Your Ultimate Guide to Rome, Italy

Rome was my fourth city in Europe and to be honest with you guys, my least favorite. I was actually pretty excited about Rome because I was meeting up with my cousin and brother-in-law. A part of me was starting to miss home and was wondering how I was going to spend another week and a half in Europe. I knew meeting up with someone from my family would give me closure of that home I was missing and it would refuel me with enough courage and energy to continue my backpacking trip further and would eventually save me from a huge mental breakdown over the phone with my mom. So, I was eagerly waiting for Rome. They were attending a wedding somewhere in northern Italy, thereafter they took a small vacation themselves to Amalfi Coast and were ending their trip in Rome. What a coincidence that I was going to be in Rome right around the same time as them. If you know me, you know that I really like architecture photography and you would think that architecture photography would be perfect in Rome because it has all the great monuments and such. But, I think it was my hostel experience is that really ruined it for me. I feel like if I would have picked a better hostel, it would’ve gone a little bit better. I’ve had friends that have done 6 months-long study abroad programs in Rome and have loved it and I had planned 3 days there and wanted to get out as soon as I could and I did end up leaving a day early. Looking back at it, I think it was the best decision I made on the fly. Regardless of how it went for me, I want to take you guys through what I did, I want you guys to give Rome a shot yourself. So follow me on to my journey of what are the best restaurants for Pizza and how I got around there.

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1. Airport – Leonardo da Vinci International Airport – FCO

A little background story, I flew Ryanair from Barcelona’s Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport (BCN) to Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci International Airport also known as the Fiumicino International Airport (FCO) and Ryanair is probably the worst airline for having some weird obnoxious rules that travelers are not aware of. One of their rules is that if you don’t check in online or print your boarding card at home, they will charge you 50 euros ($54.38) for doing it at the counter. Unfortunately, I had to pay 50 euros because I, of course, didn’t know. Plus, I usually leave checking in until I get to the airport because I actually want a physical copy of the boarding pass since I collect them. Landing in Rome, I had the best views from my flight. Since it was an evening flight, the aircraft started to descent right around the sunset time and I couldn’t complain but it did get pretty dark by the time I was off the plane. I had a lot of expectations for Rome’s airport, I mean it’s a really big and famous city so I thought that it would be up to date with world-class technology and facilities but I was wrong. Our flight didn’t even have a sky bridge and that was already giving me a sketchy vibe.

2. Public Transportation

I took the Trenitalia Leonardo Express direct train from Fiumicino Aeroporto to Roma Termini (city center station), it was like a 30-minute ride and for 14 Euros ($15.23), not bad. Luckily, my hostel was a good 10-minute walking distance from the train station, So that wasn’t bad. I recommend buying the ticket in advance and have it ready on your phone when you land.

• If you wish to buy your train tickets, you can do so here: LINK

Once you’re in the city center, public transportation is not needed. Depending on where you’re staying, you might have to buy a single bus ticket to go to Vatican City and back. My hostel was a bit far from the Vatican and had to go that route of purchasing just two one-way tickets and they are really cheap! as cheap as 1.50 Euros (1.52). You can buy those at any ticket/bus stop.

• They also have the facility of 24, 48, 72 and 7 day passes if you plan on staying in Rome for long and plan on using the public transportation.
• You can find more info on public transportation here

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3. Hostel – Plus Florence Hostel, 3 Days.

This is the one and the only hostel I would NOT recommend you to stay at if you’re a solo traveler. I stayed at Hostel Des Artistes and here is why I thought my Rome experience was bad: This hostel is nowhere like any other hostel system. It was in a very sketchy area of the town, I walked through streets where the walls were filled with graffiti. Plus it wasn’t the hostel environment that I’ve been provided with in the past and I should’ve figured it out when I saw the price because I was staying there for 4 days and my overall total for the hostel was 74 Euros ($80.49). That’s 18.5 Euros ($20.12) a night, something that is nearly impossible in a big city like Rome. Either way, I slept in a room with 4 beds and 3 of the people that were already in that room knew each other, a matter of fact, they were traveling together so I sort of felt like an outsider in the room. They didn’t really engage in any kind of a conversation and when I tried, we had small talks and it was a bit awkward. It was also around 9-10 PM by the time I was in my room so I didn’t bother chatting too much anyway.

To make your stay better, I would recommend the Generator in Rome. I heard from a lot of travelers that I met in other cities after Rome that they stayed at the Generator and had an amazing time.

• If you wish to stay at Generator, you can book it here

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4. Five things you HAVE to see

Being said that, I dropped off my luggage at the hostel and went to meet up with my cousin and brother-in-law. We met up at the famous Trevi Fountain and I must say, it’s a serene sight to see at night compared to if you were to visit during the day. Another thing, there are not a lot of shops open late at night besides some small ones and if you want to buy anything as little as a water bottle, they will only take cash. By the time I dropped off my bags and was walking towards the Trevi, it was about 11:15 PM and I was really dehydrated, when I tried playing with my card for a water bottle, not one shop would accept it. In the end, I went to an ATM and got some money even though I got charged a small fee of 3 euros for picking up money from an ATM I wasn’t supposed to. After meeting up with my family, I had the best time. The whole night we went from place to place and wandered the streets of Rome; they are honestly an amazing couple to hang out with. You never really feel like a third wheel or any sense of awkwardness with them which is why it was so much fun. When I told them about how my situation was at the hostel, they asked me to just stay with them at their Airbnb, they had a huge queen-size pull-out couch that could easily be turned into a bed, and which is what I did. I woke up the next day, said goodbye to them, showered, went back to my hostel, and started my site seeing for the day. I went through pretty much all Vatican City and some other monuments in one day. Since my hostel was so weird, I didn’t really make any friends in Rome and since I’m also not a big person in history, I decided to make my Rome trip short from 3 days to 2 days, I just wanted to get out of there. I finished the majority of my stuff that I wanted to see on day 1 and honestly, I would’ve left on day 1 but I kind of wanted to see the Colosseum from the inside and which is why I stayed another night. I went to the Coliseum on my day 2, it was a rare sight, you don’t get to see a huge ruin like this every day but also nothing too impressive. It was a damaged stadium from a long time ago but since it was on my bucket list, it was good to check it off after such a long time and also, if you go to Rome and don’t visit the Colosseum, you really haven’t been to Rome.

NOW, on to the five things you have to see when you’re in Rome, if you don’t see these, you haven’t really been to Rome.

1. The Colosseum

12 Euros ($13.05)

This is obviously the most famous site in Rome and a lot of people usually come just to see the Colosseum and I was one of them. Being a huge person that’s into architecture photography, this was my heaven.

You will have to purchase your tickets well in advance and select the time you want to visit the inside. Obviously, the outside is free and you can at any time.

You can purchase your tickets here

2. St. Peter’s Basilica

FREE

It’s free to go inside the church but you will have to pay to up to the dome if you want to see the Vatican City from the top.

You can purchase your tickets here

3. Trevi Fountain

FREE

This is absolutely free but please do yourself a favor and go really early in the morning or super late at night. You WILL NOT find a place if you go during the afternoon. There are way too many tourists then this place can handle

Don’t forget to throw in a coin, The legend says that throwing a coin from the right hand over the left shoulder will ensure that you will return to Rome in the future. 😉

4. Altar of the Fatherland

FREE

It’s a monument built in the honor of the first king of Italy. You can actually go inside for free and even take the stairs up to the pillars to see the busy plaza from the top. I really recommend this!

5. The Pantheon

FREE

This is one of those places where you will have to go early in the morning or later in the evening. It gets a bit crowded with tourists.

5. Currency Exchange

Currency Exchange. Local Currency: Euros (EUR). 1 USD = 0.88 EUR

You have 3 options, I recommend option 3:

1) Open a prepaid card. This is the method I used and it had its ups and downs. I used Travelex Money Card that you can find here. It’s pretty much like a debit card. What you will have to do is, open the card for $10 and you will be able to link it to your bank account. Every time you feel like you want to convert some money onto your Travelex Money Card, you can use their app to say what currency you want to convert it in and with in seconds, that money will be on your card and you can use it right away. It’s also contactless, so you can use it on the public transportation and you can set a 4-digit pin so you’re safe as well. I did a lot of research when I went to open this card and I couldn’t find a better exchange rate than Travelex. So if you are planning on picking this option, you’ll get a good rate out of its competitors.

2) You can also carry around cash but I DO NOT recommend this option. When you’re exchanging cash, you won’t get a good exchange rate and there is change of it getting stolen or lost.

3) Open a credit card that has no foreign transaction fees. I recommend this option because when I left for my backpacking trip for the first time, I did not know such credit cards existed and so I never did my research. My personal favorite is United Explorer Visa Card that you can apply for here. I use this card pretty much anywhere I go abroad and since it’s a Visa card, it works almost everywhere. Another reason why I really like a credit card is that no one will give you a better exchange rate than a bank. It’s also very easy to use, simply use it as if you were to use it in the US and when prompted to choose between USD or EUR, pick EUR. It’s also contactless, no foreign transaction fees and you 2 lounge passes for United. So, if you’re in a place to open a credit card, I really recommend this option.

6. Food

• PIZZA! PASTA! PIZZA! PASTA!
  • Rome was my first city in Italy and I wanted to dive into the main things right away. I mean, how can you resist yourself from all those carbs when you’re in Italy. No chance. and if you have tackled it down in some way to avoid all those carbs and stay on eating healthy, please don’t tell me. 😂

1. Pinsere
   • Address: Via Flavia, 98, 00187 Roma RM, Italy
   • Hours: M-F: 9 AM – 9 PM, closed on Saturdays and Sundays
   • This was the best pizza I ever had in Italy. Hands down. It was recommended by some other tourists I met in Vatican City the day before and I kid you not, the best pizza I’ve had on this trip yet. For ONLY 5 Euros ($5.44), they give you a personal size pizza and a drink. I got their famous tomato basil pizza and it was so good that I had to take one to go in case I got hungry later. The restaurant was close to my hostel and the train station so after my lunch there, I took the 1 PM train to Florence adding a day to my Florence itinerary and making it 3 days rather than 2 days as I had originally planned and I’m really glad, I cut a day out of Rome and added it to Florence. REALLY GLAD!
2. Hostaria del moro da tony
   • Address: Vicolo del Cinque, 36/37, 00153 Roma RM, Italy
   • Hours: Every day from 11 AM – 12 AM
   • I was recommended this place by a co-worker who had done her study abroad in Rome. When I go there, they had stopped making their vodka pasta, but when I asked the owner, he said, they’ll make it because I was there just for that. I’m not sure if I want to believe that but at the end of the day, I got my vodka pasta.

“Holy MOTHER the vodka pasta, BEST PLACE IN ROME NO DOUBT WHATSOEVER – one of my fave meals from all of abroad, (DINNER restaurant).”

My colleague that did her study abroad in Rome.