Rome in 4 Days: A Fast-Walking Guide

When my husband and I visited Rome we had just over three and a half days to explore the entire city (split between the beginning and end of our trip). Normally we like to explore at a leisurely pace, but I didn’t want to miss a darn thing in Rome, so this is my “fast-walking” guide to the see as much of Rome as possible.

Before I begin, here are some important things to note:

• We walked everywhere, and each day exceeded 20,000 steps! If you follow this itinerary, make sure you’re wearing very comfortable shoes.
• We don’t typically do museums on our shorter itineraries, so the only museum stop was part of our Vatican tour.
• I didn’t include everything we stopped to take photos of, but only the main attractions we actually spent some time exploring.
• Check out my previous post 15 Tips for Visiting Rome, Italy for additional tips and suggestions.

Arrival in Rome:

We flew to Leonardo Da Vinci airport and took the Leonardo Express train to the Roma Termini (central station). We arrived at the termini around 1:30pm, and decided it would be a great idea to walk to our hotel from the station (estimate 23 minutes on Google Maps) to get a feel for the city. Pulling heavy suitcases, carrying our full-to-the-brim backpacks and with only a few hours of sleep… this was a terrible idea. If you’re arriving from a long journey, take a cab or some sort of transit and save yourself the frustration. We also got lost, and the 23 minute walk took us well over an hour. Though it makes for a good travel story now, it was not the best way to kick off our vacation.

Hotels:

The first hotel we stayed at was Hotel Villa San Lorenzo Maria that was very charming, a reasonable price, but a little far from the main attractions (read my full review here). We really enjoyed our stay, and found the best restaurant near our hotel (La Mucca Bischera) that we would not have found staying in a more popular area.

The second hotel we stayed at for the last part of our trip was the Hotel Columbia. This hotel was located in a central area, close to many restaurants, attractions and was a reasonable price. We had a great stay and loved the rooftop patio and enjoyed a few drinks up there in the afternoon for a cheaper price than a bar. Our full four-day fast-walking itinerary for Rome is below.

Day 1 (half day):

Colosseum & Roman Forum
We left our hotel and headed to the Colosseum and Roman Forum. It was surprisingly busy for being late in the afternoon; there were still long lines to get inside. We explored both attractions, though given how busy it was, we spent only enough time to look around and take some touristy photos.

Tip: Visit the Roman Forum first – it includes admission to the Colosseum (and vice versa) but the line ups are much smaller to get in.

Piazza Venezia
After the Roman Forum, we headed to the Piazza Venezia. This is an impressive Roman square with lovely architecture and beautiful sights. We climbed to the top of the monument to take photos. While we were visiting, there was significant road work being done which made walking in the area difficult and put a damper on some of the photos. But a lovely sight to see.

Trevi Fountain
I’m not sure what I was expecting when we arrived at the Trevi Fountain, but it was quite overwhelming. This area was jam packed with tourists. It was almost impossible to get up to the fountain and it was far too busy to stay very long. I think I had Hollywood expectations of the sight that were far from met. But that’s the reality, and we weren’t even there during peak-season! I still threw my coin into the fountain, took a bunch of photos to document our visit, and then we carried on our way.

Tip: Don’t eat near the Trevi Fountain – it’s busy and overpriced (like most restaurants near tourist attractions). We made this mistake because quite frankly we were both hangry; we hadn’t eaten since breakfast was served on the plane and had gelato for lunch. Poor planning on our part.

Spanish Steps
Another attraction also under construction at the time we visited. Sadly we didn’t get to climb the steps as they were closed for renovation, but we did get some nice photos in the area!

Piazza Barberini & Santa maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri
On our route back to the hotel we also walked through the Piazza Barberini and Santa maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri – and to be honest, we had no real idea where we were! But both of these attractions were lovely and worth a few minutes to take in the sights and get a few photos.

Day 2 (full day):

Stop for gelato
After eating a lovely breakfast at our hotel, we ventured out into Rome for a full day of sight-seeing. To kick it off right (in our opinion) we made our first stop at the Gelateria for gelato. And it was a great way to start the day.

Piazza del Popolo
This public square translates to “People’s Square” and is a large open square with a neoclassical design. Within the square you can see Fontana del Nettuno, the “twin churches” at the entrance (Santa Maria in Montesanto and Santa Maria dei Miracoli), and a tall monument in the centre of the Piazza that has an Egyptian influence.

Tip: This Piazza is completely open and shade is non-existent. If you visit, plan to go early in the morning or late in the afternoon to avoid the peak sun hours.

Villa Borghese
After visiting the Piazza, we noticed some stairs leading up to a platform with a view of the square below. We decided to take them and see where it led us. We found ourselves in the Villa Borghese Gardens. There were walking paths, big shady trees, statues of heads and numerous buildings to look at on the grounds. You could also rent seguays, bicycles and electric bicycles that seat two-four people with canopies on top. There were a few places to buy refreshments also. We enjoyed our time walking through the gardens here because of the shade and numerous things to look at and photograph.

Tip: If you’re looking for a relaxing afternoon in a park, this would be a great place to go. There were lots of people having picnics and hanging out with small groups of family/friends. It was a great accidental find.

Teatro dell’Opera
We walked past the Teatro dell’Opera on our way back to our hotel. There seemed to be a black-tie event taking place with guests arriving in limousines and paparazzi outside. It was quite a sight to see.

Tip: When we connected to Wi-Fi, I looked up the theatre to see that you could buy tickets for ballets, concerts and art exhibits. If you have time, it might be a fun activity to attend a performance.

Domizi Luigi
We stopped for a light snack and Peroni on our walk back to the hotel and conveniently saw the hotel we booked for the last two nights of our trip right across the street.

Tip: If you want to stop for a drink, stand at the bar and you don’t get charged extra for the table service. We knew this, but wanted to sit down after all of the walking we had been doing.

Rest at Hotel
We stopped back at the hotel to have a quick rest before heading out for dinner. Along the way we purchased some wine that we were able to drink on the upper patio of the hotel.

Tip: We bought a wine opener at the store as well and carry this on all of our trips with us now, just in case! Most hotels have openers you can borrow, but this way is just more convenient for us.

La Mucca Bischera
We saw this restaurant on our way back to our hotel, but it wasn’t open yet. They had a lovely outside patio and the menu looked good on our way by so we decided to try it. I am so glad we did, because this was my favourite meal in Italy. We started with arancini and each ordered pizza for our main. I still dream about this pizza… I don’t know if it’s the novelty of it, or because it really was that good. I’m going with the latter option.

Tip: Most restaurants don’t open for dinner until 6:00pm. This was odd at first because in Canada restaurants just stay open from 11:00am until late in the evening. Something to note if you’re planning around dinner time!

Day 3 (full day):

Pantheon
We ate breakfast at the hotel (which was a fantastic spread!) and set out to see more of the city. The Pantheon was our first site of our third day in Rome. The history behind the Pantheon is that it is a former Roman Temple, “temple of all the gods” and is now a church. The crowds outside of the Pantheon were large on the day of our visit, and I suspect that is probably a regular thing. There is a large square with a fountain in the centre and the perimeter of the square is all restaurants – which as you can imagine were crowded.

Tip: If you want to go inside the Pantheon, make sure you get there early and plan around peak hours.

Piazza Navona
The Piazza Navona is another public square, with (as you probably guessed it) a central fountain and statues. The history of the piazza dates back to ancient Rome, as the piazza was built on a former Roman stadium where ancient Romans watched the games in the arena. Current day, there are restaurants and shops lining the perimeter of the piazza and it is a popular stop for tourists. This piazza has been featured in a number of Hollywood movies included Angels & Demons, Catch-22 and National Lampoon’s European Vacation (to name a few).

Tip: Like many of the squares or piazzas in Italy, there is very little shade. If you’re visiting in the warmer months it gets quite hot in the afternoon.

Napoleonic Museum
The Napoleonic Museum is a collection of works of art, relics and family mementos of Napoleon Bonaparte and family. The museum demonstrates the history of Napoleon and family around the fall of the Roman Empire and there are some very interesting pieces in this collection.

Tip: This could be a very quick visit or take you longer depending on your level of interest in Napoleon’s history. We did a very high level and quick visit which took us about an hour.

Vatican City
When we left our hotel that morning, we were told that walking to the Vatican was just too far. Well, we walked there and came upon it by accident actually. If you are of general physical fitness and don’t have mobility issues, it’s very easy to walk through Rome and see the sights. We ended up at Vatican City and it was almost empty. The tours had closed for the day and there were still tourists in the shops and looking around but for the most part it was empty. We were able to get some good shots of the Vatican without hundreds of tourists in them that night which would not have been possible earlier in the day. It was also much cooler because we missed the mid-day sun. If you want any Vatican souvenirs, you can easily find them in one of the many shops on the main strip in Vatican City.

Tip: Most prices are similar, but anything you buy inside the Vatican is priced higher than in the tourist souvenir shops for the same items.

Colosseum at Night
We visited the Colosseum one last time to see it all lit up at night. It was a beautiful thing to see. Surprisingly, there was quite the crowd there and a number of street artists and music performers busking in the park and on the street.

Tip: I’d highly suggest visiting the Colosseum twice – once during the day and once at night. It won’t be open to go in at night, but you can get some great photos outside!

Day 4 (full day):

Vatican Tour
Our final day in Rome was spent on a very thorough Vatican tour. From our hotel, we walked to the meet-up spot across the street from the entrance to the Vatican museum (approximately an hour). Our tour began at 10:15, and by the time we arrived, the line to get into the Vatican was wrapped around the corner! We were really glad we purchased skip the line tickets and a tour so we could get the most out of our time there. Our tour guide was very organized and extremely knowledgeable about the history of the Vatican. The tour lasted approximately three hours. I wouldn’t have known anything about the art or the different rooms we visited without a tour guide. so in my opinion it was definitely worth the money.

Tip: Book your tour in advance of your trip if you can to make sure you can get a suitable time and language of your preference. I believe they offered in English, Italian and French, but perhaps you could find another language depending on the tour company you booked. Our tour was booked through Expedia.

Rome Summary:

So there you have my fast-walking guide to Rome, Italy. At the end of this trip (we did a cruise and explored Pisa, Siena and Florence in between days in Rome) I had to throw out two pairs of shoes because I walked holes into them. If you aren’t a fan of walking, or would prefer to take transit, we heard that there are a few buses in Rome that hit the main sights. We simply preferred to walk and are glad to travel this way because we often find interesting things on our walks between attractions.

You definitely cannot see everything Rome has to offer in only 4 days, but you can see a lot. How do you prefer to travel: walking, taking transit or doing organized coach tours of cities?