I’m finally getting around to sharing a travel diary from our trip to Rome in September of last year! My fiancé Sean was going for a few days for work, so I decided to join him and extend our trip! We stayed in Rome for five days, with Sean having to work for three of them, but still packed in a ton of sight-seeing, eating and relaxing (mostly me relaxing while Sean worked, ha). We were a bit worried about the crowds in Rome, as we had heard that summers there are both hot and crowded beyond belief, but September ended up being a perfect time to visit! It was warm and sunny, but not deathly hot and the crowds had diminished significantly from their peak in the middle of summer. Read on for what we did, what we ate and where we stayed!

what we did

Colosseum

The Colosseum is high on most people’s list of things to do in Rome, and ours wasn’t any different! Here are a couple things that we did on our visit to the Colosseum that made extra stress free and enjoyable! First, we bought our entrance tickets a few days in advance, for the first entry time in the morning. We lined up about 30 minutes before they opened in the morning and picked up our tickets at the ticket office, putting us in a group of the first couple hundred people to enter. This was so nice, as we were able to make a beeline to the other end of the Colosseum and take photos and take in the Colosseum without all the crowds. Instead of taking a guided tour, we opted to download audio guides by Rick Steeves and listen to them on our own headphones instead! This was our first time using the guides and we ended up using them for several other places as well, like the Roman Forum and the Pantheon. The guides helped us move at our own pace throughout the Colosseum and take all the photos we wanted!

Roman Forum

The Roman Forum is an easy one to combine with the Colosseum, as you can often buy entrance tickets for both sites together. We used our Rick Steeve’s guides here too, but didn’t stay too long as the heat started to beat down on us and most of the forum offers little shade. If you plan to do both in one visit, make sure you bring a lot of water!

The Vatican

The Vatican is must-see if you have even a teeny tiny interest in art or history, but can be a little overwhelming when it comes to figuring out how and what to see. We went to the Vatican in the afternoon and used Airbnb’s Experiences to book a tour guide - a new Airbnb service that enables you to book activities with locals. We had such a fantastic time in our small tour group and tour guide Luigi was the most knowledgeable, entertaining and helpful guide ever! There are tons of terrific options on Airbnb - but here is a link to book our specific guide, Luigi if you’d like to book him! On the tour, I peppered Luigi with about 748 questions and not only did he always have the answer, he would often add on an extra story or little tidbit. His tour was engaging and informative, and way more fun than doing an audio guide. Plus, we got to use the special tour guide entrance, which helped a lot for the lines - extra important in the afternoon heat!

Travel tip: The Vatican has an enforced dress code, in which shoulders and knees must be covered. We saw quite a handful of men wearing shorts, as long as they were close to the knee (Sean did this and had no issue). For myself, I wore a light tee and a flowy midi skirt, which kept me cool enough while following the dress code! We also saw lots of women bringing a scarf or shawl to cover their shoulders when needed.

After the Vatican, we worked an appetite from all that walking and had the best gelato of our lives! Keep reading to the “What we ate” section to find out more about this secret little spot.

Spanish Steps

We actually took two separate trips to the Spanish Steps during our week in Rome, one for photos and one to explore! The steps are in the middle of a massive shopping area, filled with all sorts of shops from bougie designers, chain stores, and little windy streets off the main roads filled with local boutiques and eateries. We took sunrise photos here on a Friday, and even before sunrise, we were definitely not the only ones who had the same idea. We saw lots of other people taking early morning photos, a few couples taking wedding photos and lots of early morning commuters as soon as the train stations opened.

When we came back to the Spanish steps in the afternoon we wandered the side streets for a while, popping in and out of boutiques and eating more gelato. We found a ton of cute boutiques off the main streets, tucked away in the cutest little alleyways.

Pantheon

We decided to use one of our sunrise photo mornings to check out the Pantheon and it definitely did not disappoint! The square in front of the Pantheon (Piazza della Rotonda) is typically packed with tourists, so going for the early morning light was the perfect way to take some completely person-free photos. After we took some photos, we simply sat and watched the square wake up in the morning, shop keepers opening their shops, people briskly traveling to work, and a handful of other (likely jet-lagged) tourists.

Trevi Fountain

The Trevi Fountain was our second stop after taking sunrise pictures at the Spanish Steps, and boy can this place fill up, even at 7am! We set up a tripod setup here, marveled at the gorgeous, ornate fountain and snacked on the most delicious chocolate croissants, just a few steps from the fountain. The quintessential thing for people to do at the Trevi Fountain is toss in a coin and make a wish, so we obviously had to join in! Fun fact: the money collected (an estimated 3,000 euros each day!) is given to a charity called Caritas Roma, which helps support Rome’s poor and homeless communities.

Travel tip: Surviving the (late) summer crowds - Our secret to surviving the insane crowds in Rome was to see as many of the big sights as early in the day as possible. For us, this meant a couple sunrise trips to major landmarks like the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps, and visiting others right when they opened, like the Colosseum. Of course, we’re not super humans, so these early morning days were often followed by afternoon naps (which is when it was too hot to be outside anyways). If you want to get photos with minimal crowds in a busy travel season, sunrise is definitely your best bet!

where we ate

Gelato outside the Vatican

This is such a funny one, because I don’t even have a name to give you but it’s still my number one recommendation. Sean and I stumbled upon this teeny tiny little gelato shop after our visit to the Vatican and never had time to return, which was a huge shame because A) this was the most delicious gelato I have ever tasted in my life and B) we didn’t write down the name or take a photo of it, and it’s nowhere to be found on Google Maps! However, if you’re up for an adventure, follow the white columns to the right as you exit St Peter’s Basilica (shown in the photo below) and at the end of the columns, veer to the right onto Borgo Santo Spirito. The gelato shop should be there just a few stalls down the road on the right hand side, and if you find it - please let me know!

Gino Sorbillo - Lievito Madre a Roma

We went to Gino Sorbillo for a late lunch off a recommendation from Sean’s customer, a native Roman, so we were definitely excited to eat here! We ordered a margherita pizza and a [name of crazy dish], which was one of the most unique and delicious meals we had on our trip! I also loved the way they brought out the dish with the mozzarella ball still intact and asked us if we wanted to take photos (of course!) before slicing it fresh on the table in front of us! We went at a bit of an odd time in the afternoon, which was a great way to avoid the crowds this place can get at lunch time and in the evening. It’s only a few blocks from the Spanish Steps, making it a great place for a shopping break and afternoon snack!

Nannarella & Tonnarello

You really can’t go wrong with many of the restaurants in Trastevere. In the heart of the neighborhood, it feels like every single street corner or alleyway has a cute little Italian restaurant with outdoor seating, packed with people. It’s a great place to go for dinner, especially because the liveliness of Trastevere at night makes it a wonderful neighborhood to explore for the evening.

There’s one restaurant that had a huge line nearly every night, called Tonnarello, which was recommended to us a few times. However, our stomachs were way too impatient to wait, so we ended up walking a few more blocks until we found another place to try with a much shorter wait. It turned out that the restaurant we walked to is actually a sister restaurant of Tonnarello, called Nannarella. They’re owned by the same owners and have the same menu, with a fraction of the line! So, if you find yourself in Trastevere looking for a place to eat, highly recommend skipping the lines at Tonnarello and heading over to Nannarella instead, you (and your stomach) won’t regret it!

Ristorante La Canonica

Another Trastevere gem was Ristorante La Canonica, a cozy little spot we found on a little romantic night out. Their outdoor area was a bit too close to some nearby construction, so we opted to eat inside, which ended up being fantastic! We got an adorable little room all to ourselves and stuffed our faces with more bruschetta, gnocchi, and ravioli than should be humanly possible, with some amazing Italian wine to wash it all down. The decor in Ristorante La Canonica was simply charming and the food was just amazing. We hope to be back some day!

Travel tip: Free Now (Taxi app) - While Uber technically exists in Rome, they only have black cars, making the service much more expensive than your typical ride in the US. However, there’s an app called Free Now (mytaxi), which enables you to order a taxi, just like any other rideshare app. We found that using Free Now was definitely the best way to get around Rome quickly, without paying an arm and a leg. We still walked to most places for a lot of our trip because staying in Trastevere was a great central location, but using the taxi app was a lifesaver for tired afternoon feet or trips to/from the airport.

where we stayed

Trastevere

We stayed in an Airbnb in the Trastevere neighborhood and I don’t think we could have found a more perfect neighborhood for our stay! Trastevere is charming and picturesque collection of shops, restaurants and pastel buildings during the day, transforming into a lively, vibrant scene at night. The streets are filled with people eating and drinking on outdoor patios and listening to live music in the town squares. It’s also fairly walkable from most of the big sites (pretty much everything I listed above was within a 30 minute walk), which made it easy to stop back our apartment during the day. We ate most of our dinners in Trastevere as well, which made it really enjoyable to walk to and from dinner. We especially loved the cute little balcony of our Airbnb (link) and would highly recommend it to anyone coming to Rome!

If you end up using any of this guide to help plan a trip to Rome, please let me know in the comments! I always love hearing about your adventures. And if you find that gelato place, you know I’m absolutely dying to know the name, so don’t hold out. Safe travels!