Rome: Last 3 Days

May 13, 2026

Rome: Last 3 Days

The post describes my last three days in Rome.

On the day that I switched to Alessandro Palace & Bar hostel, Prachi and I took a guided walking tour called Heart of Rome Walk that you can get from RickSteves.com.

I find it interesting that each person travels differently. Anne liked to wander around and go into interesting shops whereas Prachi likes to listen to a guided tour while exploring the city. I just follow the flow.

Rick Steves walking tour started from Campo de' Fiori and the route took us to Piazza Navona, Pantheon, Parliament, Trevi Fountain, and ended at the Spanish Steps. I had already went to some of these places with Makrand and Joel the day before, but it was still nice listening to Rick Steves as an audio guide that offered more explanation.

The only thing Prachi and I didn’t like about the guided tour was that Rick recommended a restaurant called Tartufo - Ristorante Tre Scalini by the Piazza Navona. We went there and had the tartufo, which is a type of gelato. They were just average tasting. The waiter charged us €12 for two tartufos, which was expensive already, and €8 as a sit down fee. If we had known about the fee we would just have gotten the tartufos to go. Later I checked on Google Maps, the place has a rating of 2.6 out of 5.0 stars with mostly 1 star reviews. I felt we were scammed and we vowed to never take Rick Steves’ restaurant recommendations again. So when you are in Rome, don’t go to Tartufo - Ristorante Tre Scalini. Worst restaurant ever.

For dinner, we dined at Pinsitaly Trevi, a restaurant with 4.8 stars and over 5500 reviews. As we were having our meal, I noticed a solo traveler at the table on my left wanted some red pepper flakes on his pizza since he typed that in Google Translate. I offered him the red pepper shaker that’s on my table and we started a conversation. The young man’s name is Charlie and he’s in Rome for two days before going to Florence for a friend’s wedding at the countryside. He told us that he works in financial management in Seattle.

Since Prachi wanted to see the Colosseum at night, I invited Charlie to come along. The three of us walked there and Prachi found a “secret” park on Instagram for a great view of the Colosseum. The small park is called Giardinetto del Monte Oppio. Make sure to mark it down if you want a great view of the Colosseum with fewer people.

We took a bunch of photos there and even took some group selfies. On the way back to the hostel, Charlie parted ways and went back to his hotel. It was serendipity to have met Charlie through a pepper shaker at a restaurant. What an interesting way to meet a stranger!

The next day, I spent the whole day at Vatican City. First, I took the A line subway to Ottaviano station. Then after lunch, I walk around the walls of Vatican City. It was only about a 40 minute walk, but now I can say that I’ve walked around an entire country since the Vatican is considered a city state.

There were so many people lined up in the morning for Saint Peter’s Basilica that the end of the line was at the other side of Piazza San Pietro. I decided to wait until after my 2 PM Vatican Museums tour to go into Saint Peter’s Basilica.

My museum ticket was €40 since it was bought online weeks before. It included a guided tour. I wish I didn’t go with the guide since she went too fast at the beginning of the tour. I would have stopped and browsed more and took more photos.

The highlights were the Gallery of Maps, Raphael Rooms with the famous School of Athens painting, and Sistine Chapel. They didn’t allow photos of the Sistine Chapel so I don’t have any photo evidence of the famous ceiling that was painted by the same Michelangelo Buonarroti who sculpted David. Also the guards rushed people like they were herding cattle. I thought I would have some kind of a spiritual experience looking at the ceiling of God and Adam touching fingers, but what I got was a tourist experience. I felt cheated.

When I came out of the Vatican Museums and went in line for Saint Peter’s Basilica, I learned that there are two lines for the Basilica. One is a fast lane with a fee of €25 and the other is a slow lane without a fee. Obviously, I joined the slow lane since the line was free and wasn’t as long compared to the morning one, but I was kind of pissed at the segregation. What else is new when it comes to religion?

The wait was worth it since Saint Peter’s Basilica is the largest church in the world by area. And it was so decorative with lots of gold. I felt very small inside this big building since the place is so grand and the ceiling was so high.

After visiting the Basilica, I took the subway back to the hostel. I met up with Prachi and her dorm mate Ruby at Ristorante Gainn, a Michelin star restaurant, for some Korean food. I thought my dish was just ok.

My last full day in Rome was spent with Prachi in the morning on another Rick Steves walking tour, then in the afternoon I went inside the Colosseum since I had booked a ticket before my trip.

The walk tour was in a neighborhood called Trastevere that’s across the River Tiber. Prachi and I actually got a bit lost, but we ended up at the Basilica of Santa Maria anyway. We had our last meal together at Trapizzino and had their signature chicken trapizzino, which is like a pita.

On my way to the Colosseum, Prachi and I bid our farewells. It was really nice to hang out with someone while traveling since it can be a lonely endeavor. I was glad that I could be a part of Prachi’s first solo travel experience. I hope all the best on her first job out of college and that we can meet again in the future.

The song “In the Colosseum” by Tom Waits was playing in my head when I arrived at the Colosseum for the third time. My ticket was only for the arena since that was the only one I could buy when I booked it weeks ago. For €18, it also granted me access to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. I spent about 15 minutes at the arena and about an hour walking around Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. Both places felt like a park with old ruins. Rome is the place that I’ve been to so far that has the most history. I wonder what Athens will be like when I go there in two months.

By the time I walked back to the hostel, my feet were done. I went to a nearby restaurant to eat a plate of saltimbocca alla romana, which is a classic Italian dish with thinly sliced veal with prosciutto and sage, then pan-fried and served with a white wine sauce, and a tiramisu finally.

This morning, before I left Rome, I tried a maritozzo, which is a sweet bread with whipped cream in the middle of the sliced bun.

At 10:36 AM, I took the regional train from Rome to Naples, which was about three hours long. I could have paid more for a faster train, but I loved seeing the landscape outside the window in a slower pace.

I’m staying at Hostel Mancini in Naples for at least three nights, maybe more since the receptionist told me it’s a good base to explore Pompeii, Capri, and Amalfi.