Rome, Italy is home to some of the most well-known historic landmarks in the world – think the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon and St Peter’s Basilica.
While it is a must-see by every metric; for the history, culture, beautiful architecture and bustling city vibe, the Italian capital is a melting pot of tourist scams and pickpockets.
Many things surprised me about Rome when I visited for the first time last October, the sweltering hot weather was one, but the intense amount of planning required to see the sights was overwhelming.
Even with a carefully planned itinerary to navigate five friends and me from the Vatican to the Colosseum in a day, we found ourselves rushing between sights when the trusty hop-on hop-off bus tour we had pre-booked failed to impress.
To put it frankly, the BigBus tour is a great idea on paper but a logistical nightmare when it comes to it.
We stayed close to the Vatican rather than Rome’s busy central hub, which was roughly a 20-minute walk away from the AirBnB and an enjoyable scenic route may I add.
For the days we did plan on spending solely in the city centre, we booked the BigBus hop-on hop-off tour with the 48-hour pass. This included access to any ‘Red’ route during that period with prices starting from 37 euros per person.
After locating the closest bus stops to each of the main attractions, we thought we had it all sussed out. But the reality is the tours aren’t all that frequent and take a long time to get between each stop due to the crowded roads.
Our first attempt was to use the bus to get from the Vatican (after a three-hour guided tour), in time for another guided tour at The Colosseum. All pre-booked and non-refundable, it was a race against time when we realised it was a 20-minute wait for the next BigBus to arrive at the closest stop.
After a quick scour on Google Maps, walking was the best option and honestly, I am so glad the bus didn’t work out.
We discovered a lovely route through the cobbled streets lined with locals sipping coffee against the backdrop of architecturally beautiful buildings.
It took just under one hour to stroll to the Colosseum and we ventured past the Castel Sant’Angelo as we journeyed over a sizeable bridge over the River Tiber. The Museo di Roma – Palazzo Braschi was another point of interest en route, as was Trajan’s Column and the Monument to Victor Emmanuel II.
Only slightly late to our tour, the alternative mode of transport worked out for the best – though we did waste an entire day’s worth of the bus ticket to the sum of over 15 euros each.
This was partly because we discovered that nudging our way through crowds of other tourists was much more enjoyable than waiting at busy bus stops to get to landmarks that were easily walkable.
Doing so lent itself to stumbling across inviting restaurants outside of the main tourist squares, and also offered the perfect excuse to enjoy yet another pit stop for wine on the way to our next destination.
The BigBus tour did come in handy on the final day of our trip to Rome, however, when we decided to embrace the long journey around the city (the entire route spanned a few hours) and soak up the sights we hadn’t yet discovered.
It worked well on such a rainy day but I’d urge anyone planning a visit to the Italian destination to forgo the bus tour and enjoy the long walks instead – but watch out for opportunist thieves who will take any chance to nab bags that aren’t being watched with a beady eye.