When you come to Rome for the first time, it is very simple – take a tourist map from your hotel and start the tour, collecting “Wows!” by passing every place of interest noted on that map. You cannot go wrong by doing so in Rome. This is not a city of tourist traps and fake commercial scams. If there is a mark on the map or even an entrance fee to pay, you can be sure of seeing something worthwhile, not to be seen anywhere else.

People say that you can see Rome in three days or even three years will not be enough.

My European friends frequently ask me what to see in Rome after having visited it a few times. Here is my list of 10 places, what to see, after you think that you have seen everything in Rome.

1.The orange garden with a secret keyhole

This is a beautiful garden with a scenic terrace from which you can see the Roman skyline. Though it is beautiful during the day, I highly recommend visiting it in the evening. It is a very romantic place. A lot of dates and wedding photography is happening in these gardens.

Nearby, a bit up the hill, behind the church there is a closed gate and through the keyhole you can see a stupendous view of the Vatican. Don’t miss it. During the day you can spot a queue of people there; in the evening, ask people for directions.

Put on your navigation map: Buco della serratura and/or Giardino degli Aranci.

There is another beautiful park called Rose Garden (in Italian “Giardino Delle Rose”) nearby down the hill. It is the most beautiful in spring when all roses flourish.

2.Fontana dell’Acqua Paola

Another gorgeous and romantic place is at the top of Gianicolo hill behind the famous Trastevere district. Have you seen the movie The Great Beauty? This movie opens precisely at this fountain built in the XVII century. Therefore now we often call this fountain “The fountain of The Great Beauty“. Romans call it Fountain of Gianicolo (in Italian Il Fantanone del Gianicolo).

There is a tradition in Rome, that after AS Roma or Lazio football team achieves something extraordinary, the players or somebody from the team has to go to bath in this fountain. Years ago it was not prohibited, now I am not sure. In general, you risk very high penalties for putting even your finger into Roman fountains.

Five minutes up the hill, there is Piazza Giuseppe Garibaldi from which you get a marvellous panoramic view of Rome. Both, fountain and the square are on top of the hill (just in case you walk), but worth the effort.

3.Parco Degli Acquedotti

My favourite park in Rome. It is so beautiful and unique. The most extraordinary thing for me is that while you walk along the 2,000 year old water aqueducts, modern Boeings fly above your head, almost touching the aqueducts and landing a few kilometres from this place.

Parco Degli Acquedotti is a large natural park. It could be of interest to kids as well – you can always see sheep there, and near the entrance there are some playgrounds for kids. This park is 30 min from the centre but very easy to reach by Metro A.

There was also a scene at this park in the The Great Beauty movie.

4.The ancient Roman road – Via Appia Antica

Traffic is limited there on all days but on Sundays, especially, it becomes a very cosy pedestrian zone with many local people enjoying the walks, jogging and just chilling out. Nearby there is an archaeological park. For a fee, you can take a guided tour of the underground Catacombs – Catacombe di San Callisto and Catacombe San Sebastiano. The second one is smaller but better reserved, therefore more interesting to visit (if you are Lithuanian you might be interested that there is one Lithuanian guide Donatas working there).

Put on your navigation map: Punto Informativo Appia Antica (Tourist information centre).  The road itself is an experience, but at the information centre you get a map showing what you’ll pass along the way. Also you can rent a bicycle there. The road is minimum 3 kilometres, total 6 km. This is just a suggestion of where to start, but in general, you can start anywhere along the road Via Appia Antica. If you decided to walk, I would recommend to take a bus 118 from Piazza Venezia which will bring you further to the middle of the road, so you save first 2 kilometres which are not the most interesting.

5.Villa Borghese park

A lot of tourists go to Pincio Terrace from Piazza Popolo for a magnificent night view of Rome. However, there is a beautiful large park behind the Villa Borghese and once you have visited the key touristic features, spend half a day walking in the park. Especially at weekends, you will find a lot of local people there. There are many rent points for bicycles of all sizes, and on a summer evening I love to watch open-air films in this park (unfortunately, they are only in Italian) or Shakespeare theatre performances (also in Italian).

6.Quartiere Coppedè

Behind the park of Villa Borghese, there is a lovely district. It is not easily reached by public transport (it’s best to take a tram), but you will enjoy a walk in this luxurious, quiet and clean part of the city. Very few tourists come here, though Quartiere Coppedè is quite extraordinary. This whole area of Rome is famous as the location of most of the embassies and residences of diplomatic expats.

7.Museums 

Vatican Museum

If you did not have time previously, go to the Vatican Museum. I am not a big fan of museums, but this one is absolutely worth it. Be warned; it takes about 3–4 hours to visit it all. Get a bottle of water and some snacks in advance.

At the end of the tour, you can climb up onto the roof of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Entrance to the museum is not free (only St. Peter’s Basilica is), but I recommend going as early as you can and buying tickets online to avoid the queues.

Capitolio Museum

Another museum which is very worthy of your time. Remember the posters for “The Great Beauty”  and the night walk in the museum? This is the one. I have never seen long queues there, so you’ll probably be sure to get tickets on the spot.

There are so many more museums in Rome, but let’s start with these two.

8.Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano

I am very sure that you will see it surrounded by green colours. It is snowing once in ten years in Rome. Last time it was in 2018 so now we covered till 2028.

Maybe it is because I live nearby, but I find this church, and next to it an ancient wall of Rome, a gorgeous place which is somehow little visited by tourists. It is only a 20 min walk from the Coliseum but in the opposite direction from the centre.

Take a walk from the Coliseum along the street Via di S. Giovanni in Laterano. This is a cosy, narrow, almost pedestrianised street to walk along. On the way, you will come across a beautiful square, La Piazza Giovanni Paolo II. And if you wonder what else you could do around, this is quite busy shopping area – go to shopping centre Coin nearby, also you would find hundreds of shops along Via Appia Nuova towards metro station King of Rome (in Italian Re di Roma).

9.Basilica di San Clemente al Laterano

A little church near the Coliseum. While it looks like nothing special from the outside, it hides three levels of an ancient church underground.

I have no images of it because it is forbidden to photograph inside. Entrance to the church is free but you have to buy a ticket to get into the ancient underground church.

 10.Watch a football match in the stadium

If you are a football fan, you can skip my comments as probably you know much more than I do. But for all like me, who are not really following it, go to stadium in Rome, it is an amazing cultural experience. I always associated football with violence (oh, media!) and found completely opposite – nice people, romantic songs, incredible atmosphere. I have watched an AS Roma match in the stadium, but there is another team, Lazio, with many fans in Rome. Roman fans come well prepared, sing a lot (the whole stadium sings!), and the atmosphere is amazing.I did not see any sign of violence, zero drunk people, some men even brought young kids with them. The energy when 80,000 people jump up after a goal is scored could charge all the phones in the city! It was one of the most exceptional experiences for me in Rome.

Here is some random video from youtube of fans singing AS Roma anthem. This video is not mine, because Adriano before going to stadium said “no any stupid videos, you have learn the lyrics, sing, hold scarf and participate”. Hahaa, I have a very dedicated fan at home.

It would be difficult to get tickets to important matches at the last minute but check online for what is going on in Rome http://www.ticketone.it/.

If that’s not enough, rent a car to see the beautiful lakes and towns around Rome, or take a train and go to the beach.

Read What to see around Rome.