Tips when planning a trip to Rome

Oh how I love retro prints (image)

As the Goons put it, “Rome, Rome! There’s no place like Rome”. And there isn’t. It is the eternal City, a place of immense beauty, history and culture which makes it one of the most popular places in Europe for people to visit at any time of the year, and annually over 15 million people do. For that reason any visit needs to be planned carefully, because coming unstuck is all too easy, and so a trip that just involves turning up and seeing what happens isn’t really the best approach.

On both my last two trips to Italy have been done by train, going via the beautiful Milano Station

The first consideration is accommodation and where to sleep. For ease and flexibility, getting an apartment is always a good idea since this will put you right into the heart of the city and among the Romans. The advantage over a hotel is that you have complete flexibility and you are sorted for where to sleep without the worry of having to be out of the room too early so that the maid can clean it.

A little travel selfie from my last trip to Italy - sitting outside the backpackers I was staying at

Once there, Rome can be an extremely expensive place, so for the sake of the budget, finding plenty of free things to do seems like a good idea, and Rome has plenty of those.

So a bit of a cultural intake of both ancient and modern is needed, and happily Rome is bursting with things to show you without requiring a rummage in the pocket, starting with the contemporary art on show at the Sala 1 gallery which is fairly unique. You can also simply enjoy the cafe culture and people watch over some an espresso

A beautiful corner cafe in Rome (image)

Definitely on the to-do list is to throw three coins into the Trevi Fountain. According to legend, doing so guarantees that the thrower will come back to the city, but even if you don’t, the fountain is an astonishing construction by Nicola Salvi.

One doesn’t need to be Catholic to visit the Vatican, and this can be on the free things to do timetable, as long as you get it right. The Vatican museum is free on the last Sunday of every month, and on Wednesday anyone can have an audience with the Pope (as long as he’s in), and there are trips below the Vatican offering an inspection of the excavations there.

Any visit to Rome is going to be memorable; so much to see, do, experience and just absorb in a place that has existed for so many centuries.

The Colosseum in all it's glory (image)

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