WHEN IN ROME (Top 10 Rome Bucketlist)

The Italy’s capital is messy yet beautiful. It’s home for a lot of ancient Roman ruins, a bunch of fountains, and also the headquarter of Catholic Church because Vatican City is located within the city of Rome. There’s a lot of things to see and do when you’re in Rome. Here’s the top 10 of Rome bucketlist!

1. Colosseum

The gladiator’s place. Built in 70 BC and still standing strong in the middle of Rome. I was freaked out when stepped outside the metro station and it’s standing right in front of me! No fence, no guards or whatsoever, it’s just…there. Ticket price is €12 for adult. If you go there, I strongly recommended to go inside, because where else you can find a place which used to held an ancient rome entertainment? It’s the largest amphitheatre ever built! You can also find The Arch of Constantine and the Roman Forum in the area.

2. The Pantheon

A temple dedicated to every major Roman gods. Best thing about this place is that’s FREE! And I can’t remember any queue or line to enter the temple as well, which also a plus. There’s a good coffee shop near Pantheon which called Tazza D’oro. I went there to bought some coffee for my mum and aunty. Disaster! Everything in my suitcase smells like coffee since I brought them with me for about 2 weeks before returning home. But it’s good though, everybody loves it!

3. St. Peter’s Basilica & St. Peter’s Square

This is the heart of Catholic Church. They are both free to enter. I didn’t go inside because the line to enter the basilica was crazy long, it went round the St. Peter’s Square! My bad to went there at my last day in Rome so I needed to catch a plane to Barcelona. But if you want to go inside just make sure you have some time to queue or planning to spend a day in Vatican City. Since I didn’t go inside, my favourite part is The Colonnade which has 140 statues of saints on op of it. So so beautiful!

stpeter2 — The Colonnade with 140 staints’ statues

4. Vatican Museum & Sistine Chapel

Vatican museum is one of the largest museum in the world. At the beginning I thought it was all about catholic history, turned out it’s not. Its collections of arts, paintings, sculptures, statues, sarcophagus, mummies, and much more from around the world, were collected by Popes throughout centuries. It has 54 galleries, including the Sistine Chapel. My favourite parts of this museum are The Gallery of Maps; which has a very beautiful ceiling full of paintings and lot of antique map paintings; and The Carriage Pavilion which shows carriages and cars used by various Popes. Ticket to enter is €15 which in my opinion is so worth it.

vaticanmuseum1 — Inside The Carriages Pavilion. It was in this vehicle when Pope John Paul II was shot.

vaticanmuseum2 — Beautiful spiral staircase inside Vatican Museum

5. Trevi Fountain

People believes if you toss a coin into this fountain you’ll return to Rome again. Unfortunately, it was under reconstruction when I was there. I was so pissed! And I can’t understand why people still tossed the freaking coin in the there since there’s no water anymore (it’s technically not a fountain if there’s no water, right?). But anyway, it’s been reopened in November 2015, so don’t worry, you can visit this place and don’t forget to bring some coins!

6. Piazza del Popolo

Piazza del Popolo is a large square in Rome. There’s a few churches in the area including Santa Maria del Popolo (which is famous because of the “Angels and Demons” by Dan Brown), and the twin churches Santa Maria dei Miracoli and Santa Maria di Montesanto. In the middle of the piazza stand an Egyptian obelisk from the reign of Ramses II which was stolen by the Romans. The obelisk is known as Flaminio Obelisk or Popolo Obelisk.

“Twin churches” Santa Maria dei Miracoli and Santa Maria di Montesanto.

Popolo Obelisk & Santa Maria del Popolo — Popolo Obelisk and Santa Maria del Popolo on the background

7. Piazza di Spagna

Piazza di Spagna is another famous square in Rome where you can find the Spanish Steps. On the bottom of Spanish Steps you can find Fontana della Barcaccia (Fountain of the Ugly Boat) by Pietro Bernini and his famous son Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The name of the fountain is quite make sense for me. LOL! There are three streets in Piazza di Spagna area; Via Condotti, Via Borgognona, and Via Frattina; with a lot of expensive high-end branded store.

fontatabarcaccia — Fontana della Barcaccia (Fountain of the Ugly Boat) and Spanish Steps in the background.

8. Piazza della Repubblica

The other piazza in Rome, located next to Termini Station. One of the main street in Rome, Via Nazionale, starts from there. And there’s a fountain as well that called Fountain of the Naiads. This piazza is gorgeous at night so be sure to come there once the sun is set.