The un-tourist’s guide to Europe: Rome

Editor’s note: Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan has long been one of our favourite writers and people. She also has the greatest virtue of a traveler: a wide-ranging curiosity and interests. Meenakshi is most serendipitously living in Berlin—so we shanghaied her into writing a series of personal, unique, ‘un-tourist’ guides to cities in her backyard. 

In this installment, she tells you where to live, eat and drink like a Roman—and get your de rigeur fix of art and culture—while ducking those tourist traps. We hope you enjoy these guides as much as we do. Please offer comments, suggestions etc over at talktous@splainer.in—and we will send them on to her. 

Written by: Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan is the author of eight books, across genres: literary fiction, mythological reinterpretations, young adult and short stories. Her latest book is ‘Soft Animal’, published by Penguin Random House in 2023. She lives in Berlin and writes about it in her newsletter The Internet: Personified.

Rome is everything you expect it to be. It’s noisy and charming, people shouting loving Italian greetings to each other across the street, the light hits the earth-toned buildings just so in the evenings, so they appear timeless. You drink your coffee on the perfect piazza, lifting your eyes every now to admire the basilica that looms over all of you, heavy wooden doors and stained glass. Rome is almost like all the movies you’ve seen about Rome, except it’s the year 2024, and along with you are thousands of tourists from around the world, so you wonder: are you all having an authentic Roman experience? Or is it just like Disneyland, where an experience has been crafted for you? 

Cynicism aside, Rome is exciting. I went with my mother for a week last November, I’d never been before and she had visited last in the ‘80s, when you could still rent a large set of rooms for very little money, and you held on to your lira, and not many people spoke English. Now, of course, there are two Romes: one where the locals live and the other that operates side-by-side and caters exclusively to tourists. The two worlds rarely collide, so you have to know a Roman to feel Roman, but otherwise the city puts up a good show at making you feel like it anyway, if you don’t mind that your fellow guests are all speaking English or German or Mandarin. 

However, I did some research and tried to get as local as I could with recommendations from Italian and well-travelled friends and the r/Rome subreddit as well as tips I picked up along the way and good old-fashioned Google maps review scanning. [My mother loved it, she keeps calling it “my first Google holiday!” so there’s an endorsement for you.] 

Where to stay

A text exchange with a friend who had just visited Rome:

Me: Hey

Me: Going to Rome with my mum next month. What’s a nice area to stay in?

Me: Like we want it to be able to either walk to all the major sights or have excellent public transport links.

Me: And not super touristy, just like a cool arty vibe with nice bars and restaurants and things

Her: Trastevere!

Trastevere is everything you want your Roman neighbourhood to be. Tiny winding cobblestoned streets, where you can get lost, tall apartment buildings painted pretty shades of ochre with windows looking out into the street, and at the same time, a lot of trendy bars, restaurants and shops. It gets its name from the Latin trans Tiber and exists on the opposite bank of the river Tiber from all the ancient Roman stuff you’ve come to see. Which makes it also very useful if you’re lost and your phone is out of battery, everyone can point you towards Trastevere, or you can make your own way by finding the river and walking along it. (This actually happened to us twice, so I’m speaking from experience.) 

It’s a historical neighbourhood, settled for centuries, first by the Etruscans, then the fishermen, then the Jewish community. Julius Caesar had his garden villa there, and two of the most ancient churches in the entire city were originally built in this neighbourhood. The original multi-culti area, Trastevere, still holds on to this; people who live there believe they have a culture of their own beyond Rome, because of all their influences. It had (and maybe still has) housed a bunch of poets and writers and artists, and it’s easy to see why. It’s perhaps one of the most charming neighbourhoods I’ve ever seen, and definitely worth a visit even if you don’t wind up staying there, which I think you should. 

There are a number of fancy and budget hotels, and we got an Airbnb in a thin and tall building, which was charming. But bear in mind that it was a) small with thin walls; b) had no lift, so you had to walk up the narrow stairwell with your suitcase; and c) had no bathroom door at all, which apparently, my mother remembers as a feature from the older Roman pensions. For all that, it was extremely comfortable, and given that it was autumn, also warm without needing a heater, which we appreciated. 

Need more recs? A couple of hotels I saw that looked nice are Horti 14 (map), right by the Botanical Garden, and Donna Camilla Savelli (map), which is inside an old Baroque monastery which are both luxury-adjacent properties. For slightly cheaper options, I’ve read good things about UNA Hotels (map) and Monte Cenci (map). 

Trasteverian hotels and Airbnbs are also cheaper (by a little bit, not a lot, it’s still an expensive city) than similar accommodation in the heart of town by the Colosseum etc, while also being extremely accessible. Also ,it’s one of the few areas inhabited by locals. My Roman friend lived just a few blocks away, so there’s plenty on offer for those in search of a more authentic experience.  

NB: If you have an early checkout and a late flight, there are a number of places that will keep your bags for you for a nominal price, which is always good to know. 

Getting around

We took buses everywhere we didn’t walk, and the system in Rome is just to tap in with your debit card or contactless payment, which is valid for the next 100 minutes. You can also buy paper tickets at the small newspaper stalls across the city, but a lot of places are within walking distance from each other, so I wouldn’t bother with a pass, unless you have a lot of things to see in different parts of the city. Don’t bother with a taxi, there’s often too much traffic to enjoy it, at least with buses, you get a better view.   

What to see

Even with a solid week in the city, we couldn’t see everything. So I wouldn’t even attempt it if you want to have a relaxed time and not just be shunted around on a zombie march. These are what I’d personally recommend. (NB: The year 2025 is the Holy Jubilee for the Catholic church and as a result Rome will be filled with more tourists than usual, which means if you’re visiting this year, make sure you’ve made all your bookings far in advance to avoid being disappointed.)

Vatican Museum (map): Rome is full of Michelangelo, he wasn’t native to the city, but they love him and he loved them, littering the whole place with his art. Obviously, you have to see the Sistine Chapel (map), but it’s housed inside the Vatican Museum (pictured below), where they’ve done the crafty thing of placing the entrance to the chapel at the end of the museum with no shortcuts for crowd control, so you have to go through the whole thing. It’s definitely worth it, but overwhelming. 

I used this list as a guide so I knew when to stop and admire, but you can also opt for a guided walk through the whole thing. NB: Timed slot tickets for the Vatican Museum sell out months in advance, especially in high season, so I’d suggest booking the tickets for this as soon as you’ve finalised your dates. NB 2: There is nowhere to sit in the Sistine Chapel except for some stone benches across the walls, and the guards don’t let you linger in the middle of the room too long or take photos.

Catacombs: On the outskirts of the city (there’s a straight bus) lie the catacombs, ancient burial grounds for the early Christians, caves of graves as it were, all deep within the earth. We went to the Catacombs of San Callisto (map), which also includes a lovely garden. It comes with a guided tour where they take you inside and show you around—not for the claustrophobic or those unable to walk, as it’s a bit of a climb. (FYI: Below is the crypt of St Cecilia.)

Keats and Shelley House (map): All the grand art and baroque structures and yet, this tiny little museum was one of my favourites. It’s the apartments of John Keats, who came to Rome to recover from his tuberculosis but sadly died in them anyway. It’s a lovely little museum, with one set of rooms dedicated to the life of Keats, and the hallway has an exhibition on Shelley, who also stayed there on one of his trips through Italy. Plus, it has a beautiful shaded terrace that juts right out on the Spanish Steps (pictured below) where you can watch the world go by for as long as you like because no one rushes you. NB: you are no longer allowed to sit on the Spanish steps, so this is a good hack to actually admire them.

Capitoline Museums (map): A great history museum that takes you through Rome and its civilisations. It’s also home to that famous sculpture of the she-wolf suckling the twin founders of Rome, which, like many celebrities, is smaller in real life than it is in photographs. The museum is divided into two parts on either end of a piazza, so it’s fun to take a break sitting in the square and people-watching.

Palazzo Doria Pamphilj (map): If you have a little extra time, this gallery housed in one of the properties of an ancient Italian noble family is worth a visit, to see the house, if not the art. The art is mostly okay, one or two masterpieces, but not worth a separate visit. What you should notice is the palazzo itself, all the grand rooms and the period furniture. Also included in the price of admission is a free audio guide, some bits of which are narrated by the heir to the Pamphilj family himself, which is full of rich people nuggets like, “My sister and I were scolded for roller skating in the ballroom.” It’s definitely inspiring for any romance novelists amongst you or ‘Succession’ fans, for that matter.

What to do

The weather in Rome is almost India level hot in the summer, so I’d suggest going in the spring or the fall (which is when we went), for crisp evenings and sunny afternoons. Walking tours are perfect for this time of year. We went on a lovely historical tour with a man named Gaston Ciacci who you can book separately on his own website or via New Rome Free Tours. 

For a walk on your own, I’d suggest the gardens attached to the Villa Borghese (map)—which houses its own collection of art. They’re sprawling and gorgeous and have one of the best views over the city. Take a picnic and sit in the lawns, they’re free and open to all.

Where to eat

Ah, the million-dollar question. At this point, I think I can serve you better by telling you where not to eat, because after seven days, I became pretty savvy at identifying the tourist-only restaurants. The signs are: 

• Someone standing outside and asking you to come in—the “real” restaurants already have established audiences and don’t need to do this; 
• Places with red checked tablecloths and umbrellas with the name of the restaurant printed on them; 
• Inside said red-checked-tablecloth restaurants, the food is served in a stainless steel frying pan or similar to look “rustic.” 
• Places that only serve the four Roman pastas—cacio e pepe, amatriciana, carbonara and gricia, with nothing else on the menu. 

Instead, do as the Romans do, and get a quick lunch from any place marked “bar” or “suppli.” You’ll recognise them by their glass front cases featuring rectangular slices of pizza, you can point to any and ask them to weigh it for you—you pay by weight. Or you could get an aroncini ball, which are these deep fried risotto balls with bits of meat or veg on the inside, extremely filling and light as well. Take these to a piazza—oh yes, my other rule is never eat from a piazza restaurant, their location is so good they don’t need to make good food—and watch the world go by. 

Dinner is heavier, a few of my suggestions include: Dar Poeta (map) and Trattoria Luzzi (map) for amazing pizza, Il Duca (map) for fine dining, Trattoria Da Enzo (map) for traditional Roman dishes, Bar del Cappuccino (map) for the best pastrami sandwiches I’ve ever had and Bar San Calisto (map) for your morning coffee and sugar-glazed croissant. 

What to drink

As far as I could tell, most Romans like to drink with dinner. Dinners are usually long, leisurely affairs—you begin with some small bites, maybe a salad, and then move on to several rounds of main course and then dessert, drinking your carafe, or two, or three of wine the whole time. My mum and I went to small “enoteca” or wine bars, which are dotted around the city, and enjoyed a glass of wine while talking about what we’d seen that day. Not a wine drinker? Here are some other places I saw that look cool: Drink Kong (map), which is this iconic cocktail bar that often makes the top bars in the world list, Necci dal 1924 (map) for low priced spritzes and arty neighbours, 8 millimetri (map) for dive bar vibes with excellent cocktails, or The Factory (map), if you’re a beer drinker looking for some craft brews. 

What to read while you’re there:

Don’t you love reading a book set in the place you’re wandering about? You look up from reading about a column, and poof! There it is! Like magic. For Rome, these are the books I’d recommend carrying:

Four Seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr: The ‘All The Light We Cannot See’ author wrote this way back in 2007, an engaging memoir of his year spent in Rome with his wife and their infant twins. Set in Trastevere (hey!) Doerr talks about living and working in Rome, and while sometimes it skews a little “clueless American,” it makes up for it with sharp and astute observations, almost like your good friend telling you what it was really like.

Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri: While the city in Whereabouts is never named, Lahiri has said in an interview: “The book was born in Rome and set in my head in Rome and written almost entirely on return visits to Rome.” It’s a departure if you’re familiar with her other work, but this is the first book Lahiri wrote in Italian and then translated herself into English, and as an experiment, it works.

SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard: Obviously, you need a good history book to keep your civilisations and your Caesars straight, and this is a well-written, pacey one to keep by your side.

The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone: A wrist-breaking fictionalised life of Michelangelo (I’d advise you to get the e-book for lighter travel), it’s not entirely set in Rome, but enough of it is. I first read this when I was about 15, nowhere close to Rome, but I remember it made Michelangelo feel so real to me that when I saw all his art, especially the Sistine Chapel, it was like seeing something I already knew about. I read it again as an adult a few years ago and it still holds up.

Ciao as the Romans say! Have a wonderful time.