Every city has its dreamers, but there’s something different about watching someone actually turn a legendary city into their own personal playground. Sara Bell does just that in Rome, and she never does it quietly. She jumps headlong into the neighborhoods, the markets, the ancient stones and the noisy piazzas. If you think you’ve seen Rome, Sara would probably just grin and ask if you ever tried getting lost in Trastevere after midnight.
The Rome That Only Sara Sees
If you scroll through social feeds, everyone’s standing in front of the Colosseum, tossing coins into the Trevi Fountain. Sara’s Rome is messier, more vivid, full of little rules nobody writes down. She’s called Bristol home, but after her first week in Rome, she fell for the way light puddles on cobbled streets at dusk. She figured out quick that to belong, you don’t only speak Italian—you learn to order coffee the right way (standing, no milk after eleven, don’t even joke about cream). She skipped the queue at the Vatican in favor of reading graffiti on Ponte Sisto at sunup. Her tip? “Don’t plan so much. Let the city ambush you.”
People usually walk the same tired paths, funneling from one monument to the next. Sara uses the Quartiere Coppedè as her start line—a place nobody expects. Built in the early 1900s, this tiny, fairy-tale district mashes up Gothic spires and Art Nouveau swirls, and most tourists never hear its name. She says good luck finding a selfie stick here; what you get instead are insane stone frogs guarding fountains, stained glass shining in alley sunlight, and the quiet thrill of being the only outsider on the block. A 2023 survey by the Roman Tourism Board actually named Coppedè one of the city’s least visited gems—just 0.3% of international travelers detour past its archways.
Now, Sara’s all about food, too. She maps her days by flavors, wandering Testaccio where butchers bellow orders and Nonna yells at the cheese vendor if he’s stingy. This is where Roman kitchen legends like carbonara and cacio e pepe were born. Bell swears by pizza bianca eaten on the curb across from the Testaccio market, and she’ll argue for days about the merits of artichokes “alla giudia” from tucked-away trattorie. If there’s one Sara Bell commandment, it’s this: never settle for an average meal in Rome. Follow the smell of baking bread, not the Instagram crowds.
Sara Bell’s Win-at-Rome Strategy
There’s no rigid plan in Sara’s playbook. The city itself is the itinerary. Get up stupidly early, she says, and grab an espresso at Sant’Eustachio before the square wakes up. She chases the Tiber on foot—no taxis, your battered trainers will thank you later—cutting beneath umbrella pines and finding statues that never make the guidebooks. If you hit the river at the right hour, locals are doing tai chi or walking dogs that look far too regal for their owners.
- Skip major attractions in the middle of the day—come back at dawn or after dark for magic and fewer elbows.
- Don’t just admire the Pantheon. Sit on the steps late at night, watch skateboarders, listen to buskers. Rome’s soundtrack is different under the stars.
- Carry coins, not just for fountains but for buses and sudden gelato cravings. Sometimes card machines mysteriously stop “working.”
- Trust the water fountains. Rome’s “nasoni” spouts pour out ice-cold, clean water—locals actually use them, especially when summer broils the pavement.
Bell loves markets—the chaos of Campo de’ Fiori, the makeshift sneaker stalls at Porta Portese. Try bargaining, or just people-watch and let the swirl of vendors and shoppers teach you more Italian than any app.
But she doesn’t just do daytime. Night is when Rome softens, and Bell tells friends to walk the Aventine Hill at twilight. There’s a tiny keyhole there—a weird old secret. Peek through and you get the world’s best view of St. Peter’s dome, framed with garden hedges and mystery. In 2024, more than 120,000 curious souls lined up to squint through that keyhole, which sits in a door belonging to the headquarters of the Knights of Malta. Roman magic, right on cue.
Finding the City’s Heart Beyond the Brochure
Bell’s adventures always dig below the surface—she chases the city’s spirit, not just its bricks. She says the real Rome pulses in Monti’s vintage shops and Garbatella’s candy-colored low-rises. In Garbatella, the laundry’s strung overhead like bunting, and young artists paint walls with sly political rabbits and spaghetti-twirling cats. Grab a seat at one of the mini bars carved out of an old pharmacy or ex-ice-cream parlour. The wine’s local, the gossip’s free, and you’ll hear more “ciao bella” in a night than in a week of walking the big piazzas.
Don’t just stare at ruins—join an actual gladiator class at the Gruppo Storico Romano, where they’ve trained nearly 5,000 tourists to wield a wooden sword and relive history while getting sweaty for real. Ever heard of the nonna-run kitchens in San Lorenzo? Bell recommends finding one on a rainy evening. There, lasagna tastes better because you’re sitting elbow to elbow with strangers who become best mates by dessert. Rome’s got layers even the locals miss sometimes.
When the weather turns and the crowds thin, Bell heads for the Capitoline Museums. Half the time, she says, you’ll have the statuary to yourself. A 2022 report showed museum visitors dip by 36% on rainy days—perfect conditions for a close-up with Caravaggio or a Roman emperor’s battered marble nose. Bell’s tip here: always check for special exhibitions tucked into back rooms. Some of her favorite finds—like an almost-forgotten Da Vinci sketch—weren’t even on the museum maps.
Sara Bell keeps lists of bakeries (Roscioli’s maritozzi with cream), bookstores (Otherwise on Via del Governo Vecchio for English paperbacks), and street art (look for Alice Pasquini’s women on walls in Pigneto). A Roman friend once joked, “You have more secrets than a taxi driver.” She took it as the ultimate compliment.
| Spot | What Makes It Special | Best Time to Go |
|---|---|---|
| Quartiere Coppedè | Magical architecture, hidden fountains | Afternoon for dreamy sunlight |
| Testaccio Market | Food legends, local life | Late morning, weekdays |
| Keyhole on Aventine Hill | Secret St. Peter’s view | Just before sunset |
| Capitoline Museums | World-class art, no crowds when raining | Weekday mornings, rainy days |
Why Rome Keeps Calling Her Back
Bell isn’t drawn to picture-perfect Rome. She’s in love with the stuff that scratches beneath its skin. There’s a thrill in arguing with a cab driver about the best caffè, or asking an old man in a tobacco shop to explain football politics with wild hand gestures. She spends time sitting with the city—on a bench in Villa Borghese, watching kids chase dogs, plotting her next move on a battered paper map.
Rome isn’t easy. Some buses never show, WiFi drops when you need it, and the city seems designed to make you lost at least once a day. Bell insists that’s the fun of it: “Every misstep, every wrong turn—that’s another story.” In an interview with a Bristol-based radio station earlier this year, she said, “Patience is the price of entry. But the payoff—having a city that feels like a treasure hunt every morning—beats anything packaged in a brochure.”
For Bell, no trip is the same. Some days she’s obsessed with early Christian mosaics, and on others she’s scouring Porta Portese for vintage boots. But she always leaves a bit unexplored. Friends ask her for her Rome “musts,” but she laughs: her number one tip is to do as the Romans do—leave room for surprise. Most visitors plan three days; Bell says a week’s just a beginning if you’re serious about soaking up the real city.
Rome’s numbers back her up. In 2024, nearly 27 million people visited—but a city that old, that scattered, easily swallows crowds. The savvy ones, Sara-style, skip tour buses and get themselves an orange-flecked tram ride out to the EUR district for offbeat architecture, or an evening cruise over Ponte Sant’Angelo just as the last light spills onto the ancient bridge angels. By moving with the quiet pulse of Rome—the one that runs in side streets and neighborhood trattorias—you write your own adventure, just like Bell does.
So next time you’re stuck on what to do in Rome, channel a bit of Sara’s spirit. Turn away from the obvious. Follow your nose and your curiosity. The city’s already waiting, ready for you to play.
