A spring trip to Rome

The Trevi Fountain at Night

Due to the Renaissance, Rome is now a city absolutely covered in stunning buildings and monuments designed purely for their aesthetic pleasure.

• When to go

All the guide books are clear on this one thing - March and April are the best times to visit Rome. The temperature is just hotting up so you can walk around in a t-shirt and catch a tan, and avoid collapsing from heat exhaustion as you trek around the many sites. It is also a good time to visit as the swarms of tourists that arrive in the summer have not yet descended, so you have more chance of seeing everything and not having to queue for hours.

• Where to stay

We stayed in the Hotel White, just a stone’s throw from the Trevi Fountain, one of the must sees of the trip! The rooms were very minimalistic and modern as well as being comfortable with a continental breakfast included. The hotel is a bit pricey, but then again, in Rome most things are. Rooms start at €150 a night for a standard room or you can upgrade to an executive room for €200 a night.

• Where to eat

Our favourite place to eat was Obika, a mozzarella bar off one of the main shopping streets Via de Corso. The mozzarella bar looked fab, you just pull up a seat at the bar and chose which type of homemade mozzarella you want and it’s served to you tapas style. As tempting as this looked we chose to eat in the main restaurant and order off the menu, which was very extensive. From the main menu you can either stick to the mozzarella theme but choose it with a variety of other dishes, or they also have a variety of pasta, pizza, meat and salad dishes. Price wise, it's brilliant for Rome, we ate for €50 including a bottle of wine and it was amazing.

• What to see

Technically, the list is endless and a guide book strongly recommended! However, these were a few of my highlights:

• Trevi Fountain: this is an amazing fountain with gorgeous marble sculptures and a buzzing atmosphere. I’d recommend coming here after midnight, as the crowds and rose sellers have dwindled and you can really appreciate it.

St. Peter's Basilica

• The Vatican: obviously a must for anyone visiting Rome. The Vatican museums are amazing and four miles long, so I’d recommend wearing shoes that are not going to hurt or break on you! While in the area take a climb to the top of St. Peter's Basilica, the view is the best in Rome and although there are a lot of steep windy stairs, it is definitely worth it! Try and find time to simply sit in St. Peter’s square and soak up some of the atmosphere, many people find they spend their whole time in Rome rushing from one site to another, and find they miss out on just enjoying their time there.

• Piazza Navona: this street is one of the most exciting in Rome. There are three gorgeous fountains and a whole host of amazing buildings to look at, but as well as this you will find yourself being constantly entertained as you stroll down the road. There are acrobatic performers, musicians, painters... you name it Piazza Navona has it! This is also one of the main areas people go to after dinner for a few drinks and so at night it is as busy as during the day.

• The Bottom Line

Rome is a vibrant, exciting and beautiful city. There is so much to do and see that it would be difficult to fit it all into one trip, so don’t try. I found it much more rewarding to simply pick a few ‘must sees’ and take your time to enjoy them to the full. Rome is full of surprises so don’t be concerned if your carefully thought out plan doesn’t work! Just go with the flow and let yourself be immersed in this amazing place.

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