Pilgrim Rome, and a slow last day.
Holy Stairs on your knees · St John Lateran · Borghese · a painting to carry home
The churches Dr. Trace and Dr. Leticia won't stop talking about in the morning, a small perfect gallery at midday, and a keepsake to carry home.
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.
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.
Three minutes before you leave, to see it before you see it, Bernini's marble that looks alive, the Borghese in 5 minutes
01Morning
02Afternoon
03Evening
The table
Tickets and bookings
| Item | When | Est. | Link | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Galleria Borghese, timed 2-hr slot (×2) inbox, search “Borghese” | 13:00 | ~$60 | open | to book |
| Scala Sancta, free; upper chapel (×2, optional) | 08:30 | ~$14 | open | to book |
Before you leave the door
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. LeticiaBooking 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 pickBorghese sold out (it often is) to Palazzo Barberini (Raphael's La Fornarina, Caravaggio's Judith) or the Capitoline Museums.
House pickHoly 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) | $60 |
| A small framed watercolour, the keepsake | $45 |
| Breakfast, bar | $7 |
| Lunch, Testaccio market | $30 |
| Dinner, Flavio / Perilli | $66 |
| Gelato, Giolitti | $9 |
| Today, Rome | $231 |
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.