At the beginning of the February, me and two of my oldest gal pals set off on a girls trip to Rome. I had been before - for a day and a half - but the girls had never been so the excitement levels were HIGH to say the least. 

A couple of hours and 9 mini plane rosés later, we rolled off the plane and into the land of pasta and wine. 

A 15 minute turnaround at our AirBnB and we were ready to rock and on the hunt for food. 

We were staying in Monti - a kind of hipster neighbourhood in the city - and one of the places that came highly recommended was Trattoria Monti, and it did not disappoint. Homemade pasta and a litre of house wine for €10 - you can't go wrong. We rolled home to bed, ready for what our first full day in Rome had to offer.

Rome has so much to offer, and there is never time to do and see it all. I have rounded up a list of what we did/saw/ate/drank, and will also include other places I found while doing my research that came highly recommended from travel bloggers, Time Out and Condé Nast Traveler - my go-to places for recommendations when I'm visiting a city.

Things to see

1. Colosseum & Roman Forum - a must if you're visiting Rome, for obvious reasons

2. Trevi fountain - goes without saying. AVOID the men that come up offering to take a polaroid pic of you - they will charge you an arm and a leg for it and basically force you to buy it

3. Trevi fountain underground - not great, not worth the time/fiver

4. St Peter's Square & Basilica - in the Vatican - gorgeous (it was pissing rain that day, the yellow poncho was forced upon me as you can tell by my face)

5. The Sistine Chapel - 15 min walk away from the Basilica, or €5 in taxi - be warned you have to walk through all the Vatican museums to get to the chapel, there is a short cut but it's not that short, so be warned. No pics allowed in the chapel either.

Where to eat

1. Trattoria Monti - delicious homemade pastas, house wine & gorge desserts

2. Emma Pizzeria - book this so you can get a seat outside under the canopy with the fairy lights

3. Il Sorpasso (near Vatican) - Get the pizza pocket thing with meatballs & a caprese salad - you will die happy 

4. CiPasso Bistrot - absolutely divine. Duck ragout was to die for, and pumpkin ravioli if you're a veggie. Gorgeous rosé too!

5. Molino Bakery - I got some sort of pistachio situation (see below) and it may be the nicest pastry I ever tasted. Super cheap with great coffee too.

6. Panella Bakery - more great coffee and pastries but a little more pricey

7. Seu Pizza Illuminati - deep dish and to die for

Others highly recommended:

Da Gino al Parlamento (Ed and I went here when we came to Rome and it was divine)

Piccolo buco - pizza

Felice a Testaccio Roma

Da Enzo al 29

Va.Do al Pigneto

Trattoria Pennestri

Coromandel - best brunch

Marigold - brunch

Supplizio - street food snack like arancini 

Bonci - best pizza by the slice

Where to drink

We generally ate and drank in the one location but we did frequent a couple of cute wine bars:

1. Wine bar overlooking Colosseum (cannot remember the name but if you go up the steps to the prime photo taking locations you will find it across the road - hopefully the pic will help)

2. Club Derriere (speakeasy, behind a secret door) - very cool, gorge cocktails & fab interior

3. Enoteca i Figli (near Vatican) - cheap, delicious wine and bruschetta to die for

Other wine bars with great reviews:

Il Gocetto

Salotta 42 - cocktails, on world's best bars list

Bar del Fico

Freni e Frizioni

Al tre Scalini

Where to caffeinate 

We generally went to a bakery (Molino & Panella mentioned above) - the coffee is good everywhere in Rome - but some other recommendations that popped up for best coffee in Rome are also below if you are a coffee conoisseur:

Others we didn't get to but are meant to be amazing:

Caffe Roscioli - apparently the city's best coffee

Salotto 42 (also a wine bar)

Tram Depot

Pergamino Caffe

Fax factory

Faro

Barnum

Antigua Tazza D'oro

Sciascia caffe 1919

Good to know:

• Carry cash for tips - a lot of places don't take tips on card
• Can't buy bus tickets on the bus - buy in a Tabbachi - there are tonnes of these around
• House wine is ALWAYS great and super cheap
• Most museums are closed on Mondays, Vatican museums (including Sistine Chapel) are closed on Sundays
• You needed your green pass (booster or recovery cert) for literally everywhere. They check it before they let you in the door - even in Sephora and for sitting outdoors in restaurants. Of course check the restrictions before you go in case these changed