Things to do in Rome
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Panoramic Rome by Night Tour and Dinner in Trastevere
4 hours (Departs Rome, Italy)
by Viator
Spend a magical night out on the town in Rome. Start your evening with a panoramic night tour of the city, where you will see all the famous Roman sites lit up!…Not LP reviewed
from USD$104.58 -
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Palazzo delle Esposizioni
This huge neoclassical palace was built in 1882 as an exhibition centre. After a dazzling five-year makeover, it emerged in 2007 as a splendid cultural hub, with cathedral-scale exhibition spaces and sleekly designed art labs, bookshop, cafe and top-notch, glass-roofed restaurant that’s also an excellent place for a laidback lunch. The building hosts everything from multimedia events and art exhibitions to concert performances, film screenings and conferences. It frequently hosts blockbuster exhibitions such as ‘One Hundred Masterpieces from the Städel Museum of Frankfurt’, which featured impressionist and expressionist paintings. In various former lives, the …
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Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II Piazza
Laid out in the late 19th century as the centrepiece of an upmarket residential district, Rome’s biggest square is a grassy expanse with a down-at-heel feel, surrounded by speeding traffic, porticoes and bargain stores. Within the fenced-off central section are the ruins of Trofei di Mario, once a fountain at the end of an aqueduct. In the northern corner, the Chiesa di Sant’Eusebio is popular with pet-owners who bring their animals to be blessed on St Anthony’s feast day (17 January).
The square itself hosts cultural festivals throughout the year and an outdoor film festival in the summer.
reviewed
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Classical Rome City Tour
3 - 6 hours (Departs Rome, Italy)
by Viator
Spend your morning on this classic Rome tour, seeing all the top attractions in Rome’s ‘centro storico’ – its historic center. By both coach and foot, visit…Not LP reviewed
from USD$52.29 -
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Palazzo Laterano & Battistero
Flanking Piazza San Giovanni in Laterano, itself dominated by Rome’s oldest and tallest obelisk, is Domenico Fontana’s 16th-century Palazzo Laterano. Part of the original 4th-century basilica complex, it was the official papal residence until the popes moved to the Vatican in 1377, and today houses offices of the diocese of Rome.
Just around the corner is the fascinating octagonal battistero (baptistry). Built by Constantine in the 4th century, it served as the prototype for later Christian churches and bell towers. The chief interest, apart from the architecture, are the decorative mosaics, some of which date back to the 5th century.
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Osteria dell’Angelo
Former rugby player Angelo presides over this hugely popular neighbourhood trattoria (reservations are a must). The set menu features a mixed antipasti, a robust Roman-style pasta and a choice of hearty mains with a side dish. To finish off, you’re offered lightly spiced biscuits to dunk in sweet dessert wine.
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Chiesa Nuova
Not exactly new as the name ‘New Church’ would suggest, this imposing baroque church was built in 1575 as part of a complex to house Filippo Neri’s Oratorian order. Originally Neri had wanted a large, plain church, but after his death in 1595 the artists moved in – Rubens painted over the high altar, and Pietro da Cortona decorated the dome, tribune and nave. Neri was canonised in 1622 and is buried in a chapel to the left of the apse.
Next to the church is Borromini’s Oratorio dei Filippini and behind it is the Torre dell’Orologio, a clock tower built to decorate the adjacent convent.
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Agata e Romeo
This elegant, restrained place was one of Rome’s gastronomic pioneers, and still holds its own as one of the city’s most gourmet takes on Roman cuisine. Chef Agata Parisella designs and cooks menus, offering creative uses of Roman traditions; husband Romeo curates the wine cellar; and daughter Maria Antonietta chooses the cheeses. Bookings essential.
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Franchi
One of Rome’s historic delicatessen, Franchi is great for a swift bite, or to stock up on stuff to take home. White- jacketed assistants work with practised dexterity slicing hams, cutting cheese, weighing olives and preparing panini, to take away or eat at stand-up tables.
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La Rosetta
Run by Roman super-chef Massimo Riccioli, La Rosetta is one of the capital’s oldest and best-known seafood restaurants. The menu, which makes no compromises for vegetarians or meat-eaters, features classic fish dishes alongside more elaborate creations such as scallops with cream of artichoke and mint. Bookings are essential, and it’s more affordable at lunchtime.
reviewed
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Piperno
This Roman-Jewish institution is tucked away in a quiet corner of the Ghetto. It’s formal without being stuffy, a wood-panelled restaurant of the old school, where white-clad waiters serve wonderful deep-fried filetti di baccalà (cod fillets) and tagliolini alla pescatora (long ribbon pasta with seafood). To finish, try the delicious palle del Nonno (‘grandpa’s balls’ or ricotta and chocolate puffs). Booking is essential for Sunday.
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Basilica di San Pietro in Vincoli
Pilgrims and art lovers flock to this basilica for two reasons: to see St Peter's chains and to see Michelangelo's tomb of Pope Julius II. The church was built in the 5th century to house the chains that bound St Peter when he was imprisoned in the Carcere Mamertino. Some time after St Peter's death, the chains were sent to Constantinople for a period before returning to Rome as relics. They arrived in two pieces and legend has it that when they were reunited they miraculously joined together. They are now displayed under the altar.
To the right of the altar is Julius' monumental tomb. At its centre is Michelangelo's buff Moses, with two small horns sticking out of his…
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Pommidoro
Throughout San Lorenzo’s metamorphosis from down-at-heel working-class district to down-at-heel bohemian enclave, Pommidoro has remained the same. A much-loved local institution, it’s a century-old trattoria, with high star-vaulted ceilings, a huge fireplace and outdoor conservatory seating. It was a favourite of controversial film director Pier Paolo Pasolini, and contemporary celebs stop by – from Nicole Kidman to Fabio Cappello – but it’s an unpretentious place with superb-quality traditional food, specialising in magnificent grilled meats.
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Skip the Line: Borghese Gallery Tickets
Flexible (Departs Rome, Italy)
by Viator
If you would prefer to visit the Borghese Gallery and Museum in Rome at your own leisure, without a guide, but would still like to skip the queue with reserved…Not LP reviewed
from USD$40.22 -
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Porta San Sebastiano
Marking the start of Via Appia Antica, the 5th-century Porta San Sebastiano is the largest of the gates in the Aurelian Wall. It was originally known as Porta Appia but took on its current name in honour of the thousands of pilgrims who passed under it on their way to the Catacombe di San Sebastiano. During WWII, the Fascist Party secretary Ettore Muti lived here and today it houses the Museo delle Mure, a modest museum illustrating the history of the wall. It’s worth a look for the chance to walk along the top of the walls for around 50m.
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Arco di Costantino
On the western side of the Colosseum, this triumphal arch was built in 312 to honour the emperor Constantine's victory over rival Maxentius at the battle of Ponte Milvio (Milvian Bridge).
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Palazzo Venezia
On the western side of Piazza Venezia, this was the first of Rome's great Renaissance palaces. For centuries it served as the embassy of the Venetian Republic, although its best-known resident was Mussolini, who famously made speeches from the balcony overlooking the square.
To see inside, visit the sprawling, undervisited Museo Nazionale del Palazzo Venezia with its superb Byzantine and early-Renaissance paintings and an eclectic collection of jewellery, tapestries, ceramics, bronze figurines, arms and armour.
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Tullio
A formal wood-panelled restaurant whose simple, classic, mainly Tuscan formula has attracted a faithful clientele of politicians, journalists and artists since the days of la dolce vita. Pasta dishes range from the simple tortellini in brodo (pasta in broth) to the decadent tagliolini con tartufo bianco (pasta with white truffle). Meat, including the famous bistecca alla fiorentina, is grilled over a charcoal fire.
Biscotti (almond biscuits) are dipped in sweet vin santo (holy wine) for a traditional dessert.
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Mausoleo delle Fosse Ardeatine
This moving mausoleum is dedicated to the victims of Rome’s worst WWII atrocity. Buried here, outside the Ardeatine Caves, are 335 Italians shot by the Nazis on 24 March 1944. Following the massacre, ordered in reprisal for a partisan attack, the Germans used mines to explode sections of the caves and bury the bodies. After the war, the bodies were exhumed, identified and reburied in a mass grave, now marked by a huge concrete slab and sculptures.
The site also has a tiny museum dedicated to the Italian Resistance.
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Largo di Torre Argentina
A busy transport hub, Largo di Torre Argentina is set around the sunken Area Sacra and the remains of four Republican-era temples, all built between the 2nd and 4th centuries BC. These ruins are off-limits to humans but home to a thriving population of 250 stray cats and a cat sanctuary.
On the piazza’s western flank is Rome’s premier theatre, the Teatro Argentina.
reviewed
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Best of Rome Walking Tour: Pantheon, Piazza Navona and Trevi Fountain
3 hours (Departs Rome, Italy)
by Viator
See the very best of Rome and its most famous squares, monuments, fountains and artworks on this 3-hour afternoon walking tour. Be enchanted by the Eternal City…Not LP reviewed
from USD$44.25 -
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Piazza Barberini
More a traffic thorough- fare than a place to linger, this noisy square is named after the Barberini family, one of Rome’s great dynastic clans. In the centre, the Bernini-designed Fontana del Tritone (Fountain of the Triton) depicts the sea-god Triton blowing a stream of water from a conch while seated in a large scallop shell supported by four dolphins. Bernini also crafted the Fontana delle Api (Fountain of the Bees) in the northeastern corner, again for the Barberini family, whose crest featured three bees in flight.
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Museo Nazionale d’Arte Orientale
Rome’s little-known but impressive National Museum of Oriental Art is housed in the 19th-century Palazzo Brancaccio. It makes for a rewarding visit, with a rich collection of Near and Far Eastern artefacts. The collection starts on a high with some exquisite items from Iran and Central Asia, such as Iranian glassware dating from the 5th to 6th century BC, and goes on to encompass fascinating items from the ancient settlement of Swat in Pakistan, 12th-century homewares from Afghanistan, engraved ritual vessels from China dating 800 to 900 years before Christ, and Ming porcelain figures. There are also Nepalese, Indian and Korean works of art.
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Mausoleo di Cecilia Metella
Dating to the 1st century BC, this great drum of a mausoleum encloses a burial chamber (built for the daughter of the consul Quintus Metellus Creticus), now roofless. The walls are made of travertine and the sorry-looking interior is decorated with a sculpted frieze featuring Gaelic shields, ox skulls and festoons. In the 14th century it was converted into a fort by the Caetani family, who used to frighten passing traffic into paying a toll.
Beyond the tomb is a picturesque section of the ancient road, excavated in the mid-19th century.
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Museo Nazionale Romano: Crypta Balbi
The least known of the Museo Nazionale Romano's four museums, the Crypta Balbi is built around the ruins of medieval and Renaissance structures, themselves set atop the ancient Teatro di Balbus (13 BC). Duck down into the underground excavations, then examine artefacts taken from the Crypta, as well as items found in the forums and on the Oppio and Celian Hills. Note that there is sometimes a €3 exhibition supplement.
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