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Spotlight Destination: Rome, Italy

Roaming Through Rome!

Rome is rich in history, culture, fashion, and food.

The “Eternal City” is a destination that never fails to impress visitors with its stunning architecture, iconic landmarks, and vibrant street life. Whether you are a first-time visitor or a seasoned traveler, Rome has something for everyone!

Rome, the capital of Italy, is one of the oldest and most historic cities in the world. Founded in 753 BC, this vibrant cosmopolitan city is famous for its iconic landmarks such as the Colosseum, the Pantheon, and the Vatican City.

With so much to see and do, it can be overwhelming to plan your trip to Rome. But don’t worry, here is a list of things to do in Rome, hidden gems to discover, and off-the-beaten-path attractions that make this city so special.

Top 5 Sightseeing Things To Do in Rome

The Colosseum: The Colosseum was built in 80 AD and was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles.
The Pantheon: The Pantheon is a temple that is dedicated to all the gods of Ancient Rome. It was built in 27 BC and is famous for its impressive dome, which is the largest unsupported dome in the world! It’s an incredible sight.
The Vatican City: The Vatican City is another landmark that should not be missed when visiting Rome. It is the smallest independent state in the world and is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. The Vatican is home to many famous landmarks such as St. Peter’s Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, and the Vatican Museums.
The Trevi Fountain is also a must-visit landmark in Rome. It is one of the most famous fountains in the world and is known for its stunning Baroque architecture.
Villa Borghese: The Villa Borghese is one of the most famous parks in Rome and is home to many museums and galleries. The park also has a lake where you can rent a boat and enjoy the scenery.

Top 5 Hidden Gems of Rome

The Catacombs of San Callisto: Another off-the-beaten-path attraction is the Catacombs of San Callisto. These catacombs are located on the outskirts of Rome and are home to many ancient tombs and crypts. The catacombs offer a unique glimpse into the history of Rome.
The Teatro dell’Opera di Roma: This opera house is one of the most famous opera houses in the world and has a rich history of hosting some of the best opera performances in Italy.
The Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia is another famous theater in Rome and is home to many classical music performances.
Shopping streets: Via Condotti is one of the most famous shopping streets in Rome and is home to many luxury fashion brands such as Gucci, Prada, and Louis Vuitton. Another famous shopping street is Via del Corso, which is a long street that is lined with shops and department stores.
Monti Boutiques: If you are looking for something unique, then head to the vintage boutiques in Monti. This neighborhood is famous for its vintage shops and fun, bohemian vibe. Some of the best vintage shops in Monti include Pifebo, Humana Vintage, and Flamingo.

Top 5 Must-Try Foods in Rome

Roman-style pizza: The Roman-style pizza is thin and crispy! It is a must-try when in Rome. Some of the best pizza places for your to try include Da Remo, Pizzarium, and Pizzeria La Montecarlo.
Carbonaro: Another famous (and delicious!) Roman dish is carbonara, which is a pasta dish made with eggs, bacon, and cheese. The best place to try carbonara in Rome is at Roscioli, a famous restaurant that is known for its delicious pasta dishes.
Roman Wine Bars: The city has many wine bars where you can try some of the best Italian wines while relaxing amongst gorgeous views. Some of the best wine bars to try include Il Goccetto, Enoteca Cavour 313, and Trimani.
Roman coffee: When it comes to coffee, Rome has a rich coffee culture, and you can find many coffee shops all around the city. Some of the best coffee shops include Tazza d’Oro, Sant’Eustachio Il Caffè, and Roscioli Caffè.
Alesso di Bollito: This is a simmered beef dish that has been around for ages! It consists of tender juicy meat that is placed on bread and dipped in its own juices. Truly delicious.

Enjoy your time exploring the beautiful city of Rome!

Not sure where to start planning a European Vacation or how to put all the components together? Let an agent at Life is Better Traveling help you plan it. We have helped planned over 1000 clients to various European countries including Italy and we can help you too! Simply fill out the form below and someone from our team will reach out to you shortly.

Be prepared, 17% of American have this happen to them while on vacation

Mary Yohannan on

You don’t want to believe something can go wrong on your vacation, but are your friends, relatives, neighbors prepared if it does?

When your relative, close friend, or neighbor tells you they are going on vacation your instinct is to be excited for them. They usually give a few details about their upcoming amazing trip including dates, where they are going, and what they will be seeing. A few months down the road they call you to tell you they are leaving and you wish them safe travels. As you hang up the phone, you try to remember the details of the trip but come up short in remembering. You shrug your shoulders and say to yourself you will hear all about it when they get back.

The truth is, are you prepared if something does happen? Do you have any of the details including airline, hotel, cruise ship, travel insurance? Are you prepared if they called and told you they needed to you to call the travel insurance company?

In 2014 a survey was taken showing that one in six Americans or 17% of those who traveled had their travel impacted by medical problems, natural disasters like a hurricane, or mechanical or carrier caused issued which delayed their trip for more than 3 hours. Let me make the numbers sound larger, if we had a full Southwest flight of 143 people and 17% of them will have some type of travel issue, that means 24 people on this flight. How about a cruise ship with 3500 people? Almost 600 of those passengers will have some type of travel issue. That is a lot of people. The question is, is your relative one of them?

Even when your relative tells you the details they don’t really tell you the WHOLE DETAILED ITINERARY. If you don’t have the WHOLE DETAILED ITINERARY and you need to contact them, it can become a guessing game of where in the world are my relatives? Don’t let this happen to you. Ask your relative for the detailed itinerary and the information for the travel insurance company in case you would have to call on their behave. Life is Better Traveling always provides an extra copy of the detailed itinerary to give out to a relative, neighbor or close friend just by simply asking for it. We will not let your relative know what you paid for the trip, but they are given the details of which cruise ship, airline, hotels, and travel insurance.

So next time you or your relatives book a vacation, make sure to set aside some time to talk. Talk about the detailed itinerary and explain that you would like them to have this just in case, or why you would like to have it of theirs. No one ever likes to plan for “just in case”, but when you realize how high the number of people impacted is then it just makes sense. And remember that this extra itinerary is free of charge at Life is Better Traveling and we are always looking out for our travelers. Feel free to pass this email along to the people you think of while reading this!

P.S. I just had all my relatives in Europe the last two weeks and having their information on hand gave me peace of mind.

Fill out the form below to start planning your next worry-free vacation.

Why Your Next Vacation Should Be Customized?

Mary Yohannan on

Vacationing the way you too!

At Life is Better Traveling we always say “Connecting Friends and Family through Customized Vacations.” But what is a customized vacation? A customized vacation is a vacation that fits your needs, desires, and overall goal of the vacation. When you first start to plan a vacation, you get on the internet and start browsing different sites for the destination you want to go to. All too quickly you are confronted with multiple options and many suppliers who all sell vacation packages to that destination. It seems like an endless task to continue trying to do more research so you start asking friends. You hear about amazing stories of their travels and you want to go more than ever. Reality sets in that you again have to get back on the internet to do the research. The truth is you don’t.

There are many different reasons you want to travel to a particular destination: the food, the sites, the people, etc. What if you could do and see all the things that you wanted to do and see without having to choose a preset tour? Well, that is where our travel agency comes in. We put together customized vacation packages for what you want to do and see. You contact us with which destination or destinations you want to see and put together a tour package that is only for you. Do you want to fly to London on business class stay 2 nights then fly to Italy for 5 nights and then onto Portugal for 4 nights? Guess what, we can do that for you and even recommend sight-seeing tours, provide transfers, rail, accommodations, and travel insurance. You pick the destinations and we put it together.

Why not a preset tour? I have personally done the preset tours. I had to have my luggage set outside my hotel room by 4:30am to get on the bus by 6:00am. I had one hour to tour a city that had so much history I had to pick which single spot I wanted to see because I didn’t have time to see them all. Did I still enjoy myself? Yes, I did but I learned from that experience that I wanted a more relaxed vacation and I wanted to see the sites the way I wanted to see them. I would have loved to have had a private tour guide of the Roman Baths in Bath, England, absolutely. You better believe that next time I go, I will have a private tour guide!

A customized tour must be more expensive than a preset tour, right? I am finding that when you customize a tour it is actually less expensive then when you do a preset tour. I have to preface though, that a customized tour is not an apple to apples comparison to a preset tour. You are not paying for a motorcoach, driver, and tour guide for an entire vacation. You are picking accommodations that fit your needs, tours that you want to do, and restaurants that fit your palate. When we breakdown the pricing, it typically does come in a few hundred dollars less which helps you make the easy decision of buying travel insurance.

But what if I am a bit nervous about doing my own thing? That is ok. Even though we can plan your hotel, rail, flights, car rental, etc on your own terms, we have plenty of sightseeing tours that you can do with a group. Most of them will be half-day or full day tours, but you will be either with a small group of people to see the sights or a larger group of people, typically no more than 30 people. This way you can have the best of both worlds!

Do you have a form I need to fill out to put together a customized tour? No. You simply call me and we discuss where you want to go and what you want to see. One of my favorite things to do on the phone with you is to really get a good understanding of why you want to take this trip or vacation. Everyone has a reason for their trip whether it is a Whiskey tour of Scotland or island hopping on Hawaii. Whatever your reason is to take the trip, then that is what we want you to be able to do. The trip or vacation is really what you want to make out of it.

Now that you have a better understanding of what our travel agency can do for you in putting together a customized vacation, give us a call today and let us help you start connecting friends and family through customized vacations.

Request a Travel Planning session today for FREE!