Rome, Italy: 15 helpful hints and tips
Over the River Tiber towards the St Peter’s, Rome, Italy
It’s hard to avoid being swept up by the hoards of sweaty tourists – not you or me, of course, we’re travellers – doing the rounds of the monuments and sights.
If you do some research from the comfort of your home, you can avoid feeling like sheep being herded from one piazza to the next and arrive in Rome with a good idea of what to do, where to go and what to not bother with.
Sometimes you only have to go one block back from the star attractions to find total peace and tranquility in a quiet square.
So, my advice is, do only what interests you instead of having to tick everything off and stop and enjoy la dolce vita in your own way.
Now onto my helpful hints...
1. If you have never been to Rome...WATCH. THIS. VIDEO,
It’s a fabulous introduction for first-timers and a good refresher for those who have been.
2. Even if you have been to Rome before DO. THIS. TOUR.
New Rome Free Tours are fabulous, I took the City Centre Free Walking Tour and was lucky to get, co-founder, Stefano for your tour. I had a fabulous time as he took us into churches, hidden inside the most unlikely buildings, that astounded with their grandeur and saw things that only a Roman would know about and got cultural lessons along the way. I learned things about places I thought I knew...and wait until you learn about the Trevi Fountain!
At the end you pay what you thought it was worth. I like free walking tours because they have to impress you to get you to leave a generous tip. Other companies get your money upfront and just carry along not caring if you are happy or not.
Sanpietrini will have you wishing you wore comfortable, well-soled shoes!
3. Wear flat shoes or platform wedges, as those sanpietrini (ancient cobblestones) can be brutal.
Footpaths are few and far between, so better to sacrifice fashion for comfort if you are walking farther than hotel to cab to restaurant. If not, see bonus tip at the end.
4. See how long you can go on a standard Italian prima colazione (breakfast).
Espresso based coffee and sweet pastry (cigarettes optional)... and that’s it until pranzo (lunch) at 13:00.
(Please people, no cappuccinos after 10am, it’s just not done!)
5. When having coffee or, indeed, breakfast anywhere in Italy, stand at the bar.
It costs around €5 total, instead of sitting and paying three-five times as much. When you sit, I think they just look at you and decide what to charge depending how they feel that day… and that can take a chunk out of your walking around money.
6. Walk, walk, walk.
Look, take photos and look some more. Gasp, admire and keep going.
Nasones, free fresh water from the source
Using these to drink from or fill your bottle gives you instant street cred!
7. Fill your water bottle at one of the many nasones – free water sources around the city.
Instead of paying up to €10 for a small bottle from a vendor. Nasones are small statues or posts gushing water. If you are unsure whether it’s a source, just wait a minute or two as an Italian is bound to step up and take a drink. If not, move on, it’s a fire-hydrant! There’s a particular trick to drinking from these: stand to the side, stop the bottom of the spout with two fingers and drink from the water spray that pops out of a hole on the top. Instant Italian street cred!
Metro/Subway sign overlayed onto map
Not the Italian version of the MacDonald’s sign!
8. Take the bus or subway when all that walking is taking its toll.
There are two Metro (subway) lines A & B - look for the big ‘M’ - and innumerable buses crisscrossing the city all the time. The Rome transit system is called atac and the website in English is a good resource.
They now have two types of vending machines inside the Roman metro stations: FULL Service, that allow payment by credit/debit card as well as in cash; and LIGHT Service, that allow payment only by credit/debit card. There are many choices and it depends on your needs to choose the right one for you. A 24-hour pass costs €7 and gives you a full day of unlimited use of the metro (as well as buses and trams) from the first time it is stamped/you pass through a turnstile.
Alternately, you can buy your tickets at one of the 2700 points of sale (newsagents, tobacconists, affiliated bars, etc.), 1000 of which are enabled to sell/top up e-tickets and passes or just use your contactless card (credit, debit or prepaid card) to tap and go.
If you’re old school, you can download a map of central Rome here to your iPad or print it out on A3 paper (unless you want to bring a magnifying glass, too!) and bring it with you.
9. Take advantage of all the free things to do in the city.
When the Colosseum costs €35 (admittedly it does include access to the Forum - which used to be free!) and a ticket to the Vatican is currently €49, then ‘doing’ Rome can get expensive. I just spent part of the afternoon strolling through the roses in the Roseto Comunale on Aventine Hill in front of the Circus Maximus. Includes the bonus of visiting another of the seven hills of Rome.
10. If you’re short on time but want to see it all, consider a timed Rome Tourist Card.
It’s a digital pass that’s currently €97 and includes Priority Access to Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, Vatican and Sistine Chapel entrance, a Guided tour of St. Peter Basilica and Self-Guided Tour Pantheon: Audio guide. When you consider that the Colloseum and Vatican = €84, that’s pretty good value to see them and more.
11. Download lots of free Rome audio guides to your phone.
Rick Steves has got you covered. Download the Rick Steve’s Travel App, and you’ll get access to all of his European audio guides. I used the Pantheon guide and it was excellent.
ItalyGuidesIT site also has a good selection.
Audrey Hepburn tests her honesty while Gregory Peck looks on in Roman Holiday.
12. Have a Roman Holiday moment by putting your hand in the ‘mouth of truth’.
La Bocca della Verità is located in the portico of the tiny church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, its under the large campanile (bell tower) in front of the Circus Maximus and it only costs a donation of €2 to have your picture taken. For a little history, see this site.
13. Walk in the footsteps of Hepburn and Peck on your own Roman Holiday.
"Roman Holiday" (1953) was filmed entirely in Rome and starred the relative newcomer, Audrey Hepburn and already established leading man, Gregory Peck. It earned three Oscars, including the best actress for Hepburn and millions of fans who watch it regularly to get a taste of la dolce vita. If you want to walk in the steps of Audrey & Gregory, then download this app and follow the walking tour of the movie’s locations.
14. If you are a craving more culture than that, why not attend the opera in the Eternal City?
I did this in 2003 and managed to get the absolute last ticket available for an obscure opera called Sly (no, it’s not about Stallone, I wish it had been. I now know why it’s obscure!) which just happened to feature the magnificent Placido Domingo. Yes, I was up in the gods, so far away that I was really grateful for my borrowed binoculars, but, people, it was Placido! See here for the current program.
15. If you need more inspiration:
Bonus tip: Bidets make great foot baths
If you walk as much as I do when travelling, a good footbath is more of a requirement than a luxury. Being raised in Australia where bidets are strange things, spoken of in whispers; I generally avoid them. I’m sure they’re eminently practical to the European mind, but, sorry, nope.
What they are perfect for is washing and soaking tired feet - actually one of their real functions. So fill that puppy up with warm water, copious amounts of free hotel foam and sit on the closed toilet seat and feel the pain melt away, as I did today. Not something to miss if you punish your pedals like I do.