Going to Rome, other than screaming in the Sistine Chapel, what non-touristy things should I do?

[Pieceofpurplesky]

As the title says. Will be doing all the touristy things but does anyone have any recommendations of different things - places to eat etc.
Thanks

As a lover of Roman history this has to be one of the best threads ever on MN.

The Capuchin Crypts are very interesting. For food, Dar Poeta in Trastevere and Osteria del Sostegno on Via delle Colonnelle are very good.

A friend did a tour with these and speaks highly of it

https://www.scootaroundrome.com/

Right by the station, and deliciously air conditioned in the summer, a favourite museum of mine is the National Roman Museum - Palazzo Massimo alle Terme. It has an extraordinary collection of frescoes including complete rooms as well as a great ancient Roman collection

When I was there I noticed lots of funky looking outside bars along one side of the Circo Massimo, full of actual Italians. It's definitely something of a spot. And the Circo Massimo itself (ex chariot racecourse, now a big green space) is full of people just hanging out.

We enjoyed visiting the Isola Tiberina by the Ponte Fabrizio, an original Roman bridge. And we walked a bit of the Via Appia Antica, under the Porta San Sebastiano- an impressive gate in the old walls that was utterly deserted.

we really enjoyed piazza del popolo It was back in 2006, so my memories aren’t the sharpest, but iirc there’s a church on each corner, at least one of which has a Caravaggio. Google seems to bear this out.

https://share.google/0JMOIc8YxC58dLm3P

Food and drink was mostly mediocre, even away from the tourist traps. The best meal, which we talk about to this day, was a little neighbourhood restaurant mentioned in the Time Out guide. Tiled floor, bare walls, paper tablecloths, no menu. The owner just cooked and served, cooked and served. We had three pastas dishes, meatballs and other mains, tiramisu, because obviously, multiple carafes of red wine and a jug of grappa left on the table. All fabulous, and we paid €35, plus tip. Wild. I’d definitely recommend taking a walk to one of the residential neighbourhoods and trying your luck.

Trastevere is the place to eat and spend evenings : lots of locals, better and cheaper food than tourist areas, A joyful atmosphere. Pop into Santa Maria in Trastevere church to see the mosaics.
We stayed there (recommended by Mumsnet) just after 2nd lockdown and the weight of the pandemic was lifted from my shoulders as I watched an evening in Trastevere.

Oh you simply must scream in the Sistine - and report back.

I visited Rome in a July and it was all a hot, dusty blur I’m afraid. It’s amazing obvs. Wave to the Pope and send postcards pretending to be him to everyone you know from the Vaticans special postbox (they will post them for you in the gift shop there) Oh and I remember Barnum cafe (a bit of a local hotspot) was fab and I had the best coffee of my life ☕️

Amazing. Rent an electric bike and zoom around the city. Yes, it’s almost as expensive as getting an Uber but so much more fun. Great way to cover a lot of ground while still seeing things.

Another one recommending Ostia Antica - a fantastic day trip from Rome, very easy to get to by local train and unlikely to be crowded. My DC love the Roman Mysteries series of books by Caroline Lawrence, most of which are set in Ostia (and Rome), and we enjoyed spotting places mentioned in the books. Another big hit was the fascinating catacombs of San Sebastiano and San Callisto, an easy bus ride from central Rome (and we dropped by the Baths of Caracalla en route, too). While all of these are major tourist sites in their own right, footfall is so much less than at the likes of the Pantheon, Colosseum and so on.

Our favourite place to eat in Rome is a hole in the wall Neapolitan place called Ce Stamo A Pensà, on a street behind Via Cavour, not far from the Forum and Colosseum. They do amazing montanare - a Neapolitan deep fried dough (like deep fried pizza but the toppings are added after the dough is fried).

We did four days a few years ago. I was teaching baroque art at the time, so we saw every Caravaggio painting we could find, every Bernini piece ditto, and for light entertainment, the locations of Gregory Peck films set in Rome (Roman Holiday and The Scarlet and the Black). Oh, and we bought some Gammarelli cardinal’s socks as a souvenir.

On our last day we went to Castel Sant' Angelo - Hadrian's mausoleum. It has wonderful views and plenty of spaces to sit and rest while wandering round. Beautiful interior and interesting stories too. It's a really short walk from the centre - just across the Ponte Sant' Angelo to get there.

https://castelsantangelorome.com/tickets-castel-sant-angelo-rome/

I was really surprised that this didnt seem very well advertised or busy, yet so interesting and historical. Beautiful approach as well and round the corner from the long approach to the Vatican.

We thought the same, and it was a fascinating place to visit.

Yes, I visited the Castel because I saw it in passing and it looked interesting. It was and also there's a good cafe in it, I seem to remember a very nice Aperol spritz!

Yes had one watching the sun go down, beautiful.

https://www.basilicasanclemente.com/eng/

here. 1400 years of Christian and roman history on three levels in one place. 10 minutes walk from the colosseum. It’s magnificent.

Can I ask @Pieceofpurplesky what day you are flying to Rome from the UK and from what Airport?

Not sure why you want to know! But early March and Birmingham

I've booked flights from Manchester. My sister is staying with me the night before. We were originally going to go from Birmingham.

Didn't mean to pry. We're going in May.

Another vote for San Clemente, amazing place. The Scavi under St Peter’s Basilica is well worth a visit, if you book tickets well in advance. Colosseum by night is magic.

No worries! Thought someone may have recognised me!!!

Loving this thread. Thanks for starting it.

Don’t know if this has been mentioned but a walk up to the Garibaldi monument had great views and apart from a bit of rubbish was totally deserted.
Agree with pp that the lift to the top of the Victor Enmanuel monument is worth a visit. We stayed in Monti and it summed up ‘Rome’ for us.

I must be one of the fun Police as I’m not getting the scream thing at all, sorry! but wholly agree with Domus Romane and also Domus Aurea (Nero’s palace). We also watched some fab light shows in the Forum which reconstructed the history of various key periods in Roman history but not sure if it’s still running.
We loved the Roscioli salumeria (book the downstairs).
Book the key sights directly and not through the rip off intermediaries.