Leg 3 · Italy · complete

Rome

Sep 14 – Sep 17 · 3 nights · Solo · ★★★★☆

A morning of churches and fountains, a Trastevere food tour, and the Colosseum arena floor, but too little time and too much heat for the Vatican.

“I could spend an entire day in any one of those churches and still only scratch the surface of its stories.”

Day by day

1. Mon, Sep 14

   A wrong stop, then Rome

   Just because everyone gets off doesn't mean you should.

   A lot of people got off the train at what I assumed was my stop, so I did too, and found myself at Roma Tiburtina instead of Termini. One look at the GPS on my phone would have told me we weren't there yet. I worked out which bus to take, and used the ride to plan where I'd have dinner. Not a huge deal, just a hiccup.

   So it was a slightly stressful start, but the anxiety faded once I started taking in the architecture around the hotel. I knew I had a long few days ahead.

   Planned: Frecciarossa from Florence ~17:30 · walk from Termini to the hotel

2. Tue, Sep 15

   Churches, fountains & the Trastevere food tour

   Six churches before lunch.

   My morning walk through the center was really a church crawl, with fountains in between: Piazza della Repubblica, Santa Maria della Vittoria, the Spanish Steps early, Trevi at 9, Pozzo's painted ceiling and fake dome at Sant'Ignazio, the Pantheon, and the Caravaggios at San Luigi dei Francesi. I didn't photograph the paintings, but I got the ceiling.

   The churches in Rome are amazing. There's so much art and architecture, and so many ornate displays, and every one has so much history that they never felt repetitive. (They did make the churches later in the trip feel a bit meh in comparison.) So many things gave me pause, and I took far more photos than are here. What got me was the depth of the storytelling, in each church and in each display. Any one of them could have filled a day.

   Then Piazza Navona, the market at Campo de' Fiori and the fountains of Piazza Farnese, and cacio e pepe at Luciano for lunch.

   In the evening, the Eating Europe Twilight Trastevere tour from Tiber Island was a great way to learn a neighborhood from someone who lives there, with first-hand recommendations along the way. The best bite was cacio e pepe again, at Trattoria degli Amici. I'd still rank the Paris tour above it, but I enjoyed both.

   Planned: Colosseum underground + arena 08:30 · Forum & Palatine · Capitoline Hill · Eating Europe Twilight Trastevere tour 17:10

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

3. Wed, Sep 16

   Colosseum, Palatine & a long walk to the Vatican

   It raised the hairs on my neck.

   The only last-minute Colosseum tickets I could get were for today, so the Colosseum, the Forum and the Palatine all landed on one day. I walked over from the hotel, stopped for a cappuccino, and climbed up into the Parco del Colle Oppio for photos of the outside before heading down to the line for my timed entry.

   At the front of the line, I found out I was in the wrong one. That was the regular entrance, and the arena floor entrance was on the other side. My casual photo walk turned anxious very quickly as I hustled around the Colosseum. It worked out, though. I got in midway through my entry window, when the crowd was probably smaller than at the start, so I easily found space up front to take pictures and take it all in.

   There was a second letdown. In my head I'd booked the underground tour, and it turned out to be just the arena floor. But one step out onto that floor and the disappointment was gone. You can imagine what it was like for the gladiators, looking up into that crowd. It was worth the extra ticket. I'd also bought a regular entry, so I spent the next couple of hours wandering the upper levels, looking down at where I'd stood.

   Then the Arch of Constantine, the Forum and Palatine Hill until early afternoon, and what stays with me is the sheer scale of it. I probably should have used the ticket's two-day window to split the Palatine from the Colosseum. It wasn't bad, just a long day.

   I didn't have Vatican tickets and almost skipped it altogether, but decided to go for it. By the time I got there, around 4, I'd seen so much that I was worn down mentally. I was in shorts because it was far too hot for pants, and the line was long and in full sun. So St. Peter's was outside only, and even from there it was amazing. It would have been nice to go in, but it felt like a good reason to come back someday and plan it properly.

   The walk back along the Tiber, over the Ponte Sant'Angelo and past the Quirinale, was reflective. I kept thinking about how amazing the day had been, in awe of everything I'd seen. And I was a little proud of how many steps I'd taken and how much ground I'd covered.

   Leaving for Venice the next morning was bittersweet. Venice was a place I'd wanted to see at least once in my life, and I was looking forward to what I hoped would be a slower pace, though I had no idea what getting around would be like. But Rome had so much left that it was hard to go.

   Planned: Vatican Museums / Sistine / St. Peter's 08:30 · Pantheon · Navona · Trevi · Spanish Steps · Il Goccetto

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

More photos

Getting here & staying

Playbook from this leg

• Do differently Check your GPS before getting off the train
• Worked Find the arena floor entrance before your Colosseum slot
• Do differently Start a big city with a golf-cart or overview tour to get oriented
• Worked Plan a laundry stop about halfway through a long trip, ideally near the hotel
• Do differently Pack one pair of lightweight long pants for churches with a dress code
• Worked For short stays, base near the train station; for longer ones, base in the center
• Didn't work Give the Vatican its own early morning, not the tail end of a hot day

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