Rome wasn’t built in a day… but tourists can do it up in one.
That’s our discovery from a recent spring-break stopover. We were en route to Perugia and then planned to continue on to Naples. But my daughter had never been to Rome, which is in the throes of a Jubilee celebration–a once-every-quarter-century renewal for Catholics in faith and forgiveness.
So we decided to try to do the whole city in a day. Our flight from Kennedy Airport landed in the morning and we arranged early check-in to the Hotel Hilton Garden Inn near the airport. We checked email and took naps and headed off via Uber.
The last time we were in Rome– in what felt like the less-crowded, more tourist-friendly year of 2015– my husband and I stayed near the Pantheon and found it the best base. So we started our day there. Unlike last time, there’s an admission fee now—and lines and crowds galore. But we bought tickets on site and headed into the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome. The architecture is stunning, but we were equally lured by this being the final resting place of Renaissance artist Raphael.
The rest of our itinerary I list here with one big warning of what we missed: The Vatican. I just could not figure out a way to get this in and I confess that I made my daughter watch “Conclave” before we left for Italy to understand the importance of the Pope and the Catholic Church; because of Jubilee, we certainly felt their presence everywhere. You can plug these places into your phone and decide if public transit, walking or Uber is most efficient:
From the Pantheon, we walked a few steps to the gorgeous Chiesa di Sant’Ignazio di Loyola, which our daughter requested after seeing the viral mirror selfie.
We are equally time and budget conscious when we try to do cities in a day so we inhaled pizzas at Zaza. We loved slices with pesto and mushroom.
We made a quick pit stop at our fave Elephant and Obelisk statue, which dates back to the 1600s and feels like something from Asia or, specifically, India. We also lit a candle at the adjacent Church of Minerva in honor of a friend fighting sickness.
We felt like we had to go to Trevi Fountain but we were probably there the shortest amount of time– the crowds were wild. It’s still so impressive and felt necessary.
We walked to the Roman Forum and – you can’t plan this – suddenly King Charles and Queen Camilla (in town for their 20th wedding anniversary) and their entourage drove by. The crowd cheered wildly and the irony of watching a king and queen pass as we’re surrounded by the remains of the Roman empire was not lost on us. Don’t miss the Palatine Hill and these marvels of architecture.
We were dragging and felt like we needed a pick-me-up after lunch and before touring the Colosseum. The guard at the Colosseum would not let us in earlier than our ticket times (I got mine on Booking.com and while it helped us skip the line, I regretted this because apparently my daughter would have gotten in for free as a minor under 18) so we walked uphill to a nearby cafe and got some coffees and tiramisus to go (they only let you sit if you order a meal or alcoholic drinks) and sat in a park across the street overlooking the Colosseum.
Our tour of the Colosseum might have been too fast for some but we made one complete round and it felt adequate. Again, the crowds were definitely getting to us and it felt hard to find open space to take in the views and the perfect sunlight.
Our last tourist stop was the National Gallery of Ancient Art at the Palazzo Barberini, which has an impossible-to-get-tix-to Carvaggio show to celebrate the Jubilee. We thankfully had pre-booked and also got the incredible audio tour with it. I’d liken the hype over this exhibit to the unprecedented popularity of the 2023 Vermeer exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Getting in is so hard but honestly so worth it– something I think I will look back on for my whole life. My husband, as an artist, is much more of a Carvaggio fan than I am, but I have come to appreciate his skill, impact and quirks. My favorite painting was “The Taking of Christ,” a rare one the gallery didn’t allow photographs of. The shades of black and light on the metal armor were such a feat, as was the depiction of sheer madness and violence and a dose of humanity with a farewell kiss. The narrator on the audio tour (unsurprisingly), likened this painting to journalism in the layers of drama and complexity captured. No wonder I loved it.
We were very tired of walking by then so we took an Uber to the Testaccio neighborhood for dinner. We’d made a reservation at Da Bucatino, a trattoria recommended by my journalist friend posted in Rome.
We ended the night with gelato around the corner at Panna & Co. Pistachio, of course, was the winner.