Take a walk from Piazza del Popolo

Start in Piazza del Popolo (you can take Metro A to Piazzale Flaminio) and, if you’re an art person, first and foremost go check out the Caravaggios in Santa Maria del Popolo (to your left, behind the altar). Then, choose your own adventure: meander down one of the three streets branching off from the piazza - my favorite is Via di Ripetta but they’re all good. If you haven’t yet had breakfast, you can stop at any bar and get a caffè (which is an espresso shot!) or cappuccino plus cornetto, and a spremuta (fresh squeezed OJ) if you like. Gianfornaio is a great local chain, and there’s one near Piazza di Spagna (down Via del Babuino) if you want a sure thing. Enjoy the journey, with the eventual goal being to arrive at the Pantheon and Piazza Navona; here, you might want to take a quick coffee break, then soak in the sights - I especially love the Caravaggios at San Luigi dei Francesi and the marvel that is Santa Maria Sopra Minerva.

Then, you decide: do you want to go to the Vatican and see St. Peter’s, or do you head towards the Colosseum? If the former, you’ll need to cross the Tiber - all of the bridges are just lovely, though Ponte Sant’Angelo is really famous if you’re up for that in the moment. You’ll have to wait in the line (and be prepared to cover your shoulders if you’re a woman), but usually it moves pretty quickly - and the Pietà is worth it. (I once met a rabbi who told me it so moved him the first time he ever saw it that he just stood and stared for 45 minutes.) If the latter, take the circuitous route via Piazza Farnese, maybe check out the Fontana delle Tartarughe, get some artichokes in the Jewish Ghetto, and make your way to the Fori Imperiali (and then perhaps Basilica di San Clemente, one of my very faves!) from there.

If you’ve gone to the Vatican, I was very impressed by Romanè for traditional Roman pasta (think amatriciana, carbonara, cacio e pepe) last time I was there - and definitely stop in at the Carrefour outside the Cipro station to get some late-night snacks. If you’re at the Colosseum, I really like Pigneto, which is sort of the punk neighborhood - you could take Metro C there and find a cool bar for aperitivi.