In this passion blog, I’ll be talking about Rome. While Rome has countless places to explore and magnificent architecture, I’ll mainly be covering my experience touring the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Colosseum, and the Roman Forum & Palatine Hill.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is exactly how you’d imagine it to be. The tower rests on clean-cut green grass and has a visible four-degree tilt because of its unstable foundation. Throughout history, the tower played a significant role in human timekeeping with its seven bells (each signifying a musical note).

After climbing all 251 steps to the top, there’s a small gallery filled with notebooks that detail how people used the tower to keep track of time and new discoveries. Reaching the top of the tower is not particularly hard or strenuous, but you may get dizzy climbing up in circles at a tilt. The view from the tower’s top is stunning, as it allows you to see Duomo Square in its entirety. I highly recommend purchasing tickets in advance or at the door and exploring the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

The driving distance between the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Colosseum is around four hours. So, I would not recommend trying to visit both attractions on the same day. The Colosseum was one of my favorite places. It was insane to learn about the history, and how many monumental events took place in the arena.

The historic Flavian Amphitheater was built in 70 CE as a gift to the Romans. It was intended to hold more than 50,000 people and stayed as one of the biggest theaters ever constructed. The Colosseum is most well known for its gladiator fights, plays, and public executions. In fact, if you book a tour, you may even view the underground portion of the Colosseum that illustrates how many of these events were conducted.

One thing to note is that the lines for the Colosseum are very long during the summer months. So, I’d highly recommend waking up earlier as the lines are shorter and it’s not as warm outside.

I’d also recommend booking a guided tour in advance that allows you to explore the underground portion of the Colosseum or the arena floor. Many of the locations have restricted access, and I felt that there was not much to explore without a tour.

The last place I’ll be talking about is the Roman Forum & Palatine Hill. Although the Roman Forum & Palatine Hill isn’t quite as publicized as the Colosseum and Leaning Tower of Pisa, it’s definitely a place I highly recommend visiting. In fact, purchasing a ticket to the Colosseum gives you free access to visit the Forum and Palatine Hill within a 48 hour time period.

The Roman Forum and Palatine Hill are filled with ruins and fascinating architecture. It almost feels as though you’ve been transported back into the past, and gives you a glance at life in the ancient Roman empire.

The Roman Forum is home to some of the oldest, most important buildings from the Roman Empire. Some monuments at the Forum even date back to the sixth century BC or the first kings of Rome. There’s an extraordinary amount of ruins, shrines/temples, such as the House of the Vestal and Virgins, that are worth viewing.

The Roman Forum is also home to Julius Caesar’s altar, which is located near the Temple of Caesar. Caesar was cremated so there is no actual grave or tomb, but many do leave flowers and notes on his altar.