Perfect 3 Days in Rome
In Rome, one can find history and art on almost every street corner. Rome is a city packed with thousands of years of art, endless narrow streets, worn-out pastel-colored artsy buildings, iconic jaw-dropping monuments. Rome was the first destination of our 12 day trip to Italy, and we spent 3 days here! I am super excited to share all the details of our stay in Rome here! Enjoy ♥
Most of the best spots to check out in Rome are all within walking distance of each other. We made sure our B&B was the heart of our must-see list for the comfort and convenience of getting around.
Day 1: Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and Roman Forum
We pre-booked a guided walking tour to Colosseum covering Roman Forum and Palantine Hill. The meetup point was at the Colosseum, which was a 12 min walk from our stay. We didn’t cram in too many things for Day 1, because we knew we’d have a lot of things to figure out the first day – a new country, new language, the B&B, taxis, etc. all the while being jet-lagged. I would suggest the same for everyone.
Colosseum: Colosseum is an amphitheater from AD 80 that fits between 50,000 and 80,000 spectators!! It is still an iconic symbol, one of the Romans’ greatest architectural triumphs, and one of the wonders of the world. Of course, snapping the oh so famous Pinteresty Colosseum ledge pictures here is a must!
Roman Forum: The venue for public speeches, processions, the streets that Julius Caesar once wandered. Here you see sprawling ruins of Roman arches, temples. The views are spectacular from up here, especially at sunrise/sunset. Although funnily, the weather had other plans for us; it started to get cloudy and eventually rainy (on a summer day, on the first day of our vacation?!?). We had to skip the Palantine Hill for next time.
Overall, the tour guide was pretty informative and delivered us a lot of history, especially on the Gladiator battles, and water sports conducted at the Colosseum. We grabbed pasta, gelato, and headed back to the B&B, we were too jet-lagged to continue. You easily find tons of restaurants buzzing and lit even past 10 PM (amazing!). We got back on our foot only after 10.30 PM for dinner – a delightful Margarita pizza at Spagetteria right underneath our B&B.
The guided tour was a skip-the-line ticket for our entry into the Colosseum and is also good for the Forum! Check out the tour link here: getyourguide.com
Day 2: Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Pantheon, Piazza Navona
Trevi Fountain: Blown away by the grandness the Trevi Fountain, an 86 ft high sculptural composition of Neptune, the god of the sea in Baroque style (largest in the world!). I really hope the saying – One who throws a coin in the Fontana di Trevi shall one day return to Rome – works its charm. We were fortunate to arrive there before 9 AM (also because we stayed so close to it), as that’s the only way to beat them real dedicated ‘grammers.. and even then, there were about 10-15 people already there!
As our B&B was a block away from the Trevi, we got to walk past it all the time. We may have pictures of Trevi from ALL times of the day!!
Spanish Steps: The 10 min walk from Trevi to Spanish steps and Piazza di Spagna took us through cute artsy boutiques, ristorantes, mainly the walk down Via Dei Condotti, made us feel quite in Rome. The Spanish steps are a stairway of 174 steps with a church and beautiful view of Rome from the top, and a pretty fountain Fontana Della Barcaccia, altogether making a great vantage photo spot. I had seen these beautiful photos of the steps with pink flowers.
We took a pause on the stairs away from the burning afternoon sun while people-watching. Next, we headed to lunch in one of the hundreds of restaurants opposite the steps.
Pantheon: After a 15 min stroll from Spanish steps, with pit stops for gelato, granita, we found ourselves in front of the humongous Pantheon. It is a church with the world’s largest concrete dome from 2000 years ago with an eye (oculus) in its center. My neck hurts just by remembering this church. Make sure you do go inside, to see the sun beaming through the eye, and to feel ridiculously tiny.
Piazza Navona: Another quick 5 min walk leaves you in one of the beautiful piazzas of Rome, and once a Roman stadium. Piazza Navona is a great place to sit down and relax, get a gelato/cappuccino/wine/apertivo/cheese/pizza, people-watch, admire the Roman buildings surrounding you, fountains surrounded by curious photographers, open roof ristorantes, street performers, the diversity of hundreds of tourists like us. We hung out here past sunset until the square was lit up. The Fountain of the Four Rivers (Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi) is beautiful after dark!
Day 3: Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, St. Peters Basilica
No trip to Rome is complete without exploring the world’s smallest country – the Vatican City. Our day 3, as you probably guessed already, involves a visit to the Vatican Museums, the exquisitely decorated Sistine Chapel, one of Michelangelo’s crowning achievements The Last Judgment and finally the St. Peter’s Basilica! Watch out for all the details of this day here: The Vatican City Guide
Getting around
We landed in FCO – Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino International Airport after an early morning flight. We got to our taxi, our ride to the B&B, which was pre-booked by our Airbnb host. Most of our wandering in Rome was done on foot and with the help of Google Maps. For Day 3, to get to Vatican city, we called a taxi and got back to Rome by Uber, as they were about 20-30 minutes apart. In general, to get from place to place, you can also avail the public transportation, or even rent a Vespa based on your comfort!
Our Stay
After a great deal of research and filtering, we chose an Airbnb that is in the center of our itinerary. We really wanted to maximize our time in the city; our top of the list spots were all accessible by foot from here, and coincidentally it’s interior decor is super cute, artsy, and very Roman! Don’t you think? Link: Airbnb
As they say, “Rome was not built in one day” there are still many more attractions in and around Rome that are definitely worth a visit while you are there. I will make a separate post with all those additional places, and tips on how to make the most of your vacation!
That’s all, folks! Rome was one of my fav cities, you could easily spend over a week here! I hope this 3-day guide helps you plan your vacation to Rome like a pro! Buona Giornata! 👋🏻
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