How we planned our Rome trip

We were really excited about going to Rome. The Eternal City has such a rich history, and of course the reputation for good food is a draw too.I was alone the first time I went five years ago, even though it was with a group. But I didn’t have to plan anything because our entire itinerary had already been set. This time, planning our trip to Rome was all on us.Paolo and I would like to think we’re excellent at planning trips as he’s super practical and I, well, like to draw from my crisis prevention/management background. Ha! We’re sharing our planning and maybe our tips can help you too.

Looking through Pinterest, Blogs, YouTube

Having Pinterest really helps because you can choose which blogs have unique recommendations. Some tips of do’s (like learning Italian numbers) and do-nots (yelling MAMA MIA randomly) give you a better idea of how to behave.From my scouring the web, I can say for certain that even though she is Italian, Giada de Laurentiis’ guide for Rome is NOT GREAT. I had to cross-check all her recommended restaurants with their recent reviews on Google and THEY WERE ALL TERRIBLE and OVERPRICED. It absolutely crushed me because I love her and her show. Ugh, but I guess paid advertising is like that nowadays.I also used the Louis Vuitton guide in looking for places to visit and restaurants to eat at. Some places included in the guide are also recommended by many blogs, but if their Google or TripAdvisor review isn’t good, I suggest steering clear.My best find is this YouTube channel called RomeInside. It’s by this Roman girl named Elisa and she gives excellent tips like what to wear in Rome per season and exactly what an aperitivo is.Paolo and I split planning our Rome trip. He would book the tours, and I would fill in the rest of the calendar. For example, we had four days in Rome. We arrive at 11AM on Friday, and then leave by Tuesday afternoon. So we agreed to see the Vatican on Saturday, Ancient Rome (the Colosseum, etc) on Sunday, do a film and food tour on Monday, and then leave on Tuesday. It looks simple, but it isn’t. Say we arrive at 11AM on Friday, that means we’d have to find a place to have lunch at. We’ll probably also need to kill time before check-in. And after check-in, we’ll have to worry about where to have dinner. All that was my job.

Creating Your Own Map Layer in Google Maps

I love maps. One of my proudest work is a map. I’m still building maps in Tanzania! Maps have been around since the 6th century and they’re still helpful to this day. But I didn’t want to be walking around carrying a physical map. That’s just a screaming sign that says TOURIST. Nothing wrong with being a tourist, we just didn't want to attract attention. The next best thing: creating your own layer in Google Maps.

1. Download the Google Maps app on your phone
2. Search for a restaurant or historical place
3. When the results pop up, there are options on the bottom of your screen: Directions, Start, Call, and Save.
4. Select Save, this will put a pin on the searched item.
5. Your lists will come up. Make sure you set your lists to private. 
6. Select either Favorites or Want To Go or Starred. It’s really up to you.
7. You can add notes about the pin. I put in “Airbnb host recommended” for all the restaurants our host told us about.
8. And voila! When you go back to the main map, your little pin will be visible. 

We don’t always have data when we’re travelling, and you must be wondering if this will work offline. Yes it will, IF you download offline maps. When you launch Google Maps, click on the menu button on the upper left corner. The menu button is the three lines on top of each other. Select Offline Maps. Move the Rectangle to cover the area you want downloaded and select download. By the way, I’m happy to share my Rome layer with all my restaurant bookmarks on Google Maps, just send me a message!

Booking Tour Guides, Airbnbs, Activities

As I said, Paolo and I split this, with him booking the tour guides and me booking the airbnbs and some other activities. We also got a photographer because we didn’t want another holiday filled with family selfies. We (I mean me) also had to think about where to eat depending on where we were going to be at a particular time. So the restaurant hunt was on me. And most if not all restaurants in Rome require reservations.We highly recommend our Airbnb in Trastevere, this little neighborhood that’s close enough to all the hotspots but far enough from foot traffic that you can get a good night’s rest. Trastevere is a wonderful neighborhood as well.There’s a family-owned restaurant right around the corner of the apartment that I swear had the most amazing lasagna. Everything was handmade, even the pasta. It was so thin and soft it practically melted in my mouth. No chewing required. I am not exaggerating I almost cried at the magic of it all. Though it might also be because I was incredibly fatigued. More on that in the next post.

Preparing Mentally

HEY so I learned Italian for this trip. I listened to a podcast, made notes, and installed Duolingo. Why, you say? Planning our Rome trip meant reading a lot of scary stories about restaurants overcharging non-locals. I didn't want that to happen to us. Thankfully everything eatery-wise went smoothly, but I think all that preparation just came to a climax when I called up a restaurant to reserve a table for dinner. I impressed my husband. Ha!At one point in the trip I just gave up on my Italian and spoke Spanish to the maitre’d. It was fine, he understood me. But I don’t think I’ll be using my Italian again. Maybe. Hopefully.We did our darnedest in planning our Rome trip, because it’s the first one we were taking out of Turkey since we got here! Ah, but as in life and parenting and crisis-preparedness, nothing could have prepared me for an absolutely exhausting episode before and during the trip.More on that on my next post about Rome!How about you? Have you been to Rome? Got any great planning or packing tips?