus vendors available here in this area, handing out dishes to suit every taste.

Supplizio is a small place that serves the Italian Suppli, with multiple combinations of ingredients.

Luciano Cucina Italiana is a trattoria with a Michelin star. You can try Carbonara as the chef here is known as the king of Carbonara.

Seu Pizza Illuminati gives a feeling of an art gallery, but dishes out fantastic pizzas.

Apart from these, some more restaurants are dishing out some good gourmet food like Antic Birreria Peroni for a 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM eat out. You can find many more to suit all types of budgets when you move around Rome, Italy.

Gelato is much denser than ice-creams as they are processed at lower speeds and with much less air getting in and also it requires to be frozen much less, but they cost about 40% more. Rome, Italy, is known for some of the best gelatos, which means “frozen” in Italian. We have listed out some of the best gelato places for you to try out:

Come il Latte makes gelato with up to 70% milk with fresh ingredients added for its big flavor range.

Gelataria del Teatro, near Piazza Navona, prepares everything on the spot with fresh ingredients.

Gelato di Span Crispino, near the Trevi Fountain, is one of the most famous places for gelato.

Gelateria la Romana is a place where gelato is all from Italian ingredients, freshly churned, and poured into cups as you wait for it.

Gelateria della Palma can be very crowded as you can get around 150 flavors of these delicacies.

There are many more excellent places here in Rome, Italy, and you need to at-least taste once in any of these places while you are here.

This is located at the Spanish Steps, and the visit is not completed without trying out tiramisu at the Pompi in Rome, Italy. Tiramisu is by Italian standards, a pretty young dish, probably only 40 to 60 years old since it was first dished out. You will miss something extremely delicious if you overlook this luscious piece of tiramisu while in the city. Here, you can get tiramisu and in classic and many other flavors like strawberry, mixed berry, banana, dark chocolate, Nutella, with each one as good as any other. Pompi is known as the king of tiramisu in Rome, Italy. You will get the tiramisu in a box with a spoon. There are six outlets in the city, and generally, you can observe people at all times. You need to pay first and wait for your turn to be served, which might not take long. It tastes best when eaten within 20 minutes of preparation and delivery.

Rione Monti is an ancient neighborhood, earlier red-light area, transformed over the recent years to a hip, trendy, and modern place frequented by shoppers and tourists in the mornings and the hip youth after sun-set for a drink in many of the fashionable upscale bars with friends and locals. This place has got many boutiques, decent shops, and good restaurants and takeaways to enable you to shop and dine peacefully. The place is also known for many historical sites as well as good hotels and well-known Airbnb’s for a comfortable stay.

Summer months from June to September can get hot in Rome, and for those from colder countries, it can be a bit difficult to cope with. Even if you stay in AC accommodation, you still need to manage your sight-seeing and other outdoor trips if you are here during those months. You need to follow some simple tips to keep yourselves cool and hydrated.

Drink plenty of water, dress comfortably for summer keeping in mind appropriate dressing for the church visits. Lessen the backpack load you carry, seek out the naturally cool spots, like fountains that are available in many places. Remember that many major museums, even Vatican museums except for a few rooms, have no air conditioning, and even if some big museums have AC, their size and crowds make it hot and stuffy and can be uncomfortable. Also, you need to be advised to go easy on the wine and instead go for the cool granita. One particular word of caution to many restaurants, they might not have air conditioning and might have employed misters, which spray mist on the potential customers outside to trap them into walking inside. Also, eat light and take 4 to 5 light meals a day. Most importantly, when the temperatures are in the high thirties, don’t exert yourselves physically.

We have tried to pack in as much information as possible in our local guide to Rome, Italy, to include the places which might be of interest to you when you visit the city. Though this by no means is an exhaustive tourist guide, it tries to ensure that you enjoy the flavor of Rome in every possible way by covering these places in your itinerary. Trip.com helps you out by providing all the relevant bits and pieces of useful information you need to make every aspect of your trip enjoyable and memorable.