Welcome to Rome! Top Ten Things to Do

Visiting Rome is like working your way through an extensive menu at a five-star restaurant. For starters there’s Piazza Navona, the Trevi Fountain and the Colosseum. As a main course the Vatican with St Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican museums dishes up a hearty dose of soul food. For dessert there’s the Vittoriano on Piazza Venezia, which many people refer to as a Wedding Cake thanks to its grand whiteness. After all that you’ll surely need an espresso from a cafe on one of the smaller squares to help digest it all.

Rome is a city that is impossible to absorb in just one short visit so check out our top 10 suggestions to help you get started:

1. The Colosseum is more than just a big roundabout
It’s a monument that needs little introduction but no matter how many times you’ve seen it in movies or read about it in history books nothing beats seeing it in person for the first time. Have your photo taken with a gladiator for a lasting souvenir of your trip.

2. Visit the Pope in the Vatican
Since its completion in 337, St Peter’s Basilica has been one of the most popular destinations for pilgrims in the world. The Vatican museums house works by Bernini, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael, to name a few, with the most famous being the Sistine Chapel. Every year millions of visitors stand in St Peter’s square on Sunday morning to hear the Pope give his weekly Angelus.

3. Lighten your purse at the Trevi Fountain
Throw one coin over your shoulder into the fountain and legend has it you will return to Rome. Two coins equals a new romance and three will result in either marriage or divorce. Just don’t try and recreate that famous scene from Federico Fellini’s film La Dolce Vita – climbing in the fountain is forbidden.

4. Villa Borghese Park is an oasis of calm amidst Rome’s chaos
Located north of the Spanish Steps Villa Borghese is known as the ‘Park of Museums’. The Borghese Gallery and Museum, the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art and the National Etruscan Museum are all here. Don’t miss the original Triton statues that belong on Piazza Navona’s Moor Fountain.

5. Stroll around Rome’s piazzas and churches
From the grand Piazza Venezia to the open air art studio of Piazza Navona, the rowdy Campo dei Fiori, the imposing St Peter’s in the Vatican and every intimate corner in between, Rome has no shortage of piazzas to visit during an evening walk.

6. Art lovers will be delighted in Rome’s galleries
Bernini, Botticelli, Canova, Caravaggio, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Rubens… the list of great masters to have left their mark on Rome is endless. Their works can be admired in galleries, squares and churches or around the streets and piazzas.

7. Watch the world go by from the Spanish Steps
Sitting on the steps of the most famous staircase in the world you’ll meet locals and tourists alike. Make sure you walk up the steps to Trinita’ dei Monti to enjoy the view.

8. Gaze in wonder at the Pantheon’s open dome
If it’s raining you can spend hours trying to figure out why you are not getting wet despite the Pantheon’s dome featuring an open 'eye' in the roof.

9. Take a stroll through ancient Rome at the Forum
The development of ancient Roman civilization centered on the area today known as the Roman Forum which sits just next to the Colosseum. Here you’ll find the remnants of some of the most important buildings of ancient Rome like the former royal residence and the senate.

10. Enjoy a typical Roman meal in Trastevere
It's said that all Roman dishes originate in Trastevere. If you want to eat traditional fare the trattorias here will definitely satisfy your taste buds and the narrow lanes are perfect for an after-dinner stroll.

A 'gelato' or a slice of pizza are appropriate accessories on your travels and expect to hear 'Ciao bello' or 'Ciao bella' (hey beautiful) as you walk by. Everywhere you look in this amazing city everything seems beautiful – even the graffiti seems to take on a magical look when it’s written on the side of an ancient building in a cobblestoned lane. Rome is a city to visit at any time of the day or night and in any weather.