[ROME, ITALY] — I studied in Rome my junior year of college way back in 1981. Those were different days then, Italy had yet to join the EU, the city was falling apart, everything was broken, trash was everywhere, communist street protests every week, the lira was 1000 to the dollar and everything was cheap.

The city was a mess back then, but it was Our Mess to explore and we loved it.

Many of our classes were walk-arounds in the city, led by professors of art, archeology or history. It was the coolest thing, taking the bus down into Rome on a Tuesday morning and meet for class in the ruins, or on a celebrated street corner. Spending hours at a single site, learning all about its history.

We learned facts like baseball cards — “How many Vestal Virgins were there?” “Name all the Egyptian obelisks in Rome.” “How old was the Cloaca Maxima?”(the ancient Roman sewer still in use today).

I remember one full moon, we jumped the fence at the unguarded and unlit Colosseum, avoiding the ATTENTI AL CANE! (Beware of the Dog!) signs, fingering our way through the unlit dark ruins of the missing floor to climb up in the middle of the arena and howl at the moon, accidentally leaving our grande Heineken bottles on top of the crumbled-floor walls in the middle of the arena… which I discovered when we had class there the next morning.

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I grew up a lazy kid in a suburb in Kansas, a passable student at best. Had barely left the city, yet here I was, walking the streets of Rome. It changed my life forever. I came back a different person: a voracious learner, I aced all my tests. Since then, I’ve spent every penny I make traveling all over the world.

I’ve been back to Rome a dozen times, yet I still learn something new every time. I think about the Roman Empire about 12x a day. 🤣 (iykyk).

One thing that’s changed a lot is, where we were once the odd ones sticking out like aliens in our American jeans and Timberlands, while the rest of Rome still dressed in suit pants and hard leather shoes. Now the whole world has shrunk. Italians wear shorts and sparkling white tennis shoes and tatted and bearded up like they’re from Brooklyn or Paris, it’s hard to tell who’s who now.

And the world has found Rome, an astounding amount of tourists, it’s hard to pick out the Romans anymore. Rome is the second most visited city in Europe, right after Paris, with 10 million tourists a year, on top of a population of only 4 million people.

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There are lots of detailed guides to Rome, these are just my favorite things to do in Rome.

Think of this post like a postcard rack at a train station, look for pics that look interesting to you, then go find out where they are.

I consolidated several stale lame posts I had into this one dense post on the best things to in Rome, with dramatically better photos and more detailed info.

Marvel in Every Shade of Ocher There Is

I never knew what the color ocher was until I lived in Rome. I had no idea why everything felt so good walking around there, down to my bones. Especially the decay.

Ocher is everywhere in Rome, casting a golden glow over the whole city in the morning, a bright sun mirror in the afternoon and a blanketing and soothing balm at night, street lights bouncing off the buildings. Even during Rome’s chilly winter, the ocher colored buildings warm your soul against the bright blue Roman sky.

Shades of ocher stuck with me. Nearly every house, or room or restaurant I’ve ever remodeled, when someone says “What color should we paint this?” “Ocher.”

Decay has never looked so good. Rome wears decay like a fine suit.

The Pantheon–My Favorite Building in the World

If you haven’t been in it, you probably don’t really know why this is everyone’s favorite building. But once you’re inside, you feel it.

It’s just astounding that this building has been here for two thousand years. Every time I come back to Rome, the first thing I have to do is to go and see and touch this magical place. Here’s a link to a huge post I made about The Pantheon.

They’ve started to restrict the number of visitors to The Pantheon, you can’t just walk in anymore, so make sure you book ahead.

I’ve been inside The Pantheon at least fifty times and it never gets old. Even though… you know… it’s really old.

Get A Guide to Unlock the History of Rome

If this is your first trip to Rome, don’t just wander about. There’s lots of amazing old stuff to just look at and wonder about, but if you really want to get the most out of your trip, hire a guide on your first day (at least) to get a lay of the land and really learn what went into all this old stuff. Then go explore more on your own after, maybe do a second tour.

I highly recommend the English expat Agnes at Understanding Rome She’s the best guide in Rome, extremely knowledgeable and well-respected by the top high-end travel agents. We’ve never met, but I’ve followed her wonderful Instagram account for years and I learn so much every damn day. She’ll show you things others just walk by, get you into places you can’t get into. Has connections all over the city. And has the magic powers to scoot around all the crowds.

The day you book your flight, book a guided tour with Agnes, she’s very in-demand.

I took archeology, art and history classes in Rome, but the next time I go, I’m definitely going to have her show me around. Of course, there are lots of other qualified guides around, all I encourage you to do is hire a guide. If you have a guide you’ve used before, leave a note in the Comments box below.

You could just walk by all these old things in Rome and think “Oh, that’s pretty.” Or with a good guide you can learn what they’re about and go “Oh that’s amazing.” There’s a story on every block in Rome.

Explore the Offbeat Residential Neighborhoods

This Wall Street Journal article is great about describing the gorgeous and gorgeously quiet residential neighborhoods in Rome. Where actual people live, not the ancient Disneyland of the centro storico. Like Parioli, Aventino, Trieste and it’s cool Quartiere Coppedè — which looks like the Barcelona of Rome — scruffy Ostiense and funky Garbatella.

There’s another writer I follow on Instagram An American in Rome, Natalie is awesome and shares the good and bad about living in Rome. She has a great website with tips on all the cool neighborhoods in Rome, including her new ‘hood of Garbatella. I’d never even have heard about Garbatella until a few years ago, it has really become popular and has amazing buildings.

Hang Out All Morning in the Roman Forum

This is it. The center of everything. The Roman Forum. This is also where you want a guide or at least a guidebook to really blow your mind, otherwise it’s just a bunch of ruins and you’ll be bored in 20 minutes. It all comes to life when you learn what this used to be. One could spend a week here.

Go in the morning or late afternoon, when the light is best and the tour buses, less.

Duck into the Serenity of Palazzo Doria Pamphili

Right between the busy Via del Corso and Piazza Navona, is the quiet courtyard of the Palazzo Doria Pamphili. It’s serene and peaceful and feels a little Parisian. It’s privately owned by one of Rome and Genoa’s noblest families, going back to the 1600s… I bet they don’t get many parking tickets.

Inside there are ornate galleries that look like Versailles and the Vatican museum and have paintings by Caravaggio, Titian, Raphael, Bernini and a bunch of others. It’s less crowded than other palazzos. But I like the architecture more than anything.

Escape the Crowds in Rome’s Villa Borghese Gardens

This is my favorite thing that most people miss in Rome, the giant Villa Borghese Gardens, Rome’s Central Park. When you look at a map of Rome, it’s that big green blob a the top of the Via Veneto.

When you get tired of all the hoards of bus tour people, come here to cool your heals.

There’s a great little pond you can rent a boat in front of a Roman temple or pack a picnic and sit by the picturesque little lake.

Here’s a post I made about the Villa Borghese Gardens, including the easiest secret way to get up here.

Check Out the Cool Centrale Montemartini Museum

I’ve never been to Centrale Montemartini, it opened since I was last back in Rome, but everyone raves about the out-of-the-way cool museum in an old power plant. It’s crazy looking, with ancient statues and sculptures tucked between gorgeous industrial equipment. If you go, let me know how it is in the comments section. Cognoscenti in Rome all rave about it and exclaim how completely uncrowded it is.

Check out how cool these photos are (from the museum’s website).

Hang Out in Trastevere

Trastevere, which translates to “across the Tiber”, because it was originally not part of Imperial Rome. It was settled by Syrians and Jewish boatmen coming up the Tiber and has always been a Bohemian community.

Tons of twisty little streets and lots of university students and hip famous people living here. It was long the home of the only movie theater to show films in English. In college, after seeing a movie — which was much like a scene right out of Cinema Paradiso, with people hooting at the screen — I remember a drunk bunch of us getting chewed out by red-faced Gore Vidal, who approached us at a bus stop, ranting about how illiterate we American kids were… probably because we didn’t know of who he was.

There are tons of great little restaurants, outdoor cafes and pubs, with fish tanks showing the goods out front. Endless choices, especially at night.

Cool Off in the Cool Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere

Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere is one of the oldest churches in Rome and really feels different from the one thousand other churches in Rome. The original floor plan dates back to the 4th Century, with the rest around the 1100s. It’s old.

Pieces and bits, like the capital tops on the columns, were stolen from the Baths of Caracalla and other ruins over the centuries to build the present day church. So prolific was the repurposing that the church discovered in the 18th Century that some of the carved stone faces were actually of Isis and other pagan gods and were subsequently hammered off.

Santa Maria in Trastevere is a very nice church and has the most perfect piazza in front to hang out on a nice summer night, watching the city walk by.

Check Out the Market at Campo de’ Fiori

Campo de’i Fiori is the most famous and best market in Rome. As a market, it dates back to Roman Times as a center of commerce for everything you need. Still is today.

Every morning, vendors set up their abundant booths selling the best produce in Rome. You can get everything here, the people watching is fantastic. Then, the produce stalls close downs and sidewalk cafes pop up. But come in the morning when all of Rome is shopping here.

Look Out Over Every Ancient Thing from the Palatine Hill

Everyone that comes to The Roman Forum typically just enters and walks around the lower levels. But pop up on top of the Palatine hill, it’s just a couple of staircases at the back of the forum. You’re up there, on one of the best of the seven hills of Rome, a plateau that overlooks the forum, stunning views of the Colosseum and all the best views in Rome in every direction.

Get a Tour of the Colosseum

If you just walk into The Colosseum, it’s impressive and brings back memories of The Gladiator. Most people just go in for five minutes and say “This is cool” look around and leave.

But if you can, take a guided tour to learn all about how amazing this place was. The mock sea battles. The roaring lions. The tarpaulins that shaded the fine upper levels. underground passages that popped up gladiators and ferocious beasts to battle in the center of this grand place. Otherwise, it’s just a bunch of old rocks.

You Should Eat Here in Rome

Have a Martini in the Gardens of Hotel de Russie

If you can’t stay here, it’s pricey, you can still come for a martini or negroni (it’s still pricey, but worth it) and marvel at one of the prettiest gardens in Rome. You can get the same views and amazing service as the people paying over a thousand bucks a night.

Hang with Fashionable People at ‘Gusto

‘Gusto, which means “taste” in Italian, was one of the first hip and happening restaurants to break with traditional Rome restaurants and do something modern and new. Still does today. It’s right on the Mussolini-era buildings surrounding Piazza Augusto Imperatore. It’s big, cavernous, with many different dining rooms over different levels.

I’m sure some traditionalists hate it, maybe it’s not as ground-breaking anymore, but the people watching is fantastic.

Order Carbonara Everywhere

Yes. Please do that.

Trattoria Tritone, near the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain

Restaurant Recommendations from Instagram Friends

I almost always pick a place based on how it looks, I like atmosphere. I screenshots that smart people I follow on Instagram recommend. Here’s everybody’s top recommendations on the best places to eat in Rome, you’ll see some duplicates, which says something. Credit goes to each at their handle at the top of the page. If you have recs, include them in the comments section below. I’m hungry.

It’s a bit of a mess of screenshots, but if you see one that looks good, click on the image and it’ll blow up.

— Last Visited 1981/82 (for a year), June 1986, May 1995, June 1998, June 2000, May 2002, May 2006, October 2012 —

You Should Stay Here in Rome

Hotel de Russie

If you want to splurge on one of the best hotels in Rome, check out my post on Hotel de Russie It’s stunning and not snooty. You almost don’t want to leave these amazing gardens.

Or the other Rocco Forte amazing hotel that recently opened, the Hotel de la Ville.

Albergo del Senato

Hotel Locarno

For upscale, if I wasn’t at the Senato or Hotel de Russie, I would stay at the famous Locarno, everyone cool stays there. “The grand dame of boutique hotels” says The Telegraph. Or just stop in for an apero. Just look at this place (photos from their website):

Hotel d’Inghilterra

Other Hotels

Cool places that have been legends for years are the Hotel Raphael, the Lord Byron, which is right next to Villa Borghese Gardens. 

For affordable but cool, check out Citizen M. Or Mama Shelter or the Hoxton, try the Hoxton first. That’s my new favorite boutique hotel chain, known for amazing quality for less money and great rooms and hip.

If you’re a Points Person (cough cough, you know who you are, Tim) and insist on staying at a Marriott, the Grand Hotel Flora is decent, old school and in a great location at the top of the Via Veneto. But Marriott also has some great boutique options from their Autograph Collection. Like the new Edition, the funky G-Rough, the brand new Bulgari modernist