A tour through Italy wouldn’t be complete without a visit to Rome. This impressive city has grand monuments around every corner and ancient ruins still standing as a more modern city evolves around them. Given our Schengen days are numbered we chose to get a ‘snapshot’ of the city rather than trying to squeeze everything in. We relished in the opportunity to wander without an agenda, eat and drink to our hearts content, and celebrate Tess’s birthday with her parents joining us for the weekend! – A Roman celebration if you will.
Of course, if you’re a history buff then Rome definitely has you covered. You could very easily spend a week here systematically working your way through the sites of significance – The Colosseum, Roman forum, Palatine Hill, the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, Pantheon, …. The list goes on! Our only recommendation would be to book in advance and arrive early for those things you definitely want to see, as in peak season most tourist attractions will book out days in advance with long queues.
ROMAN NEIGHBOURHOODS ‘OFF THE BEATEN TRACK’ WHICH ARE WORTH CHECKING OUT
Always on the lookout for somewhere to escape the tourist crush we were excited to explore the two areas of Trastevere and the Jewish Quarter (Jewish Ghetto of Rome). Trastevere in particular comes to life in the evenings with a hum of locals and tourists alike venturing out for a bite to eat after the sun begins to set for the day. If you’re lucky, or patient enough to wait for an outdoor table go ahead and order a vino to sip on while you watch the world go by.
Pro tip: When deciding on where to eat we generally like to follow the crowd. As annoying as it is to line up and wait for a table, we’ve found when everyone wants to eat there it’s generally for a reason – because its good (and hopefully cheap!)
We also really enjoyed exploring the Jewish Quarter with narrower cobblestoned streets and vendors selling their famous Roman style fried artichoke (more on this a little later).
OUR FAVOURITE RESTAURANTS TO EAT OUT IN ROME
Rome is a city with thousands of restaurants, so the list below if by no means exhaustive. These were some of the great restaurants that we enjoyed during our stay! If we missed any of your favourites, please comment below so we can visit them on our next trip!
Nannarella:
This one was our favourite in the Trastevere area. The chilled house red went down a little too easy and their pasta servings were extremely generous for the price of 9 euros (without compromising on flavour). Of course, the real highlight of this meal was getting to share it with Tess’ parents – a memory I’m sure we’ll all hold fondly for years to come.
Nonna Betta:
We read about this place a few times during our search for the best friend artichokes in Rome – thankfully they lived up to the hype. Situated in Rome’s Jewish Quarter the Jewish fried artichokes at Nonna Betta were the perfect crunchy afternoon snack.
Osteria Della Coppelle:
Booked on a recommendation from our favourite foodie travel bloggers (@topjaw) Osteria della Coppelle has a gorgeous outdoor terrace which slowly fills up over the course of an evening. It hits its peak from around 9pm making it a great place to enjoy a Roman style pizza and an aperol (or 5…).
BEST COFFEES WE TRIED IN ROME
You should have figured it out by now from reading our other blogs.. we LOVE a coffee, and often go out of our way to find the best ones in a new city! The two below were our favourite coffee’s in Rome!
Marigold:
Situated just outside the city walls this place is a bit of a trek to get to, but definitely worth the effort – especially if you’re craving a real “Melbourne Style” brunch like we were. In a light and effortlessly cool space the team at Marigold serve up a delicious brunch and hella good coffee too.
Faro:
Also around half an hour out from the city centre, the baristas at Faro (which we’ve since learned is Italian for lighthouse) are coffee wizards. There’s an overwhelming selection of different beans to choose from, but if you can’t decide (like we couldn’t) you also can’t go wrong with a good old-fashioned cappuccino).
GELATO IN ROME?
You can’t go to Rome and not grab a gelato right? It’s impossible to miss the gelateria’s, situated on most corners. We sampled a few, but our favourite was Otaleg in the Trastevere area. Let us know in the comments below your favourite gelato in Rome.
WANT SO CHECK OUT SOME ACCOMMODATION IN ROME?
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