Department · See & Do 🏟️

Sights & things to do

Ancient Rome, museums, viewpoints, and the lines actually worth skipping.

Ancient Rome

• The Colosseum — Tickets, arena floor access, best time to go.
• Colosseum underground & arena floor — The two upgrades that change the visit.
• Roman Forum & Palatine Hill — The political heart of ancient Rome.
• Palatine Hill — The founding hill and the best Forum view.
• Castel Sant'Angelo — Mausoleum turned fortress, top river view.
• Baths of Caracalla — A vast bathing complex, quieter than the big names.
• Baths of Diocletian — Now partly a Michelangelo church.
• Circus Maximus — Ancient chariot-racing track, now a public park.
• The Appian Way — Catacombs, tombs and countryside outside the city.
• Capitoline Museums — The world oldest public museums.
• Basilica of San Clemente — Three layers of Rome in one building.
• Ostia Antica — Ancient Rome port city, arguably better than Pompeii.
• Largo di Torre Argentina — Where Caesar was assassinated — now a cat sanctuary.
• Isola Tiberina — The only island in the Tiber.
• Museo Nazionale Romano — Four sites, one ticket — ancient sculpture and frescoes.

Piazzas, squares & walks

• The Pantheon — The best-preserved building from ancient Rome.
• Trevi Fountain — Rome largest fountain.
• Piazza Navona — A Baroque square built over an ancient stadium.
• Spanish Steps — A monumental stairway.
• Campo de' Fiori — Market by morning, liveliest piazza by night.
• Piazza del Popolo — Twin churches, an obelisk, and a terrace above.
• Piazza Venezia & the Vittoriano — The monument at Rome geographic center.
• Piazza Barberini & Capuchin Crypt — Bernini fountain and Rome most macabre attraction.
• Palazzo Farnese — The greatest Renaissance palace in Rome.
• Monte Testaccio — A hill made entirely from broken Roman pottery.
• Aventine Hill & the Keyhole — Rome most unusual viewpoint.
• Gianicolo Hill — Best free panorama, daily noon cannon.
• Piazzale Garibaldi — The hero of Italian unification — and his story.
• Rome domes — a skyline guide — More domes than any other city in the world.
• A walk through Centro Storico — The essential loop through Rome historic heart.
• A walk through Trastevere — Self-guided route through the most atmospheric neighborhood.
• A walk through Monti — Rome oldest rione on foot.
• A walk through Testaccio — The food neighbourhood on foot.
• A walk through Prati — The Vatican residential neighbour.
• The Ponte Sisto walk — The best evening crossing in Rome.
• Walking the EUR district — Rationalist Rome at full scale.
• Orto Botanico — The botanical garden hidden behind Trastevere.
• Hidden gems — Remarkable places most visitors walk straight past.

Churches & basilicas

• St Peter Basilica — The largest church in the world — free to enter.
• Santa Maria in Trastevere — Medieval mosaics in one of Rome oldest churches.
• Churches of Trastevere — Three unmissable churches in one neighborhood.
• San Luigi dei Francesi — Three Caravaggios in a dark chapel — free entry.
• Santa Maria sopra Minerva — Rome only Gothic church — Michelangelo, Fra Angelico, Bernini elephant.
• San Giovanni in Laterano — The Pope own cathedral — older than St Peter s.
• Santa Maria Maggiore — Rome finest early Christian mosaics.
• Santa Croce in Gerusalemme — One of Rome seven pilgrim churches.
• Keats-Shelley House — Where Keats died in 1821.

Vatican & museums

• Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel — How to see the Sistine Chapel without the crush.
• Galleria Borghese — Rome finest art collection.
• How to book Galleria Borghese — Step-by-step — the city most in-demand ticket.
• Villa Borghese Gardens — Gardens, a lake, and a great art collection.
• Palazzo Doria Pamphilj — Private palace gallery with Velazquez and Caravaggios.
• Palazzo Barberini — Baroque palace, national collection, Caravaggio and Raphael.
• Villa Farnesina — Raphael fresco cycle across the Tiber.
• Villa Torlonia — Mussolini private residence — now a park with three museums.
• MAXXI — Contemporary art inside Zaha Hadid building.

Views

• Best viewpoints — Where to watch the sun set over the city.
• Best photography spots — Specific locations, angles and times of day.