We didn’t have much time in Rome – only one full day and a few hours (on the first day we got in from Salerno due to the train delays).

So when we were looking into what we could do here, I came across Walks of Italy and their full Rome day tour. Link here if you also want to take it!

I highly recommend it if you are short on time. We were able to see the Vatican City as well as most of the hot spots in Rome within 8 hours. We were truly about to experience the “wonders of the city” and it was great that it fit into our itinerary. (Probably not our budgets, but it was worth it for us haha)

Although it was a long day of walking, the sights, history and commentary from our guide Davide was amazing! We thoroughly enjoyed the tour and learning more about Rome from a local.

I thought I would like Rome the least of all the Italian cities, but now I can’t wait to go back. It is a bit busy and dirty, but that’s what gives it it’s charm.

Read on for what we saw on the tour! This will be a collection of photos 🙂

Colosseum

Trevi fountain

Altar of the Fatherland

On the way to the pantheon we passed this statue. Our tour guide mentioned that the horse is actually so big inside that 30 people once dined in there!

Pantheon

The pantheon is free to walk into as it is a church. When you walk in, you realise how symmetrical it all is because the dome is the same height as the width of the building.

Piazza Navona

We visited this Piazza on the first day and we didn’t even realise the significance of the fountain in the same square (below).

That’s why doing a walking tour can actually open your eyes and help you see things from a local’s point of view.

This particular fountain had statues representing the four largest rivers in the world at the time.

The particular statue with the hand covering its face has a myth where the artist was mocking his arch nemesis (who built the church next to it) that it was weak in structure and would fall. So the statue is protecting its face haha

Free gelato!

Mango and coconut flavoured.

Vatican City

Sistine chapel

We weren’t allowed to take photos here, but we got diagrams explaining what each personality represented.

St Peter’s Basilica and Vatican museum

The Vatican museum was nothing short of amazing. Probably helped that we had such an awesome tour guide to take us through. But the artwork from Raphael and Michaelangelo was so beautiful and it truly resonated with me as they depicted scenes from the bible. I don’t think any other museum or artwork can compare now on this trip!

St Peter’s Basilica was also amazing and actually overwhelming spiritually.

I felt such a strong connection and a missing piece since it’s been 3 weeks since I’ve attended mass. I will definitely see if I can attend some mass when I am at Tilburg.