How to Get the Most out of Romewise

I don't know about you, but I suffer just a bit from "information overload."

There is so much (excellent) information out there about Rome, in books, magazines, from our friends, colleagues and family, and of course, in every nook and cranny of the internet.

It's a little over-whelming isn't it?

How to Get the Most Out of Romewise - What to Expect

This page is about how to use this website to make the most out of your visit to Rome including:

• What the site is about (just below)
• How to use Romewise to plan your visit to Rome
• How to find what you are looking for on Romewise
• Where you can follow Romewise blog stuff
• Where I get my ideas and information from

What is Romewise about?

Romewise is an informational travel guide for visitors to Rome. I hope to make this website the one place you turn for help with your trip, and hope you find it easy to navigate and to find what you are looking for.

My name is Elyssa, and I publish the site. Romewise is based on my knowledge of Rome from a visitor's viewpoint, but also as someone with truly the inside scoop, since I live here.

I was a tourist in Rome a few times in my college backpacking days. I've lived in Rome since 2001 with my husband Alessandro (who was born and raised here), and we ran a B&B in the center of Rome from 2001 until 2018.

I work hard to make the site about what I think, what I KNOW, is interesting for you as a visitor - neat facts about specific monuments or historical figures, descriptions of Roman foods and customs, practical things you need to know like when things are open and how much they cost, and most of all, my own suggestions to make your visit here go smoothly.

For now, the site is mostly about how to visit Rome, what to do, practical matters like how to get around, how to avoid getting ripped off, how to avoid the lines, and especially, about places to eat.

These are the things people have asked me the most about, especially when they were staying at our B&B.

I also offer a lot of tips and things that pull it together for you, like how to escape the crowds in Rome, what to do on a rainy day in Rome, some photography tips and much more!

How to Use Romewise to Plan your ROME Visit

The main menu at the top is divided into three sections:

• Help with planning an upcoming trip to Rome.  Wondering if you should visit Rome? When's the best time to visit? How many days to spend in Rome? Whether it's crowded/not crowded during a specific month or holiday? What to pack? How much cash to bring? Start with this menu.
• Help if you are already in Rome. I find so many people just plan their plane or train tickets, and hotel, but simply don't have a lot of time for trip planning and imagine they'll just figure it out when they get here. Now, with the advent of smartphones and tablets, more than ever before, it's easy to look things up on the fly. Learn my tricks for avoiding unexpected crowds and lines, and for visiting popular sites last minute.
• Rome by month - these pages are about what to expect weather-wise, what to pack, and what it's like in general to be in Rome that month. Is it crowded? What foods are in season? What holidays are happening?, etc. I also update each month's section about specific things happening in a given year. This includes museum and art exhibits, concerts, opera, sports, foodie events, shows and more. Obviously this menu is useful both for trip planning and for stuff to know if you are already in Rome.

How to Find What you're Looking for on Romewise

As I said above, I think I know what most people want to know when they are either planning to visit Rome or are already in Rome.

But in case I didn't make it easy to find in the main menus at the top of each page, you can click the top right column of any page and type in what you are looking for in the search box, which is powered by Google. You can also visit my search page here.

You will see some results from Google that are NOT on Romewise. Hey that's Google, it's what they do. But just below that you will find every page on Romewise that contains your search word.

Where do I get my information?

All the writing on this site is my own, unless noted and quoted. Much of the advice I give is just what I think: My opinions, ideas, suggestions.

The site also contains a lot of facts and historical data, such as on my page about the pantheon. I do a LOT of research, including reading online resources and books, talking to experts (chefs, licensed tour guides, professors, archeologists etc), and taking online university courses.

Through a Tourist's Eyes

The tourist information on these pages comes in part from practical research (opening times, contact details), but mainly from having helped thousands of visitors get the most out of their stay in Rome.

This includes our B&B guests but also visiting friends and family.

Tourist in my Own City

When you live in Rome, a steady stream of friends and family come visit you (not a big surprise!) So I eat out with them and take them around. A lot.

You know how many times I have been to the Vatican Museums? I don't know how many. I sometimes just pop over there because I can. (Sorry, I am not boasting, just explaining why I have the experience that allows me to write with authority. Yes, I know I am lucky!)

My husband is from Rome and loves to discover with me some of the amazing things to see in Rome. We often go visit unusual things together, like the paleochristian basilica under Porta Maggiore, or the houses of Augustus and Livia.

And, with my husband, and Rome friends (expats and natives alike), and fellow Rome writers, I often go to new exhibits, or new sites that just open or have added a new feature, or new places to eat and drink.

And frankly, we often revisit some of the places we love, be it a place to eat or a touristic site.

So, as you can see, my writing about how to do things in Rome is based on years of practical experience and knowhow. And it's ongoing.

Want to know more? Visit this page About Romewise and About me.

Is Everything Accurate?

I am the sole researcher, writer and publisher of everything on this site and all my social media, and newsletters. I do my very best to keep things accurate and up to date.

Sometimes, however, things change and I don't realize it. For example, the cost of a ticket to a church underground might go up. Or, a restaurant may have new hours, or even close down. Sometimes readers bring this to my attention and sometimes I find out on my own. Then I correct it on the site.

The bottom line is you should use the ideas on this site to help you plan your trip, but you may want to double check with the place in question for hours and exact costs.

If there is anything you spot on my site that may be inaccurate, I welcome being corrected.

Is Romewise a Rome blog?

Romewise is not a blog per se. I think when people think "blog", they are looking for a personal account of something like daily life in Rome. The website is not really going to give you this.

The scope of the site is to be a one-stop informational guide to help you get the most out of your stay in Rome.

Does Romewise have a blog?

However, since I do live in Rome and go around so much, and since I do need to be on social media as part of publishing this website, I have inadvertently created some Romewise blogs in those environments.

When I was establishing my various accounts across social media, and began publishing there, the content started to divide itself up naturally. So if you want something more like a blog, published by me/Romewise, you may want to follow me on these social channels:

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On Facebook, I publish a lot of blog-type entries. There I often publish a grouping of photos of a place I visited that week, or someplace I ate. This info is often not (yet) on the site.

I also do a lot of impromptu live video. Sometimes the video is a little snippet of information, like why the Colosseum has holes in it. Other times it's just to show you something like a cool running water fountain on a hot summer day, or how empty Piazza Navona can be if you know when to go. 

On Instagram, I publish one photo every few days, more or less. The photos are always my own. Mostly the photos are of beautiful things I see in Rome, big and small. Once in a while they are of food, or a place outside of Rome.

I also publish Instagram stories, which is another format of "blogging", since you can only publish photos you took within the last 24 hours.

On Twitter, some of my tweets are in English and some are in Italian.

I have managed to become involved in a group of Italian speaking people who all love posting beautiful photos of Rome and Italy.

My tweets are either about a new page I just published, some interesting Rome news I find out, and often, just lots of beautiful photos of Rome. Here you will find things I don't have elsewhere, simply because of this extra connection to Italian speaking Twitterers (Tweeters?)

On Pinterest, I've started making boards of some of the same topics you will find on this site. And of course I collect pins from other sites too. I have lots of photos of the pantheon, but I love getting photos from others so you get an even more complete collection.

In the Romewise newsletter, which I currently publish once a month, I send any current news topic/tidbit, such as when they were finally done cleaning the Trevi Fountain.

Every newsletter contains two things not (yet) on the site:

A special thing to do in Rome - where I show you photos, and explain how to see it. For example, a church in Trastevere that just re-opened, and its hidden cloister.

Restaurant of the month - I pick a restaurant that's on my mind, someplace I recently tried and want to share with you, or a place I think you might like because it's special for one reason or another. These range from Roman trattorias, to upscale restaurants, to pizza by the slice to ethnic food to gelato!

So as you can see, if you want Rome blog stuff, you can follow me on social media, and subscribe to my newsletter.

I will also be publishing a page soon, where I recommend lots of great Rome and Italy blogs I know and follow myself!

What can Romewise do for you?

Romewise Services for the tourist

Did you know that all the information on this site is free for you to use? Yep! I also answer questions via email and through social media, for free. I am happy to help!

How is that possible, you might ask. You may have noticed that on most of the pages on this site, I have what are called affiliate links. That means that if you click that link and buy something, I make a small commission, at no cost to you. In other words, the company getting the sale compensates me for having brought you to them as a buyer/customer.

I am very discerning as to what links I place on my site, and only work with companies whose products I know, approve of and/or have used. For example, when I suggest you pack certain things, like a hat with sun-screen, I actually use that, or one like it. I'm not looking to sell you something for the sake of it, but rather, because I think it will be useful for your trip. And if I earn a bit of money from that sale, well, I hope you will agree and understand that making money from all the work I put into this site is ok.

So if you are happy with the site, and want to "pay it forward", I appreciate your buying stuff here, like Roma Pass, Vatican tours, travel gear, etc.

Romewise Services for the Vendor/AdvertisEr/Sponsor

Romewise receives highly targeted traffic.  The site receives around 100,000 unique visitors per month, around 3,000 per day.

Are you interested in having me sell or promote your products or services on Romewise? I work with tour operators, restaurants, hotels and other relevant companies who want to advertise with me or sponsor the site. 

I ONLY work with companies whose products I either know and approve of, or believe to be quality, reputable and of value to my readers.

If you would like to partner with Romewise, please contact me to receive my media kit and rates and conditions.