My wife and I recently returned from a trip to Italy. We had a wonderful time while there. In the last blog, I wrote about five reasons I love visiting Italy. Today, I will share five reasons I love visiting Rome, Italy. Read to the end for some bonus content – best practices and lessons learned about visiting the capital of Italy.
A little context about our time in Rome
We spent three days in Rome. While there we went on multiple tours. Our first day focused on food to include a delicious food tour. Day two we spent time exploring the ancient sights. Day three we toured Vatican City. I highly recommend going on tours if your budget allows.
Reason #1 – History
Rome is like an open-air museum. You can walk around and feel the history of this ancient city all around you. The Pantheon is smack dab in the middle of the old city. One of the best things to do in this city is look around and experience all there is to offer in this historical Eternal City.
Reason #2 – Sights of Rome
The capital of Italy is full of sights. Many are world-class. The Coliseum is mind-bending. There is so much to see in the city I am positive that you could spend a week in Rome and not run out of sights to explore.
Reason #3 – Vatican City
Near Rome is a special place, Vatican City. There is nothing like it in the world. It is spectacular. They have a special collection in the museum with all kinds of art and artifacts from across the world. The largest Christian church in the world, St Peter’s Basilica is located in Vatican City. We visited in November and it was crowded. God bless you if you go there in the summer. However, there’s only one Vatican in the world. It is worth seeing.
Reason #4 – Piazzas
Rome is full of piazzas. We stayed near one of the more famous ones, Piazza Navona. It was empty in the morning and would fill up as the day went on. One of the things I love about European cities is the open public spaces. It’s great to hang out with your neighbors and see what everyone is up to. One of the things that makes this city a special place is all of the piazzas.
Reason #5 – Fountains of Rome
This city is full of fantastic fountains. They’re scattered all over. We visited one of the most famous fountains in the world the Trevi Fountain early in the morning and it was already getting crowded.
Bonus Reason – so much to see and do
There’s so much to see and do in the Eternal City. We spent three days here and I feel like we barely scratched the surface. You could easily spend a week in Rome and not see everything. I guarantee you you will not be bored.
Extra bonus reason – Churches
Churches are all over this city. Many of them are amazing, decorated in marble and inspirational paintings. Rome is full of churches. Be sure to visit plenty of them even if you are not spiritual.
One thing you may not like about Rome
Here is one thing that you may not like when you come to Rome – it is a big city. Think about all the things that come with it. There are lots of people and plenty of noise. It is kind of stinky and you may find some parts have trash. But that’s the deal with any big city and this is Rome. You don’t go there for that. You visit the Eternal City to experience all that it has to offer. To me, it’s a no-brainer tradeoff.
Three of my favorite things in Rome
- My favorite sight – the Colosseum.
- Food – many great options all over the city.
- Weather – go during the off-season to avoid the summer heat.
Best practices and lessons learned from our visit to Rome
Thanks for reading to the end. Here are some best practices and lessons learned from our time spent in Rome. I fully recognize I’ve only spent only 3 days of my entire life in the Eternal City. I am hardly an expert. Below is one guy’s opinion. The key takeaway is that Rome is awesome. We hope to return soon.
I am Doug Keating and this is my letter to my sons.