The Colosseum is one of the highlights of Rome, and it’s worth seeing if it’s your first time in the city. A little planning ahead makes the whole experience a lot easier.

The Capuchin Crypt: Rome’s Bone Chapel
Hidden beneath a church on Via Veneto, the Capuchin Crypt confronts you with 4,000 skeletons transformed into haunting art. Vertebrae become borders. Femurs form arches. Skulls line entire walls. The Capuchin friars created this 17th-century ossuary not to frighten, but to remind: “What you are now, we once were; what we are now, you shall be.” It’s macabre, peaceful, and unforgettable—a meditation on mortality that makes you appreciate being alive.