For an ancient city, Rome offers plenty to see and do, no matter what you want out of traveling. The key is to have a good plan before jumping in.

As we left baggage claim at the airport, a Mobile Sim card company snagged us for a sim that will work in almost all of the countries that we will be visiting along this trip. The card, which we got with both internet and phone minutes, has already helped as we wondered the back alleys around our hostel looking for our street. And if you’re carrying a internet enabled phone, Google Translate (which you can download for offline use of typed text translations) can use your phones camera to translate signs on-the-go.

We stayed at Orsa Maggiore (for women only), which is centrally located in Rome, though got in early enough to drop our bags at the hostel and go wonder at the ancient wonders near by. The Colosseum and Roman Forum, stooping for Gelato on the way.

When approaching the Colosseum, we were stopped by numerous tour guides with the same plug trying to get us to join their tours for an additional 18 euro.

My recommendation: Get a Roma Pass (the price varies by how much time you would like to keep it active for. There is a special line for both the Colosseum and Roman Forum for pass holders. While the guides were trying to convince us it would take nearly 2 hours to get through with the pass, it was really only 10-15 minutes. We also get free transportation with it, and makes the pass a worthy addition to our planning. If a tour sounds like a good idea to you, they offer audio tour devices just inside the gates into the Colosseum.

When walking all over the forum, there are a couple things you will want with you. A camera, a hat/sunscreen, A water bottle (which can be refilled at one of the many water fountains in the city,) and a map/guidebook (we have the DK eyewitness Italy book, which explains a bit more about what were looking at.)