Rome

The Eternal City: three thousand years of history around every corner.

Rome is an open-air museum where ancient ruins, Renaissance masterpieces and baroque fountains sit side by side. Toss a coin in the Trevi, stand inside the Colosseum, see the Sistine Chapel, then take your time over pasta and gelato.

Best time to visit: April to June and September to October. Language: Italian. Currency: Euro (EUR).

Did you know?

Rome surrounds Vatican City, the smallest country in the world.
Around a million euros a year is thrown into the Trevi Fountain and donated to charity.
The Colosseum could hold around 50,000 spectators.

Things to do in Rome

Colosseum (Archaeological site): The Colosseum is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum.
St. Peter's Basilica (Landmark, free): The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican, or simply St.
Roman Forum (Square): The Roman Forum, also known by its Latin name Forum Romanum, is a rectangular forum surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the centre of the city of Rome.
Capitoline Hill (Hill, free): The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill, between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome.
Saint Peter's Square (Square, free): St.
Vatican Museums (Art museum): The Vatican Museums are the public museums of the Vatican City.
Palatine Hill (Hill): The Palatine Hill, which is the centremost of the seven hills of Rome, is one of the most ancient parts of the city; it has been called "the first nucleus of the Roman Empire".
Apostolic Palace (Palace): The Apostolic Palace is the official residence of the Pope, the head of the Catholic Church, located in Vatican City.
Castel Sant'Angelo (Museum): Castel Sant'Angelo, also known as Mausoleum of Hadrian, is a towering rotunda in Parco Adriano, Rome, Italy.
Trajan's Column (Archaeological site): Trajan's Column is a Roman triumphal column in Rome, Italy, that commemorates Roman emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars.
Aventine Hill (Hill, free): The Aventine Hill is one of the Seven Hills on which ancient Rome was built.
Quirinal Hill (Hill, free): The Quirinal Hill is one of the seven hills of Rome, at the north-east of the city center.
Esquiline Hill (Hill, free): The Esquiline Hill is one of the Seven Hills of Rome.
Circus Maximus (Archaeological site): The Circus Maximus is an ancient Roman chariot-racing stadium and mass entertainment venue in Rome, Italy.
Arch of Constantine (Archaeological site): The Arch of Constantine is a triumphal arch in Rome dedicated to the emperor Constantine the Great.
Aurelian Walls (Archaeological site): The Aurelian Walls are a line of city walls built between AD 271 and AD 275 in Rome, Italy, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Aurelian.
Trajan's Forum (Square, free): Trajan's Forum was the last of the Imperial fora to be constructed in ancient Rome.
Galleria Borghese (Art museum): The Galleria Borghese or Borghese Gallery is an art gallery in Rome, Italy, housed in the former Villa Borghese Pinciana.
Piazza Navona (Square, free): Piazza Navona is a public open space in Rome, Italy.
Capitoline Museums (Art museum): The Capitoline Museums are a group of art and archaeological museums located on the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy, and constitute the main civic museum complex of the city.
Viminal Hill (Hill, free): The Viminal Hill is the smallest of the famous Seven Hills of Rome.
Caelian Hill (Hill, free): The Caelian Hill is one of the famous seven hills of Rome.
Arch of Titus (Archaeological site): The Arch of Titus is a 1st-century AD honorific arch, located on the Via Sacra, Rome, just to the south-east of the Roman Forum.
Baths of Caracalla (History museum): The Baths of Caracalla in Rome, Italy, were the city's second largest Roman public bath complex, or thermae, after the Baths of Diocletian.
San Pietro in Vincoli (Church, free): San Pietro in Vincoli is a Roman Catholic titular church and minor basilica in Rome, Italy.
Church of the Gesù (Church, free): The Church of the Gesù, officially named Chiesa del Santissimo Nome di Gesù, is a church located at Piazza del Gesù in the Pigna rione of Rome, Italy.
Ara Pacis (Archaeological site): The Ara Pacis Augustae is an altar in Rome dedicated to the Pax Romana.
Piazza di Spagna (Square, free): The Piazza di Spagna is a square in the centre of Rome, the capital of Italy.
Temple of Vesta (Archaeological site): The Temple of Vesta, or the aedes, was an ancient edifice in Rome, Italy.
Mausoleum of Augustus (Archaeological site): The Mausoleum of Augustus is a large tomb built by the Roman emperor Augustus in 28 BC on the Campus Martius in Rome, Italy.
Column of Marcus Aurelius (Archaeological site): The Column of Marcus Aurelius is a Roman victory column located in Piazza Colonna, Rome, Italy.
piazza del Popolo (Square, free): Piazza del Popolo is a large urban square in Rome.
piazza Venezia (Square, free): Piazza Venezia is a central hub of Rome, Italy, in which several thoroughfares intersect, including the Via dei Fori Imperiali and the Via del Corso.
Arch of Septimius Severus (Roman Forum) (Archaeological site): The Arch of Septimius Severus at the northwestern end of the Roman Forum is a white marble triumphal arch dedicated in 203 AD to commemorate the Parthian victories of Emperor Septimius Severus and his two sons, Caracalla
Palazzo Farnese (Palace): Palazzo Farnese or Farnese Palace is one of the most important High Renaissance palaces in Rome.
Servian Wall (Archaeological site): The Servian Wall is an ancient Roman defensive barrier constructed around the city of Rome in the early 4th century BC.
Domus Aurea (Archaeological site): The Domus Aurea was a vast landscaped complex built by the Emperor Nero largely on the Oppian Hill in the heart of ancient Rome after the great fire in 64 AD had destroyed a large part of the city.
Imperial fora (Archaeological site): The Imperial Fora are a series of monumental fora, constructed in Rome over a period of one and a half centuries, between 46 BC and 113 AD.
Cloaca Maxima (Archaeological site): The Cloaca Maxima or, less often, Maxima Cloaca, is one of the world's earliest sewage systems.
Santa Maria della Vittoria (Church, free): Santa Maria della Vittoria is a Catholic titular minor basilica and Discalced Carmelite conventual church dedicated to Our Lady of Victories in Rome, Italy, famously the home of Gian Lorenzo Bernini‘s masterpiece the Ecs
Santa Maria in Aracoeli (Church, free): The Basilica of Saint Mary of the Altar in Heaven is a titular basilica and conventual church of the Franciscan Convent of Aracoeli located on the highest summit of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy.
Temple of Saturn (Temple, free): The Temple of Saturn was an ancient Roman temple to the god Saturn, in what is now Rome, Italy.
Campo de' Fiori (Square, free): Campo de' Fiori is a rectangular square south of Piazza Navona in Rome, Italy, at the border between the rioni Parione and Regola.
Theatre of Marcellus (Theatre): The Theatre of Marcellus was an ancient open-air theatre in Rome, Italy, built in the closing years of the Roman Republic.
Saint Charles at the Four Fountains (Church, free): The church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, also called San Carlino, is a Roman Catholic church in Rome, Italy.
Boncompagni Ludovisi Decorative Art Museum (Museum, hidden gem): Boncompagni Ludovisi Decorative Arts Museum, Rome, is the Decorative Arts Museum of the National Gallery of Modern Art of Rome.
Santi Gioacchino e Anna ai Monti (Church, free, hidden gem): Santi Gioacchino ed Anna ai Monti is a church on the Via Monte Polacco in Rome.
Santa Maria Odigitria al Tritone (Church, free, hidden gem): Santa Maria Odigitria al Tritone, sometimes Santa Maria dei Siciliani or Santa Maria in Costantinopoli, is a Roman Catholic church in Rome, located at civico 82 on via del Tritone in the Colonna district.
San Marone (Church, free, hidden gem): San Marone is a church in Rome located in the Ludovisi rione and dedicated to Saint Maron, a 5th-century Syrian hermit who founded the Maronite Church.
Kircher Collection (Museum, hidden gem): The Kircherian Museum was a public collection of antiquities and artifacts, a cabinet of curiosities, founded in 1651 by the Jesuit father Athanasius Kircher in the Roman College.
San Giovanni Battista dei Cavalieri di Rodi (Church, free, hidden gem): San Giovanni Battista dei Cavalieri di Rodi is a church in Rome, on piazza del Grillo in the Monti district.
Temple of the Sun (Temple, free, hidden gem): The Temple of the Sun was a temple in the Campus Agrippae in Rome.
Villa Borghese Pinciana (Museum, hidden gem): Villa Borghese Pinciana is a villa built by the architect Flaminio Ponzio, developing sketches by Scipione Borghese.
Museo di Palazzo Venezia (Art museum, hidden gem): The Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia is a state museum in Rome, Italy, housed in the palace of the same name together with the important Library of Archaeology and Art History.
arch of Marcus Aurelius (Archaeological site, hidden gem): The Arch of Marcus Aurelius was a Roman triumphal arch in Rome, probably in the region of the Campus Martius, near the modern Piazza Colonna and the Column of Marcus Aurelius.
Palazzo Grazioli (Palace, hidden gem): Palazzo Grazioli is a building situated at Via del Plebiscito 102 between the Palazzo Doria Pamphili and Palazzo Altieri in Rome, Italy.
Oratory of San Francesco Saverio del Caravita (Church, free, hidden gem): The Oratory of San Francesco Saverio del Caravita is a 17th-century baroque oratory in Rome, near the Church of Sant’Ignazio in rione Pigna.
Santa Maria Immacolata all'Esquilino (Church, free, hidden gem): Santa Maria Immacolata all'Esquilino is a 20th-century parochial church and titular church on the Esquiline Hill in Rome, dedicated to the Mary Immaculate.
Teatro Capranica (Theatre, hidden gem): The Teatro Capranica is a theatre situated at 101 Piazza Capranica in the Colonna district of Rome.
Amphitheater of Caligula (Archaeological site, hidden gem): The Amphitheater of Caligula was a Roman amphitheater begun during the reign of Caligula and demolished only a few years after construction commenced.
Hadrian's Villa (Archaeological site): Hadrian's Villa was a monumental villa or palace complex built around AD 120 by emperor Hadrian near Tivoli, about 20 km from Rome.
Ostia (Archaeological site): Ostia Antica is the modern name given to the ancient Roman city of Ostia.
Veii (Archaeological site): Veii was an important ancient Etruscan city situated on the southern limits of Etruria and 16 km north-northwest of Rome, Italy.

Where to eat and drink in Rome

Roscioli, Campo de’ Fiori: Deli and restaurant famed for carbonara and wine.
Da Enzo al 29, Trastevere: Tiny trattoria serving Roman classics.
Giolitti, Pantheon: Gelato since 1900.
La Pergola, Monte Mario: Rome’s three-Michelin-star restaurant with a panoramic view.
Nomos Ante, Centro Storico: The ground-floor restaurant of the Nomos Hotel.
Isotta Trattoria Cortese, Torrevecchia: A neighbourhood trattoria with a contemporary take on Roman cooking.
Gigi Rigolatto, Pantheon: Restaurant and bar near Piazza della Minerva.
YEZI, Rome: Contemporary Asian flavours with an international feel.

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