Rome Favorite Tips by joiwatani

What to do in Rome with a family

Favorite thing: These are the things that I will visit in Rome if I were a first time visitor with a very limited days:
1. Visit the Colosseum and see how massive it is and while you are there, visit their store. Go there early in the morning when there are no crowds yet so you can take great pictures. You will also see the daily life of the Romans jogging and going to work in the morning. See the vendors setting up their stores early...
2. Visit the Trevi Fountain and walk around the plaza and check the local shops and mercatos.
3. See the Spanish Steps
4. See the St. Peter's Basilica and pray and appreciate your blessings even if you are not a Catholic. See the Pieta there and look at how beautiful the church is.
5. Walk around the streets of Rome and when you are tired, eat a Gelato ice cream and taste a Panceretto, local delicacy at Bar Campidolio.
6. The Roman Forum: Show your family the Temple of Antonino and Faustina, a church that was built inside a building; see the remnants of the House of the Vestal of Virgins; the ruins of the Senatus Populus romans, etc. Look for the place where the Romans played chess in the old days (I found them since our tour guide showed them to us).

Go to the Trevi Fountain Trevi Fountain Review

Favorite thing: I have to make this as a general tip as well since I have so much to say about going to the Trevi Fountain.

There is so much things said about the Trevi Fountain. I wondered why. I was kind of sad when I got to the Trevi Fountain because first thing, I dropped my camera at the airport and it wasn't working quite well. Second, I was just by myself and I was missing my family a lot.

As so many tourist spots in Rome, this is one of the crowdest and it is so hard to squeeze in to the fountain. I just walked around looked at the square and stood up at a corner and wrote my travel journal.

I observed that the entrance of the buildings are numbered starting at #90. And, that door number belongs to a boutique/Hotel Trevi. Passing that is door #91 and it has no name on it but it is a small space selling souvenir items. Then there is a bar and a pizzeria. I can't figure out where are the rest of the door numbers as I walked by, I saw door #97 which sells shot glasses, postcards and refrigerator magnets. I thought, I will come back here and buy refrigerator magnets if I see one I like.

Then the next door is Paul & Shark. Paul & Shark? A whale? Or is it a last name. It was kind of a weird name for a store.

Opposite the Boutique/Hotel Trevi is small store that sells Blue ice/shave ice and passed that is the Al Barroga that sells masks. Still, there are no numbers on the store's doors. Then there is the Pizza de Mortadella.

Finally, I saw door #15. This place sells a lot of t-shirts.

Surrounding the fountain itself are different business establishments like the Segatori, a gelateria, Paul & Shark (again?), shoe store, Hotel Fontana, Benatton, a souvenir shop, Angelo, Farmacia and a bar/gelateria - they sell crepes and Chinese food!

Fondest memory: I love the feeling that I finally got to Rome. I still can't internalize it at this moment so, I am just cruising along...

Go to the Colosseum early Colosseum Review

Favorite thing: We went to the Colosseum early in the morning, so we enjoyed our visit to the place better. There are no tourists around the first two hours when we were there. Before the gates were opened, we had time to check the grounds of the Colosseum- just walking around the structure. We went to the Forum also and we enjoyed seeing all the things that were sketched on the walls. We had plenty of time to check the whole place.

We didn't have to struggle with other tourists. Therefore, we were able to take great pictures of our whole group in front of the Colosseum. We took excellent pictures.

The best time to go there is actually at seven o'clock in the morning. The gates open two hours later. We were also first in line to buy the entrance tickets and first in line to get in the Colosseum.

Fondest memory: I love taking the pictures of the Colosseum outside and inside. It was an exciting day for me to visit this place.

I thought I lost my camera when I was entering the gates but I actually put it in my backpack. It freaked me out because I had already put in about a thousand pictures in it.