A few years ago, I was on my way to Moldova on a work trip when I found myself on a surprise layover in Rome. A series of delayed flights and well-intended, but bad, advice from United agents gave me the opportunity of a lifetime – 20 hours to spend in the Eternal City!
I was with my friend Sonia who had been to Rome before, and we quickly made a list of all the must-sees in Rome based on her memory and my hurried Googling while using airport Wi-Fi. We collected our baggage (it was a miracle that our bags were there given the missed connections!) and headed off towards our airline-provided hotel room. We checked in, drank a cappuccino to get some energy, freshened up, and headed out determined to make the absolute most out of our surprise layover in Rome!
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Colosseum
We started out at the Colosseum. Queues for this Roman ruin can take hours, so I knew it wasn’t possible to go inside given our time constraints. Instead, we wandered around the outside, taking hundreds of photos, and simply marveling that we were there.
Dinner
I quickly learned when in Rome, you take full advantage of EVERY meal. You eat, even if you aren’t hungry and don’t feel like eating. So our next stop was an area southwest of the river where several locals said the food was best. We sat down at the only restaurant we could find that had a table available at 7:30 p.m. on a Saturday night. It might not have been the most popular choice in town, but the food was delicious! We had bruschetta, caprese salad, palm salad, roasted eggplant, Parmesan and pepper pasta, and wine. Twenty minutes later, we found a gelato shop and topped off our overly large dinner with a delicious cold treat.
Pantheon
We visited the Pantheon next. I was amazed that this ancient building was open late at night and free for anyone to enter. We wandered around and I still to this day don’t know why it’s important. Sonia as my tour guide was useless. She knew what we should see but couldn’t remember exactly why we should see it! We laughed a lot about that.
Fontana di Trevi
Sonia was a better guide at the Fontana di Trevi. She remembered that one must throw coins in the fountain and wish to return to Rome to ensure a future visit. I happily tossed all the coins I had on my person since it was obvious I needed another trip back, to allow for research to be able to appreciate what I was seeing!
Scalinata di Trinita dei Monti (Spanish Steps)
Our final stop of the night was the Scalinata di Trinita dei Monti, or Spanish Steps. I asked why this specific staircase was significant, but Sonia couldn’t remember. All she could tell me was that it was in the Tom Hanks movie Angels and Demons based on the Dan Brown book of the same name.
Exhausted and full of Italian food, we taxied back to our hotel about midnight. We had already accomplished four of the top five on most lists of the top things to do in Rome!
Vatican
Our last must-do for our surprise layover in Rome was the Vatican. For reasons I do not understand, the Vatican is considered a separate country. So for country counters like me, going there is definitely necessary. Unfortunately, we were visiting on a Sunday which is the worst day to visit as the museums and the Sistine Chapel are closed.
But we were able to wander around St. Peter’s Basilica. My most vivid memory is seeing Michelangelo’s Pieta. Due to our flight schedule, we couldn’t stay long. The Pope appears at noon every Sunday, but unfortunately we didn’t have time to stay and see him. We did see people setting up for his visit and wished our outbound flight was two hours later!
Lunch
We didn’t mourn our loss for long, though. Instead, we ate again! This time we had delicious pizza and more wine to toast our surprise layover in Rome!
Tips for Surprise Layovers
I’ve had a few surprise layovers in my travel history. But my layover in Rome was the only one I took full advantage of! I hope that my future unexpected layovers can be just as fulfilling as this one if I keep the following things in mind:
- Use Your Resources – on this trip, I had someone who had been to the city before. We relied on her memory. While Sonia was a terrible tour guide, she was able to rattle off the top 5 things we should do and roughly where they were located. She also knew how much we could do in our time allotment. That’s priceless! I owe her a tip!
- Google Google Google – if you don’t have a Sonia, Google is your friend. In fact, we try to use the search terms that I frequently use before and during travel in this blog to help people better understand what to do and how to do it. Knowing what is possible in a given amount of time is key, and Google is your friend in finding out.
- Prepare to Lose Luggage – we were extremely fortunate to have our luggage, but it’s far more likely that your bags make it to your final destination before you do. So either carry-on your suitcase, or make sure you have everything you need for a day or two in a carry-on bag.
- Sacrifice Sleep – we didn’t get much sleep during our 20 hours, but that would have been time wasted. It was far better to be tired than wish I would have taken better advantage of my limited time.
- Think Outside the Box – I knew Italy had wonderful food, but honestly I wouldn’t have focused on the food on my own. But my travel companion knew that a trip to Italy isn’t complete without experiencing the delicious food. And I’m so glad we did. I’m not a pasta person except when I’m in Italy and then bring on the pasta!
- Sacrifice Perfect for Good Enough – did I see Rome? Yes. Did I have my dream experience there? No. I definitely need to go back. But if I never get there again, I feel good that I’ve seen it and understand it, just a little bit. That’s priceless.
Have you had a surprise layover anywhere?
Tell us below! Also check out our posts on Taking Advantage of a Long Airport Layover and The Art of the Free Stopover. And subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss a post!