For winter break, I decided to make my dreams of visiting Europe come true. I laughed at the Chinese New Year holiday in the face and flew started my adventure in the Netherlands. From the Netherlands, I travelled to London, Rome, Paris and back to the land of the best fries again. I was mostly with friends during this trip but it was in Rome that I decided to venture alone. It was my first time travelling so far out into the world and everyone I have met only had horror stories to tell me about Europe. “People will grab your bag and run,” “They will trick you into paying for something they said was free,” “You might lose all your luggage at the airport.” I had to try my best to ignore all the thoughts that were running through my head. I was so worried I would get robbed or face racism but I think that scary expectation kind of helped me realise it was not too bad. If you are thinking of travelling to Rome alone, here is your sign to go ahead and do it.

*Photo by* *Cristina Gottardi* on *Unsplash*

Out of all the European countries I have been to, Rome was the one that left me truly speechless. Its rich history and culture alone makes the trip well worth it. I was only in Rome for three full days and in those three days, I was able to learn so much about the Roman empire. My knowledge of the Roman empire was only limited to the Gladiator movies. Thank you Gerard Butler. It was truly a dream for a History fan like me. There were literally so many places to visit it was difficult to pick which I should spend my time visiting. Do not even get me started on the food. I naturally have a small appetite which absolutely sucks because there were so many things I wanted to try but could not. There was one point I had two gelatos a day because the freshness of each flavour was simple heaven on earth and you pay three euros for two scoops. Birds of Paradise could never. If good Italian food, rich history and culture and amazing architecture is up your alley, Rome is the place for you. Compared to the other European countries I have visited, the cost of things in Rome felt more affordable to me too.

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Tourist attractions and good food aside, travelling alone felt pretty easy for me all thanks to CityMapper. The trains in Rome were a little weird in a sense it was difficult to figure out which stop to get off at because they do not really announce it or the screens in my train were not working. CityMapper was great because it tells you in advance when you are going to alight so you can happily pay less attention to the stop names at each station. In terms of scammers and people trying to rob me, thankfully there were not any. I had a couple of weird sketch men cat calling me which was weird but I just looked ahead and walked away. I learnt to ignore anyone who tries to talk to you or sell you anything unless they too are also a tourist. Trust me you will know a tourist when you see one. I would say if you take the necessary precautions like not talking to strangers, not falling asleep on public transport, especially if you are a woman and place your bags or any of your valuables in front of you, you should be good to go. One of my Italian friends told me that Italians were racist and I should go home before the sun sets but I actually met some really nice Italians and usually it is the homeless people that might scare you late at night so just avoid dodgy roads and always walk in areas where there is light or many people.

*Photo by* *Ágatha Depiné* on *Unsplash*

Of course I am not letting you go without giving you some tips on ensuring you make the best out of your trip to Rome.

1. Transport Pass

Instead of buying daily tickets or tickets to just a specific station, the transport pass will save you a lot of money. There are different categories to the transport pass you can choose from, depending on the duration of your stay, you can pick whichever suits you best. There is a 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours and weekly pass. These passes will allow you to take both trains and buses to anywhere in Rome itself. One odd thing you will realise when you take the bus in Rome is that people board from any door and people do not actually scan their ticket anywhere. So it is easy to travel without paying because the bus drivers do not check but if you are unlucky you might get caught as they do do occasional inspections. Let us just have integrity and pay for the transport pass, compared to other parts of Europe, it is honestly not that expensive. You should be able to get your transport passes at convenience stores and tobacco shops (weird I know) but the safest bet you can take is at the metro station itself.

2. Plan Your Trip Well

If you would like to make the best out of your time in Rome, plan where you want to go well. Most attractions actually take at least a few hours as it is huge. These attractions are not your typical Singapore Zoo size, the Vatican City for example is literally a city. A small city but still a city. So plan your time and map out the places of interest with your must-go restaurants together well. I walked A LOT when I visited the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and Roman Forum which were all in the same area, so make sure you are wearing comfortable shoes.

3. Get An Audio Guide or Tour Guide

If you are in Rome, it cannot just be because you love shopping. You have to have some sort of appreciation for its rich history and culture and so investing in a guide is really a good choice. If joining a tour is above your budget, every location offers an audio guide and it is truly life changing. It is easy to use and you can easily follow what the guide says as you walk through each attraction. This allows you to appreciate each artwork or painting or sculpture even better.

4. Card Payments

I remember reading on a website that labelled “Things You Should Take Note Of Before Going To Rome” and they mentioned that Italian shops prefer to accept cash as compared to card payments. I obviously decided to bring more cash which was a mistake because the majority of them use card payments. So do not worry about not having enough cash, they do accept card payments as well.

5. Book Your Tickets In Advance

Even though I visited Rome at considerably an off peak period, there were still a ton of tourists. It might be the pandemic, but there were people from everywhere visiting Rome. Getting tickets to famous attractions might be difficult as the majority of the time they are sold out on the day itself so do yourself a favour and book them online. Compare prices on different sites and find the ones that suit your budget best.

Rome is an absolutely beautiful country so do not let the horror stories from others scare you away. As long as you take the necessary precautions and be alert especially if you are going alone as a woman, you will be fine. Do not let the language barrier scare you either, most Italians, especially those that work in touristy areas are able to speak English if not, there is nothing Google Translate cannot do. Take the risk and broaden your eyes and promise me, it will be worth it.

Going Solo In Rome

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