We flew into Rome and landed late morning. We decided that we would take the subway into town instead of taking a taxi to save some money and that was super easy! We didn’t pre-book those tickets so when we arrived, we followed the signs in the airport to train station (which was located in the airport) and once we got there, we went to a ticket booth instead of using the kiosk. I would highly recommend going to the ticket booth just to make sure you are buying the correct tickets. Roma Termini is the main train station in Rome and the hub to go everywhere else. Roma Termini is HUGE but it’s easy to figure out where you’re going if you know your train number (will be on your ticket) and the time it departs. The final destination is listed on the screen which might not be your final destination, so that can be confusing, but if you focus on your train number and the time it departs, you can easily figure out what platform you will be departing from.
We used First Automated Luggage Storage Network in Europe – Smart Lockers Easy Life | Stow Your Bags to store our bags in Rome. They do have luggage storage in the lounge at Roma Termini, which you get access to if you purchase an Italia Rail Pass. We did purchase that pass as it was cheaper overall due to all the tickets we were buying but the lounge closes at 5pm and we needed our bags held until 6pm so we had to find our own luggage storage. There are lots of options for luggage storage but Stow Your Bags was easy!
Trevi Fountain: This was our first stop. It was incredibly busy but we quickly figured out there was a very orderly line that was moving quickly to get closer to the fountain. By standing in this line, we got some great pictures up close to the fountain. The area around the fountain was also busy with shops and restaurants so it’s a great spot to quickly grab food if you’re in a hurry. If you’re not in a hurry, I would recommend getting food somewhere not so populated as the prices seemed high.
Pantheon: We only had about 10 minutes in the Pantheon but it was worth quickly going in! We had purchased tickets ahead of time so we were able to stand in a quicker line but it was still long. The inside of the Pantheon was beautiful and even though we didn’t have much time, I was glad we went in!
Coliseum: The next stop was our guided tour of the Coliseum! We decided to do the guided tour because that is the only way to see the coliseum floor. It was a long tour but we were able to see so much. We walked in the coliseum and around the grounds in our 4 hour tour.
After our Coliseum tour, we walked back to the Roma Termini station and took our pre-booked train tickets to Florence. We booked all of our tickets through Italia Rail: ItaliaRail – Italy Train Ticket and Rail Pass Experts. We had a great experience with their customer service before our trip (lots of emails with questions and changes from me and they were super responsive) and they were also very helpful at the train station when we needed to change our tickets. I would highly recommend using them and purchasing tickets ahead of time. We decided to purchase the 1st class tickets, which cost a little more but you are able to pick your seats, have nicer seats, and have more space for luggage. We definitely thought that was worth it for those longer train rides!
We walked all over Rome, which was very doable if you have time. I’m sure the subway system would have been easy as well. I would personally say I don’t need to go back to Rome but I was very glad we went once!
I would love to help you plan hotels and activities in Rome if this is a destination on your bucket list!
TBD Travel with April 