Life takes funny twists sometimes. I was just telling my sister that Italy was not high on my travel bucket list. I like to go places a bit more off the beaten path, and I hate crowded destinations. Less than two weeks after making that bold statement, I was invited on a press trip to Rome. Of course, I could not say no, and I’m so glad I went! All told, I took seven different tours in Rome. If you are ready for a jam-packed first time in Rome, this is my four-day Rome itinerary.

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Itinerary for 4 Days in Rome

• Day 1: Borghese Gallery, Crypts & Catacombs Tour
• Day 2: Ancient Rome: Colosseum Tour and Vatican City
• Day 3: Day trip to Pompeii & Mt. Vesuvius
• Day 4: Rome Food Tour & Rome Ghost Tour

Rome Day 1: Borghese Gallery, Crypts & Catacombs Tour

Let’s assume you arrived in Ancient Rome the day before, and are now well-rested and ready to begin your itinerary for four days in Rome For this first full day in Rome, I recommend two tours. One in the morning, and one in the evening, leaving your afternoon free to wander the lovely streets of Rome, or if you’re like me, sneak in a nap to get over the jet lag. (It gets harder every year!)

 Start your day with a skip-the-line tour of Villa Borghese. If you are a fan of art, you will love the Borghese Galleries. I’m not a huge art fan, but I found that having a guide along to tell us the stories behind the art really made a huge difference for me and I really enjoyed this Rome tour. Afterward, enjoy a stroll through the Borghese Gardens, before exiting on the western end near the Spanish Steps. Via Sistina is a lovely street lined with shops, and I picked up a nice leather purse here after my tour. It was the only shopping I did the entire trip!

Tip: if you want to tour the Borghese Gallery on your own, there are a few things to know. Tickets are timed, in order to limit the crowds, so you’ll have two hours to tour the various rooms. You also aren’t allowed to bring with you, so be prepared to check any coats or backpacks at the ticket office.

In the late afternoon, meet your tour guide at Piazza Barberini for the Original Rome Crypts and Catacombs Tour. A short bus ride brings you to the St. Calixtus Catacombs outside of the city walls for an underground tour of these Christian burial sites from the 2nd and 3rd centuries before Christianity was legal in Rome. The catacombs are four levels deep, and once held the remains of nine different Popes.

Photo Credit: Dark Rome Tours

The tour includes a brief stop at Basilica San Clemente, an 18th-century church, built on top of a 4th-century church that was built over a pagan temple. This tour is also mostly underground, seeing some “secret spots” of Rome. The last stop on this tour is the Capuchin Crypts, which is what I pictured when I think of Catacombs, thanks to Paris. This is also called the bone chapel of Rome and contains the bones of nearly 4,000 Capuchin friars. It’s a surreal experience to be surrounded by individual bones and even more so when you realize even the wall decorations are made from bones. This is definitely one of the more interesting and unusual Rome tours that I joined!

If you are also visiting France, check out these Paris tours that include the catacombs!

Photo Credit: Dark Rome Tours

Rome Day 2: Colosseum & Vatican Tours

On day two, I have two more Rome walking tours to recommend. This was easily the longest day of our trip, and super exhausting, but well worth it. No matter which tours you book to see the Colosseum and Vatican City, you must book ahead and I highly recommend “skip the line” tours or even better, the “no wait” tour that I was on. The lines here are insane, and if you visit Rome in the summer,  you’ll be standing in the hot sun for an hour or more before you even get inside!

Join the Skip the Line: Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and Roman Forum tour in the morning for a half-day of Roman education. There are dozens of Colosseum tours, and next time I visit Rome, I would love one of the behind-the-scenes tours where you get to see the animal pits and gladiator arenas. It’s hard to take everything in and fully comprehend that you are walking through a 2,700-year-old arena that has hosted emperors, popes, and slaves. I didn’t expect to be so wowed, but I felt I had to pick my jaw off the floor a few times during the guided tour.

After touring the Colosseum, this tour heads over to the archaeological park at Palatine Hill. Having a guide here is crucial because there is so much history here, and our guide, Marco, really tied everything together for us. Going all the way back to Romulus and Remus, this hill has played a critical role in Rome’s history. It also offers pretty spectacular views overlooking Rome, so it’s a great spot for photos, too.

In the afternoon, join the Fast Track – Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel and St Peter’s Basilica Tour. Fast track is even better than skipping the line because there are so many skip-the-line tours, that there’s actually a line, albeit much shorter than the regular line! The tour starts in the Vatican Museums, which I’ll be honest were my least favorite stop in Rome. It was so crowded, and we rushed through. Probably if I were planning my own Rome itinerary, I would skip the Vatican, but it’s also one of the things you have to do in Rome. Don’t get me wrong, the artwork and architecture are stunning, but that’s par for the course in Rome.

Is it worth visiting the Vatican with kids?

After the museums, we enter the Sistine Chapel, home of Michelangelo’s masterpiece. No photos are allowed, and it’s a huge room filled with people, so we moved on quickly to St. Peter’s Basilica, which was the tour’s highlight for me. This is the largest church in the world, and the dome is a landmark that can be seen from all over Rome. I would love to come back and climb the dome for some incredible views!

Rome Day 3: Day trip to Pompeii & Mt. Vesuvius

After miles of walking on day 2, this day trip from Rome gives you a bit of rest as you spend a couple of hours on a bus to the Naples region of Italy. The Pompeii Ruins & Mt Vesuvius Volcano with Lunch from Rome is a full day and a great way to break up your Rome sightseeing. After an early wakeup, you have about 2.5 hours on the bus to Pompeii, a good time to catch up on sleep! We arrived at the Pompeii Archaeological Site to meet our guide for the morning tour. Our guide was amazing, and because we had a small group, we got to get into smaller spaces of Pompeii that other groups could not fit in.

We learned about the city before the eruption, the impact of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, and some of the discoveries that are still taking place today. A few girls on my trip had toured Pompeii before and said we saw totally different areas than their previous tours. So, I gather that every tour is different, and you could spend days and weeks here and still not see everything.

During the entire tour, you can’t help but notice Mount Vesuvius looming over Pompeii. It’s supposedly due for another eruption any day now, yet millions of people live in its path today.

After leaving Pompeii, the tour stops for a delicious Napoli pizza lunch before climbing the road up Mount Vesuvius. You have to hike the last 30 minutes or so up to the crater. It’s steep but well worth it for the views inside the crater and looking out over Naples Bay. The volcano is still smoking, but we were assured there would be a few days’ warning before any major eruptions!

Rome Day 4: Rome Ghost Tour

On my last day in Rome, I had a lot of writing and photo editing to do, as well as getting packed up for the long trip home. However, I did manage to squeeze in one more Rome walking tour. The Haunted Rome Ghost Tour is a great way to fill an evening. Hearing about the more sordid side of Rome was quite entertaining. This tour is all about the grim, gruesome, and ghostly tales of the Eternal City, but I won’t ruin any surprises for you. You have to take the tour to get the gossip!

Rome Travel Tips

• Get up Early! While I usually travel solo, traveling with other bloggers motivated me to get up early and go get those Instagram shots at the most popular Rome sights, like the famous Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps. We arrived at the Trevi Fountain at 6 am and it was totally worth it, even though it did result in an 18-hour day for us!
• Bring your water bottle! Rome has public fountains with fresh spring water throughout the city, so you can easily refill a bottle as you walk around town. Get more tips for sustainable travel!
• Bring your own auxiliary earbuds! You’ll receive headsets and headphones on each tour, but the earbuds are not the most comfortable, so if you have a pair you like, bring them along. Plus, you’ll save on waste that goes into the landfill.
• Book Skip-the-line and small group tours whenever you can. Skip the line is a must as there is no “off-season” in Rome and small group tours will give you access to secret spots where larger tour groups won’t fit.

Where to Eat in Rome

Of course, we had some fabulous meals in Rome, but what set my favorite spots apart was the atmosphere and the view. Of course, I joined Eating Europe for a food tour as well. Food tours are pretty much a staple of all of my travels! Here are a few of my favorite Rome restaurants that we tried during our week in Rome.

• Aroma Restaurant at Palazzo Manfredi – if you have one night to splurge on a special occasion dinner, head to Aroma. We had the most amazing gourmet dinner followed by three individual dessert courses, all with this fantastic view of the Colosseum lit up at night. If you can’t get reservations at Aroma, head downstairs to The Court, the cocktail bar at Palazzo Manfredi. We had some tasty appetizers and drinks with the same great Colosseum view!
• Terrazza Borromini – another beautiful rooftop dinner, overlooking Rome’s Piazza Navona.
• Mercado Centrale – food courts seem to be popping up everywhere, and this was a great stop for lunch between Rome tours. Located in Rome’s Termini Station near the city center, the food options range from ramen to pizza, which we all opted for.
• Ristorante Virginiae – we stumbled on this place down a side street near Piazza Navona one evening, and it was the best pasta that I had in Rome. The food was simple, fresh, and flavorful and the restaurant was just far enough off the central plaza that it felt more local than touristy.

Take a Trastevere Restaurant Tour with Eating Italy!

Where to Stay in Rome

Hotel-hopping has become my new travel style, apparently. With six nights in Rome, I stayed in three different hotels. All were centrally located, which I highly recommend staying near Piazza Barberini or Rome Termini Train Station. (I know a lot of European train stations are in dodgy neighborhoods, but that didn’t seem to be the case for Termini.)

• Aleph Hotel Rome, a Curio Collection by Hilton – as a Hilton employee, I got a great rate here for my first night in Rome. The hotel is located about a block from Piazza Barberini, and within walking distance of the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, and many other Rome attractions. Very luxurious accommodation in a great location.
• Palazzo Montemartini Rome, A Radisson Collection Hotel – this was our Rome hotel for the duration of the press trip and it is a beautiful place to stay. The building is an 1881 palace, and every room in the hotel is different. I was shocked at how spacious my room was. I even had a steam shower! The hotel is right across the street from Termini train station, which makes it easy to get around town. The breakfast spread at Palazzo Montemartini is to die for! (photo below)
• Hotel Diocleziano Rome – located just one block from Palazzo Montemartini, this is a more budget-friendly hotel in Rome, although still perfectly adequate. (I’m not a budget traveler, and I was totally comfortable here) I spent my last two nights in Rome at this hotel and pretty much walked all over the city from this location. Breakfast here was super tasty, too!

Browse Rome Hotels at Booking.com

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As a travel writer for TrustedTravelGirl.com, I was a guest on a press trip hosted by Dark Rome Tours. I was also hosted by Eating Italy. As always, all opinions are my own.