There’s so much to see and do in Rome it can be bewildering to first-time tourists. We spent five days in the Eternal City, squeezed lots in and have got lots of tips on how to get as much out of your visit as possible, including how to get a proper look at Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling, where there’s a fantastic zoo, what to pay and where to go for Aperol Spritz or coffee so you know you’re not being massively ripped off.
Obviously, if you’re in Rome you have to visit St Peter’s Basilica and when you do head towards the heart of the Vatican, ignore the guys trying to sell you fast-pass tickets. They’re not your friends. It’s free to get in to, though the queues can be long and are out in the open so have a sun hat, sunscreen and water with you. Or, if it looks like rain, an umbrella.
You’ll pay five euros for a bottle of water outside St Peter’s so take your own bottle. There are plenty of water fountains around Rome where you can fill it up for free. Importantly, the Vatican doesn’t like people showing too much flesh in the Basilica so no hotpants, miniskirts or mankinis. The people manning the airport-style scanners on entry might give you a sort of shawl thing to cover your thighs or shoulders, cleavage or buttocks if they consider your clothing immodest.
The interior is magnificent but you knew that already. That said, when we went Michelangelo’s Pieta and Bernini’s Baroque Baldachin were covered up for restoration work ahead of a jubilee in 2025. In fact, at the moment, autumn 2024, quite a few sculptures and statues are undergoing restoration work. There is a Donatello near the tacky gift shop you can still see though.
The Trevi Fountain isn’t covered up and it was a proper bunfight to get anywhere near the water. You need sharp elbows or to rise at the crack of dawn when you’ll have to wait your turn among the newlyweds. Places to eat near the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps are really expensive.
You’ll pay an eye-watering four euros for an espresso near the Trevi Fountain. At places just a little off the beaten track, where locals go, a cappuccino will cost two euros, like at the Caffe Perù, in Via Giulia. It’s near the head office of the anti-mafia bureau so you might see people with guns. There’s a risk of it being blown up too but at least you’ll get good coffee at a reasonable price.
There are guys in orange overalls who fix the cobbles in Rome’s largely cobbled streets. If you see those guys in a bar then it’s probably not charging a tourist tariff. Much of Rome’s best bits are cobbled so flats are preferable to stilettoes. You might get away with a wedge heel if you’re feeling brave.
Get your tickets to stuff in advance. The Pantheon was five euros and you can do it on your phone easily enough. The queues at the sides are for large groups so don’t line up there, go straight to the entrance. Fast-track tickets a waste of money. The Pantheon, of course, is spectacular, but you knew that already.
Back to the Vatican Museums, because you want to see Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling. It’s likely to be busy. There’s a rectangular area in the middle where you can stand. The areas around this area have to be kept clear for people to walk through. Around the edges there are benches. Rather than stand in the middle craning your neck, try to get a seat. It means you need to pounce as soon as someone moves and there’s a gap. The polite way to say ‘excuse me’ in Italian is ‘scusi’.
You’re not allowed to take pictures in the Sistine Chapel or loiter where people walk through or you’ll get shouted at. Don’t make too much noise either, it is a place of worship, after all. Again, spectacular but you knew that already.
There’s much more to the Vatican Museums than the Sistine Chapel, by the way. Incredible artworks from antiquity to the modern day. Highlights are Caravaggio’s Descent from the Cross, although I’ve had more painful-looking mosquito bites than his Christ’s stigmata; Leonardo’s St Jerome, although he couldn’t be bothered to finish it, and the darkened tapestry room with the three Raphaels was staggering. John the Baptist on the far left seems to be saying: “You gotta see this!”
There’s a toilet tucked away behind the last of Raphael’s fresco rooms as you head towards the Sistine Chapel. It’s a full day exploring the Vatican Museums so this is valuable information. Not bad for about £32 each.
Just wandering around Rome is incredible. So incredible renaissance churches on top of early Christian churches on top of 2,000-year-old Roman temples. The church by the famous Bocca della verita, where you queue up to stick your hand in and get a picture, had St Valentine’s skull and some of his other body parts. Nice.
Also ruins, so many ruins. Their so-called Eternal City is in a terrible state of repair with broken stone, fallen columns and crumbling buildings. That’s my Rome joke. Well done for reading this far, nearly there now.
As a counterpoint to all the art and churches and ruins, Rome also boasts a great zoo at the Bioparco di Roma. The Komodo dragon came right up to the glass while I was there, hence the footage at the top of this article. The zoo also has chimps, white rhinos, elephants, giraffes, an colossal anaconda, bears, seals, wolves, sealions, noisy otters, exotic birds and a white tiger which is the only creature that was hiding when we were there. It was a really great day out.
We stayed in an airbnb near Campo di Fiori which has a market in the morning where you can buy delicious fruit and veg as well as touristy stuff. I had a glass of freshly squeezed pomegranate juice because I’d never had this before even though it was five euros. In the evening, there are bars where you can have an Aperol Spritz with a few nibbles for your aperitivo.
You’ll pay seven euros for an Aperol Spritz here, the difference is the nibbles you get. The bar with the guy holding the iguana offered nice bruschetta rather than nuts and crisps so that was the best of the five bars we tried around the square. It’s called Taba Cafe.
The best area to go for really high-quality and great-value food is the area known as Trastevere. I’ve already written an article about how to eat well and cheaply in Rome so if you missed that you can read it here. Rome is really cheap to eat out if you know where to go.
We walked around the Colosseum but didn’t go in. It was the only really big tourist destination we failed to do in depth. Next time maybe, if we get round to it but five days in the Eternal City is clearly not long enough. It’s called the Eternal City so you probably knew that already.