Our favorite city in the world. Wine bars, carbonara arguments, churches you can wander into for free, and ruins that never stop being ruins.
Built for a first trip, paced for a relaxed group — one main activity a day, meals and breaks built in. Book tickets online in advance; walk-up lines are brutal.
One pre-booked ticket. Go early, before the heat and the crowds.
Central, easy to reach after the ruins. The penne alla carbonara is the move.
Skip the midday sun — this is the hottest stretch of the day in August.
Carbonara and cacio e pepe. Reservation recommended.
Timed-entry ticket booked ahead. A guided tour is worth it for a first visit.
5 min from St. Peter's. Get the Fragola, Pistacchio, and Stracciatella.
Tour the interior — skip the dome climb to keep the day light.
Tiny, reservation essential. Get the cacio e pepe.
Two stops, five minutes apart.
Gelato at Frigidarium along the way — try the chocolate shell.
Wine at Vinoteca Novecento — say hi to Giovanni.
1 Michelin star tasting menu. Ask for outdoor or ground-floor seating.
Pre-booked, early start.
Reservation recommended.
Timed entry, guided tour recommended.
Reservation essential.
Gelato at Frigidarium en route.
Wine at Vinoteca Novecento.
Coffee and pastry near the hotel, no agenda.
Something light, people-watching.
A quieter spot to unwind.
Book ahead.
Book a guided tour ahead of time — ours was semi-private via Viator and excellent.
LUCIANO or Fiaschetteria, whichever they loved most.
Gelato at Frigidarium.
Wine at Vinoteca Novecento.
Guided tour, booked ahead.
Home to the giant foot and face of Nero.
Truffle pasta, reservation recommended.
Book the fast-track guided tour — ours ended up private, with an excellent guide.
One last gelato at Old Bridge.
Wherever they loved most this trip.
Ostia Antica, as a half-day alternative to one of the flex or rest days. Worth noting: it's train out, a few hours with a guide, and train back — it eats a comparable amount of a day to the other activities, not a lighter add-on. Treat it as a substitute for a full day, not something layered on top. 🎟️ Book the tour ↗
Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini — the bone-crypt church. Only worth the detour if the hotel ends up near Via Vittorio Veneto.
Excellent little wine bar. Say hi to Giovanni from Ross & Lisa of Chicago!
Lovely wine bar, found after a Colosseum + Forum tour. Good spot to unwind post-tour.
Amazing carbonara and cacio e pepe — our favorite in Roma for those two pasta dishes. Highly recommended; reservations recommended.
Get the cacio e pepe, you will not regret it. Tiny place — reservations recommended (a credit card concierge can help book).
The penne alla carbonara is divine. The off-menu penne all'arrabbiata is also delightful. Reservation not a bad idea, but you can usually walk up.
Amazingly simple truffle pasta — just pasta, olive oil, and piles of black truffle. Very small inside, even the patio. Reservations recommended.
Delightful dinner — 1 Michelin star tasting menu. Ideally sit outdoors; ground floor is better than the basement.
Lovely little place with great fresh pasta and traditional meat dishes. Will need a reservation.
The Alfredo tasting menu, in the original home of Alfredo (as in fettuccine Alfredo) — decor to match. Worth noting: they add a 20% service charge to the bill, which is unusual for Italy.
Favorite Roman flatbread-style pizza — pay by weight, they heat it up for you. In Trastevere, about a 20-min walk from St. Peter's.
Haven't eaten at the Rome originals, but they're famous for the best Roman flatbread style — they just opened their first US location, in Chicago. It's delicious.
Great mozzarella bar — good stop for happy hour, wine, bread, and mozz. A few locations; the Piazza di Firenze one is secluded and less touristy.
Never got in — sold out both times without a reservation. If you'll be in Trastevere, book ahead.
A stop on our carbonara tour — beautiful interior space, but too trendy and the food wasn't great. Pasta served in skillets.
Adorable little pizzas. Pretty mediocre, honestly — wouldn't go out of your way for it.
Great pork sandwiches — stumbled onto it while walking, just down the street from Frigidarium.
Favorite gelato in Rome. Get the Fragola, Pistacchio, and Stracciatella.
Second favorite gelato in Rome — try the chocolate shell!
Decent gelato chain, lots of locations — this one just north of Piazza Navona.
Very old and very famous gelato shop & bakery. A bit overpriced, honestly not much better than the Grom a block away — unless you're sitting for a coffee and pastry.
One ticket, do them together. Book online in advance — it's ruined enough to still be worth it, and they've reopened the underground and 4th ring after decades closed.
Go at night if you can (book in advance) — far fewer crowds, and the museum is beautifully lit. Guided tour recommended for a first visit. Climb the dome once — that's plenty.
Largest freestanding masonry dome in the world — breathtaking. Now requires tickets, and they're nearly impossible to buy online in advance; expect a kiosk line or a marked-up tour ticket. Worth figuring out — this is a top-5 site, honestly skip the Colosseum over this if you have to choose.
Amazing at night. During the day you now have to pay to get down in front and throw your coin — go in the evening and skip the fee.
Home to Bernini's Four Rivers Fountain. Awesome Christmas market in winter, amazing plaza the rest of the year.
Fun market during the day; lots of tourist bars and restaurants (see La Carbonara above) at night.
Good Renaissance art gallery in the park that was formerly the Villa's grounds. Book a guided tour — we had a great semi-private one.
Finally did a tour here — great, learned a lot. The papal apartments on the roof were surprisingly well preserved. Ours ended up private (no one else signed up) with a knowledgeable guide.
Great museum of Roman history — home to the giant foot and face of Nero you see on postcards.
Saved for a future visit — one of the great ruins (Nero's Villa), mentioned on our Colosseum & Roman Forum tour. Book ahead.
Led by historians or archeologists — more expensive, smaller groups, higher quality. We did "Underground Rome" and "Caesar and Empire."
Ancient former port town about an hour outside historical Rome — incredible ruins, similar vibe to Pompeii but almost empty. We finally did this with a guided day-trip tour: train out, a few hours walking the site with a guide. Worth doing guided — there's a lot you'd walk right past alone.
All of the churches are amazing, and they're (almost) all free to go into (which is unusual in Europe). So long as it isn't mass, just wander into them. And most of them are in piazzas, so there's probably a place to stop and have wine and/or gelato before and/or after.
Unassuming on the exterior — an amazing 3D ceiling inside. A short walk from the Pantheon.
Sits on top of an amazing crypt made of the bones of former friars. Only a detour if you're staying near Via Vittorio Veneto.
Off to the left of the altar is a room with the baby Christ figure — interesting to compare the posted story to the 📖 Wikipedia version. Right behind the "wedding cake" and Capitoline Museum.
Fire — Santa Maria della Vittoria. Earth — Santa Maria del Popolo. Wind — St. Peter's Basilica. Water — Sant'Agnese in Agone.
When we go for a full week, we'll often rent an apartment instead.
Marriott property right next to the Pantheon — amazing location. Hard to get a good rate or use points. Fun rooftop bar (no view of the Pantheon, but lovely nonetheless).
Former Marriott property, hard to get redemptions but a beautiful hotel — closest Marriott property to Termini train station.
A bit of a hike up the hill from the train station. Excellent lounge on the roof for breakfast.
Stayed here in 2026, upgraded to a huge room — 20 ft ceilings, a terrace, and a keyhole view of St. Peter's. It's an old hotel and the room was dated, but for the right price we'd go back. Extensive breakfast buffet.