Piazza San Pietro and other Rome, Italy Things to Do Tips

The Piazza San Pietro is the open cobbled entrance to the 'Basilica di San Peitro', but still deserves a tip all to itself!

It can be found around 5 minutes walk South of the Ottaviano Metro station (on metro line A).

When we visited the Piazza San Pietro, the Christmas tree was still up, and they had a full-scale nativity setup.

The Piazza is lovely. It is surrounded by a wall of pillars. The roof on top of the pillars is lined with stunning statutes. I didn't count them, but I can confidently guess that there were around 60 - 70. The Piazza San Pietro also contains 2 fountains.....one to the left and one to the right.

It was reasonably quiet on the Saturday when we actually went to visit the Vatican, but on the Sunday, as we were walking past it again, there were quite literally thousands of people in the Piazza blowing whistles, chanting and waving banners. It actually took our breathe away.

Our only guess was that we had just missed a Sunday services.

The Piazza San Pietro is free to enter, however if you want to go any further you have to go through security.....which i guess makes sense.

Oh, and do not turn up with shorts and a vest on! They are very strict with what you can wear. You generally cannot enter if your shoulders or knees are showing. I think women wearing skirts will be ok, but shorts are a no no!

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Address: The Vatican City
Directions: Entrance to the Vatican

If you want a hike, then climb the dome of St Peters Basilica!!!

To get to the top St Peters dome is 320 steps.....however, this count does not start from the ground as you might expect. It starts from the roof of the Basilica!! In total we counted 490 steps up and 490 back down!!

You can alternatively take the elevator instead of climbing the first and last 190 steps. We decided to walk, but you woudn't really miss much by taking the elevator. There are only a couple of windows on the first part of the climb.

The 320 step climb to the top of St Peters is interesting to say the least! The steps get smaller, the corridors get narrower, and at one point you even have to lean about 20 degrees to the side while walking.....you actually walk round the shape of the dome. A good laugh, unless like me you are 6ft +!!!!! ha ha ha!

Around half way up you enter a balcony inside the dome, allowing you to look down into St Peters Basilica itself. This is breathtaking! The Mosaques on the wall are so detailed it beggers belief how they were created.

Then there is the final climb to the top of the St Peters Dome. Even narrower stairs and corridors. However when you see the view, it is very much worth it. If you are lucky enough to see it on a clear day, as we had the pleasure of doing, you will be speechless! You can see for miles. You can see a lot of Romes most famous sites, as well as getting an excellent view of the Vatican Gardens.

I think it costs around 4 Euros per person, or 5 Euros if you want to take the lift.

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Address: Vatican City

Located near the centre of the Roman forums, just across from the Arch of Augustus, this is apparently where the great Julius Caeser was finally cremated.

It is obviously a shadow of its former self, however it does still hold a certain eeriness about it. To think that you are standing right next to where one of the greatest men in history once lay is a little overwhelming.

The ashes of Julius Caeser are apparently not here, however the spot where he was cremated is still covered with fresh flowers to this day, a mark of how big an impact he had on the history of Italy.

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Directions: Center of the Roman Forum, next to the Arch of Augustus

What can I say about the Coliseum? Most of you will have heard of it if you have not already saw it, and most of you will no doubt have seen the film "The Gladiator".

Being honest though, although the Coliseum is a highly impressive buidling........ if you go expecting to see what you saw in the Gladiator movie you will be disappointed.

You have to enter the Coliseum with a little imagination. It is quite badly ruined inside. You can just about make out where the seating would have been, but all that remains of the seating are the walls that held it up.

If you forget about the Gladiator movie and its Computer generated Coliseum, as we did, you will be left in absolute awe of the size!! wow!!

The Coliseum seems to look a lot bigger from the inside for some reason. You can still clearly see the under floor passages, and all the entrances.

The best way to get a feeling of what it must have been like is to walk along the ground floor looking up through the archways into the centre of the Coliseum.
This would have been the view the Gladiators would have got before going out to fight. Even though all I could see were the ruins, I was still intimidated! So I can only imagine how those guys and gals must have felt!

The Coliseum costs 10 Euros to get in and you can either go yourself, or with a group, or you can even take a tape recording in with you that tells you all about it.

The Coliseum also houses its very own museum on the second floor which is home to statues, armour and vases that were found within and around the Coliseum. One of the vases was almost 1500 years old!!!!

Very impressive!

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Directions: Right across from the Colosseo Metro Station (Line B)

Well, if nothing else makes you speechless, the Roman Forums will!

You do have to have a little imagination when walking through the Roman Forums, as some of the buidings are incredibly badly ruined. However if you do have the imagintation, you will be amazed!

There are ruins within the forums many temples, fountains, arches and temples. All with there very own part to play in Roman History.

From the Temple of Romulus, to the Arch of Augustus, every building (or whats left of them) has you wondering with amazement.

One thing that i would definetly recomend going to look at is the Basilica of Maxentius, which, if you enter under the Arch of Titus, is on your right hand side. The size of the basilica is enormous, and it has worn in such a wat that you can see every single brick. The arches are incredible!

The next recomendation would be the Temple of Julius Caeser. Not for the architecture, because there is really nothing left of it, but instead for the strange feeling you get when you realise you are standing right next to the cremation point of one of the greatest leaders of all time!

The forums are free to enter, and you could quite easily spend a whole morning, if not longer, looking around.

Click here to view some more Roman Forum photos.

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Directions: Next to the Coliseum, and just across from the Colloseo Metro Station (Line B)

The Trevi fountain must be one of the best examples of scultping in Italy, if not the world. The size and details is out standing.

Its location however seems a little strange, and you could quite easily miss it by one street and never know!

The Trevi Fountain can be found in Piazza di Trevi, a few blocks west and a little south of Barberini Metro Station.

It sits in the Piazza surrounded by 4-5 floor high buildings.

It is also very busy, and the Piazza is not really big enough to cope with the crowds.

I have heard that the Trevi Fountain is an even better site at night when it is all lit up, but we unfortunately arrived at it around 3pm, and did not want to just wait around for 3-4 hours waiting on it getting dark......we had a limited amount of time on our hands as it was!

The Trevi Fountain only really has one downfall in my opinion: During the day, you can see all the wires etc that are obviously needed for the night lights, and it does spoil it a little.

However, the effort of trying to find the Trevi Fountain in the back streets of Rome is well it.......and don't forget to make your wish!!

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Address: Piazza di Trevi
Directions: A few blocks east of barberinin Metro station (line A)

The tomb of the unknown soldier can be found at the 'Vittirrio Emanuelle Monument', on the south side of Piazza Venzia.

Housed on the front of the impressive Emanuelle Monument, the tomb is under permanent guard by 2 soldiers.

The rules to visit the tomb are very strict, even as far as telling you that it is absolutely forbidden to dirty the tomb.......so make sure you have cleaned any chocolate off of your hands!

You can't actually see the tomb itself, but what covers it is impressive: 2 guards with guns, 2 constantly lit flames, tons of Marble, and a statue which is several meters high, which itself sits on a marble podium which is also several meters high.

A worth while visit, if only just to stand in awe of how resepected this monument is by the locals.

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Address: Vittirrio Emanuele Monument, Piazza Venzia

We accidentally stumbled across Largo di Torre Argentina while walking towards the Pantheon.

We were a little unsure of what to be taken aback by here.

Was it the impressive remains of the 4 temples, the amount of traffic whizzing by it as though it wasn't even there, or the vast amounts of stray cats that had taken up residence between the ruins?

I think the cats won it. Strange as it may seem, the ruins within Largo di Torre Argentina are impressive, but you cannot help stand there wondering why on earth there are so many cats. I think we counted over 30!

Someone obviously looks after them, as there were feeding boxes and cat kennels spread around the ruins.

The Largo di Torre Argentina ruins are impressive, but if you don't want to see them, then at least go to see the cats!

Its quite fascinating.......if even a little eery!

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Address: Largo di Torre Argentina,
Directions: If you walk south from the Pantheon you will find it.

The Pantheon is another impressive roman structure, sitting in yet another beautiful square - the Piazza Della Rotondo.

The Pantheon itself both inside an out is magnificent. The inside is lined with Statues and paintings, that easily match the interiors of any other Roman Structures. The outside of the Pantheon is........well........strange. It has the usual Pillars welcoming you at the front, but the roof - the very top of the dome - has a huge man-made hole in it!

The hole looks to be around 10-15 ft wide. At first we weren't sure whether or not it had a window in it or not, but we were assured it was in fact a hole!

Apprantly the drainage within the Pantheon is so good that the floor never floods, and if it is only drizzling, the heat inside evaporates the water before it even touches the ground! Not sure what to belive to be honest!!!!! ha ha ha!!

The Piazza Della Rotondo outside the Pantheon is also lovely. We were lucky enough to catch it as the sun was peaking over from behind the Pantheon. Not to busy, and not to quite, all was ok until i turned around from taking pictures to notice........guess what........a McDonalds!!!!

You would think they could at least leave one part of the world alone!!!!!!!!!

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Address: The Pantheon, Piazza Della Rotondo

The Arch of Constantine sits between the Coliseum and the entrance to the Roman Forums.

To our eyes, Arch of Constantine is yet another impressive Roman Structure that has you wondering how on earth they managed to create it. However, I have read that the Arch of Constantine apparently shows, and I quote "the deterioration of the arts during the late stages of the Roman Empire".

Looking at it, you find this hard to believe, but the Arch of Constantine is apparently built using parts taken from other monuments and structures from around the city, because Rome was apparently running out of good sculptors who could come up with original ideas!

It supposedly contains parts taken, for example, from the Forum of Trajan and a temple dedicated to Emporer hadrians lover!

Neverthess, the Arch of Constantine is still impressive, and worth a walk around if you are in the area.

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Address: Arch of Constantine
Directions: Between the Coliseum and the Roman Forums.