When flying to Egypt over Christmas break we researched a lot of different itineraries – many of them had a layover in Rome. I had the great idea to click off two destinations on this one vacation so I split the ticket purchases to give us a three day stay in Rome – so the planning began!
We stayed just outside the city center at the Rome Cavalieri, a Waldorf Astoria Resort. It had the most gorgeous views of the city which you can see in my video. (The flights and hotel were all booked through points). The hotel was very lush and we even met some members of the Inter Milan soccer league team as they were staying in the hotel. We had no idea who we were talking to until our driver filled us in and saw the paparazzi outside out hotel gates. He and his son had tickets to the game and were leaving for it after our tour ended.
We soon discovered the best time to tour Rome is several hours prior to a major soccer game. Every single citizen was pregaming, there was not a single taxi in the streets. The concierge made arrangements for us to take a three-hour city tour with a driver. This was perfect due to our limited time. This driver knew every little city street and parking spot. He had a secret spot at every major attraction, even adjacent to St Peter’s Basilica!
We hopped out at every iconic Rome tourist spot and soaked up the history and went on our merry way to the next magnificent spot. He zipped thru those streets liked he was 007 and I was totally fine with that. If he could he would have pulled right up to the Pantheon. We managed to see most major sites in the three hours without the crowds. The Vatican was empty!
I highly recommend booking the Colosseum Underground Tour. It takes you straight past the lines to enter Rome’s world-famous amphitheater as the gladiators did, right to the Arena Floor, below to its subterranean dungeons, and up to the 2nd Ring, followed by the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. You can see up close where they kept the exotic animals which to our surprise were not so big. It really gives you such a better perspective doing these types of VIP/private tours. This tour is usually for groups under 14 and they do sell out quickly so book in advance. Logan and I loved it.
Despite the fact that we were there for a short period of time we managed to cover a lot of ground. I definitely plan on returning and covering the sites we didn’t get to see over the weekend. We do not regret it and are definitely glad we made the most out of our time and points!
