Visiting Rome? Here are a few of our favorite things.
Certainly we encourage you to:
-Stuff yourself and your children with pasta and gelato (apparently Italian carbohydrates make you less fat)
-Have a private tete-a-tete with God or visit the American pope (who speaks from his balcony Wednesdays and Sundays)
-Run your hand through a field of wheat, whispering “What we do in life echoes in eternity”
By zona
Centro Storico
Breakfast at Forno Monteforte
Shopping on via del Pellegrino/ Monserrato
Lunch at da Cesare al Pellegrino
Piazza Navona
Souvenirs at Emporio Centrale
Cheese Wine & Gelato at Ruma
Wine at il Goccetto
Aperitivo at Caffe Perù
Monti & Esquilino
Breakfast at Forno Conti
Frescoes at Palazzo Massimo
Maritozzo at Regoli or Bar D’Amore
Shopping in Monti
Ai Tre Scalini - we like the lasagna
Spritz in Piazza Monti
Pizza at Bar allo Statuto
Dinner at Rocco
or Trattoria Monti
Trastevere
Walk in the Botanic Garden
Villa Farnesina
Pizza Elementare
Wine at L’Antidoto
Piazza San Cosimato
Gelato at Otaleg
Garbatella
Pastry at Nero Vaniglia
or Forno Bianchi
Lunch at Casetta Rossa
Visit the historical Lotti
and Piazza Brin
San Paolo Fuori le Mura
Wine at La Mescita (where we had our first date)
or at our favorite bar, Zic!
Dinner at Ristoro degli Angeli
or Trecca - our favorite restaurant
Gelato at Baciato
Testaccio
Giardino degli Aranci
Mercato Testaccio
Il Matatoio
Drink in Piazza Testaccio /
Oasi delle Birre
Aperitivo at Tram Depot
Dinner at Piatto Romano
San Lorenzo & Pigneto
Libreria Giufà
Pizza at Farinè
Dinner at Mazzo
Beer at Artisan
Tapas at Tante Care Cose
See the scene at the isola di Pigneto
Fanfulla for the young at heart
By meal
Pizza
Bar allo Statuto
L’Elementare Trastevere
Emma
Seu Pizza Illuminata
Pasta & more
Ristoro Degli Angeli
Santo Palato
Trattoria Pennestri
Trecca
Piatto Romano
Settimio all’Arancio
Gelato
Otaleg
Baciato
La Romana (many locations)
Aperitivo
Il Goccetto
Alimenti
Caffe Perù
Tram Depot
Oasi della Birra
La Mescita
Zic!
Breakfast
Forno Conti
Forno Monteforte
Bar D’Amore
Tulipane
Nero Vaniglia
Lunch
Da Cesare al Pellegrino
Cassetta Rossa
Ai Tre Scalini
Santo Palato
By activity
Churches
San Pietro al Vaticano (St. Peter’s Basilica)
Santa Maria Maggiore (Maddie’s favorite)
San Clemente (see a pagan temple below)
San Luigi dei Francesi (three Caravaggio masterpieces)
San Paolo fuori le Mura
Chiesa di San Carlino alle Quattro Fontane (inspired Richard Serra’s Torqued Ellipses!)
Santa Maria del Popolo (Caravaggio, Raphael, Bernini)
Parks
Villa Borghese
Villa Doria Pamphilj
The Gianicolo
Giardino degli Aranci
Museums
Galleria Borghese (book ahead!)
Palazzo Barberini
The Vatican Museums
Capitoline Museums
Palazzo Massimo
Centrale Montemartini
Galleria Doria Pamphilj
Further afield…
The wedding venue, Casale del Gallo, is right on the edge of Rome, about equidistant from the city center and the charming towns further southeast, called the Castelli Romani. The Castelli are known for their great food and wine, and Castel Gandolofo, on the shore of Lake Albano, is home to the Pope’s summer residence.
We’d encourage you to go explore. Frascati, for one, is very nice.