My Roman Holiday: Two Day Itinerary

It has been a few days since I’ve returned back to the States and have had friends asking me if I would blog about my travels to Italy, so here we are, the first blog post to a series devoted to the land of pizza+pasta. So, grab a cup of coffee and cue Andrea Bocelli on the radio, because let me tell you, the streets of Rome are just as romantic and magical as the Italian lyrics say.

We only had two days in Rome, so we definitely made the most of our time there. I highly recommend staying in the Colosseum neighbourhood as it was the perfect location for good food+public transportation+lots of historical sites that had us completely mesmerized by its archaic beauty.  Our AirBnB (the Victoria House) was located in the cutest neighborhood and our host gave us plenty of local restaurant and cafe recommendations that were a great hit.

Upon our arrival in Rome, we really didn’t have any particular itinerary, except to just wander the streets and take photographs along the way. I think on foot is the best way to see Rome. We purchased a Roma Pass before we got to the city, but ended up not really using it at all, so if you want to save a few bucks, just pay for the metro and train when necessary and explore the rest of the city on foot.

On the first day, we explored the Colosseum & the Roman Forum, and had our first Italian pasta experience at Le Naumachie. It was so good, we ended up eating there for dinner the next night.

We then headed over to the most darling neighbourhood, Trastevere, where we stopped in for a delicious coffee. It was quite cold and rainy our first day there, so a quick coffee break and then pizza for dinner was a perfect way to warm our chilly bones. If you do come to Rome, you must have pizza here. Your life will be forever changed. Just getting lost in the alleyways was a perfect way to spend our first day here in which Rome and the Italian people quickly made their way into our hearts.

For our second day in Rome, we hopped on the Metro and decided that we wanted to head over to the Trevi Fountain as we heard that it can get quite crowded in the afternoon. Luckily for us, it was off season, so even though we arrived around 9AM, it wasn’t too crowded.

From there, we walked over to the Spanish Steps and stopped in at Antico Caffe Greco, an 18th century cafe that definitely lives up to it’s name. If you do come here, just know that you will be spending a pretty dime on coffee and pastries, since this is a historical cafe. But, it was such a fun experience to be served by our own butler and drink a cappuccino in the same place people like Hans Christian Anderson, Lord Byron and Casanova used to have coffee. So, I would definitely recommend the experience!

 

After breakfast, we walked to the Vatican City, which was certainly a breathtaking place to see in real life. To stand in the same square where it is suspected that Peter was crucified and listen to the bells ring among the overcast skies was a truly surreal experience.

From Vatican City, we walked through cobblestone streets and crossed the bridge back into Rome, where we got caught in quite the rainstorm. As we walked through rain puddles, we entered a hole in the wall cafe (I do not remember the name of it for the life of me), but it was the perfect spot to drink a cheap (yet delicious) latte and warm up a bit before heading back into Rome’s rainy streets.

 

After walking nearly three miles back to the Colosseum, we were famished. We found the cutest outdoor restaurant and took a seat. While sitting under a cabana, we enjoyed a delicious pasta pomodoro and cozied up next to the heat lamp, while being offered blankets by the restaurant staff, which made me forget just how cold it had been running through Rome’s wet streets moments prior. It was one of those moments where you feel like you’ve been caught up in a European movie and are just waiting for Josh Groban to break out into song underneath the restaurant’s trellis.

With all of that said, if you are spending only a couple days in Rome, I highly recommend just walking through the city. You can get lost in Rome’s alleyways for hours and will discover ruins around every corner. There truly is no other place like it. Enjoy some more photos below!

 

Stay tuned for the next blog post, which will feature our two day adventure in Positano, the pearl city of the Amalfi Coast. Cheers until next time, friends!