Traveling around Rome

I loved visiting Rome, but there were a few things that I wish I would have known before traveling around the city. Rome has so many amazing places to visit, so being able to easily get around the city is essential to having the best experience possible.  

First and foremost, I wish I would have had more knowledge on was transportation around the city. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to travel to every site by foot, but I also wasn’t sure how to get from place to place. I ended up traveling via bus, metro, and train in Rome. Using the metro was the most convenient form of transportation, especially since it stops at most of the major tourist attractions. On the contrary, taking the public bus was very confusing – I ended up getting on the wrong bus and had to use my small Italian vocabulary to get headed in the right direction. Using the train to get around Italy works very well, but using it to travel around Rome itself isn’t the best unless you happen to be visiting something near the station. 

Also, I wish that I would have had a better game plan for which attractions I wanted to see. I knew that I wanted to see the Vatican City, Colosseum, and Trevi Fountain, but I didn’t even bother thinking about all the other places, like the Forum, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, and other very interesting sites. I ended up doing guided tours around the Vatican museums and the Colosseum which I thought were very informative. They also helped me to spend my time on the most important parts of each attraction. I would highly recommend finding what sites are the most important for you to see and consider joining a tour group for those places.   

Ultimately, being in Rome was a very interesting experience. It was so cool to see all the famous sites in person, especially St. Peter’s Basilica. Rome is a very busy and confusing city for someone who is bad with directions, but I would love to go back and do it all again!