Before heading to Rome, it is good to consider a couple of very important things:
✖ Avoid going to Rome before Easter or Christmas time – the city will be full with people. Speaking from personal experience, this is probably the worst time to visit the Eternal City and the lines are humongous.
✖ The best time of the week to visit Rome is from Tuesday through Friday. Most of the museum are closed on Monday and the weekend brings lots of tourists, thus you would like to avoid this.
✖ Buy tickets upfront to skip the lines. If you plan to visit the Colosseum buy a combined ticket, which includes the Roman Forum and the Palatine.
✖ Do not accept “gifts” from strangers. This is a scam and they will ask you to pay for it.
✖ Tourist tax is a thing! You pay a tourist tax per person per night and it depends mainly on the stars of your hotel. So, if your hotel is 2-3 stars you will pay 4 per night, or 6 euros if it is 4 stars and 7 euros if it is 5 stars.
✖ You pay for table service. The average “coperto” is 1.50 EUR per person or 10-20% of your bill and it depends on the restaurant. Always ask for the price of the table service if you want to avoid any misunderstandings.
✖ Tipping is not mandatory! You don’t have to give any tips, especially when there is a table service tax in every restaurant. However, if satisfied with the service, feel free to leave some 💰