Rome Travel Review
- elisamarinella
- Aug 10, 2019
- 6 min read
Well they say Rome wasn't built in a day but how bout a day and half to explore it!? Some may say that's crazy for such a big, historical city but we did it.... with 12 people...and 2 wheelchairs! Here's how!
On Friday morning we woke up in our villa in Tuscany and loaded up our party vans to head back to Rome. We flew into Rome and we were driving back the 2.5 hours to drop our vans back off at the airport. We only needed the vans in Tuscany as we were a bit off the grid, but for the remainder of the trip we would be in more populated areas where the vans weren't necessary. We hailed some cabs (Italy doesn't have Uber) and we headed to our hotel! Enter me singing Lady Gaga's Bad Romance (Roma RO MA MA) and the Theme Song from The Lizzy McGuire Movie for the next 32 hours!
Where we stayed?
Of course, I used my trusty hotels.com to book our hotels for this trip (and all my trips!) If you are Capital One Venture Member like me, you get 10x the points by using hotels.com/venture to book your hotels! (by paying ahead of time) so its a great way to rack up some points to help prep you for your next trip! #getthempoints
We stayed at Leon's Place Hotel and as much as I loveddd our Tuscan Villa, this place screamed Elisa! And talk about BoujE on a Budget! It was gorgeous and only 128 euro a night. Such a steal! The hotel was in a great location, walking distance to the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps. It had a spa, a gorgeous lobby, a terrace bar and for all my accessible travelers, handicap accessible rooms!! Score! The lobby was so pretty, I couldn't help myself but to have a little photo shoot, plus my dress happened to match the decor lol. Click the picture below to book Leons Place thru Hotels. com!
What we did?
The first day we arrived, we hit the ground running/wheelin'. We had a walking tour scheduled at 3:00. Back in my backpacking days (and even recently) I've had tons of success with free walking tours and I thought this would be no different. I even had done a free walking tour in Rome before and it was great. This time that was not the case. I think because it was peak season, this free walking tour had at least 70 people on it. You couldn't hear or see a thing! This was booked thru Rome Free Walking Tour and it just didn't work for us so we ended up ditching it and doing our own, makeshift tour. If you're going in peak season, I'd recommend paying the 12-20 dollars per person to book a private tour. After 86ing the tour, we headed to the Trevi fountain and Spanish Steps! Two of my favorite Roman landmarks!
One cool thing I got to do while visiting the Spanish Steps on this trip was re-create a photo I took at them on my first trip to Rome 10 years ago. Luckily my camera quality has improved in the last 10 years lol
That night we went to what would end up being one of my favorite places of the entire trip!! The Court Rome at Palazzo Manfredi, a chic hotel bar with an incredible view of the Colosseum. This was a splurge with drinks running about 20 euro a pop, however, the view cannot be beat, the service was great (I'm talking A LOT free snacks!!!) and if you only go for a drink before a reasonably priced dinner, its not too bad at all! It is small, so get there relatively early in the night. We went around 7:30pm and got a spot for 12 people which was impressive and we got to see the sunset behind the Colosseum! Click the picture below to visit the The Court Rome's website!
That night we went to Osteria Angelino. Close by to the Colosseum but off the beaten path and very authentic. The food was delicious, especially the desert! It was also well priced!
The second day we did one of my favorite things to do on a trip like this! Wake up early to go to a monument and take beautiful pictures before the masses of people arrive! We headed to the Trevi Fountain at 6:30am and aside from some influencers and bloggers, there were thousands of less people then if you went in the middle of the day like we had done the day before. I did this trick also at the Eiffel Tower and the pictures come out great! Obvi, you gotta pick out a good outfit for pics like these!
On the second day we headed to the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Vatican City. I booked an audio tour and skip the line ticket for both (only some of us went into the Vatican). I booked the Colosseum and Roman Forum tour thru TicketsRome and the Vatican thru Tiqets. I researched many different companies and these were both the best price for what we wanted. The Colosseum was 22 dollars and the Vatican was 17.
Doing both the Colosseum and Vatican in one day was tough (especially in 90 degree Italian Summer heat), but doable. If you have more time, I'd space it out, but it can be done if you're tight on time! Click the picture below to book you Colosseum and Roman Forum Tickets via TicketsRome
Click the above picture to book your Vatican Tickets thru Tiqets
As far as accessibility goes, the Colosseum and Vatican were relativity accessible with certain pathways and elevators to take for disabled visitors. When we arrived we got to skip the line purely because of the 2 wheelchairs (my grandfather was also using a rented wheelchair this day in Rome because there was A LOT of walking) so a skip the line ticket may not be necessary for disabled visitors, but I got them just in case. Trust me, you DO NOT want to be waiting in those lines! It's also good to know that many of the monuments are free for disabled visitors, so look into that before booking! As for the Roman forum, that was not so accessible, down in grass with many cobblestone walkways, it was easier for us to enjoy that more from a distance. Again, even though these places were relativity accessible, it was still a lot of work! Luckily we had a lot of hands on deck for pushing. I did find a company in my research that runs a totally accessible Roman Tour, but it was pretty pricey, however it seemed it would be a good option for people in power chairs or if there aren't a lot of people on your trip to assist with pushing. This is the link romeanditalygroup.com
After that, we needed to cool down and get some lunch! We hit up Calabascio and it was honestly my most favorite meal of the trip!! Get the muscles and gnocchi, you wont be disappointed!!
We then split up, some of our group hit up the Vatican (I didn't mainly because I didn't want to wear pants in 90 degree weather lolz. Definitely look up the dress code before hitting up the Vatican,spoken from experience from my last trip to Rome hahaha) and some of us headed to Trastevere, an adorable little neighborhood in Rome away from the tourist traps. Lined with cute restaurants and shops, I absolutely loved it and highly recommend if you want to get more of an authentic feel of the city! Also, it was a good place to shop! Because it was a bit off the beaten path, the stores sold very similar items as the stores closer to the tourist spots but for much cheaper. I bought a gorgeous leather bag!
That night, we headed to the Pantheon and had a dinner with a view! At Rostera al Passato located in Piazza della Rotonda you can sip wine and eat pasta while staring at this beautiful landmark! Being in a touristy spot, it was a little more pricey, but still extremely reasonable (food and wine is much cheaper in Italy compared to home) and the vibes were so cool with the Pantheon right there! I highly suggest it! PSA- I found this place on Instagram, like many of the places I visit on trips ( I also found The Court Rome, seen above, on the gram). Leading up to trips, I follow tons of accounts related to the place I'm visiting so that in the months leading up to the trip, I can save places that look good and visit them when we get there! I also follow many travel bloggers and pay very close attention when they are visiting somewhere that I know I am planning on going! I also do the same thing on Pinterest, pinning lots of different activities and places. I then make a list of all the places I've found and hit them up! I haven't been disappointed yet by a place I've found on Instagram or pinterest!
The next day we headed to Sorrento! Stay tuned for my Amalfi Coast Travel Guide! Now what are you waiting for, go book your trip to Rome!! Happy Travels!
-Elisa
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