What’s the eternal city like? What can you expect and how will it keep you entertained?
Obviously Rome is noisy. It’s loud, it’s chaotic, it is difficult for every day’s life (do the words queues, burocracy and traffic jam ring a bell?) and even a simple experience like taking the bus (usually packed like sardines cans) or crossing at the pedestrian could turn into a nightmare. Just watching the madness of the traffic and the perpetual buzz of motorbikes and cars during the rush hour could be of entertainment and quite an experience.
But then, once again, Rome will astonish you when you less expect it, with a hidden treasure, a secret corner, a cobble stoned “piazza” where the only sound is the one of the water spilling out from a 600 years old fountain.
Just to ramble around…
Of course, we encourage you to experience the typical tourist journey when in Rome: the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel, the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps and the Pantheon, just to name a few of Rome’s attractions. Nobody would want to miss those for anything in the world. But once in Rome, don’t forget to open your eyes and senses, as well, even to the smallest details that will capture the essence and the soul of this city: columns and cats, courtyards and churches, fountains and laundry spreading from the windows, the brownish- orange facades of the buildings, the “motorini” that dart around careless of traffic lights and pedestrians, the coffee ritual in the morning, priests and sunglassed machos. Again, old traditions and new habits, sacred and secular. Entertainment in Rome will just come to you.
Roman food – what to eat when in Rome
Apart from the obvious- the monuments – Rome is a feast also for the senses and the taste. How not to mention the food? You can decide to grab a bite of crunchy pizza or a suppli (watch out, as you can literally get addicted to those fried rice balls!) from one of the hundreds “pizza al taglio” shops or sit on one of the many restaurants or trattorie and experience a dish of “carbonara”, a fried artichoke or a piece of ” bruschetta” and you won’t be disappointed. From the suburbs areas like Pigneto or Garbatella to Trastevere or Piazza Navona, you will find restaurants in every corner ready to celebrate the ritual of food of Rome that has made Italians famous everywhere in the world.
Nightlife
As the night comes, Rome will show you a lot of opportunities of entertainment. You can stroll along the cobble stoned streets of Trastevere area( just a few steps away from the Tiber River) with an ice cream in your hand. You can decide to sit in a cafe overlooking Campo De Fiori and watching life goes by with a glass of chilled white wine or you can choose to dance the night away in one of the many clubs in Testaccio, the ” hot spot” of the Roman movida.
You can mingle in the University area of San Lorenzo, with its population of students and countless pizzerias, pubs and wine bars or, in the summer time, you can even move to Ostia, the beach town at just 20 kilometers from Rome, ready to party with your feet in the sand and a mojito in your hand in one of the many clubs under the stars. The possibilities for great entertainment will be infinite.
» Read more about Rome “summer spots” and festivals
The city offers also many opportunity of entertainments for those of you who loves theaters and operas, you will not be disappointed. From small ” underground” theatres to big institutions such as Teatro Argentina or Sistina (just to name a few) to unusual locations such as churches and ” palazzi, the roman scene vary from classical plays to more unconventional ones.
Most of dance festivals, music events and opera usually take place in the summertime, in locations such as Villa Ada Park or in breath taking sets like the Baths of Caracalla (where the fancy Teatro dell’ Opera love to held the most famous operas for all the Roman- and non Roman- glitterati) or the Roman theater of Ostia.
After all, the favourite way of entertainment for Romans is the one that take place outdoor, as the weather in Rome is mild and warm for most part of the year.
For those of you who don’t speak Italian but would still love to enjoy a bit of entertainment in English, there is an english speaking theatre group called the Miracle Players, who perform different kind of plays in various historical locations such as the Tiber Island and the Capitoline Museum: a chance more to enjoy the beauty of this city.
Whatever you will decide to do once in Rome (indulge in a morning of shopping madness in Via del Corso or in a flea market, visit an historical site or a museum, give into the roman nightlife or watch a football match as a real Roman), it’s probably something you won’t forget so easily, as you will not forget your stay here and Rome’s many faces: the Imperial Rome, the Baroque one, the Renaissance one, the Rome of the Popes and of the angels and demons, the one of the paparazzi and the Dolce Vita and the one of every day’s people and every day’s life. After all, if it is true, as they say, that “all the roads lead to Rome”, you’ll likely end up coming back here. It will mean that Rome has bewitched you with her spell, but don’t worry: she is being casting a spell on everyone who visits here since 2000 years and she is not going to stop.