Exploring Rome: A 4-Day Itinerary

Rome is, of course, an absolute must-see while in Italy. Founded in 753 BC, the capital of Italy has experienced monarchy and republic. It has then witnessed a succession of emperors until the collapse of the Eastern Roman Empire in 1453. Rome’s history is punctuated by crises, power struggles, territorial expansion, and wars. It is an emblematic city of Italy, where history intertwines with the present. You just can’t miss it.

*Look up Rome City pass, Roma Pass and the different pass the city has to offer. It can be a good fit for you depending on what you plan de to during your stay in Rome. These cards can give you free access to public transport, museums, or even historical sites.

How to go to Rome:

Plane: You can easily fly to Aeroporto di Roma – Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci. From there you can take the train and travel to several other cities if you wish.
Train: You can easily get to Rome by train, and it’s the best way to skip the heavy traffic of the city if you come from an other city.
Car: I don’t recommend visiting Rome by car; there’s a lot of traffic, and parking can be really hard.

Where to stay:

If you look at a map of Rome, you will realize that things are not so far apart from each other. So you should really take that in consideration when choosing your accommodation. I strongly recommend you stay near Roma Centro Storico which is the region around the Pantheon. A great neighbourhood not far is Trastevere. It’s a charming and calm neighbourhood during the day, and it comes alive in the evening for the aperitivo.

First day in Rome:

You’ll arrive in the morning, so you probably won’t have a lot of visit time. That’s why I recommend you stay close from your accommodation, close to Trastevere.

Trastevere: 

Stroll through the narrow cobbled streets of Trastevere, one of the most charming Roman neighborhoods. Admire the views and enjoy delicious food. It was once a working-class neighborhood and has since gone through gentrification, so you’ll find a mix of imperial and modern buildings. I recommend you don’t miss visiting Trastevere in the afternoon and evening because that’s when you’ll have more fun.

What to do in Trastevere:

Food tour: I always love a great food tour and as I said Trastevere is known for its good street food. If you want to just relax and eat while someone talks about history, you’ll find many good options like these:

Street food and apperitivo: if you don’t want to do a food tour, at least taste some street food including pizza al taglio, Roman sandwiches, trapezzino and suppli.  If you choose to come in the evening, please take a seat in a terrasse and enjoy an aperitivo. 

Passeggiata del Gianicolo: Admire the view from the Passeggiata del Gianicolo or Parco del Gianicolo just behind the botanical garden.

Santa Maria Basilica: This is the first church in Rome dedicated to Holy Mary and is considered one of the most beautiful in all of Rome. You’ll admire detailed mosaics and incredible marble and gold ornamentations. 

Santa Cecilia Basilica: You can find a stunning marble statue of Santa Cecilia here and a crypt in the Byzantine style.

Second day in Rome

The Colosseo, the Foro Romano, and Colle Palatino: Obviously, it’s impossible to go to Rome without visiting the traces of Ancient Rome: the Colosseo, the Foro Romano, and Colle Palatino. As you can imagine, the history behind these monuments is vast and absolutely fascinating. This feat of architecture and engineering that is the Colosseum begun in 72 AC with the aim of presenting spectacles such as gladiatorial combats. Don’t ask yourself if it’s worth a visit, in my opinion it’s a no brainer. You can have acces to the arena, to the Colisseum underground where the gladiators and animals used to be and an attic where you’ll have a panoramic view of Rome with only a small group of people. There’s a lot of written informations in the Colosseo, but if you want even more, you can take a tour, or you can download Rick Steve’s free audioguides. Chose the way you want to visit depending on your interest in history, but at least go see the main part of the Colosseo, the arena.

You should buy your ticket in advance on the official site or via platform like GetYourGuide because there’s a limited number of tickets and you will be assigned an entry time to the Colosseum. Otherwise you’ll be at the ticket office as soon as it opens at 9h and hope you have nice options. You can buy your ticket at the Forum rather than at the Colosseum, the line is shorter.

There’s many ticket options and it’s a bit confusing:
– a full experience ticket for the Colosseum, which gives you access for 90 minutes to the arena of the Colosseum and 1st and 2nd floor where people used to sit, and access to the Forum and Palatine Hill for the day of the ticket and 24h after your entry hour to the Colosseum.
– a 24h ticket for the Colosseum, the Forum and the Palatine Hill which gives you access to the arena for 75 minutes.
– a full experience ticket that gives you access to the arena and the underground, the Forum and Palatine Hill.
– a full experience ticket that gives you access to the arena and the attic, the Forum and Palatine Hill.
– a 24h ticket only for the Colosseum arena (you can then buy a ticket to the Forum and Palatine Hill).

The ones to the attic and the underground seem to be the most popular and the ones that sell the fastest. There’s also a 2-day ticket. If you want to visit the attic or the underground, you’ll absolutely need to reserve in advance. Once you have your ticket, if it includes entry to the Forum and the Palatine Hill, you can visit those at any time on the day of your Colosseum entry and for 24 hours (or 48 hours for the two-day ticket) after your assigned visit hour. You will need at least 2 to 3 hours to visit the Forum and the Hill. I suggest you check the rules before going, because you’ll soon need to reserve every tickets in advance.

You can buy your tickets on the official site or on sites like GetYourGuide :

Colosseum, Roman Forum & Palatine Hill Guided Tour

Piazza del Campidoglio and the Capitoline Museums: At the center of the piazza, you’ll find a replica of the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius. Behind it stands the Capitoline Museums. It’s a complex of museums dating all the way back to the 15th century. The three buildings are connected by an underground gallery designed by Michelangelo. There are beautiful displays of marble and bronze sculptures, paintings, and artifacts from Ancient Rome, the Renaissance, Ancient Egypt, and more. You can buy your ticket in advance, but it’s usually not necessary. This museum nicely concludes a day dedicated to Ancient Rome.

Third day in Rome

1) Marché Campo de’ Fiori: Campo de Fiori became popular in the 15 century for being a passage to the Papal residence. Later, being the only Roman piazza without a church, it became a perfect place for public executions. You can see traces of these for example with the statue of Giordano Bruno facing the Vatican, a philosopher feared and executed by the church in 1600. Nowadays, it’s known for its daytime market with different foods and flowers. You can find it from 7am to 2pm. You can also come at night to enjoy its great nightlife. 

2) Pantheon: Then walk to the Pantheon. It’s a beautifully well conserved Roman temple. You can admire the columns, the immense cupola and oculus at its center, marble floors and as always sculptures and paintings all around you. 

The entrance is not free anymore since 2023, it’s 5 euros. You usually don’t need a fast track ticket like you can find online. Bring cash, because there’s a faster line that is cash only. You can even find free audioguide online like the one from Rick Steves. You’ll need around 30 minutes for this visit. It’s quite small but if you like the architecture of the Antiquity period, you’d want to make this stop.  
Be careful with your clothing, it’s a church so you need to cover your shoulders and knees or your entrance will be denied. 

3) Trevi Fountain: Obviously, you can’t miss the Trevi Fountain. There are always a lot of people, and it’s nice to see the fountain as close as possible, so I recommend you go first thing in the morning. The fountain is still free in 2025, but that could change. Be careful, on Monday and Friday mornings, Rome is picking up the coins, so you won’t have access. The tradition for tourists is to toss a coin with your right hand over your left shoulder to guarantee that you’ll come back to Rome; two coins to bring you love and three for marriage.

At the right of the Trevi fountain, you’ll find a small fountain with two small water jets facing each other. It’s the fountain of lovers. If the lovers drink from it, the legend says they will be in love and loyal forever. So if you came to Rome with your significant other don’t skip this one! It’s kind of a little secret and there’s usually few people waiting.   

4) Piazza Navona: This beautiful square with baroque architecture was once a forum as you can imagine by its shape. There’s three detailed fountains including the renowned Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi. There’s usually artists performing around the piazza, which makes it a nice piazza to slow your pace and enjoy the atmosphere. As usual with places like that, there’s a lot of coffee or restaurants around the piazza that are considered tourist traps by the locals.  

5) Spanish Steps et Piazza di Spagna: These famous steps connect the Piazza di Spagna with the Trinità dei Monti church. Enjoy the vibrant atmosphere and walk up the stairs to take in a nice view of the piazza. There are a lot of tourists, so if you want a calmer atmosphere, you’ll need to come early in the morning or at night. If you don’t like very touristy places full of visitors, it may not be the right place for you.

6) Passeggiata del Pincio, Piazza del Popolo, Chiesa del Popolo, Terrazza del Pincio: The Passeggiata del Pincio is a beautiful promenade where you’ll have a great view of the ‘Pinciano’ Obelisk and Piazza del Popolo from the Terrazza del Pincio.

7) Galleria Borghese and Villa Borghese: Galleria Borghese was my favorite museum. It’s on the smaller side and is fascinating for lovers of marble statues. All the statues have so much movement and detail; I couldn’t take my eyes off some of them, especially Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne. If you’re like me and love marble statues, don’t miss this one. The museum is also full of carvings, ornamentations, and paintings on the walls. It’s truly breathtaking. The museum is surrounded by a beautiful park where you can take a nice and relaxing walk for the rest of the day. You need to reserve the museum in advance on the official web site of Galleria Borghese and can only stay for an one.

Fourth day in Rome

1) Vatican

We reserve one full morning to visit the Vatican. I strongly recommend you reserve a tour because there’s so much history, but take an early access! If you don’t take a tour, you’ll need to wait in an extremely long lime directly under the sun. The early skip the line access give you a less crowded visit which greatly improves the experience, like with this great tour:

Rome: Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel & Basilica Tour

Be careful choosing your clothes for the day, women need to cover the shoulders and knees. The same goes for the men: wear pants, no visible shoulders and no hats. Only bring small bags, no tripod or umbrella, but there’s a free luggage space if you really need.

2) Castle Sant’Angelo : After lunch, go to castle Sant’Angelo which is only about 20 minutes from the Vatican. It’s a museum inside of a fortress, it’s almost two thousand years old and includes, among others, art, prison cells and papales suites. so you’ll love it if you love art and history. You can take a beautiful picture of the castle from Ponte Sant’Angelo.

I hope you now have more inspiration for your next Italy trip!

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