My wife and I visited Rome in 2 days before we went on a cruise trip. Rome was one of the most visited cities in Italy, and it’s also one of the most photogenic or let’s say instagrammable cities in Europe. Considering what’s here are the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, and the Vatican City. These places are known for their beautiful architectures and history. Some places like the Colosseum need a reservation to get inside, so we will get into that later on this blog. We arrived at Fiumicino Airport then took a train ride going to Rome. You can check the details in our blog about Fiumicino to Rome. Michael Angelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Spartacus, and Julius Ceasar are famous people in ancient Roman who live in this city. I can truly say that Rome was a city full of history, so let’s get started.
Rome In 2 Days | A City Full Of History | A Complete Guide
Rome In 2 Days | Day 1 Itinerary
Here are the places we visited on our first day in Rome.
Altar of the Fatherland
From our hotel, we walk a couple of blocks and reached the Altar of the Fatherland. Located between the Piazza Venecia and Capitoline Hill, it was build to commemorate of the first king of Unified Italy Victor Emmanuel II.
Cost: Free
Foro Di Cesare
Also known as The Ceasar’s Forum, it is beside the Altar of the Fatherland and in front of the Capitoline Hill. We did not spent that much of a time in here, we pass by and took some pictures and head to our next destination.
Cost: Free
Colosseum
Rome In 2 Days | A City Full Of History | A Complete Guide
From the Foro Di Cesare, we picked up our Roma pass at the Roma Tourist Information Center in Via Fori Imperiali before we head to Colosseum. We will talk about the Roma pass later on this blog. Colosseum is one of the busiest tourist spots in Rome, and it’s been the landmark of the city for the past years. To get inside the Colosseum, you need to have a reservation or else you have to wait countless hours in line just to buy the tickets. For us, we supposed to have a reservation on our day 1 but it turns out my reservation did not go through that I booked online. To cut the story short, we had our tour on our 2nd day instead of our 1st day. So we skip the tour headed to Roman Forum.
Cost: 12 Euro + 2 Euro Reservation fee to book online.
Tip: It’s included in Roma Pass but you still have to pay 2 euro for reservation online.
Roman Forum
In 500 B.C people used to gather here because this is the heart of the ancient city of Rome. Historian believes that they used this as a social, political and even religious activity. You can also do a guided tour or do it on your own.
Cost: 12 Euro
Tip: This is also included in Roma Pass.
Capitoline Museum
Rome In 2 Days | A City Full Of History | A Complete Guide
One of the biggest museums in Rome, and it has three floors full of history, ancient artifacts, statues and many more. We spent almost an hour here because it’s so much information. Note that they don’t allow video and big bags like backpacks, but they do have lockers inside for free.
Cost: Tickets are 15 Euro
Tip: Free if you choose to enter here with Roma Pass
After the Capitoline Museum, we had lunch about 12:30pm
Trevi Fountain
Rome In 2 Days | A City Full Of History | A Complete Guide
Trevi Fountain is one of the most famous fountains in Italy and in the world. They recently restored the Trevi fountain in June 2014 and finished on November 2015. They improved the lighting and added 100 led light so it would illuminate more at night. When we got there, it was so crowded, so be careful of pickpockets. Some people said that it’s more beautiful at night.
Cost: Free
Pantheon
The last ancient Roman temple in Rome that you can visit and open to the public. Today, it is converted to a church and sometimes Pope Francis visits here. Pantheon is a must visit place here in Rome.
Cost: Free
Check out our Day 1 Video
Rome In 2 Days | Day 2 Itinerary
We spent most of the time in our day 2 in Vatican City. We woke up around 7 am, had breakfast at our hotel at 8 am and headed to Vatican City. From our hotel, we took a bus going to the Vatican Museum entrance.
Rome In 2 Days | A City Full Of History | A Complete Guide
Vatican Museum
When you plan to do a tour at the Vatican Museum and include this to your itinerary, I would remind you that this museum is so big and it would take you at least half a day. Unless you like to do it on your own, it might lessen the time you spend here. But for us, we book a guided tour online at the Vatican Museum Website and it took us 3 to 4 hours. I suggest that you planned ahead and book a tour online in order to skip the line at the ticket booth. It could be very crowded sometimes. To book a tour in the Vatican Museum, you can visit their official website at www.museivaticani.va You have the option for the date and the time you want for the tours. They also have different tour packages that include different area inside Vatican City.
Cost: 35 Euro for a guided tour
Tip: Visit their official website for different options for the tours
Sistine Chapel
This chapel was included in our guided tour but they strictly don’t allow photography and video inside the chapel. The ceiling of Sistine Chapel was painted by Michaelangelo, you will know the story of how he painted the ceiling when you took the guided tour.
St. Peter’s Basilica
Rome In 2 Days | A City Full Of History | A Complete Guide
After the Sistine Chapel, we headed to St. Peter’s Basilica, the last part of our guided tour. We are amazed when we got inside the Basilica, the decorations of the ceiling and the intricate design of the statues was very realistic. It was unbelievable. We felt that we went back in time when we saw this place. There are sections or chapels in every corner of the church and one of them were St. John Paul II body was buried underneath the Basilica.
Cost: Free
Tip: You can skip the security line if you have a guided tour of Vatican Museum
St. Peter’s Square
Our guided tour ends at St. Peter’s Basilica, we spend a little time inside the Basilica then we went outside at St. Peter’s Square. This is the center of Vatican City, where the Papal Audience happens. It’s in the right side of the square when facing the Basilica are the window where Pope Francis go out and greet the audience.
Lunch Inside The Vatican City
Around 1pm, we had lunch inside the Vatican City. We had pizzas and panini con porchetta.
Inside The Colosseum
After our lunch, we took the bus going to Colosseum to have a tour. We scheduled to get inside at 4pm so we head there an hour early because we anticipated a lot of people. Our tour is on our own and to tell you honestly, there is not a lot to see unless you took a guided tour in order for you to learn something from it. You must go to the Colosseum official website to book your tour. We stayed about an hour and headed to Piazza Navona.
Piazza Navona
This is our last stop was Piazza Navona, and it was beautiful at night. Most of the tourist spots here at Rome are beautiful at night because of their lighting. So if you like, you can go out again and visit some of the places we mentioned here at night. We ended our here, then we went back to our hotel around 7pm. Around 10pm, we went outside to have our dinner near our hotel.
Check out our Day 2 Video
Roma Pass
When you visit Rome, we recommend to buy one of this. Only if you’re visiting Rome for 2 or 3 days. The Roma pass gives you free access to Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, and two major museum like Capitoline Museum. It also gives you discounted tickets in all museums in Rome. Also, Roma pass gives you tickets for the bus. You just have to activate it on your first ride of the bus.
Cost: 48 hours or 2 days Roma Pass is 28 Euro. 1 free entry to Major Museums and free entry to Archeological sites.
The 72 Hours or 3 days Roma Pass is 38.50 Euro. It has 2 free entry to Major Museums and free entry to Archeological sites
Tip: When you buy the Roma Pass online, you will have a choice where would you like to pick up the pass. You can choose the pick up location that is close to you hotel or when you arrive at the Airport. Just look for the official Roma Tourist Information Point.
Where To Stay
We stayed at Theater Hotel Navona which is close to all major attractions in Rome. Our advice was, the closer you are in the heart of Rome, the more expensive the room. Just check out and compare the prices in Booking.com, Kayak, and Hotels.com. That’s where we always look if we are planning to have a vacation. Also, you have to check it out if it is a Bed and Breakfast or a Hotel. The Bed & Breakfast is a little bit cheaper compare to a regular hotel in Rome.
Where To Eat
Our advice is, book a hotel that have free breakfast, so you already covered in the morning. We eat lunch at small local sandwich places like this picture at the top. They have panini, slice of pizza and shawarma, or lasagna. At night, we dine at a good restaurant but not too expensive. Look for restaurants that is not too close to tourist spots, they tend to be more cheaper. Here are some of the places we recommend.
La Zozzone B
La Fraschetta
Borgo 139
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