Travelling to Rome? Read our insider tips
1: The Colosseum is the mother of all tourist attractions, no trip to Rome would be complete without a peek inside (and if you go on the first Sunday of the month you’ll get in for free), but when you see the queues of tourists snaking around the outside of the amphitheatre you might wonder if it’s worth the wait. The answer is most definitely ‘yes’, but you can avoid standing in line by taking a private tour.
Guides are available to book on the spot, but if you do this you might end up with someone who doesn’t speak your language very well, or, as once happened to me, one who spends half the tour talking about the intricate brickwork in broken English when what you really want to hear about are the gladiators fighting to the death.
Get the tour you want by pre-booking with a reputable firm. I recommend a private tour of the Colosseum with Anthony (above) from Vatican Tour Company (vaticantourcompany.com) who led my group of five on a really insightful (if slightly irreverent!) romp around the Colosseum and also the Roman Forum, just along the road.
2: And talking of the Forum, you might be tempted to skip this thinking that it’s nothing but a pile of rubble, but that would be a mistake. For a start, you’d miss seeing Julius Caesar’s grave. Visit with a guide (see above) and the place really comes alive.
3: The queues are no less to get into the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel so you should pre-book tickets on the official website or, once again, queue jump by going in with a guide. As their name suggests, the Vatican Tour Company can oblige.
Time your visit to the Sistine Chapel, famed for Michelangelo’s paint job on the ceiling, for late afternoon for a slightly less crowded experience. Alternatively, visit on a Wednesday morning during the Papal Audience and you might find the museums’ corridors are much quieter than usual as everyone else will be in St Peter’s Square listening to the Pope!
4: It goes without saying that you’re going to eat well in Italy, but if you want to find out where to find the most delicious pizza, the freshest, tastiest mozzarella, the richest balsamic vinegar, the purest extra virgin olive oil and the highest quality hams, a food tour is a must.
Ralucca from the Roman Food Tour Company (romanfoodtour.com) gave us a gastronomic education as she led us from deli to pizzeria to butcher to ice cream parlour well off the tourist trail in Prati, a Roman suburb. She tempted our taste buds with the most expensive, truffle-infused cheese, taught us how to tell if mozzarella is fresh, where to find the best gelato (clue: it should not be brightly coloured and fluffy) and how to find the highest quality ingredients to create a meal of your own.
Starting with aperitivo at La Chiccerie deli where we sampled an array of different cheeses, our tour also included tastings at the the famous Pizzarium; hams and cheeses at Paciotti, a gourmet food shop; classic pasta dishes at Il Ciociaro restaurant; and scoops of gelato at Fatamorgana, where some of the more unusual flavours include chocolate mixed with tobacco and black rice mixed with pink nutmeg.
With free-flowing delicious wine and generous helpings of pizza, pasta, cheeses and hams, it wasn’t surprising that we were all stuffed by the end of the tour. Best to go with a good appetite, loose clothing and flat shoes.
5: Once you’ve learned how to spot good gelato, you’ll want to make a trip to Giolitti, Rome’s oldest gelateria founded in 1900. The queues are immense and the crowds around the fridges are four or five deep, but you can avoid the scrum by taking a table in the cafe next to the shop and having a waiter serve your gelato. No booking required.
6: You can’t leave Rome without at least one (or two) new pairs of Italian leather shoes and the odd new handbag can you? You’ll find high-end stores around the Spanish Steps but there’s really no need to break the bank to find sumptuous leather goods in Rome as there are lots of small boutiques selling affordable bags and shoes. We found one (sorry, can’t remember the name or the location) selling fab bags of all shapes, sizes and colours from about €20. Go for a wander and you’re bound to stumble on some gems and when you’re tired, revive yourself with an aperitivo …or one of those world-famous gelatos.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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