When in Rome......
It took about ½ hour to transfer from the airport in a private car after our flight, which had taken a little over 2 hours. Our hotel was perfectly located in the centre of the city about 100 yards from the Trevi Fountain. One of the things I love about Rome is it’s easy to get around on foot. It’s not always easy to navigate but that only adds to its charm. So, we took a few wrong turns but ambling along the cobbled streets really is part of the experience, and we never got far without finding somewhere to rest and enjoy a drink and/or a snack, or yet more roman ruins to admire.
Although we really enjoyed wandering around, we also took a 48 hour ‘hop on hop off’ bus tour for the first two days. This really helped us find our bearings, whilst the onboard audio guide provided some interesting information. The bus also took us further outside the old city walls along part of the oldest Roman road, the Appia Antica (or Appian Way) where we visited the Catacombs of San Sebastian.
During our 5 night stay we visited many famous attractions; The Vatican The Colosseum, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Baths of Caracalla. However, Pompeii had also been on my bucket list for a long while, so we decided to take a (long) tour from Rome. We opted for an organised tour, which we don’t usually do, so we could just sit back and enjoy the day. It took about 3 hours to get there, but our very lively tour guide kept us entertained en route. The tour also included a climb part way up Mount Vesuvius where we were treated to beautiful views over Naples.
Rome is a very popular city, inevitably this leads to crowds and queues. There are tour companies all over the city very persistent trying to sell their wares, by offering ‘skip the line’ entry to attractions. We were told we’d have to wait in line for 1½ hours to get into St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican – in fact we waited only 10 minutes. We bought tickets for our ‘must do’ attractions before we left home, so we had time to consider what we were buying and the price we paid.
We knew what to expect with the weather (hot and sunny), so we were well prepared with hats, sun cream and drinking water. Incidentally there are fountains all over the city where you can refill your water bottle free of charge, and it tastes good.
To sum up, our trip was busy, hot and there were crowds everywhere. But it’s still my favourite European city and if I got the opportunity to go back again tomorrow, I’d be there like a shot!