Rome Destination Guide

We stayed in a three star hotel in a central location, under a 10 minute walk to the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish steps and not far from the main train station.

The hotel was clean and the staff were really friendly. I would describe it as a guest house rather than a hotel, there were no airs or graces but it was ideal for a short stay on a budget.

There was a small roof terrace where they served a continental breakfast which was sufficient enough to start your morning. The roof terrace was open 24 hours so you could go up there in the evening if you wished, there was no view to speak of but it was a nice space to relax.

As you can imagine in Rome, every tourist spot was jam packed with visitors. The Trevi Fountain was amazing and is a definite must see. It is situated amongst restaurants and shops and it didn't disappoint, it is very well maintained and I have to say, I was in awe of it a little, I just loved the architecture.

The Spanish Steps are across the road from The Trevi Fountain and visitors are sat around on the steps just enjoying the moment.

My favourite visit was the one to the Colosseum. As you would expect, it is a huge arena and has changed usage over time. What once was the Gladiator arena changed into dwellings later on and the floor of the Colosseum no longer remains so you see the underground vaults and chambers. It really is a fantastic place and you get a real sense of what went on in there.

Outside the Colosseum is the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. This is the original Rome and it takes you on a journey on how the city was built and rebuilt when new Emperors came into power. The museum explains how it evolved over time and you can walk around the ruins at your leisure.

To do both of these things in one day could take you about four hours and the mornings are really busy in the Colosseum so my tip would be to visit in the afternoon and do the Roman Forum in the morning.

We pre-purchased a 48 hour hop on hop off bus ticket which included skip the line tickets to the Colosseum and Vatican. Skip the line tickets are a must, otherwise you will be queuing for hours just to get in. Even if you don't do the hop on hop off bus I would recommend buying a skip the line ticket from the many sellers outside the attractions. They all seem to work for the official operators and are really friendly and helpful.

Tip: if doing the hop on hop off sightseeing buses, don't just board at the nearest stop to you as this could take you ages to get to your desired stop. Study the map and get on at the best bus stop in the direction you want to go. Even if this means walking an extra 15 minutes, it could save you an hour of sitting and stopping on the bus.

We visited the Vatican and Sistine Chapel on the same day and you can also go into the Basilica. Again allow a good few hours here to get round, the sheer amount of people slows things down and there is a lot to take in along the way. The paintings, murals and sculptures are incredible to see and so vibrant.

I would say you would need three or four days to see most of what Rome has to offer, there are some beautiful buildings and a personal guided tour would give you that insight into the city's history.

As for food prices, they are generally higher than the UK unless you stick to pizza and basic pasta dishes. They serve their meals differently than in the UK in so much as you order a main ingredient like meat or fish, then you also order vegetables and potatoes to go with it. The side dishes alone can cost around £8 each and that's on top of approximately £15-20 for the meat or fish, these prices are for the general restaurants so top restaurants would be a lot higher.

I was surprised at how cheap the tourist shops were and also how cheap the goods were on the stalls around the attractions. I was expecting those places to exploit the hordes of tourists but the prices were consistent around the city.

Rome is very big and busy with traffic, driving would not be for the fainthearted. They have a great bus and metro system, there are taxis everywhere (approximately €45 from the airport to a city centre hotel) and the journey takes around 40 minutes.

Rome has so much history and with only a 2.5 hour flight time from London, it makes a great short city break plus with fabulous weather from April to October you would have plenty of opportunity to get there.

I look forward to returning one day and exploring more.