Tips for Rome that we found out about the hard way:

1. Allow for 3 hours to wake up before a flight

This goes for inter European flights too. Don’t take a 7:15am flight from another European city, because you’ll need to wake up at 4am. Granted there are cabs but definitely this time of day brings an up charge on top of lack of sleep!

Fortunately, Cabify came through for us at just under 40 euros. I was amazed at how many people were up and about at 4am. Barcelona seems a lot like NYC that way!

The next flight was 10:15am, so I think my thought was for optimizing our short stay in Rome—but at the cost of sleep! I did work out by the end of the day, at the sacrifice of comfort at it beginnings—starting at 4am…

2. Allow for 3 hours to get to a major site from the airport

You will at least need 3 hours to allow for potentially getting lost trying to find the ride hailing app’s meeting point.

It happened to us: Our AirBnB’s check in time wasn’t until 2pm, so I tried to book a tour between landing and check in time so we had somewhere to go. We landed around 9:10am in Rome and hired a taxi via FreeNow. The app gave us general instructions on where to meet the taxi. We still couldn’t tell which level to go. We tried the information desk but the line would take too long to make our reservation. Level 1 is actually the 2nd floor in Europe; the ground floor is level 0. Some English gentleman was kind enough to direct us to to the elevator pointing this out about Level 1 indicated on the app. But another taxi driver said “no, no it’s on level 0,” so we went up and down and tried to follow where along Terminal 2 and 3 the taxi was. We ran around in circles for about half an hour, which made us lose time to stop by our AirBnB in Trastevere to drop our bags off.

2-Day Itinerary: Rome

Day 1: Colosseum, Pantheon, and Trastevere

  • 7:15-9:10am flight from BCN to Rome
  • 11am Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill
  • 2pm Trastevere AirBnB check in
  • 5pm Pantheon w/audio guide
  • 7pm Glass Hostaria (Michelin Star in Trastevere)

Day 2: Vatican + Trevi Fountain

Plan B!

As 11am kept drawing nearer and nearer, I hatch a Plan B, which was to go directly to the Colosseum and look for storage there. I found one and directed our driver to the new destination. Fortunately, he was open to it considering our struggle to find him in the first place.

3. Read the fine print, especially when in a hurry

I found a storage space online near the Colosseum. Once he dropped us off, I couldn’t find it. I tried Google Maps but it was too general of an instruction. The link on the luggage storage website actually had a link that showed directions on how to get there. In my haste I missed this, which goes back to allowing more time to get there. Factor in the learning curve to get there.

Once it turned 10:40am, I asked the attendant at the front entrance of the Colosseum what to do about our luggage and can we enter with all of this stuff on our backs. He said there was a storage space just a few yards a way downhill. But by the time we got there, it was all filled up. Ah, peak tourist season…

We walked back uphill with all of our baggage exhausted. My daughter was particularly famished. We settled on a fallen column in the Colosseum to “camp out.” One of us could tour while the other watched the bags. This was a huge contrast to my husband and son’s experience at the Colosseum. They hired a tour guide and she really did a great job sharing the history of this ancient site!

One way only in the Colosseum

I went upstairs and took a peak and backtracked down the stair, against the sign’s directive to only go in one direction. Then Emi went but got caught and they wouldn’t let her back in even if she was a minor. They insisted I go to her with all of our baggage. She was in tears because she felt so guilty. I felt bad for her.

Roman Forum arch
Inside the Colosseum
Head of Aesculapius?
Exhausted but freed of luggage
Roman Forum

Did we really skip a line?

We had gotten the tickets as a self-guided Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill entry pass through Viator app so there was no flexibility about the time. It was one of these “skip the line” tickets. I’m not sure what a non-skip-the-line ticket would be since you have to go through a line regardless and there didn’t seem to be a fast track line. Usually, with all of these places, it was either you had no ticket or you had a ticket.

So tired, sleep deprived, starving, saddled with our luggage, I contacted Viator desperately trying to figure out how long we had at all three locations. Could we step away and come back. So fortunately for Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, you have a 24 hour window to complete the self-guided tour.

4. Don’t leave the app or website to find when trying to navigate

Fortunately we were able to explore Roman Forum and Palatine Hill with the reserve of energy we had left. I found the initial storage place near Colosseum by actually clicking the link to the address. So we got our baggage off and lunch in. We even chatted with a friendly older Australian couple who were kind enough to offer Emi a tissue for her runny nose.

The FreeNow was great at finding a taxi driver at tourist attractions and dropping off within town or the airport. It does get busy sometimes so you don’t find a driver every time. But we found one easily by the Colosseum, dropping us off at Sant’Agata.

AirBnB: Sant’Agata

Trastevere had all of the conveniences, including a pharmacy and small bodegas. Our host was gracious to offer to meet us at the AirBnB but unfortunately, our timing didn’t work out. But we were so grateful to have our own space with adequate walls to sleep in peace after Milhton! The AirBnB in Sant’Agata was perfectly sized for two people. Upstairs was a queen sized bed and interestingly enough, a shower in the same room. There was a half bathroom in the corner. Downstairs was a kitchenette, small dining table, open area couch, coffee maker, microwave, stove. Air conditioning units on both floors saved us!

We took a good nap before making our way to the Pantheon.

3. Don’t go to the Pantheon on Sunday

4. Read the fine print

When a voucher looks like a ticket and you’ve been waiting in a long line, there’s nothing else to say, but “S–!” We’re there at the Pantheon, the temple of ALL (formerly Greek gods), and it’s a sizable throng of visitors at the final hours of its operation. Attendant said nonchalantly that, nope, it’s a voucher. You read the fine print only to find that it’s at another 15 minute walk location to pick up and you’re not even sure that office is still open.

Because it’s the Pantheon you don’t give up. You remember studying the Pantheon in high school AP Art History, eons ago, and you’re not giving up on your dream to catch a glimpse of that oculus at the top of the dome.

I wasn’t sure whether there was a deadline to the five o’clock window so we booked it to the office, thanks to the Google Map app. When you’re rushing through crowds, it always looks like everyone else is walking really slowly with zero urgency to match your 100%. There was an Australian family in front of us at the ticket counter who had made the same mistake. The dad seemed so chill about it. This contrasted the Colosseum 11am deadline that I didn’t know what to make of it. 20 minutes later we still managed to get in.

It looks like you could stay for as long as you liked, and they closed at 7pm. There’s a complimentary audio tour included with entry. You just need to give up your ID card for it. That too had quite a line, so I didn’t go for one immediately. I was actually disappointed that the Pantheon had been converted to a Catholic church. Greco Roman gods were supplanted by Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

We did walk by Pantheon on Monday around the same time. The crowd was much smaller.

Glass Hostaria: A Michelin Star in Trastevere

My husband recommended Glass Hostaria, as they were here only a week prior. This gem of a restaurant in the middle of Trastevere is like entering a jewelry box with minimalist decor to highlight the victuals presented. Service is conversational when quiet, around 7pm. When attendance picked up, waitstaff was professional and detailed in describing all that lay before us and courteous. Just be prepared for a 3-hour meal, if napping is required beforehand!

Next Day: Vatican