A Quick Guide to Spending 24 Hours in Rome
This and the next few posts are dedicated to the end of my Eurotrip in Rome, Italy. If you recall, I spent a little over 24 hours in Rome after spending family and solo time in London and Paris respectively. About two months before leaving, I arranged a flight from NYC to London on Virgin Atlantic and Rome back to NYC on Alitalia for under $400, making flight arrangements between countries.
If you plan to travel to Rome for a romantic getaway, solo trip, or a group trip before visiting the Amalfi Coast or are doing a multi-city tour of Italy, here’s a quick guide to spending 24 hours in Rome which can easily be stretched into two or three days.
Traveling from Paris to Rome
If you’re traveling from Paris to Rome as I did, the quickest way to maximize spending a day in Rome is by traveling via plane. A few weeks before the trip, I purchased a nonstop flight from ORY to FCO on Vueling Airlines. There are also a number of budget airlines available between other European cities and Rome like Ryanair and Easyjet.
A longer option for traveling from Paris to Rome is via train or driving. These options are about 11-13 hours and give you a chance to see the countryside of both countries. If you’re driving, make sure to keep gas, food, and toll cost in your budget.
Getting to Rome from the Airport + Transportation Options in Rome
Public transportation, private, or shared rides are some of the main ways to travel to Rome from FCO airport. The total time is about 45 min to an hour. Assuming you’re traveling to Rome on a budget, the most cost-effective way to get to Rome from the airport is to take public transportation.
There is a train that goes to Termini station which is a major transportation hub and you can take a taxi, bus, or train from there. Due to my arrival time, I took a shared ride from the airport straight to my hotel for about €16. Most of our day in Rome consisted of using our hotel’s free shuttle service to the Vatican museums and City Center, taking the train and taxi. Uber is also available, but it is quite expensive.
Where to Stay in Rome
I stayed at the Grand Hotel Tiberio. It was a cute boutique hotel that offered breakfast and drop-off service to the Vatican and City Center daily. Check this post by Passports and Grub for other boutique hotel suggestions in Rome.
Places to Visit in Rome in a Day
You may think of ancient Rome civilization, museums, or even the Catholic Church when mentioning Rome. For a trip with limited time, I recommend taking a hop-on hop-off bus to see the popular sites. You can also look into free or discounted walking tours.
Below is a full one day Rome itinerary including time periods of ten different places to visit in Rome in 24 hours.
- 9 AM – Sistine Chapel
- 10:40 AM – St. Peter’s Square
- 11:15 AM – St. Peter’s Basilica
- 1:05 PM – Piazza Navona
- 1:40 PM – The Pantheon
- 2:55 PM – Spanish Steps
- 3:50 PM – Trevi Fountain
- 4:50 PM – Roman Forum
- 7:05 PM – The Colosseum
- 8:45 PM – Palatine Hill
The times listed are estimated depending on transportation time, walking pace, and how long it will take you to retain information. To skip lines, I recommend purchasing tickets in advance. Make sure to also account for meal times between sites.
Since my cousin is a super budget traveler and I’ll be visiting Rome and the Amalfi Coast for a girl’s trip, I skipped most long tours and visited sites for free. I’ll invest in more traditional tours since I’ll have more than one day in Rome on our girl’s trip.
Read More European Travel Guides
A First-Timer’s Guide to Spending 4 Days in Lisbon
3 Days in Barcelona: Things to Do & See
How to Spend 3 Days in Athens, Greece
Great photos and write-up JoAnna! You made me want to go back to Rome ASAP. To me it felt like a big city (kind of like New York) but then BAM… amazing ancient architecture and history! I just found out about your blog on Flipboard and I flipped this to my Travel Inspiration magazine. 🙂
Thanks so much Scott. I definitely can’t wait to go back with my friends. It can be a little overwhelming like NYC
All of these places are on my European travel wish list, but just carving out the time to get there is important to me. Thanks for sharing, I bookmarked this page for later.
You made the very best of your time there. Rome is definitely on my bucket list!
Great ‘When In Rome’ Guide. You covered a lot to do within 24 hours in the city.
Beautiful Trip and way to maximize all your time in Rome! It’s definitely a place that I would like to visit!
I honestly can’t wait to visit Rome.its such a beautiful City with alot of history. It’s obvious you had a great time.
I have not been to Rome yet and I stress yet. Our goal is to get to Tuscany and roam around some and probably hit Rome.
Rome is on my bucket list for travel. I’m hoping to take a 2 week trip to Europe next fall so I’m definitely going to come back to this post.
My goodness you were on such a tight schedule! But you managed to get a lot done. Rome is absolutely gorgeous. And the FOOD…oh! Best vacation ever.
Yessss the food was everything. I seriously cannot wait to go back.
I’ve never been overseas but I a dream of spending a month getting to know some of these countries in Europe. Rome certainly looks beautiful and is definitely on my list of places to see.
Oooh a month is Europe sounds fab!
I had about 18 hours in Rome after flying from Morocco. I think we stayed at Hotel Secci. We flew on Alitalia as well. It is probably one of the worst airlines we’ve flown. I can’t wait to read your upcoming posts.