Rome, Italy
Two and a half thousand years of layers and the best carbonara you'll ever eat. April, May, October, November.
Best time to visit
Weather by month
Cost
Serves travellers at Backpacker→Ultra-luxury level. Typically around $180 a day on the ground.
Ranges are typical costs, not quotes. Check the real price before you book.
What's on
Natale di Roma April
Rome's birthday, 21 April
Estate Romana June
Summer festival of outdoor events
Worth knowing
Cards work almost everywhere, with small cash still useful at coffee bars and markets. A service charge is often already on the bill and tipping beyond rounding is not expected.
money · editorial
Churches require covered shoulders and knees, and St Peter''s enforces it at the door. The major sites run on timed entry booked ahead; turning up without a slot costs you the morning.
know before · editorial
July and August are hot and much of the city closes around the mid-August holiday. Easter week overwhelms the Vatican entirely.
when not to go · editorial
The centro storico around the Pantheon and Piazza Navona to walk everywhere, Trastevere for evenings, Monti for a neighbourhood near the Colosseum, Prati by the Vatican for quieter residential streets. Around Termini is transport and not much else.
where to stay · editorial
Walking, mostly, on cobbles that punish wheels and thin soles. Two metro lines, dense buses and a few trams fill the gaps. A car is unusable: the historic centre is a restricted traffic zone with camera enforcement.
getting around · editorial
Fiumicino is the main airport and has a direct train into Termini in around half an hour. Ciampino handles the low-cost flights and is bus-only.
getting there · editorial
Quests
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The Colosseum
From outside, at night, lit and with no queue. Better than by day.
Fontana di Trevi
Before seven in the morning it is yours. After that it belongs to everyone.
Pantheon
The oculus is open. Go on a rainy day and you will understand why the floor slopes.
St Peter's Basilica
Bernini's square with its arms open. Find the spot where the columns line up into one.
Piazza di Spagna
135 steps. Sitting on them has been banned since 2019 — stay on your feet.
The Roman Forum
From the Campidoglio terrace, free, with the whole ancient city below.
See
Walk into the Pantheon and look up
Eat
Eat cacio e pepe somewhere with no translated menu
Cacio e pepe
Three ingredients. That is exactly why it is difficult.
Supplì eaten standing at the counter
Rice, sauce, mozzarella melted in the middle. One euro fifty.
Gelato after ten at night
The whole city does it. Do it too.
Moment
Walk through Trastevere at 7am on a Sunday
The Aventine keyhole
A gate keyhole frames the dome of St Peter's. That is all it is, and it is unforgettable.
A sung mass on a Sunday morning
You do not have to be religious. You only have to be quiet.
Trail
The Appian Way on foot
Eleven kilometres of original Roman paving, tombs and pines. Closed to cars on Sundays.