ROME FOR NEW YEARS

January 2, 2018
Travel

Hellooooooo guys,

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. I always forget how magical a time it is, with everyone off work, the cold weather, the parties, the food – it really is the MOST relaxing break we get all year!

In November, myself and my friend Dearbhla decided we would organise a trip away somewhere for New Years – to take advantage of the bank holiday, and just to explore somewhere new together (with our boyfriends as well haha). We decided on Rome, because beauty and food wise Italy never lets us down (and because the weather would be a little warmer than Ireland).

We booked our flights with Ryanair to Rome Ciampino Airport, and we booked an apartment on Air BnB. The taxi into the city cost us €50 between 4 of us. The day before we left our Air Bnb had to cancel because the water boiler had broken, with a day to go there wasn’t many options left that weren’t extortionate but thankfully Air Bnb gave us some extra credit and helped us book another apartment right beside where we were supposed to be. I have to say they were very helpful and easy to contact!

Lots of you asked for a link to the apartment we stayed in. This is it. It was stunning and so spacious. The host was really helpful and they had left coke, water, coffee, shampoo, conditioner, and a map! They also organised our airport transfers for us, so I would definitely recommend them.

Cancellation Tips:

Reach out to Air Bnb ASAP. If other similar apartments are much more expensive due to the last minute nature of cancellation then just message the host of the apartments your looking at, explain the situation, and ask if they can do you a discount. If Air Bnb doesn’t work out for you, try HouseTrip. I found that website after our Air Bnb cancelled and it seems to be very similar (better value at times). Also Hotwire is usually quite good for last minute hotel deals. The app ‘Hotel Tonight‘ is another good one.

Things to do:

  • Throw a coin into the Trevi Fountain and make a wish
  • Grab a coffee and people watch on the Spanish Steps
  • Climb to the top of Altare della Patria in Piazza Venezia and just take in the beauty of the monument
  • Take a tour of the Colosseum built in 50AD (note: try and watch the movie Gladiator before you go to make it even more interesting)
  • Get an outside table in a restaurant in Piazza Novano and watch the world go by
  • Visit Vatican city and roam around the beautiful grounds. Get there early to avoid the queue and have a look inside!

Where we ate:

I honestly don’t really think you need many restaurant recommendations in Italy because the food is so good!! But it does help when you need to make a decision quickly, and you are guaranteed good food!

  • That’s Amore (near Trevi Fountain): this was recommended to me by a few people, the menu has amazing variety and the food is so tasty! Not too expensive either
  • Locando (near Trevi Fountain): we tried here on the last day and it was YUM! The pizza and chips were delicious!
  • Royal Art Cafe (across from Colosseum): amazing view of the Colosseum and a fab spot to grab a drink. Food is very reasonably priced there too considering the location. We had a lovely burger and chips for €12.
  • Klass (near Trevi Fountain): lovely spot for pasta
  • Piccolo Buca (near Trevi Fountain): recommended by a few people but unfortunately we couldn’t get in the door here (it’s quite small)
  • Il Chianti (near Trevi Fountain): this restaurant was recommended to us as well. They have a lovely outside area and the menu looks good, unfortunately we didn’t make it here
  • Scholars Irish Bar: My parents would kill me for recommending an Irish bar in another country haha. They are avid believers you should explore other places while you’re away, and as much as I agree – you just can’t beat the craic of the Irish. We saw online this bar was voted the best Irish bar in Rome and ended up here on New Years after ringing in 2018 at the Colosseum with thousands of others. The music was unreal, drinks were lovely and we got some nachos here too which was a nice break from all the Italian we had been eating. There was a real party atmosphere in here and it was filled with travellers like us and also locals, who told us about the best escorts roma has to offer amongst other things… sounds like they were going to have a good start to 2018!!

I know there is so much to see and do in Rome, lots of museums, churchs, monuments. I had been in 2010 and we did everything that time, but honestly I think it can be very tiring to try and fit in everything. Personally I like just wandering around, exploring, maybe doing a walking tour. I’m not a big fan of waiting in queues and spending a bomb on entry fees etc. The great thing about Rome is that everything is within walking distance of each other so you really can explore it all by yourself.

Pricewise Rome is very reasonable, there are expensive places – like everywhere, but for the most part it’s very fair (and definitely cheaper than Ireland). You can also see Rome’s most popular attractions (Colosseum, Vatican, Trevi Fountain) for free which is great!

If you are planning a trip, bare in mind you can do day trips to Pompeii, and even get a bus down to the Amalfi Coast if you fancy it. We were in Positano last year, and I couldn’t recommend a trip there more!

I hope that was helpful for anyone planning a trip there, it was definitely not a bad start to the 2018 travels,

And a big thank you for coming back to visit my blog in 2018,

I’m looking forward to getting stuck into blogging with lots more exciting posts to come this year so watch this space,

Lou x


Louise Cooney

Fashion, Lifestyle & Travel blogger from Limerick, Ireland.  

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