Dream Destinations – Rome

After including a little Italian flavor to our Dream Destinations series with our feature on Pompeii, I think I have well and truly been given the bug to explore other locations throughout this beautiful country. Our next feature is the gorgeous capital city of Rome.

When you are thinking about European history, architectural genius and relaxing atmospheres many of you that have visited Rome will likely put this at the top of the list to meet each of these categories. Rome can undoubtedly be overwhelming to a first time visitor simply because there is just so much to do there and if you have any sort of time constraints, the most difficult task is establishing what to see and when to schedule it.

To provide a little assistance on the key attractions and landmarks in Rome, here are our top spots in the City of the Seven Hills.

Colosseum

The Roman Colosseum is probably the most famous landmark still standing from the Roman Empire. Constructed in AD 80, this impressive structure housed many gladiator fights and its unsurprising that this has been used so frequently in movie recreations of the Roman games. The Colosseum is located in the heart of piazza del Colosseo in the center of Rome. 

Standing proudly above surrounding Roman streets, the Colosseum dominates the area that it resides. It is symbolic of the Roman empire in terms of its size purely representing the power of the Empire in addition to the architectural flamboyance that prevailed even thousands of years ago. Tours of the Colosseum today are available and I am sure that most first-time visitors to Rome will have this near the top of their bucket list.

Trevi Fountain

Coined as the most famous fountain in the world, the Trevi Fountain is an extraordinary piece of Roman mastery. The largest Baroque fountain in the world, the Trevi Fountain is over 85 feet tall and shoots almost 3 million cubic feet of water every day!

Everything in the design of the Trevi Fountain is uniquely related to a story of Roman ancestry and of course for every visitor that throws a coin into this fountain, they are left with a guarantee that they will return to the beautiful city of Rome.

But do you know that there is a correct technique in throwing the coin into the fountain? Legend has it that you must throw a coin with your right hand over your left shoulder with your back to the fountain. Of course, a lot of money is thrown into the fountain but you will be pleased to know that all of the proceeds from this go to charity!

Roman Forum

Continuing the theme of Roman architecture simply because a visit to Rome for the first-time would not be the same without experiencing all of these great historic landmarks, the Roman Forum is another great example of brilliant infrastructure still standing from the Roman era. This plaza was the hub of the Roman Empire where everything relating to day to day business took place.

Just standing today in this location allows you to think about what daily life must have been like thousands of years ago and comparing to where we are today. It’s awesome how the architecture can still remain in place even after so many years and this is a credit to the design and brilliance of those that dedicated their time to constructing these masterpieces.

Stadio Olimpico

Of course whenever I visit a new city, I am interested in seeing all of the historical buildings and attractions but at the same time I would love to see some of the more modern infrastructure, in particular those related to the sports teams/events in the area. Rome plays host to Lazio and AS Roma in the footballing world and both of these teams play their home matches at the impressive Stadio Olimpico stadium.

I think it would be really cool to do both a stadium tour here but also to watch one of these teams play a Serie A encounter ideally against each other but against any team would be a great experience.

St. Peter’s Basilica

After taking a break from the history and seeing the beautiful Stadio Olimpico football stadium, let’s get back to what Rome is really about and discovering some more genius design with St. Peter’s Basilica. It is a Renaissance designed church and still remains as one of the largest throughout the world.

***This post is part of the 2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge (#DreamDestinations #AtoZChallenge)***

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