For a city as vast as Rome, touring around with unplanned
itinerary can be a bit tricky. With so many things to see and do, you
can easily get overwhelmed with what the Eternal City can offer. To
avoid travel glitches and to make sure you don't miss anything
wonderful, you must be able to plot a properly planned travel route.
Plan
and schedule your trip itinerary ahead of time. You can start by doing
some at home research of the highlights of Rome and prioritizing them
according to your personal preference. You can list them in ascending
order, from less interesting and important to most important and
interesting, or in descending order. Taking note of the sightseeing
spots that are located nearby each other can also help you in making
planning a bit easier and faster.
For example, if you want to
visit the famous Spanish Steps, you may likewise consider visiting
Piazza del Popolo, Piazza di Spagna and Villa Borghese, which are all
situated nearby one another. If you want to include the Vatican City in
your must-visit list, you can also consider including Castel
Sant'Angelo, the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican
Museums in your list. Additionally, in the historic center you can find
the main attractions situated just a stone's throw away from each other.
For instance, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the monument of Victor
Emmanuel II, the Palatine Hill and the Capitoline Museums are all close
together.
If you will be spending a longer time in Rome, say more
than 1 week, you may add to your must-visit list some other interesting
outskirt areas of the city proper. Among the interesting areas you can
visit outside the historic center are Florence, Ostia Antica, Pompeii
and Tivoli. All of these places can easily be reached by train, however,
you should book a day trip ahead of time to ensure that everything is
already ironed out before your trip.
Sightseeing and transportation
If
you are travelling with tight budget, you can enjoy the most beautiful
spots in Rome without having to overdo your budget. You can avoid
spending a great amount of money on admission fees by simply picking
just a few monuments or museums.
For instance, pick two or three
among the array of great tourist spots that you really want to visit and
then for the rest of your stay in Rome, you can spend time roaming
around the city. There are so many magnificent things to see in the city
that you can access for free. If you are planning to visit several
sites by using a public transportation utility, take into consideration
purchasing a ticket with a discount pass.
You may not be able to
access the monuments or museums free, but you can find a discounted
price. When visiting churches, be sure to observe proper dress code - no
shorts or sleeveless shirts for men, no garments shorter than knee
length or sleeveless shirt for women, and no wearing slippers for either
gender. However, if you were left unprepared for a church visit, be
sure to always bring with you a shawl or a scarf. This is especially
useful in covering revealing parts of the body like the knees,
midsection and shoulders.
And of course you can use the scarf as
your protection from the sun's heat. If you will need to ride in a taxi,
choose one that is painted white and with an official label. Also,
choose a metered taxi over the ones offering a fixed rate. Generally,
taxi cabs asking for a fixed rate will charge you twice or thrice the
price you are likely to pay with metered taxis.
