36 Hours in Rome a Travel Guide
What happens when you find super cheap round-trip ticket to Rome from NYC for under $300? You go of course! Like a blink of an eye, we flew out from Newark Airport Thursday night into Rome Fiumicino Airport, and flew back Sunday late night from Rome Fiumicino Airport back into Newark Airport.
Despite being in Rome for less than 36 hours, we managed to explore more than I anticipated! Here’s a quick glimpse of our itinerary and more details in upcoming posts about each of the specific attractions. All in all, Rome is truly magnificent city that warrants a lot more than just a quick weekend trip! Definitely have to go back soon…
DAY 1 (HALF DAY)
Landed in Rome around 1pm local time and got to the hotel, located in central Rome around 3pm. For half a day with the jet-lag we managed to do the following:
Colosseum (1.5 hours)
including using the audio tour as guide to explore the interior
we got lucky because there wasn’t much of a line to get in! Total time may be longer depending on the wait to get inside the Colosseum.
Palatine Hill and Roman Forum (1 hour)
walking around the perimeter, did not go inside since it was closed
Piazza Venezia and Alter of the Fatherland Temple (15 min.)
Central Rome (30 min.)
Dinner at Sphaeristerium
narrow street near Central Rome close to the Colosseum and central touristic attractions
DAY 2 (FULL DAY)
Only full day we had in Rome! So definitely took advantage of it by getting up early and kicked it off with an epic tour of the Vatican!
Vatican City Tour (3 hours)
booked our tour with GetYourGuide for $55 pp. (definitely worth it!)
It included the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica in English (other languages available)
Skips the line to go in so you can enjoy the visit right-a-way!
Lunch near the Vatican
be very careful! There are a lot of touristy traps and bad restaurants that charge ridiculous high prices for bad quality food. We fell for one of these traps!
Walking and Explore Points of Interests
The following list of locations are all within walking distance of one another and very accessible from one to the next! Definitely worth exploring them all!
Pont Sant’Angelo and Castel Sant’Angelo (10 min.)
Beautiful walk near the Vatican back to Central Rome by crossing the Sant’Angelo Bridge over the Tiber River with Sant’Angelo in the backdrop
Piazza Navona (20 min.)
beautiful piazza with two fountains and live jazz music if you are lucky!
Gelateria della Palma (10 min.)
One of the biggest and most popular gelato shops in Rome
More than 30 flavors and very affordable! Only $2.85 for two HUGE scoop of two flavors
Taste is somewhat mediocre though, I was not impressed but it’s fun nonetheless! (perhaps its my spoiled NYC tastebuds…oops…)
Pantheon (10 min.)
Right next to the Gelateria della Palma
It’s free! Interesting and worth it to walk around
Trevi Fountain (15 min.)
Magnificent and breathtaking!
Super touristy and crowded but definitely worth it. I was completely mesmerized and didn’t want to leave even though I was being crushed by tourists with selfie sticks
Galleria della Pamphilij (1 hour 45 min.)
beautiful estate owned by the prominent Pamphilj family, one of the richest and most powerful families in Rome in the 1600s.
Really interesting family history, beginning with Pope Innocent X, who helped the family to its prominence.
Feels like mini Versailles with multiple painting collections and elaborate golden rimmed decoration that reminds me of the Hall of Mirrors.
Palazzo del Quinnale (20 min.)
The official home of the President of Italy. Beautiful plaza with historical architecture and large fountain on a hill with a skyline view of parts of Rome
Steps leading up to the plaza is a great place to hang out and watch the sunset!
DAY 3 (HALF DAY)
Took another walk and explore expedition in the morning!
Piazza Berinini (15 min.)
cute small plaza with fish fountain
on the way to the Spanish steps and worth stopping by and taking a look
Spanish Steps (30 min.)
we took the route which landed us on top of the steps by the Church and walked down hill
The views are beautiful and its a mixture of tourists and locals
Piazza di Spagna (10 min.)
at the bottom of the Spanish steps and there’s also a beautiful wide fountain
the piazza is surrounded by designer shops, probably to target the tourists!
Piazza del Popolo (15 min.)
the biggest piazza yet! Or perhaps the biggest in Rome? Not quite sure, but it was HUGE.
It also had a large fountain with cute lions
Leads up to a hill, belongs to parts of Park Borghese
Park Borghese near Piazza del Popolo (30 min.)
absolutely worth going because it gives a fantastic view of the entire city of Rome and Vatican City skyline
very local and not too many tourists there either
After enjoying the morning skyline view of Rome at Park Borghese, we made our way down to Piazza del Popolo again and took a taxi to the foodie neighborhood of Testaccio. Absolutely worth it and was the highlight of our food experience! But be sure to check the schedule of your favorite restaurants because we went on a Sunday a couple of them were not open or opened much later during the day.
Testaccio Foodie Neighborhood (1.5 hours) - Comprehensive Guide
Trapizzino (Grab & Go)
triangle focaccia like bread topped with your choice of toppings
we tried the white-wine chicken and beef stew—ABSOLUTELY BLOWN AWAY BY HOW GOOD IT WAS!!!
Fried mushroom and sausage rice ball
Taverna Volpetti (traditional establishment in the neighborhood that also includes a deli)
Had the fresh traditional Roman Pastas! Great portions and flavor, if your stomach allows, they have fresh charcuterie and cheeses as well that you can try!
I wasn’t joking when I said we packed a lot of items and experiences in for the short amount of time we were in Rome! Absolutely doable but I definitely want to go back for a longer period of time so I can enjoy the city fully.
Hope the itinerary was helpful for those who are looking to do a long weekend trip!
