If you want to go to Rome and see some main sights, but also find a way to escape the crowds this post is for you, including the best neighborhood to blend in with local Romans.
Day One
Fly to Rome.
Depending on where you’re coming from, the flights can be a very long day of travel. The best advice is don’t plan too much that first day. Stay awake until at least sunset to get your body on the new time zone and take melatonin before you sleep to help regulate your sleep cycle.
Hotel Check-In
We stayed at the Hotel Dock Suites in the Nomentano/Villa Bologna neighborhood at the Policlinico train stop (line B). The best thing about this hotel was that it is two stops outside Termini on the B line. It’s a real neighborhood in the hospital/university district and there are few to no tourists. It is within a 5-minute walk of the Policlinico stop and you can get everywhere from here. It’s about a 20-minute ride to the Colosseo stop. There are restaurants, pharmacies, grocery stores galore and you’re surrounded by locals. The only tourists we saw while staying there were at the hotel. They also have a rooftop deck with a view of the neighborhood. Note that they close the rooftop early around 10 P.M. at night and sometimes you have to ask them to unlock the door in the mornings. Our room was huge, it was a suite, with a bedroom, living room and mini-refrigerator. While they do not include breakfast, they do set up snacks in your room every morning if you’re in a hurry and don’t want to stop for breakfast (Packaged Croissants, Cookies, etc.) They have an Espresso maker with the pods, and tea bags and kettle.
Transportation Pass
Upon landing we bought a one-way ticket on the Leonardo express train to Termini, make sure to stamp it with the date before boarding the train. Cost: €14.00
At Termini we purchased a one-way day ticket to Policlinico, stamp this one as well before boarding. Cost: €1.50
The next morning we bought a 7 Day C.I.S. pass at Policlinico. The 7 Day Pass will give you access to all of Romes Trains and Buses, including to Ostia Antica. You do not need to stamp this pass as it comes date stamped. Cost: €24.00
Dinner
We grabbed some local pizza from Pizza Brothers. This place is a local place with a few bar seats and you can also get it to go, which we did.
Day Two
Capitoline Museum
I had heard that this was a less crowded museum. We arrived early around opening time. There is a bit of a line because they only let so many people into the office to purchase tickets at one time. However, once you’re inside the museum, there is plenty of space to move around. I highly recommend going here. There is a cafe in the museum and you can eat breakfast there before you get in line for tickets. There are some amazing views from the terrace up there, well worth the stop. They had a variety of items like fresh fruit, croissants, and of course, espresso.
Admission Cost: €15.00 per ticket
Time Spent: ~ 4 hours
Lunch
There are plenty of places to eat lunch here. We chose a place at random. This area is more touristy, so the prices will be a bit higher as well. Make sure they give you an itemized receipt and that prices are on the menu, it is required by law.
Pantheon
The famous Pantheon. We headed over here after lunch. We took the bus and walked on in. There was a line, but it moves quickly and is completely free. Remember you need to have your knees and shoulders covered. There is a fountain here if you need to refill your water bottle, in front of the Egyptian Obelisk fountain.
Admission Cost: Free
Time Spent: ~ 30 minutes
Largo di Torre Argentina & Cat Sanctuary
While wandering around on our way to the bus stop, we stopped in at Largo di Torre Argentina, which for you history buffs, is where Julius Caesar was stabbed to death. It sits in the middle of a neighborhood and while you cannot currently walk in there you can look down on it and there are cats!
The cat sanctuary is also located here on a corner with steps leading down. If it is crowded the volunteers will ask you to wait outside and enter as people filter out. Be sure to duck while in there, the ceilings are low. They take care of the feral cats, many of whom are blind. They sell some cat schwag like pot holders and you can also make a donation to help them keep taking care of the kitties.
Admission Cost: Free, cash donation
Time Spent: ~ 30 minutes
Dinner
Okay, so we were tired and ate some leftover pizza.
Day Three
We took the Line B Metro to the Colosseo stop. You come out right below the Coliseum. There is a cafe at the top of the stairs inside the metro with a bathroom and croissants and espresso for breakfast.
Coliseum, The Imperial Forums and Palatine Hill
This is a tour I booked in advance before we left. This is the one we did. The one good thing is their booth for meeting up is right outside the metro to your right and it is easy to find your group and the young girls that met us were very nice. It had good reviews, but I’ll be honest we had bad weather of pouring rain this day. We made it to the Coliseum and the underground before it started to pour. The underground is very cool, they allow a group at a time down there, so it is not crowded with multiple tours. Before you enter, you get an overview while seated inside the Coliseum on the 3rd level (major photo op) and then you go down into the underground. There are a lot of steps and there is an elevator for the mobility impaired that holds a couple of people, be prepared to walk a lot and if you have mobility issues, make arrangements for a private tour that will work with you. We had an elderly lady on our tour that could not do it.
Our tour guide lost people in the rain and everyone was uncomfortable in the rain. The cobblestone pathways at the Imperial Forums turned into a river and we decided to leave the tour like many others. So, bring a rain jacket and make sure you have a rain cover for a backpack or purse or some ziplock baggies for your cellphones. I don’t think this was entirely the tour guide’s fault and I would try again another time. We did have an amazing time seeing the underground though.
Admission Cost: $120.00 for a guided tour per person
Time Spent: ~3.5 hours
Dinner
If you did not know this, Indian food is my favorite food. I figured that Rome is closer to India than we are in New Orleans and there would be tasty Indian food nearby. We took the metro one stop from the hotel to the Castro Pretorio stop and had some tasty Indian Food at the New Delhi Indian Restaurant.
Day Four
Borghese Gallery and Villa Borghese
We took the bus here and not the metro. The bus was a shorter direct route from the Dock Hotel.
Borghese Gallery
We made reservations in advance before we left for the Borghese Museum. I think I booked ours about a month or so in advance. They reserve you a spot and you’re allowed inside the museum for two hours. Also, we did not know this but there is no photography allowed inside the museum, although everyone was taking pictures with their cell phones and then the gallery guards were upset and letting everyone know that there is no photography allowed. Of course, this place is amazing and do not miss it.
Admission Cost: €18.50 per ticket, reservations needed
Time Spent: ~ 2 hours
Lunch
There is a cafe inside the museum in the basement. They have tasty sandwiches and they have beer, wine, etc. Make sure to snap up a table when one becomes available because there is limited seating.
Villa Borghese
This is a gigantic park surrounding the museum. You can walk or hike here and there are plenty of Romans out walking their dogs. There are food stands with panini and more. We discovered there is a little train that leaves from in front of the museum. We took the train around the park, which stops overlooking some amazing views. It’s a good way to get a feel for the size of the park and different things you can do. You could definitely picnic here. There are fountains outside the museum to refill your water bottle as well.
Admission Cost: €3.00 for the train, cash only
Time Spent: ~ 1 – 2 hours
Trevi Fountain & Spanish Steps
We ended up taking the bus to the Trevi Fountain area. While this is Rome’s most iconic site, it is full of tourist traps, hustlers, and tourists. We took a selfie and walked to the Spanish steps, saw the metro station and left. The fountain is amazing, so is the church behind it that no one notices. The Spanish steps are steps, leading up to another magnificent church. We live in tourism at home, so it wasn’t really our jam, but it is worth the selfie to satisfy the folks at home.
Admission Cost: Free
Time Spent: 15 minutes
Dinner
We went to Sahara Restaurant, African Food (Eritrea and Ethiopian cuisine). Yum! This place has some neat ambiance and tasty food, although it’s not the cheapest place you can eat. A lot of locals were dining here.
Day Five
This was our second favorite place on the entire trip. We took the B line train and transferred to the train that takes you directly to Ostia Antica. Google had us get off one stop early and I don’t know why, but we ended up taking a bus (the wrong way and then the right way) to the site. The wrong way trip was fun because we went into town briefly and saw some local shops before crossing the street to head the right way. Depending on where you stay it’s about a 30 to 45-minute train ride outside of Rome. Your regular train/bus pass for Rome covers this area, you do not need a different ticket.
Ostia Antica
This is the first suburb of Rome. People say that it is easier to get to and has more intact features than Pompeii. I can tell you that you’re out of the crowds and it’s a must do. There were few tourists and only local kids on field trips the entire day we were there. We packed lunch from the local grocery store down the street from our hotel. This place is so worth it. Pack a lunch, bring a blanket. They have a cafeteria, but if you bring your own lunch, you can sit wherever you want and take in the scenery. We also downloaded Rick Steve’s audio tour and brought headphones that we shared. He’s included a map and it’s super informative and easy to follow along the path. There’s a museum at the end of the route. It’s amazing and there are no crowds!
You can also play bartender in 1 A.D.
Admission Cost: €8.00
Time Spent: ~ 4 to 6 hours
Dinner
Cus Cus Roma serves up 3 different sizes of Cous Cous with a vegetarian and meat option rotating menu every night. It is super inexpensive and you can choose how big you want your bowl to be and yes, they have wine.
Day Six
This is the day, pretty much everything that was planned did not go as planned.
Appian Way
So, you take the bus from Colosseo to the Appian Way. Unfortunately, the bus we were on was so crowded no one could move or see what stop. We missed our stop and ended up outside one of the catacombs. We thought we could just take the next bus back one stop, but we waited 45 minutes and no bus. So we tried to see the catacombs, but all the English tours were booked and they would not let us take the Spanish tour, which we do understand more than we currently speak. So we stood on “Death Road”, a two-lane cobblestone road with cars flying by, trapped between two Roman City walls and we waited another 45 minutes to go one stop. My advice, if you miss the stop, just walk there, because it’s not far and be careful on “Death Road”.
They were out of Electric Assist bicycles, so we rented regular gear bikes. For those of you reading this, I fell in a ravine while hiking and had my ankle reconstructed last fall, so I had planned on using electric assist. We bike in New Orleans all the time, but New Orleans has no hills. (They had to build one to show kids what a hill is.) So the hills were too much for me and I hit my rebuilt metal ankle on the bike, shifting gears and we had to return our bikes. The bike shop people were really nice, so book one in advance or wait until the afternoon when people are returning the electric assist bikes.
This is the part when we decided to see where the bus went. So we took it, to the end of the line. No, it does not do the Appian Way, but the main road near it. So then we called a taxi via the My Taxi App to take us to Aqueduct Park. The taxi driver got lost, but we eventually made it there.
Admission Cost: Free to walk or Bike Rental
Time Spent: ~2 hours waiting for the next bus
Parco degli Acquedotti Aqueduct Park
This place is a huge city park that locals hang out in. They bike, they meditate, they picnic. We had amazing weather that day. We had little snacks packed, so we snacked there and had gelato in the neighborhood nearby. This place is so beautiful. It was worth all the trials of travel just to see it. It was spring and all the flowers were in bloom.
Admission Cost: Free
Time Spent: ~ 1 hour
Dinner
Il Desiderio di Archéstrato We ate here twice, locally sourced food that was so very tasty and a really nice waitress, highly recommend!
Day Seven
We took line B to Tiburtina station and transferred to the regional train to Tivoli. This is the only additional ticket we had to purchase because it is outside of Rome. Once there, you hop on the #4 bus and buy your ticket at the newspaper stand next to the bus stop for €1.50. You purchase the return bus ticket at the booth for Hadrian’s Villa upon your return trip. There are a lot of people online that say to take the bus straight to Hadrian’s Villa from Rome. We decided to take the train because we also wanted to see Tivoli and it was so worth it. My vote is for the train.
Villa Adriana (Hadrian’s Villa)
Drum roll, our very favorite part of the entire trip and a Unesco World Heritage Site. The #4 bus drops you off right in front of the entrance where you can purchase your entry ticket. This place is huge and magnificent. Once again, we packed a lunch. I do not think my words can do it justice. Prepare for a lot of walking. We walked 20,000 steps (thanks, fitbit) while at the Villa. There is so much to see. Yes, there are fountains for you to refill your water bottle along the way. We paid for the audio guide, which I also think is worth it because there is a lot of history here. The one not to miss view is from Rocca Bruna. They believe it may have been used for astronomy, but we had it all to ourselves and the views are unbelievable. There were few tourists and some school children on field trips. Do not miss it, just go!
Also, some sites say you can do two villas in a day. I think you can only do this one. It took us all day to see everything and take it all in. Also, if you have time to stay in Tivoli, I would. I would love to go back there because it is just a beautiful little city and I have two more Villas to see.
Admission Cost: € 10.00
Time Spent: ~ 6 – 8 hours
Dinner
Il Tunnel My husband had the onion pizza, and he ate the entire thing. (I’m not recommending you eat an entire pizza because you will be so full later.) He said it was the best pizza he has ever had, and for the record, he worked in a Sicilian pizzeria when he was young. It was so good and we were so full.
Dessert
Mizzica This place is within walking distance of the Dock Hotel and it has an amazing selection of desserts. They also do aperitivos in the evening and cappuccino and croissants in the mornings. It is packed full of locals and so tasty. We got a to-go box of 4 desserts to share and they were all amazing.
Day Eight
Our last day in Rome, sniff.
Protestant Cemetery
I studied Keats, Shelley, and Byron in college and definitely wanted to stop by here to see the graves of Keats and Shelley. It is a free site and they ask you to donate what you think is appropriate in a little box by the entrance. It was not crowded while we were there, but there are tour groups that go through there. We saw one couple picnicking near the Keats tombstone and petting the feral cats that hang out there. This is also the site of the Pyramid tomb.
Admission Cost: Free, donations welcome
Time Spent: 30 minutes to an hour
Museum of the Liberation of Rome
Take the travel advice of friends. Our neighbor in New Orleans told us about the Museum of Liberation and we went on our last day and are glad we did. It is housed in a former apartment building that served as a jail during WWII. You press the buzzer on the street to be let in. A lovely gentleman kindly welcomed us to the museum and gave us a headset in English. This place is a small and underfunded museum dedicated to the prisoners under the Nazi regime. It was very moving.
Admission Cost: Cash Donation
Time Spent: 1 to 2 hours
The next morning we packed up and headed back to the airport and sighed heavily from all of our experiences in Rome. See some main sights, but make time for Ostia Antica and Villa Adriana and get out of those crowds and enjoy the beauty that Italy has to offer.
