Rome in August

Only having visited Rome on a day trip from a cruise ship I was most excited to be going for three nights with my husband to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Thinking we would be able to take in all the sites, how wrong was that. To start with the flight from East Midlands airport didn’t arrive until early evening. By the time we had got through customs and into a taxi the evening was drawing in.

TIP: Standing at the taxi rank a driver approached and asked if we need a taxi, he then walked us across the road to his taxi, on confirming the price we quickly turned away and headed back to the rank, we had been advised that a taxi to our hotel would cost approximately €40 and he had requested €75. Be careful to check prices prior to getting into the cab.

We arrived at our hotel, Donatello, the staff were extremely helpful and welcoming, the hotel was spotlessly clean and quiet charming ………….. however, the room was very small and the bathroom not much larger than a shoe box. The toilet was a separate commodity in what felt like a tiny broom cupboard, I do keep telling myself I should loose a little weight, thank goodness I wasn’t any larger or I wouldn’t have been able to use the loo!

We were hungry after travelling but when we asked the hotel receptionist about nearby restaurants, we were directed to a pizza takeaway, left out of the hotel to the roundabout then cross over the road to the right and the bar was on the right. Very Spanish, lovely people and pizza was excellent, but not really what we envisaged eating on our first evening in Rome. Later we learnt that if we went right out of the hotel there were numerous delightful restaurants and bars. An added bonus was the oldest ice cream parlour in Italy, they have the largest selection of flavoured ice creams that you could ever imagine. Well worth a visit.

We slept well and got up in the morning to enjoy our breakfast and start our first site seeing day. Oh dear really, we had a bread roll almost thrown on the table and had to request some jam to go with it. Maybe this was to be the start of my new diet.

We had decided to use the “hop-on hop-off bus to enable us to get around more efficiently. We were told we would get the bus near the train station, that would be useful as the next stage of our journey was to catch the train to Florence. Location, location as they all say, we were advised the walk to the station from the hotel was only fifteen minutes, what they forgot to tell us that is if you are a very fast walker or jogger. In addition, the pavements were uneven and blocked in areas so we were having to walk on the road or keep crossing over to the other side.

TIP: If location is important do extra research, not just the marketing information on the hotels website, unless 30 to 40 minutes walk each time you wish to go to tourist sites, is what you are used to.

To get the “hop-on hop-off” bus we were told it was near the train station, 40 minutes of strolling we arrived at the bus stop. We stayed on the bus until we arrived at the Vatican City, from there we then strolled. We were surprised to learn that there were only a total of 8 stops on the bus. After strolling for several hours we then got back onto the bus at stop 5 and got off at the station, the nearest stop to the hotel stop 8. We had brought a two day ticket which was on special offer for 25€ each. However, we only used the bus once on the second day as we were going to the Coliseum which was the same walking distance to get to the Coliseum as it was to get to the bus stop. All the sites we wanted to see on this second day were within walking distance.

TIP: If you enjoy exploring on foot and have plenty of time in Rome you may want to consider if the “hop-on hop-off” bus is worth the money. If using the bus I suggest you get a good map of Rome as the bus map is very vague and not easy to follow.

We walked miles while in Rome, some days averaging 16km a day but we did get to see many sites. I recommend good comfortable shoes and carry water, it is extremely hot during the month of August Oh and don’t forget many of the toilets charge you to use them so have some small change in your pocket.

Read my blogs Golden Ager Tourist in Rome. Golden Ager Tourist in Florence. Golden Ager Tourist in Venice