{"id":16612,"date":"2015-08-26T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-08-26T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/?p=16612"},"modified":"2021-10-28T16:34:04","modified_gmt":"2021-10-28T16:34:04","slug":"skip-the-lines-in-rome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/skip-the-lines-in-rome\/","title":{"rendered":"Skip the lines in Rome"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was 4:25 a.m. as we bid arrivederci<\/em>\u00a0to Rome<\/a>\u00a0en route to the airport. We must have passed more than 20 historical sites\u2014the major kind plastered on the pages of history books\u2014when our driver pointed out\u00a0Teatro di Marcello and mused,<\/em>\u00a0\u201cIt was finished in 11 BC; there\u2019s currently a concert series happening there right now.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

E<\/span>ven though my mind was a little foggy due to the frighteningly early hour, I appreciated the final history lesson courtesy of my Expedia-booked shuttle<\/a>, and thought, \u201cThe\u00a0<\/span>Eternal City<\/a>, indeed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I will never get used to Rome\u2019s history, its ancient ruins between modern restaurants, its relics of storied tales scattered on every street, or its scent that combines the sweetness of gelato with the mustiness of a city built over thousands of years.\u00a0<\/span>It\u2019s almost too much to take in.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For this reason, I wanted to revere Rome properly during my summer 2015 visit: through the eyes of historians, via skip-the-line loopholes, and with my taste buds. <\/span><\/p>\n

As it turns out, this tall order was as simple as grabbing a coffee from Starbucks\u2014or sipping an espresso from a caff\u00e8.\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with lines, a norm at many sights strewn about Italy\u2019s capital. I don\u2019t understand why a person would wait in line when he can prebook tours for the same price. There is no reason. I repeat: There-is-no-reason<\/em>. (You know the screen that prompts you to book activities after you buy your flight and hotel? Next time it pops up, don\u2019t close the window.)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Inside St. Peter’s Basilica<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Skipping the line at St. Peter\u2019s Basilica<\/p>\n

Case in point, I passed a three-hour queue to get into St. Peter\u2019s Basilica by booking a\u00a0skip-the-line tour<\/a>\u00a0ahead of time via the Expedia Local Expert<\/a>\u00ae<\/sup>\u00a0activities page. Due to Vatican rules, if you opt for a special-access tour, only Vatican-appointed guides can lead tours, ensuring detailed insight into the most crucial Catholic church in the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

Exclusive access to the Colosseum and Caesar’s Palace<\/strong><\/p>\n

Viewfinder Tip: For an overview of Rome\u2019s symbolic sights (and to taste gelato all over the city), start with a hop-on hop-off bus tour<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Same goes for the Colosseum; I wanted a <\/span>small-group tour<\/a>\u00a0worthy of the ancient site\u2019s significance. After all, I didn\u2019t travel across the Atlantic Ocean to wander aimlessly through the brick-and-marble structure that still holds records as the world\u2019s largest amphitheater.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My Walks of Italy guide, a jovial graduate student about to embark on his PhD studying ancient Rome, took my family members through the mega marvel with a keenness to match our own, constantly tailoring his \u201ccolossal\u201d wealth of information to our interests. Oh, and again, we skipped the line and went through at our own pace, stopping to learn fun facts such as the Colosseum\u2019s wood floor used to be covered in sand, and the Latin word for \u201csand\u201d is \u201carena,\u201d as in a sports arena. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Small-group pasta-making class\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

With a few history lessons under my belt, I felt it was high time to let loose at a pasta-making class<\/a>. I say \u201clet loose\u201d because it was experiential learning at its best\u2014our\u00a0classroom was a rooftop chef\u2019s studio and the course materials were flour, water, and prosecco. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Mixing flour and water for my pasta<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

As a lifetime devotee of Italy\u2019s art of al-dente pasta, I was ready and willing to toil over my tagliatelle amatriciana<\/em> with the drive of a Harvard student (and I did). But the whole evening was an A+\u00a0<\/em>from its start of prosciutto-wrapped melons to its finish of the chef\u2019s homemade, laurel leaf\u2013infused digestivo<\/em>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I was a good student (I promise), but it was hard to concentrate from the rooftop of Rome. The\u00a0<\/span>skyline paired with my made-from-scratch pasta was fulfilling in every sense of the word, which made me grateful for the\u00a0<\/span>chefs, history experts, and local guides who helped me really find the heart of the Eternal City.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What are your must-do activities in Europe?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Experiencing the Eternal City with local experts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11390,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1883,1782,1838,1816,1875,1780,1788,1845,1774,1846,1818,1793],"tags":[],"authors":[2232],"class_list":["post-16612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-architecture","category-destinations","category-europe","category-food-and-drink","category-history","category-inspiration","category-interests","category-italy","category-occasions-and-seasons","category-rome","category-summer","category-things-to-do","authors-trip-styler","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSkip the lines in Rome | Expedia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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