Sign-In
Cart
Rome: Eat Locally, Walk Deeply, Spend Wisely: A Sustainable Guide to the Eternal City (2026 edition)
Paperback
Series: The Slow Traveller's Guide, Book 2
General ReferenceTravel Writing
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: May 31 2026
Pages: 216
Weight: 0.59
Height: 0.54 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
You already know what a rushed Roman holiday looks like. The queue at the Colosseum before sunrise. The laminated menu near the Pantheon. The afternoon spent in a city that feels somehow less extraordinary than you always imagined. You have seen Rome - or a version of it - and you have the photographs to prove it.
But there is another Rome. It is twenty minutes' walk from the Trevi Fountain, in a neighbourhood where the coffee costs 1.10 and the trattoria has no English menu because no one has thought it necessary. It is the Roman Forum at dawn, when the stones are quiet and the site belongs to you and a handful of people who got there early. It is a conversation with a woman outside a church who tells you that Rome is not as good as the stone says and not as bad as people think.
This is the Rome this book is written for.
What this guide gives you
Five fully written walking routes through the Rome that guidebooks skip - from the Ancient City at dawn to the car-free Appian Way on a Sunday morning.
Six neighbourhood portraits - Testaccio, Pigneto, Ostiense, Prati, Garbatella, and a frank account of why the centro storico is a stage set rather than a neighbourhood - with transport, timing, and where to eat without an English menu in sight.
An honest guide to the Colosseum and the Vatican - not an argument for avoiding them, but a case for visiting them differently: earlier, slower, with better preparation, and with time for the six extraordinary sites that almost nobody visits because the famous ones are right there.
Six day trips by train - Ostia Antica, Tivoli, Viterbo, Orvieto, and Civita di Bagnoregio - with full transport details, what to see, and an honest account of how to visit without contributing to the problems tourism creates in small places.
Three fully itemised budget tiers - from 60 to 400 per day - with daily breakdowns, seasonal pricing, and strategies that only work if you know which neighbourhood to eat in and what time to arrive.
Complete appendices covering 200+ Italian phrases organised by situation, emergency contacts, hospital addresses, and a Quick-Reference Emergency Card designed to be kept on your phone.
For travellers who want more than a checklist
The best meal in Rome costs less than the worst one near the Pantheon. The finest museum is in a decommissioned power station in Ostiense. The most extraordinary view in the city is free, through a keyhole on the Aventine Hill, with almost never a queue. Rome rewards the traveller who arrives slowly, spends locally, and pays attention with an experience the checklist version of the city cannot provide.
If that is the Rome you are looking for, this is the guide you need.Also from
Tan, Ta Wen
Also in
Travel Writing
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance [50th Anniversary Edition]: An Inquiry Into Values
Pirsig, Robert M.
Paperback
Who Needs Friends: An Unscientific Examination of Male Friendship Across America
McCarthy, Andrew
Hardcover
Travels with Charley in Search of America: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
Steinbeck, John
Paperback
Pacific Coasting: A Guide to the Ultimate Road Trip, from Southern California to the Pacific Northwest
Kroll, Danielle
Hardcover
Custodians of Wonder: Ancient Customs, Profound Traditions, and the Last People Keeping Them Alive
Stein, Eliot
Hardcover
Mother of God: An Extraordinary Journey Into the Uncharted Tributaries of the Western Amazon
Rosolie, Paul
Paperback
We Are Soldiers Still: A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam
Moore, Harold G.
Galloway, Joseph L.
Paperback
East Coasting: The Ultimate Roadtripper's Guide to New England
Chitnis, Christine
Dorazewski, Monica
Hardcover
One Man's Wilderness, 50th Anniversary Edition: An Alaskan Odyssey
Proenneke, Richard Louis
Keith, Sam
Paperback
The Scenic Route: Following My Inner Compass Across 12 Countries in 12 Months
Aviram, Sarah
Paperback
How to Read Nature: Awaken Your Senses to the Outdoors You've Never Noticed
Gooley, Tristan
Paperback
Counting Penguins: How a Penguin Colony Stole My Heart and Changed My Life
Watson, Peter John
Paperback
Wine Pairing for the People: The Communion of Wine, Food, and Culture from Africa and Beyond
McCoy, Cha
Hardcover
Leave Only Footprints: My Acadia-To-Zion Journey Through Every National Park
Knighton, Conor
Paperback
Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World
Doerr, Anthony
Paperback
A Course Called Ireland: A Long Walk in Search of a Country, a Pint, and the Next Tee
Coyne, Tom
Paperback
Cheese Trekking: How Microbes, Landscapes, Livestock, and Human Cultures Shape Terroir
Warmedahl, Trevor
Hardcover
Free Ride: Heartbreak, Courage, and the 20,000-Mile Motorcycle Journey That Changed My Life
Schoenmaker, Noraly
Paperback
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance American Classics Edition: An Inquiry Into Values
Pirsig, Robert M.
Paperback
House of Rain: Tracking a Vanished Civilization Across the American Southwest
Childs, Craig
Paperback
How to Read Nature: Awaken Your Senses to the Outdoors You've Never Noticed
Gooley, Tristan
Hardcover
Catch Me in the Kitchen: 195 Recipes: One Dish from Every Country in the World
Nabongo, Jessica
Hardcover
Lonely Planet Women Travel Solo: 30 Inspiring Stories of Adventure, Curiosity and the Power of Self-Discovery
Planet, Lonely
Hardcover
The Miracle of Castel di Sangro: A Tale of Passion and Folly in the Heart of Italy
McGinniss, Joe
Paperback
The Secret Knowledge of Water: Discovering the Essence of the American Desert
Childs, Craig
Paperback
Who Needs Friends: An Unscientific Examination of Male Friendship Across America (Large Print Edition)
McCarthy, Andrew
Paperback
The Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World's Happiest Country
Russell, Helen
Paperback
Belonging to the World: A Journey from Grief to Connection in Every Country on Earth
Hoffner, Barry
Hardcover
Free Ride: Heartbreak, Courage, and the 20,000-Mile Motorcycle Journey That Changed My Life
Schoenmaker, Noraly
Hardcover
The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World
Weiner, Eric
Paperback
Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West
Wickenden, Dorothy
Paperback
All You Need Is Flights: How Kintsugi, Moai, and Volcano Pizza Helped Me Make More Solo Travel Magic
Ruiz, Jen
Paperback
Street Cats & Where to Find Them: The Most Feline-Friendly Cities and Attractions Around the World
Bogle, Jeff
Hardcover
Lost on Planet China: One Man's Attempt to Understand the World's Most Mystifying Nation
Troost, J. Maarten
Paperback
Tip of the Iceberg: My 3,000-Mile Journey Around Wild Alaska, the Last Great American Frontier
Adams, Mark
Paperback
Running with the Kenyans: Discovering the Secrets of the Fastest People on Earth
Finn, Adharanand
Paperback
The Brendan Voyage: Sailing to America in a Leather Boat to Prove the Legend of the Irish Sailor Saints
Severin, Tim
Paperback
Belonging to the World: A Journey from Grief to Connection in Every Country on Earth
Hoffner, Barry
Paperback
Long Lost: Three Trails, 8,000 Miles, One Unexpected Journey Across America's Triple Crown
Asars, Tami
Paperback
Sovietistan: Travels in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan
Fatland, Erika
Paperback
Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country: Traveling Through the Land of My Ancestors
Erdrich, Louise
Paperback
Very Charleston: A Celebration of History, Culture, and Lowcountry Charm
Gessler, Diana Hollingsworth
Hardcover
Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu
Troost, J. Maarten
Paperback
Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes (Warbler Classics Annotated Edition)
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Paperback