When In Rome: How To Spend 4 Days In The Most Beautiful City

I’m writing this approximately 9 hours after landing home with a poor excuse of a coffee by my side and my sore – 35,000 steps a day – feet snug inside my slippers. Rome, I may need need another holiday to recover from you but you have been something else. Truly.

On Monday 14th May the day had finally come to catch my flight from Heathrow to visit one of my dream cities in Italy. I can’t remember how long I’ve dreamt about visiting Rome but it’s definitely been on my bucket list for a wee while. I first visited Italy 3 years ago when I was surprised with a trip to Venice (another dream city of mine) and I fell in love with the country ever since. The architecture, the streets, the culture, the history that seeps corner from corner and most importantly, the food. Oh the food. I vowed that I’d see as much of the country as possible and slowly but surely, I’m ticking them off one by one.

When booking my trip to Rome I was dubious about how many days to spend there. It was a toss up between 3 to 4 and in the end, I went with 4. The more time to devour the food and gaze at the city’s beauty, the better. So, with my best touring, gazing, food photographing and wannabe travel blogger skills, here’s how I spent the most perfect 4 days in Rome…

Day 1 – Wonder the City

We jumped off the plane at roughly 11am so by the time we got to our guest house and dumped our luggage it meant that we had the whole day to explore and when I say explore, I really mean explore. In fact, it was the only day we didn’t have any tours or tickets for particular attractions.

I’ve got to say – Rome has got to be one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever seen and at first, I felt the pressure to squeeze absolutely everything in. However, as the trip went on I soon found out that no matter how much you plan your days and your hours, you’ll end up getting lost in the depth’s of Rome and very sidetracked.

So with an empty first day itinerary, we decided to visit two of Rome’s free attractions – the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. Whenever I think of Rome I think of three things – the famous Trevi Fountain, The Colosseum and the Lizzie McGuire Movie (true 90’s baby). So of course, the Trevi Fountain was the first thing I had to see and just as I thought it would be, it was breathtaking.

The Trevi Fountain is the world’s largest Baroque fountain and no matter what time of day you visit, it’s packed full of admiring tourists wanting to throw a coin (or three) into it’s famous water. The legend of throwing three coins into the fountain claims that the first coin guarantees your return to Rome, the second ensures romance and the third ensure’s marriage. Perhaps I’ll need to throw 8 in then, just to be sure. At first I was stunned at how little coins were in the fountain (considering it’s visted by thousands of people per day), but then I found out that each night the fountain is cleared to give the money to local charities who purchase food for those in need.

I suggest spending a good hour or so at the fountain. After taking a ridiculous amount of photos, we grabbed a scoop of hazelnut and tiramisu ice cream from the gelato shop on the side (the best damn ice cream I’ve ever tasted) and sat at the side of the fountain, lapping up the sun rays and the beauty of the location. It’s also a good place to people watch. Heck, I could have people watched there all day. 

By the time we left the Trevi Fountain we soon realised that time had flown far too quickly and instead of visiting the Spanish Steps we headed back to our accommodation to freshen up before dinner and decided to leave the steps for our last day. A 3am start isn’t the most freshest. 

Day 2 – Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill 

This was by far the best part of the trip for me. I’ve always had a huge interest in architecture and when it comes to Italy, I find it the most stunning.

We started our second day off with a self guided tour of the Colosseum at 8.30am. It may seem a little early (especially after our previous 20 hour day) but believe me, it was worth it. Luckily enough, the Colosseum at that time was pretty quiet and because of this, we got to admire it’s beauty without the crowds and take some really beautiful photo’s. Acknowledging the fact that we had a guided night tour in the evening, we decided to take in the Colosseum’s beauty and history ourselves within our own time. Again, this is something I would definitely recommend if you have the time – seeing the Colosseum both at day and night time. It’s truly magical how the scenery and atmosphere changes when the sun goes down.

We spent roughly an hour and a half in the Colosseum before we left. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t at it’s best on Tuesday and with some drizzle in the air, we sought shelter for a late breakfast where we had the best Italian Croissant and a punnet of strawberries (don’t worry, I’ll be sharing with you all my favourite food places in Rome very soon). After a quick re-fuell we got a little lost and ended up at the Piazza Navona where we read about the history of it’s 17th-century church, Sant’Agnese in Agone which showcased large-scale sculptures and St Agnes’ skull and took pictures by the Fountain of the Four Rivers. I actually found the history of this church fascinating and it certainly opened up my eyes about the brutality that took place in the ancient years of Rome.

After the weather had cleared up (thank the heavens) we ventured back to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill where we took in more breath taking sights and learnt more about the history of the city. Your ticket for the Colosseum will also give you access to the Roman Forum so be sure to see both attractions in the same day so that you don’t have to pay extra on another day’s visit. I found the Forum to be pretty spectacular. I mean, with it’s views and history it’s pretty easy to understand why.

The Roman Forums was seen as the seat of power during the reign of the Roman Empire. It also held political events, games and rather brutally, the raping of women. When visiting the Forum you’ll come to realise that the life of the Roman’s revolved around this area of Rome for thousands of years. Believe me, you can’t visit Rome without vising the Forum and digging deeper into it’s history.

After you’ve roamed around the Forum and taken in it’s exquisite views, you’ll then exit out onto Palatine Hill which again, is full of more ancient history. Standing 40 metres above the Roman Forum, it’s also one of the most ancient parts of the history. It also looks down upon Circus Maximus and sits beside the Colosseum.

The best part of the day though had to be our night tour of the Colosseum. I’m afraid my words really cannot define the true beauty that the Colosseum has to offer at dusk but believe me when I say that it’s just like something out of the movies. Like I said earlier, we attended a night tour of the Colosseum which just so happened to have started the Monday we arrived and boy, did I learn so much more about the Colosseum itself.

The Colosseum, also know as the Flavian Amphitheatre, is the largest oval amphitheatre in the world, and despite taking a hit or two in it’s two thousand years of existence, it’s still one of the most popular attractions to see when in Rome. It was pretty impressive to learn that back in it’s day, the Colosseum could hold up to 50,000 to 80,000 spectators – with the women and children always sitting at the very top. Because of the very steep steps in the Colosseum, the poorest and least important, the women and children, had to sit at the top. The flooring of the Colosseum (which is non-exsistent now) was also made out of wood and covered with heavy sand to soak up the blood of the gladitators and animals that were killed for entertainment. If you didn’t know, then the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests, public spectacles, battles, classical mythology and animal hunts.

Our tour itself was small and intimate and during the hour and a half we toured the ground floor of the Colosseum, the dungeons and the the first floor – the floor where you get the most breath taking views. As for the view – well, I’ll let the photo’s do the talking…

Pstt, make sure you visit my IG post here to read the story behind the above photo of me jumping outside the Colosseum at nighttime.

Day 3 – Vatican City & St Peter’s Basilica 

I don’t think you can possibly visit Rome without visiting the Vatican City and saying hi to the Pope (ok not literally but still). The city itself is a city-state surrounded by Rome and is headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. It’s also home to the Pope and holds a huge collection of iconic art, history, culture and architecture.

Inside the Vatican Museums (where we started off first) you’ll find an outstanding collection of ancient Roman sculptures as well as some of the world’s most famous paintings. Personally, whilst I find the history absolutely fascinating, I’m more interested in architecture than paintings and sculptures so the highlight of this day for me was most definitely St Peter’s Basilica.

With it being the world’s largest church in the world, St Peter’s Basilica was definitely on the top of my Rome to do list. Especially as it took over 120 years for the present Basilica to be built – which replaced the old St Peter’s Basilica. Mind-blowing, huh? The church itself is huge and is by far the most beautiful church I’ve seen. We also ventured up to the dome of the Church where we got to experience the marble and artwork of the walls more closely. I’m not usually phased by height’s but considering the man work that went into the church and how it was achieved, well, it made me a little dizzy just thinking about it!

After exploring the church and the museums I would suggest taking a moment or two outside St Peter’s Basilica to appreciate the views, architecture and the overall history of the city. After this we took a slow walk back to our accommodation where we then got ready for our last dinner of the trip – a roof top Michelin dinner at the 5 star Hassler Hotel on top of the Spanish Steps where we had the best dinner of our lives. Pretty bold statement there. Don’t worry, that’ll be included in my Rome food post coming very soon. After our dinner we also went back to the Trevi Fountain (and visited the Spanish Steps) which at nighttime, was another breathtaking scene.

Top tip: Most definitely pre-book tickets online for both attractions. By the time we had visited, explored and left the museum the same people were still stood in the queue waiting to purchase tickets. Crikey Mikey.

Day 4 – The Pantheon, Spanish Steps & Vespa Museum

We stumbled upon the Pantheon on our third day whilst listening to an amazing violinist but we decided to visit the inside on our last day. Like all Roman churches, it was full of architecture, history and beautiful art. The Pantheon was actually a former Roman temple and is one of the best preserved Roman buildings because of it’s constant use throughout history. It’s also located in the square, Piazza della Rotonda which is just absolutely wonderful to sit and people watch. If you can, then definitely stop here for a while and just take in the hussle and bussle of the square.

After the Pantheon, and realising that we had been doing many circles around Rome, we headed towards the Spanish Steps – another famous attraction of Rome. We actually visited the Spanish Steps the night before after our Michelin dinner which was pretty spectacular at night time (and rather peaceful, too). Just like the Colosseum and the Trevi Fountain, I suggest seeing the Spanish Steps both at daytime and night fall if possible.

The surrounding areas of the Spanish Steps and the Pantheon are overall just a great place to get lost and wonder the city. Almost all of the time we got lost we came across wonderful and unique places. I highly recommend doing it.

To end the day we made our way through the streets just outside the Colosseum (on our way back to our accommodation) where we came across the Vespa Museum. Thanks to my Grampy, I’ve always had a love for scooters – Lambretta’s and Vespa’s in particular – so I just had to visit and get a few photo’s.  The museum itself is small and free to get into it but I think the whole idea is to appreciate the number of Vespa’s sat outside. If Rome is known for one type of transport then it’s definitely the Vespa. Of course, being the Lizzie McQuire fan that I am, I had to jump on one and embrace my inner childhood star.

Sadly though, like all things, Rome had to come to an end and by 5.30pm we were in a taxi on our way to the airport. We paid €40 (€20 each) to get to and from the airport and it’s something I’d definitely do again I think to avoid the heat and hassle of a bus. However, I have heard good reviews about getting the bus for €14 each if you’re watching the pennies.

If there is one tip I could give you though (being the most important), then it’s to walk absolutley everywhere. Rome isn’t as big as people make it out to be and by walking, you get to see almost everything. So get lost, explore, take in the sights that the beautiful city of Rome has to offer and make sure you visit it once or twice in your life because believe me, it truly is the most beautiful city in the world.

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