FULL ROME TRIP ITINERARY

First off, I realize this is totally not fitness-related, so it’s a bit off brand. But after our two week trip to Italy, I had SO many requests for tips and requests, so I wanted to share a few blogs all about our itinerary and tips for traveling to our new favorite place, Italy.

We didn’t go all over Italy, but it’s definitely on our bucket list. And it should absolutely be on yours too, as it was an absolutely magical place.

I’ll break the trip down day by day and cover where we were, what we did, where we ate, what we ate, and whether we’d go again! Starting off with our time in Rome, which was the first stop on our itinerary!

DAY 1

This was technically our 2nd day, as we traveled all day the first day and got into Rome at about 7am. We barely slept on the flight, so it was an absolute struggle of a day 😂

We stayed at Palazzetto Trevi which was a cute little boutique hotel steps away from the Trevi Fountain. I believe there were about 12 rooms and ours was fairly small, but we weren’t in the room much, so it didn’t bug us too much. Plus, we were fairly central and it was super affordable, which we loved!

We dropped our stuff off at the hotel first thing and started exploring. We started at the Trevi Fountain since it was literally right there, then went to the Spanish Steps and on to the Pantheon, where we checked it out inside and then had breakfast at Ristorante M. Agrippa just outside of the Pantheon. We shared an egg + mushroom omelette that was subpar and then each had an espresso. We also got a croissant to share nearby at La Cassa Del Cafe Tazza d’Oro.

We then went to Piazza Novana until our room was ready. Went to the room once it was ready, then headed back out to the Colosseum, but our reservation wasn’t until later so we walked back to the hotel for a much needed 1.5 hour nap.

We then went back to the Colosseum which was super cool! We’d heard mixed things, but for us, it didn’t disappoint. It was oddly smaller than I thought it would be, but not at the same time? It was also mind blowing to see the architecture from sooooo long ago. We also went to the Roman Forum (old Rome) which was pretty crazy, as well.

We were so tired this day that we didn’t eat lunch and ended up settling for a 4pm dinner (thank goodness we found somewhere that was open because dinner isn’t until 7:30-8 or later in Italy). We went to a great little restaurant called Le Lanterne that was about a 5 minute walk from the Trevi Fountain. I got an Aperol Spritz (the best one of the trip - or maybe I was just really tired lol) and spaghetti with squid + shrimp + tomatoes.

We then headed back to the hotel and crashed at like 7:30pm lol.

DAY 2

I woke up at 1:15am and couldn’t go back to sleep. Kadyn woke up about an hour later and also couldn’t go to sleep, so we made coffee and watched random TV for 5 hours lol. Jet lag hit us HARD.

We then headed to Vatican City, as we had Vatican Museum tickets for 9am. We grabbed breakfast at L’antico Forno. We each had an espresso and a pistachio croissant, which was a little too sweet for me and I definitely prefer the plain ones.

I also confirmed that I am not a museum person and Kadyn (my husband) only likes the sculptures/statues. Also, the Sistine Chapel was very underwhelming…

We then headed to Piazza Popolo and did a little walking around the streets of that area before heading to lunch at L’antica Pizzeria di Trevi. We each got an Aperol Spritz and shared a Greek salad, margherita pizza, and capricciosa pizza. It happened to be one of our favorite pizzas of the trip! 10/10 recommend stopping here!

We headed back to the room to relax and do some work, but had to get some gelato (of course) at Bar Trevi.

Then went out to the Piazza Novana area to grab drinks and dinner. We started with a drink at a rooftop bar called Terrazza Borromini. We each had an overpriced Aperol Spritz and were freezing lol. But there were great views of the city!!

We had dinner at Taverna Agape and it was delicious! We each had a glass of wine and shared Roman style Bruschetta, cacio e pepe, veal scaloppini with mashed potatoes, and tiramisu for dinner.

DAY 3

This was our adventure day up to Tuscany! We went on a “wine tour” that was more of a history tour with a stop at a winery, but it was still cool to explore and at least see Tuscany for a day (which made us definitely want to go back there)! I booked the trip through Get Your Guide.

We got picked up around 6:45am from our hotel and started the drive about 2 hours north. We stopped outside of Rome for gas station breakfast (which is 10000x more edible and delicious than United States gas station breakfast lol). We each had an espresso and a fresh-baked croissant.

Our tour began in Siena, which we weren’t aware of before the trip, but ended up being home to Cafe Nannini, so that was really cool! We were able to stop in for an espresso and got ourselves a little espresso cup and plate set. We walked around Siena, which is a super cool historical town that is literally like the Hunger Games (you should absolutely look it up)!

We then drove to San Gimignano, which they call “Medieval Manhattan” because wayyyyy back when, there were hundreds of towers that the townspeople lived in. Many of them have since fallen, but there are still about 15 standing and from a distance it looks like skyscrapers - it’s pretty cool! We were able to explore the city a little, did some shopping, got some gelato at Gelateria Donale, and bought some boar salami at a shop, which was super good!

After this, we made our way to Tenuta Torciano Winery. Here we got a 3-course meal and 8 wine tastings. We had the best charcuterie I’ve ever had, an amazing soup, and lasagna (I bought their cookbook, so I could at least attempt to make these because they were SO good). We also bought two bottles of wine from them. It was a great experience and we’d definitely love to go back there! 10/10 recommend stopping in if you’re ever in the area, as they were very friendly and accommodating. The wine was wonderful and food was delicious!

We then started the drive back to Rome. We stopped at another gas station with about an hour left and got another espresso to rally for the night lol.

For dinner, we walked to a pizza place near the Colosseum that I had researched prior and was super pumped for. It was called La Rioni and it was our least favorite meal of the trip. They were kind enough to seat us on a Saturday night, even with other reservations, but the pizza was Roman style and it just isn’t our favorite. We each got an Aperol Spritz and shared a margherita pizza and a mushroom + prosciutto pizza. Pretty disappointing, especially for a 30 minute walk, but hey, ya win some and ya lose some!

DAY 4

This was our biggest walking day of the trip at 30,945 (and no, this wasn’t fully on purpose).

We got breakfast at a cafe right near Vatican City (I don’t remember the name) and each got an espresso and croissant (shocker lol).

We started the day back at Vatican City because we wanted to climb St. Peter’s Basilica, which was awesome! If you’re going to do it, just purchase the stairs option, not the elevator. It’s cheaper and only like 300 more steps than the elevator option. You get 360 degree views of the city and it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! We then stayed for mass in St. Peter’s Basilica because it was about 10:30am and we found out that The Pope speaks to St. Peter’s Square at 12:00 from his apartment window and you’re not not going to see The Pope while in Rome if you have the chance! Turns out, it was actually The Pope’s birthday, so we joke that we attended his birthday.

Afterwards, we headed to Pompi for some pre-lunch tiramisu and espresso (which is like the complete opposite of what you’re supposed to do, but we really wanted a treat).

Then made our way to our absolute FAVORITE pizza of the trip. We went to Amalfi, which was about a 10-minute walk from Vatican City. We each got a limoncello spritz (which actually got us pretty tipsy for the first time on the trip) and shared a margherita pizza and a Piccantina pizza (spicy salami, basil, peppers). I honestly still dream about this pizza and will 1000% go back when we’re back in Rome!

We then walked back to the hotel and took the long way back, so that we could walk through the Gardens of Villa Borghese, which is basically Central Park for Rome. It was super pretty, even if we only saw a portion of it.

We went back to chill in the room and freshen up before heading to the Lazio Futbol match.

We decided to walk to the game and stopped at dinner halfway there at Apoteca. I got an Aperol Spritz (shocking) and cacio e pepe with artichoke and a side of broccoleti.

The match was a super awesome experience, even as someone who is not a soccer fan. The team pride there is nothing like I’ve ever seen (and I’ve been to A LOT of sporting events). We got seats in the front row (unintentionally), so we were right in the action, which was super cool! It was even better seeing how excited Kadyn was and how much he loved it!

We left a little early to find the bus stop because Lazio was losing and we were told that it can get fairly rowdy when that happens. We waited about 45 minutes for a bus that never came, which was SUPER fun in the cold. Then decided to suck it up and walk 50 minutes back to the hotel. We were absolutely FREEZING and exhausted by the time we got back.

DAY 5

This was a travel day to Palermo, Sicily.

We started the day with breakfast at L’antico Forno again, where we each got an espresso and croissant (another big shock lol).

We then made our way to the airport, where we grabbed lunch. We each got another espresso and shared a salad, margherita pizza, and capriciossa pizza.

That’s all for Rome! Stay tuned for the Palermo, Sicily blog next!