ROME TRAVEL TIPS FOR FIRST TIMERS | 40+ Must-Knows Before Visiting Rome + What NOT to Do!

for a lot of first-time visitors going to the Eternal City oftentimes they find it to be an eternal disappointment from crafty pickpockets to tourist traps just around pretty much every corner it can be surprisingly easy to have a terrible time in Rome don't worry I'm here to help hi I'm Christina from happytoander.com and I've been to Rome three times now each time enjoying it way more than the last so in this video I'm going to be sharing all my top tips and tricks curated over a lot of painful trial and error so let's start with some Rome travel planning first off arriving in Rome the Rome camachino airport also known as the Leonardo da Vinci airport is the main International Airport in Rome so if you're coming from overseas odds are this is going to be your first point of entry now this airport is located in fumicino so that's about 40 kilometers west of Rome's Historical Center and it's right by the sea getting to the city center from this airport can be as quick as 32 minutes if you take the express train but there's also different Regional trains that are cheaper and it can take up to an hour in that case now besides this airport though a really good alternative if you're coming from within Europe is the Rome champino airport so this is an airport that Services a lot of the budget Airlines like Ryanair and Wiz air so not only is this airport actually only 12.5 kilometers away from Rome's Historical Center it also Services the cheaper Airlines which means you can save a lot of money flying into Rome and also getting to the city center is as quick as 14 minutes and only costs a Euro 50. so it's a really great way to save some time and money if you're on a budget now in terms of when to go definitely avoid peak season I've personally been to Rome in June July and January and by far the January temperatures and crowds were the most manageable and enjoyable not only are July and August extremely popular times to be visiting Rome it can also get super hot and so sightseeing when it's scorching out is really difficult and Trust Me In Rome you're going to be sightseeing a lot so definitely try to avoid the heat of the summer because it's not comfortable at all in terms of accommodation another tip I have for you is to book your hotels as early as possible and this is just because I found personally that there's not a ton of great Hotel options in Rome there's a lot of places that are a lot older and even though there's a ton of hotels the good ones that are good value for money aren't super numerous so what I would personally recommend is booking a hotel as soon as possible I'd also recommend trying to stay somewhere Central and prioritizing location over other factors like price and that's just because Rome is so densely packed with amazing sites that being able to explore as soon as you leave the hotel is priceless and also public transportation in Rome is not the most reliable I'll be talking a bit more about that later so just keep that in mind time is money if you're prioritizing your needs for accommodation I highly recommend prioritizing location over anything else another tip is to consider booking an airport hotel if you're going to be flying out of the city really early in the morning so as I previously mentioned hotels in central Rome tend to be really expensive and not great value for money in contrast fumicino actually has a lot of great Hotel options and they're really affordable we got to stay at this hotel for 66 Euros a night and it even had a pool so if you're flying out really early or maybe you're arriving quite late it does make sense to book hotel in fumicino just because it's actually quite a nice town on its own it's right by the Sea there's a lot of nice restaurants and so I would definitely consider doing that because you can save a lot of money and it's actually just way smoother to be super close to the airport the morning of your departure now let's tackle some Rome transport tips and tips for getting around first is to get ready to walk a lot my personal favorite way to get around Rome is obviously on foot trust me you see so much more this way I also find that using my own legs is oftentimes more reliable than Rome's public transport system especially the buses I feel like the buses there are not reliable at all and if you're going to use public transport I would highly recommend sticking to the Metro now when you're walking around Rome one thing to be really careful of is crossing the street crossing the street in Rome is honestly one of the most stressful experiences for no reason and I do think it's because Roman drivers really do not care that much about pedestrians and so I've anecdotally heard that if they see you and make eye contact with you that to them is a sign that you've seen them so they're just going to keep going so what I personally do because I'm still so bad at this is I'll just wait for someone who's really confident preferably a local and I'll just follow them out into the street and walk next to them because otherwise it's really hard to figure out when you can safely cross because these drivers just don't stop and it's very chaotic and scary in terms of public transport you should know that bus tickets and Metro tickets are in fact the same and so you usually buy them for about a Euro 50 and then they're valid for 75 minutes after you validate them now in addition to buying your tickets you have to remember to validate them as well that's because when you're Roam if you don't validate the tickets then they don't actually count so if you have someone coming in to check your tickets and it's not been validated properly you're still liable to get fined and this applies not only to public transport within the city but also for your train tickets as well so if you are at a train station and you have a physical ticket that you need to validate make sure you do that in the machines before you get on the train otherwise it won't count that said if you do plan on using public transport a lot there are one day three day and week-long passes that you can buy but of course don't commit to this unless you really think you're going to be using public transport a lot another way to get around of course is by taxi if you're in a bigger group sometimes it can really make sense in that case what I would really recommend is downloading an app called free now this is basically Uber except you're calling licensed taxis and so that way you can order a taxi really easily from an app and you can also see how much that total charge is going to be roughly so that you're not as susceptible to getting scammed which is quite common in Rome unfortunately all right now let's move on to roam tips for attraction so first off you have to be prepared for a lot of construction and Renovations Rome is an ancient city as you know that's kind of the reason most people go to visit it but at the same time that means there's constant maintenance that needs to be performed on all these very famous monuments and so just be prepared for that odds are you've seen photos of the Coliseum you've seen photos of all the sites but when you see it in real life there might be a portion of it or large portions of it that are covered in scaffolding and there's nothing you can really do about it but just you know temper your expectations make sure you're not going to be completely devastated if you see parts of things are covered because it does happen another important thing to keep in mind is that there is a strict dress code for churches in Rome so if you plan on visiting any churches while you're there you have to make sure that your knees are covered and also your shoulders are covered now if you're visiting in the summer the best way to ensure that you're always abiding by these rules is to wear a longer skirt or longer pants and also having a light scarf in your bag at all times that way if you ever walk into a church and you realize your shoulders aren't covered you can just drape it over another thing you need to make sure you do is buy your tickets in advance and anytime there's a skip the line option make sure you buy it just because time is money and you can honestly save you so much time especially in peak season now the cheapest way to get entry tickets for any of these attractions is probably from the official website so make sure you're on the official website for that attraction otherwise if you're looking for something with a tour or you're looking for some kind of combo ticket that brings you to a bunch of places get your guide or tickets both offer really great options and I would highly recommend booking a guide for some of these more prominent historical attractions just because with a place like Rome that has such an intense history it can be really overwhelming for a first timer to kind of grasp the context of everything that you're seeing so I definitely recommend hiring a tour guide at some point if you're going to especially the ancient sites like the Coliseum or the Roman Forum because it can be really tough to make sense of the ruins that you're seeing and it really helps a lot to have kind of that historical context now in terms of sightseeing passes I would definitely think twice before buying something like the Roma Pass or the Omnia card and I say this because even though I'm usually a huge fan of getting these City passes that allow you entry to a bunch of places for one set price the ones in Rome aren't actually a good deal for most Travelers and that's for a few different reasons the first one is none of the passes are actually all inclusive so no pass is actually going to include every single place in Rome and most of them only include a few attractions and then discounts to the rest so it's not a super great deal in that sense also none of the passes include any guided tours either so as I mentioned before historical context can be really important so it's not usually that fun to just have entry I feel like booking a guide really helps a lot and also a lot of the time you can already buy these tickets at a reduced price anyway so if you're an EU citizen age 18 to 25 for instance you get a discount so it's going to be cheaper if you use your discounted rate rather than using a card like this and last but not least these passes aren't really worth it unless you use all the benefits including like the Hop On Hop off bus Which to me isn't really the best way to see Rome so for those reasons I don't really think these sightseeing passes make sense when you're visiting Rome instead I would recommend just booking the different things you want to see individually now in terms of seeing the big attractions one thing I would really recommend is waking up really early especially if you're going in peak season honestly if you're looking to get photos without crowds in them for any of the major sites like the Trevi Fountain or the Coliseum you do have to wake up super early because regardless of which season you go in there's going to be crowds so make sure you get up just after Sunrise to explore I promise you you're gonna feel like it's super magical because you feel like you have these places mostly to yourself another tip you can take advantage of is potentially visiting places just before they close I've personally done this at the Vatican Museums and found that the crowds about an hour before closing were way thinner than when you arrive even first thing in the morning just because that's what everyone tends to do these days so if you don't mind rushing through attractions a little bit then going just before they close is definitely a really good idea now I have to say besides the paid attractions which I'm sure you already know about it's really important that you familiarize yourself with some of the free things to do in Rome because honestly if you're doing nothing but paying for these attractions it can get quite pricey and there's a lot of really fun things to do in Rome that are completely free so be sure to take advantage of them one of my personal favorite ones is exploring all the different parks and green spaces that they have in the city honestly I would recommend especially if you're going in the summer to schedule in a relaxing Park stop every single day preferably after some sightseeing because then you can relax and kind of process all the things that you just saw some of the parks that I really like are the Villa Borghese Gardens as well as the parka savello both of them are so beautiful and really worth visiting now if you're planning to climb up St Peter's Basilica another tip I have for you is to make sure you time your visit so that you're at the top at the top of the hour and that's because Rome has over 900 churches and at the top of the hour that's when they all start to ring their bells in unison and it's absolutely magical when you're up there for that now another thing to keep in mind is to not sit on the Spanish Steps so since 2019 sitting on the Spanish Steps has actually been forbidden and if you're caught doing it you can risk a fine up to 400 euros in practice I don't think anybody actually gets fine for this but they do have a special whistle police I'm not even joking that kind of like hovers around the Spanish Steps and as soon as they see you taking a seat even for a quick photo they will blow their whistle so just remember to not do that all right now let's move on to safety tips for Rome the first thing you need to know is common pickpocketing scams I've only been pickpocketed twice in my life and the first was in Rome about 15 minutes after I entered the city for the first time so that was obviously not great you should definitely make sure to be vigilant especially in busy touristy areas and also to keep your distance from other people that's going to be your main defense because what they typically do is they distract you and find a way to get close to you and then take your wallet out of your bag so be sure to be extra vigilant and don't get robbed like me another safety tip is to avoid bus number 64. so this is a bus that has earned the nickname of Rome's pickpocket Express simply because so many tourists take it and so many pickpockets choose their victims on that bus as well now this route connects Termini station with a variety of different sites around Rome which is why it's so popular among tourists but if you can I would really avoid getting on this bus because I've heard nothing but terrible things now on to the good stuff food and drink tips for Rome so first you have to make sure you try some classic Roman dishes so there are a lot of really delicious dishes that the Roman region is known for here are some of my personal favorites so the first one is pasta carbonara usually it's spaghetti but yeah this is pasta with eggs cheese and cured pork so good it's also ketchup Pepe which is a classic and it's made with cheese and pepper super simple but incredibly delicious another important must try is Pizza El talio which is a rectangular style of pizza that they have in Rome and usually these ones are charged by weight so just be mindful of that there's also souply which are these delicious deep fried rice balls that are filled with a gooey cheesy interior and sauce another one to try is pasta a la machichana which is pasta with tomato cheese and cured pork there's trapizino which is a street food that's like a hybrid between a pizza and a sandwich and also pasta allegrity which is pasta with cheese black pepper and cured pork I think you're seeing maybe a theme here and last but not least porchetta which is slow roasted pork often served in a sandwich now in terms of restaurants another good rule of thumb to follow is to never dye new tours hot spots generally speaking these are going to be inflated prices and the food quality is not going to be that great just because when you're catering to tourists obviously you don't need to try that hard because you don't need to entice them to necessarily come back so in most cases what I'd really advise is maybe walking a few blocks away from the main tourist attractions and going to restaurants there or just doing some research online in advance to kind of determine which restaurants you want to eat at because trust me if you wait until you're hangry and the Sun is beating down on you you're gonna make some bad decisions now a few more tips for restaurants first of all double check that the menus have prices before you sit down oftentimes this is a scam that restaurants will use to entice stores to come in and then they'll charge you extortion of prices also make sure that you reserve tables in advance I've noticed that Romans are really big on restaurant reservations so if there's any particular restaurant you really had your heart set on make sure you book a table in advance because oftentimes they don't have spots for walk-ins unless somebody doesn't show up if you're afraid of the phone like I am there are some platforms that you can use to make reservations online like Open Table quando and also the fork another thing to take note of is that water isn't free and asking for tap water isn't really common in Italy so when you sit down and they ask you if you want water just be prepared to pay like two or three Euros for a big bottle I don't think that's a huge cost but a lot of people are surprised that they do end up getting charged for it so just keep that in mind another charge to keep in mind is something called the coperto and pane charge so this is just kind of like a service fee slash cover charge that includes bread so when you see that on your receipt don't be surprised it's not a scam it's just a typical charge that they do add onto bills now in terms of Coffee Culture if you are new to drinking coffee in Italy there are a few things that you need to know I cover things more in depth in my Italy travel toast video but just briefly you should know that coffee in Italy is typically consumed while standing up at the bar and this is often cheaper because they do have different prices if you're drinking at the bar versus sitting down so if you want to save money drink your coffee at the bar like a local wood and when I say bar I do mean a cafe that's just the word that they use you're not literally gonna go to like a cocktail bar to drink coffee that's not how it works now the standard coffee when you order one in Italy is going to be an espresso shot so when you say I want a cafe they're going to be bringing you one shot of espresso and so that's obviously a really quick thing for you to drink at the bar and it's not very typical for you to be getting big coffees into go cups to bring around with you throughout the day like in North America so just be mindful of that now on that note keep in mind that cappuccinos tend to be a breakfast drink so don't order them after 11 A.M or after a meal that's not really commonly done and also lattes are not a thing so latte is actually the Italian word for milk so when you order a latte oftentimes they'll just give you a glass of milk which is obviously not what you want so if you're looking for something closer to a latte be sure to order a cafe macchiato which is a Nespresso shot with some milk on top last but not least here are some final realm tips for when you arrive so the first one is to bring a water bottle all throughout Rome you're going to find really great water fountains known as nezoni and you can actually fill up your water bottle with this water because it's clean to drink and it's also delicious this is going to save you so much money and also save you your life essentially especially when it's hot in the summer because water is essential trust me another thing to make sure you bring is comfortable shoes as I mentioned time and time again you're gonna need to walk a lot when you're in Rome so leave the heels at home bring shoes that you would be comfortable walking twenty thousand thirty thousand steps in another thing to keep in mind is you should prepare for the tourist tax so while small there is a mandatory tourist tax that everybody has to pay when they stay at an overnight accommodation in Rome usually this ranges from three to seven euros but they'll tell you typically before you check in and a lot of people get sketched out by this especially when it's an Airbnb because oftentimes they ask you to pay it in cash but trust me this actually is a legal requirement and it's not a scam so just keep that in mind and be sure to have cash on you in case you do need to pay it in cash another random tip is that public toilets oftentimes don't have a toilet seat I've noticed that on my more recent trip so just keep that in mind make sure your squad game is strong also don't be surprised if you're not able to find the toilet flush I don't know if this is specifically an Italy thing but I feel like I've noticed a lot traveling around the country that there's no consistency when it comes to the toilet flushes like sometimes it's gonna be a little pedal on the floor or it's going to be a button on the wall and not necessarily your typical toilet flush so before you panic just make sure that you have a good look around first and this also does apply to sinks there's been a few times that I've been to public washrooms in Rome and I couldn't figure out how to get the water out of the tap and it turns out there was actually the pedal on the ground so just be sure to look around really well before you panic last but not least I highly recommend you binge different movies and TV shows that take place in Rome before your visit the reason being it is so much fun to be able to recognize sites that you've seen in movies and luckily Rome is a place that's had tons of movies set there over the years so if you're looking for any ideas there's of course Eat Pray Love the Lizzie McGuire Movie Angels and Demons La Dolce Vita and also Roman Holiday all right I hope you enjoyed that list of Roman travel tips and as usual if you are a real local feel free to leave any comments with additional tips or if you have any questions as well leave a comment below and I'll get back to you thanks so much for watching and if you want more practical travel videos just like this one be sure to like And subscribe and I'll see you guys next week bye

Channel: Happy to Wander

Views: 101,588

Keywords: Rome Travel, Rome Tips, Rome Travel Guide, Rome Italy

Id: Ty7twp8ts8E

Length: 16min 49sec (1009 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 24 2023