We almost died on our way to Rome. Being the cheapskates that we are, we decided to take a bus to our hotel rather than a taxi. We got stuck on the sketchiest bus for an hour and a half. Needless to say, when we saw the bright Marriott sign we were relieved. We stayed about 20 minutes outside of central Rome which ended up working out great, but we forgot to change our clocks and missed the shuttle from the hotel our first morning there, so we had to hire a private car with Marco. He was a great little tour guide. He told us that real Italians vacation on the island of Sicily, not the Amalfi Coast. Apparently only Americans like it? Before we knew it, we were parked outside the Coliseum. So, instead of talking about places in Italy, I am highlighting my Top 5 Travel Tips for Italy.
#1 Bring a safe bag.
Within the first few hours of our first day in Rome, we saw an Asian girl get robbed. A man came into the restaurant we were eating at, snatched her bag and ran away with it. It was so sad and she didn’t speak English or Italian, but to her relief, one of the waiters chased down the thief and came back about 30 minutes later with her bag. Sam borrowed a great travel bag that had a zipper lock. Just a simple lock that makes it so pickpockets and thieves can’t quickly open your bag. It is from REI. I brought a tiny blue shoulder bag that had a squeeze closure that was also hard to do quickly. These bags were so nice to have and worked really well for us. We kept all of our credit cards and big bills in a money bag Sam wore under his shirt every day (thanks love).
#2 Comfy Shoes!
I wore my polka dot Keds every single day in Italy and my feet were happy. We did so much walking every day that I would have been miserable in sandals or cute shoes. Gotta choose function over fashion sometimes I guess!
#3 Gelato, Gelato, Gelato
Eat it at least twice a day. My favorite place in Rome was called Grom, but the best gelato of the trip was from a tiny store in the Tuscan town of Lucca. I almost always got Hazelnut because it’s just sooo good, but I also tried crazy flavors like pine nut (amazing) and basil (little weird). Sam and I started off splitting cones and by the end of the trip… well we weren’t splitting anymore.
#4 Buy all of your tickets before you get to Italy.
We bought our tickets to the Coliseum and Forum + Vatican City and Museums months before our trip and I’m so glad we did. We literally got to skip right to the front of lines that were hours long. It makes the whole trip so much more fun when you don’t get stuck waiting for half your day.
#5 Get lost.
Sam and I absolutely loved wandering the cobble street roads and sometimes having no idea where we were headed. It was so fun to visit the little shops and wander down the gorgeous lanes filled with scooters and flower covered balconies.
