So at the end of August I had a trip planned to go to Rome!
I had never been to Italy before so I didn’t know what to expect but I knew it was going to be a good trip.
Rome was even better than I thought it was going to be and it definitely surprised me in more than a few ways.
I loved the history of the place and there is PLENTY of history, from the Colosseum to the Trevi fountain.
The thing that surprised me the most was probably the fact that there is literally thousands of fountains dotted all around the city and that they all have fresh drinking water available. This was something the Romans installed and is still being used today!
Hotel
The hotel we stayed at was called The Hive Hotel, which was around a 15 minute walk from Termini station.
The hotel was one of the best hotels I have stayed in and I couldn’t recommend it highly enough. It’s only opened around a year so its really up to date and modern!
Things to do..
Colosseum and afternoon tour
The stand out thing we done on the trip by far was a walking tour that lasted most of the day. It started with the Colosseum, along with roman forum and palatine hill in the morning. Then ended in the late afternoon by walking around most of the main attractions in Rome (Trevi Fountain, Pantheon , Spanish steps).
The tour was so good and the tour guides were excellent at explaining everything to us. I love doing walking tours like this! You always find out really interesting stories that explain a lot of things you see around the city.
We booked the tour on TripAdvisor and I think it is completely worth the money you pay for it.
Ice Bar
I never even knew Rome had an Ice bar!
As I had never been to an Ice bar I thought I’d give this one a go, it was only a 10 minute walk from the hotel.
The entrance fee is around 15 euro which includes a drink.
I would recommend the ice bar if you have never been before but I imagine it is the same as any other ice bar.
Walk down by the Tiber
After the Vatican we walked towards the river Tiber. There you could go down beside the water and chill or take a walk.
There was also bars and restaurants opened near the water front with music blasting out, it was nice to just sit there and take it all in like we did.
Vatican City on a Sunday
The only reason you should try to get to the Vatican on a Sunday is so you can see the pope like we did!
We didn’t realise it but the pope comes out every Sunday at 12:00 pm for a reading. Although he did speak every word of it in Italian, so unless your fluent your not gonna have a clue what he said. Still a great experience nonetheless.
If you watch the end of the Rome vlog, I have linked below, then you will see the moment the Pope came out and said mass.
Food and Drink
Lastly I would like make a list of all the places we went to for some food and drink. TripAdvisor was a lifesaver to be honest and I recommend you use it to your full advantage, but the list shown is a good stating point and you will definitely enjoy them as much as we did.
Just do the obvious and stay away from the touristy areas and prices will be a lot cheaper.
Centro– So good that we went twice!
The Hive Hotel Restaurant– Use ‘The Fork’ app to pre book and get 30% off your bill
Sapori e Delizie Roma– great Pizza an Lasagne
Drink Kong– expensive but very nice spot for a chilled drink
Scholars Irish Pub– Really good atmosphere at night, plenty of people there!
This is a video I put together of our whole trip! Really enjoyed the process of creating and editing this video so I hope you enjoy it and get some value from the blog post as well.