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Successfully planning your own Rome trip will give you a sense of achievement for a number of reasons, but most of all, it will benefit your overall experience in the city.
Don’t get me wrong, taking a tour also has its own advantages, but if you are an independent traveler, shaping your own trip will give you a whole new level of satisfaction. And when it comes to huge and chaotic Rome, planning a bumpless trip will give you the impression you actually have superpowers.
You will save money
First of all, you will save money. Not only because it’s more affordable than buying a tour package, but also because planning every aspect on time will avoid plenty of unexpected turns (and costs!).
Visiting Rome doesn’t need to be expensive, and by planning your own trip, you will be able to pick your favorite hotel, restaurants, and things to do also keeping your budget in mind.
You can customize it to your needs
While pre-packaged tours are great for delegating all the boring logistics stuff, you will be quite bound to a ready program that can’t really be changed too much. In most tours, you will have some free time but this, too, needs to be within the tour’s main framework.
One of the main benefits of planning your own Rome trip is that you can tailor it to your preferences, passions, and needs.
You will optimize your time
I’m not saying that you will have to plan your trip by the minute, but having the main things already booked such as hotels, tours, entrances, and even some of the restaurants you don’t want to miss will save you so much time.
All time that you can devote to more pleasant stuff when you are actually traveling.
You arrive with a deeper knowledge
Planning also means gathering all the information you will need when you are at the destination, and Rome does require some good reading. Good planning means to know what are the main monuments you are interested in and where they are, but also what are the lesser-known landmarks.
Even in the city center, in fact, you will find plenty of little-known (and crowd-free!) landmarks that are wonderful, historically interesting, and packed with artwork.
You will have more flexibility
This is directly related to the point above because a bigger knowledge will give you the tools to be flexible once here.
For example, the church you want to visit is closed when you reach it? You will already know the area so you can easily replace it with some other landmark or activity. Or some of the famous landmarks that are always included in most tours don’t inspire you? No problem, you can easily replace them with something else!
You won’t get lost
You will arrive fully prepared, including with a good sense of direction. In the planning stage, in fact, checking out the map is important not only when choosing your hotel but also when creating your itinerary and finding the nearest best restaurants.
Getting lost in Rome doesn’t mean that you are in danger or risk not finding your way, but it can certainly be annoying and time-consuming.
You can plan your free time
You don’t feel like going on a landmark marathon but would you rather experience some Dolce Vita time? Who’s going to stop you?!
It’s your trip, your time, your experience, so if you want to stop for an extra cappuccino, spend more time inside a museum, or just sit in a piazza and enjoy the beauty all around it, you will be free to.
You can add all the extras you like
Either during the planning stages or when you are already here, one of the benefits of planning your Rome trip is that you can add all the extra stops you want. This can mean extra landmarks, extra day trips, extra activities such as shopping, and even extra gelato!
You will eat better
By doing your planning before arriving in Rome, you can do your research about what to eat and where. Of course, once you are here, you can ask the locals, and they will be happy to suggest their favorite places.
Increased adrenaline!
Planning a trip to Rome inevitably entails research so you will start seeing pictures, landmarks, piazzas, and plenty of food. This will definitely give a big boost to your excitement and you will have something to look forward to.
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