A free guide from Mayar & Ali, straight from the road
24 hours in Rome, mapped out for you
They call it an open-air museum, with 900 churches, 280 fountains and ruins on the street corners. Here is how we saw the best of Rome in one day: what each ticket costs, where we ate, and how to skip the queues.
Written with Ali & Mayar | Termini to the Pantheon
Before you go
Four things to lock in first:
Rome works in 24 hours if you sort the boring bits first. Handle these four and the rest of the day is pure sightseeing.
Getting in from the airport
Rome has two airports, Fiumicino (Leonardo da Vinci) and Ciampino. We landed at Ciampino, where buses run straight to Roma Termini, the biggest train station in the city and very close to the centre. The bus was about €8 per person, paid in cash or by card.
Search flights →Leave your bags
We had one day in Rome and slept in Florence that night, so we needed somewhere to leave our luggage near Termini. The Bounce app finds a safe spot nearby and insures your bags: we paid €13 for two medium bags for the whole day. This is not an ad, it is just what we used.
Skip the line
The queues at the Colosseum, Forum and Pantheon are brutal. Buy fast-track tickets online before you go, and use code MAYARTRAVELS5 on GetYourGuide for 5% off.
Colosseum & Forum → · Pantheon →A place to sleep
Staying near Termini keeps the airport bus, the trains and the historic centre within easy reach.
Browse stays →The 24-hour loop
| When | Focus | Don’t miss |
|---|---|---|
| Morning | Pastry & the ancient centre | Regoli, Parco del Colle Oppio, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum |
| Afternoon | Monuments & street food | Vittoriano, Neapolitan pizza, Trevi Fountain, Roman pizza and supplì |
| Evening | Coffee, dome & dessert | Espresso at the bar, the Pantheon, tiramisu |
Pastry, parks & the ancient centre
Roma Termini & the souvenir stop
Before heading anywhere, walk around the station. One shop sells every souvenir you will want: fridge magnets, medals and plenty more, at prices we never found again anywhere in Italy. We regretted buying so little.
Regoli Pasticceria
One of the oldest pastry shops in Rome, and the place to try maritozzo, a soft bun filled with cream. The cream is light, not heavy, and the bun is very soft. We also tried a cannolo, a Sicilian classic with a crisp shell and heavier cream, and preferred the maritozzo by far.
Parco del Colle Oppio
On the way to the Colosseum we found this park full of pine trees, free and unusually calm, far from the noise of the centre. It is the place to rest when Rome gets too crowded, and as you leave there is a classic photo spot over the Colosseum from above, away from the crowds.
The Colosseum
Built to keep the Roman people entertained with festivals, it could hold more than 50,000 spectators. Its story is not a happy one: people came to watch gladiators, prisoners of war and slaves who fought each other or wild animals like lions and tigers, and many died here. Earthquakes and restorations followed, but most of it still stands. The queues are huge, so buy online.
Roman Forum & Arch of Constantine
Next to the Colosseum stands the Arch of Constantine, built to celebrate ten years of the emperor’s rule, and beside it the Roman Forum, once the city centre, where figures like Julius Caesar walked. You can still see where their banks and assemblies stood, and the old Via Sacra, the red carpet every victorious general marched along. It is huge, but you can see plenty of it from the street.
Airport bus ≈ €8
Colosseum ≈ €18
Free first Sunday of the month
The Colosseum and Forum queues are huge. Book tickets online ahead of time and you walk straight past people who have been waiting for hours.
Monuments, pizza & a fountain
Altare della Patria (Vittoriano)
A giant monument built for Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of a united Italy. Most of the interior is free, but the queue can be long, so go early.
Neapolitan pizza for lunch
We squeezed into a very famous pizzeria near Trevi for a Neapolitan margherita: tomato, mozzarella and basil on soft, light dough with puffy, slightly charred edges. The fresh sauce was the standout.
Trevi Fountain
About a 20-minute walk from the Forum. It is a huge sculpture carved into the back of an entire building, finished in the mid-18th century, showing Neptune on a shell chariot pulled by sea horses. The legend: throw one coin with your right hand to return to Rome, two for a love story in Italy, three to marry soon. It used to be free and now costs €2, but before 9:00 in the morning you can go in for nothing.
Alice Pizza & supplì
Roman pizza is different: a thin, crisp base, sold by the slice and priced by weight. We tried an unusual one with pumpkin, broccoli and blue cheese and loved it. The same shop sells supplì, the classic Roman street food: a fried rice ball filled with tomato sauce and mozzarella.
The souvenir street
Walking on, you pass a street full of souvenir stalls. As we said at the start, the shop by the station was far cheaper. The only thing with a good price here was postcards.
Coffee, the dome & dessert
Italian espresso
Coffee is sacred in Italy and comes with rules: no cappuccino after 11, and espresso is drunk standing at the bar in a couple of seconds. We went to a famous place known for its secret espresso recipe, where everything is made with coffee and the souvenirs are coffee-themed. For us the coffee was not the strongest, and it was expensive.
The Pantheon
Known as the legendary dome: still the largest dome in the world made of unreinforced concrete. Engineers still cannot fully explain how the Romans built it without iron, or why it has survived earthquakes and wars. It is magnificent inside and out, and you will not grasp how big it is until you stand beside it. The queue was enormous, so buy fast-track tickets online.
Tiramisu
Tiramisu means “pick me up” in Italian, so dessert is how Italians lift their mood. We tried a place known for its many tiramisu flavours: a pistachio one and the classic, made of ladyfingers, espresso and mascarpone cream. Ours was too sweet and we felt there were better ones out there.
Eat your way through Rome
The Rome food checklist
Screenshot this and tick each one off as you go. The full day, with prices, is in the video below.
Ready to book
Lock in the trip
Flights
Compare fares to Rome (FCO and CIA).
Search Skyscanner →Hotels
Near Termini for easy trains and buses.
Browse stays →eSIM
Land connected for buses, maps and tickets.
Get Airalo →Tours & tickets
Fast-track Colosseum, Forum and Pantheon tickets.
See GetYourGuide →Guide by Ali & Mayar. Some links on this page are affiliate links — we may earn a small commission if you book through them, at no extra cost to you.