Item
Dinner, Flavio al Velavevodetto (table for 2)
Cristina at Hotel Santa Prassede confirmed the table in her 1 Oct Booking.com message. Exact seating time and restaurant confirmation number were not supplied; verify with the hotel.
Day 8 of 18 · Rome
Pilgrim Rome, and a slow last day.
Holy Stairs on your knees · St John Lateran · Borghese · a painting to carry home
☼ 70°F / 55°FMixed sun and cloudWear: Layers, an umbrella in the bag, comfortable shoes.
The churches Dr. Trace and Dr. Leti won't stop talking about in the morning, a small perfect gallery at midday, a keepsake to carry home, and a laundry stop before Paris.
Carry your passport the Galleria Borghese is strictly nominative, they check photo ID against the booking at the entrance before they let you leave bags.
Today’s shape, roughly
Optional, before the day starts. A 1-hour gym session or a run (nearest option is on the Rome page), and an afternoon nap block is built into the schedule below, take it on the long days.
Watch over coffee
Three minutes before you leave, to see it before you see it, Bernini's marble that looks alive, the Borghese in 5 minutes
01Morning
07:30
Metro A to San Giovanni. San Giovanni in Laterano, the Pope's actual cathedral, older than St Peter's, the relics of Peter and Paul in the canopy above the altar.
Same single 100-minute ticket as every other Rome ride, whatever's left in the book from the Vatican day. No pass, no app, buy more at any tabacchi if you run out.
08:30
Across the street: the Scala Sancta / Holy Stairs, the 28 marble steps Jesus is said to have climbed to Pilate, brought from Jerusalem. You go up them on your knees. Trace's single favourite thing in all of Rome.
09:30
Santa Maria Maggiore, Pope Francis's tomb, the first pope buried outside the Vatican in over a century, in a plain niche marked only Franciscus.
02Afternoon
12:15
A light lunch near the gallery, then arrive before your 14:00 booked entry with your two separate tickets and photo IDs.
14:00-16:00
Galleria Borghese, two tickets booked for this exact two-hour slot. Bernini's marble that looks like it's breathing (the Daphne, the Rape of Proserpina, see the fingers pressing into the thigh), six Caravaggios. Small and perfect.
16:10
Short walk in the Villa Borghese gardens; continue to Pincio only if time permits before the painting and laundry.
03Evening
17:00
Buy a small original watercolour from a street artist near Piazza Navona or along the Tiber, Dr. Trace and Dr. Leti do this every trip. It's the keepsake. Don't leave it to the airport.
17:45
Back in Monti for the trip's next laundry stop: Lavanderia Self Service Punto Blu, Via Cavour 168, a flat ~6-minute walk from the hotel (500 m each way). Mon-Sat 08:30-20:30, +39 06 9020 6278. Wash and dry back to back, then the short walk back before heading out to Testaccio.
About 90 minutes total: ~6 min each way (12 min round trip) plus a 30-40 min wash and a 30-40 min dry running back to back. Nothing dirty gets packed for the trip to Paris tomorrow. Hotel valet is the backup if it's ever closed, but self-service runs roughly €10-20 total for both of you versus $80-150+ for a two-person valet load.
20:00
Flavio al Velavevodetto, table for 2 booked by Cristina at Hotel Santa Prassede, around 20:00. Leave enough time after laundry to reach Testaccio; confirm the exact seating time with the hotel.
The table
Breakfast~$7
A bar near San Giovanni
house pick Coffee, maritozzo, standing.
Lunch~$30
A quick bite near Galleria Borghese
house pick Keep lunch small before the fixed 14:00 entry. Mercato Testaccio is across town and is not a convenient pre-gallery stop.
Order: A simple protein-forward lunch, with enough time to reach the gallery before 14:00.
Dinner~$66
Flavio al Velavevodetto (Testaccio)
Julian booked Booked by Cristina at Hotel Santa Prassede, confirmed in her 1 Oct Booking.com message: table for 2 on Tue 20 Oct around 20:00. Flavio's dining room is built into Monte dei Cocci, a hill of ancient Roman amphorae. The precise seating time and restaurant confirmation number were not supplied; verify with Cristina. Restaurant phone: +39 06 574 4194.
Order: The tonnarelli cacio e pepe (called "brilliantly emulsified"), carbonara or amatriciana, coda alla vaccinara (oxtail). Reviewers also rate the arrabbiata here, a real chili-based sauce, not the mild version, worth trying if you're up for it. Pick your own bottle off the wall of Lazio organic wines, a red suits the oxtail.
Tickets and bookings
Cristina at Hotel Santa Prassede confirmed the table in her 1 Oct Booking.com message. Exact seating time and restaurant confirmation number were not supplied; verify with the hotel.
Item
Galleria Borghese, timed 2-hr slot (×2)
inbox, search “Borghese”
Booked direct via TOSC/TicketOne after the 13:00 slot fell to one seat. Two 14:00 tickets cost €40 including fees, without optional insurance. The exact ticket PDF is linked here. Each visitor carries one distinct ticket and photo ID; both tickets display the purchaser's name, so name handling needs venue confirmation. Dated entry has no standard customer withdrawal. Bags 21×15cm max; no food or drink, including water.
Item
Scala Sancta, free; upper chapel (×2, optional)
Confirmations and vouchers live in the private Europe 2026 / Reservations & Vouchers folder on Google Drive. Exact booking links appear above when verified; no ticket contents are embedded here.
Before you leave the door
Insider edge
The Holy Stairs are genuinely painful, 28 marble steps on your knees, and that's the point. Go at 07:30 before the groups. San Giovanni and Santa Maria Maggiore are both free and both breathtaking.
Dr. Trace & Dr. LetiAvoid this
Booking Borghese right after a big lunch, it's a hard two-hour cut-off and you'll rush it. And don't leave the painting to the airport.
House pickBackup move
Your Borghese tickets are booked. If the gallery itself closes, check with the venue before changing plans; Palazzo Barberini or the Capitoline Museums are alternatives, not current reservations.
House pickIdeal window
Holy Stairs 07:30; Borghese entry strictly on your ticketed time; the Pincio terrace is best in the last hour of light.
House pickLook for it on the walk
- In Bernini's Apollo and Daphne, walk around it: from the entrance you see the chase; from the far side, bark is climbing her legs and leaves are sprouting from her fingers. He carved it at 24, and the marble drapery is thinner than paper.
- In the Rape of Proserpina, Pluto's hand presses into her marble thigh and it dimples, like real flesh. People stand there just staring at the hand.
- The Holy Stairs are covered in walnut boards because six centuries of knees wore grooves into the marble. There are small glass windows in the wood over spots said to bear drops of Christ's blood.
The things you'd wish you knew
St John Lateran, not St Peter's, is the cathedral of Rome and of the world, “mother and head of all churches.” The Pope is Bishop of Rome; this is his seat. Its inscription outranks every other church on earth.
The Borghese collection exists because Cardinal Scipione Borghese, the Pope's nephew, was a ruthless art shark. He had Domenichino jailed to force him to hand over a painting, and seized 100+ Caravaggios and Raphaels from a rival's estate. Beautiful things, ugly means.
If time, or if a deal lands
| Option | Added | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Pompeii day-trip by rail (replaces this day) | +$170 | 2-2.5 hrs each way, the ancient-history splurge |
| Ostia Antica (30 min by train) | +$36 | Pompeii-like, cheap, almost empty, the budget version |
| Florence day-trip (Frecciarossa 1h30) | +$150 | Uffizi + Duomo + Accademia; art 4/5, history 5/5 |
What today runs
Estimates. Swap in the real figure as you go.
| Scala Sancta, upper chapel (×2, optional) | $14 |
| Galleria Borghese, timed (×2), paid €40 | $45 |
| A small framed watercolour, the keepsake | $45 |
| Laundry, Punto Blu (wash + dry, ×2) | $18 |
| Breakfast, bar | $7 |
| Lunch, quick bite near Galleria Borghese | $30 |
| Dinner, Flavio al Velavevodetto (booked) | $66 |
| Gelato, Giolitti | $9 |
| Today, Rome | $234 |
Flights and the places to stay are on the costs page, not counted here.
How it went
Written after the day: what you did, what you loved, what you'd skip, the photographs, a voice note or two. It fills in here and in the album.