Following on from my last place about where to visit and stay in Rome, this post is going to be all about the handy tips and advice I can give you.

From what to wear in certain places to what you can do to help whilst you’re over there and even save yourself a bit of money, I’ve got you covered.

My final post about Rome will be all about the delicious food I consumed – there was some hits and misses, so be sure to follow for that post in a few days time.

Tips & Advice

This tip is going to sound really stupid but I’m going to say it anyway;

Expect tourists and by tourists, I mean a whooooole lot of them.

I know it’s Rome and I know it’s a city but my god, as beautiful as the Trevi fountain is, try and go as late at night/early in the morning as possible to get a good picture and really take in its splendor.

Get the bus from the airport is your accommodation isn’t ready

We booked our holiday ourselves with flights from Ryanair and an apartment with Booking.com, meaning we saved a whole lot of money by choosing the cheapest flights and best suited place to stay for us.

With this came the awkward moment of arriving in Rome at 11am and not being able to check in to the hotel until 3.30pm (or drop off the bags). So, if you do book your flight with Ryanair, it’s worth checking out their available extras for transfers.

With Rome, we had the choice to get a bus from the airport straight into the city centre for just £5 each – a taxi would have robbed us 30 euros – bargain.

We ended up about a 15 minute walk from our accomodation around 12pm and went to a lovely little restaurant with all our luggage and had dinner and a couple of drinks before making our way to to the apartment.

Trastevere market is not worth it

Each Sunday in Rome (well, about a 40 minute walk from the centre) is a market in Trastevere.

I’d looked this market up whilst planning the trip as there’s meant to be loads of quirky souvenirs, antiques etc. It was a load of tat – honestly.

I don’t know if we went on a dodgey weekend but honestly, don’t waste your time unless you like routing through piles of clothes.

Eat or drink just outside of the landmarks

I’ll touch more on this in my next post about where to eat but it’s common tip in most cities.

As nice as it would be to have a drink in front of the Pantheon, it’s going to cost you around 10 euros more than if you go around the corner – so who’s the real winner?

Some places require you to have your shoulders and knees covered

Italy is a very religious place and there’s a beautiful church on almost every corner. If you’re going into these building, you’re visiting Vatican city or you want to go inside the Pantheon, you must cover your shoulders and knees. Due to this, I’d plan in advance so you wear appropriate clothing.

There are a lot of men selling scarves/shawls nearby the entrance for those who aren’t covered up but be warned that they’ll charge you twice as much as if you go to the shop around the corner and pick one up before you get there.

Don’t shake anyone’s hand

Strange one I know.

Essentially, there’s a lot of men around the big tourist attractions of Rome who’re trying to sell bracelets and jewellery.

They’ll ask where you’re from or immediately go to shake your hand – don’t. They’ll put the bracelet into your hand or around your wrist and then demand that you pay for it. Do not fall for this trick – simply be polite and deny their request to speak.

Learn a little Italian

Not only is is polite and respectful to learn some key words when visiting a country that doesn’t speak your language, it’s also very helpful if you go into the parts where English (or whatever language you speak) isn’t something they’re able to speak either.

To learn any new language, I always use the amazing Memrise app. It’s free to use and really engaging when learning – I think it’s ace! (no, I haven’t been paid to say any of this).

Here’s the ones I found most useful;

Cioa – Hello/Bye
Per favore – Please
Gracia – Thanks
Prego – You’re welcome
Mi dispiace – I’m sorry
Scusami – Excuse me

Breathe it in

This is my tip not only for Rome and my upcoming series on Berlin, but for absolutely anywhere you go on holiday – breathe it in.

Rome is the most beautiful city I think I’ve ever been to. On every corner there’s amazing architecture, in the middle of every roundabout there’s a breath-taking fountain and this is before you’ve even got to the main landmarks. And you want to take photos of everything.

Yes, take pictures to show your family and post on your social medias – I’m not saying don’t. All I’m saying is actually take the time to appreciate what you’re seeing with your own eyes and not through a camera lens.

When we went to Vatican City it was astonishing how many people were stopping every five steps to take pictures of the art or building structure of the whole museum – I think for the whole time I was in there (about 2 and a half hours) I took about 10 photos at a push.

I can guarantee that on google there’s probably a thousand pictures of what you took a photo off in better, high quality and less tourists.

It’s better to tell people about your holiday than show them and on that note, I’m done with my tips.

As I mentioned before, be sure to follow me for the last installment of the Rome travel series and I’ll be telling you all about Berlin very soon!

Love, always.

Becca-x

Please email any PR or business enquiries to beccapbeauty@hotmail.com