Things to Do
Ancient Rome, the Vatican, the museums and the piazzas — what is worth your days, grouped by where it sits and what it costs to reach.
Visiting the Pantheon: What to Know Before You Go
The Pantheon is, quietly, the most astonishing building in Rome — a nearly two-thousand-year-old temple so perfectly preserved you can walk in and stand under…
The Roman Forum, Brought Back to Life
To an unprepared visitor, the Roman Forum can look like a confusing field of broken columns and rubble. To someone who knows what they're seeing, it's the single…
The Colosseum Underground & Arena Floor: Worth It?
Once you start booking Colosseum tickets, you'll hit a fork: the standard ticket, or a pricier "Full Experience" that adds the arena floor and the underground…
Appia Antica: Rome's Ancient Road on Foot or Bike
A few kilometers from the Colosseum, the crowds vanish and ancient Rome opens up in a way no museum can match: the Via Appia Antica, the "Queen of Roads," begun…
Capitoline Hill & the Vittoriano, Made Simple
Two of Rome's most prominent landmarks sit side by side and confuse almost every first-timer: the Capitoline Hill (Campidoglio), the ancient and most sacred of…
How to Buy Colosseum Tickets Without Getting Scammed
The Colosseum is the first thing most Americans book for Rome, and it's also where first-timers lose the most money to confusion. Between the official site, a…
The Colosseum, Forum & Palatine: One Ticket, Explained
One of the most common moments of confusion for first-timers in Rome happens at the ticket page: you came to see the Colosseum, and suddenly you're being asked…
Climbing St. Peter's Dome: Steps, Views & Tips
Standing atop Michelangelo's dome, looking down the length of St. Peter's Square and out over all of Rome, is one of the most thrilling things you can do in the…
How Early Should You Arrive at the Vatican?
The Vatican is the most crowded attraction in Rome, and timing your arrival is the single biggest factor in whether your visit feels magical or miserable. Arrive…
Papal Audiences & St. Peter's Square, Explained
You've traveled all the way to Rome — why not also see the Pope? It's easier than most visitors realize, and it's free. Each week the Pope holds a General…
Castel Sant'Angelo: Tickets, History & the Passetto
Few buildings in Rome have lived as many lives as Castel Sant'Angelo. It began as an emperor's tomb, became a fortress, served as a papal refuge, a prison, and a…
St. Peter's Basilica Without the Wait
Here's the paradox that catches almost every first-time visitor to the Vatican: St. Peter's Basilica is free to enter, yet it can cost you more time than any…
Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel: Tickets & Timing
The Vatican Museums are among the most visited — and most strictly managed — museums on earth, and that combination is exactly why first-timers get tripped up.…
Rome's Best Museums for First-Timers
Rome can overwhelm you with museums — there are dozens, and a first-timer with limited days can't (and shouldn't try to) see them all. The good news is that a…
Capitoline Museums: The World's Oldest, Explained
Perched atop the Capitoline Hill in a piazza designed by Michelangelo, the Capitoline Museums (Musei Capitolini) hold a claim no other museum on earth can match:…
Where to See Caravaggio in Rome (Mostly for Free)
Here's one of Rome's best-kept secrets for art lovers: some of the greatest paintings ever made hang not in ticketed museums but in ordinary working churches,…
The Borghese Gallery: Why You Must Book Ahead
Of all Rome's great sights, the Borghese Gallery is the one most likely to turn travelers away at the door — not because it's exclusive, but because it runs on a…
The Trevi Fountain: When to Go & How It Works
The Trevi Fountain is Rome's most theatrical sight — a wall of Baroque marble where the sea-god Oceanus rides his shell chariot through crashing water,…
Piazza Navona, Step by Step
Piazza Navona is Rome's most beautiful Baroque square — a long, elegant oval lined with palaces and churches, animated by three fountains and the open-air bustle…
The Spanish Steps & Around: A Walking Guide
The Spanish Steps are one of Rome's most famous sights — a grand sweep of 135 travertine steps rising from an elegant piazza to a hilltop church, immortalized by…
Rome's Most Beautiful Piazzas, Worth Seeking Out
If there's one thing Rome does better than almost anywhere, it's the piazza — the public square as the beating heart of city life. Some are world-famous,…
Trastevere: A First Day in Rome's Most-Loved Quarter
Ask anyone who's been to Rome for their favorite neighborhood, and the answer is very often Trastevere. Across the Tiber from the historic center, this maze of…
Trastevere After Dark: Where to Eat & Wander
If there's one thing every first-timer should do an evening in Rome, it's cross the Tiber to Trastevere as the sun goes down. By day it's a pretty, cobbled…
A Perfect Evening Walk Through Centro Storico
Rome is magical by day, but it's transcendent at night — when the crowds thin, the monuments glow gold under floodlights, the day's heat softens, and the…
Centro Storico: The Heart of Old Rome on Foot
The Centro Storico — Rome's historic center — is the dense, walkable heart of the city where the greatest concentration of "wow" sits within a few minutes of…
Esquilino & Termini: What's Actually Worth Your Time
The area around Termini station and the Esquilino hill is where most visitors arrive in Rome — and where many never linger, dismissing it as the gritty transport…
Monti: Rome's Coolest Neighborhood, Explained
Tucked between the Colosseum and the busy sprawl of Termini, Monti is the neighborhood Romans and savvy visitors love — a pocket of cobbled lanes, vintage…
Ostiense & the Street Art of Southern Rome
For travelers who've seen the ancient ruins and want a different, edgier side of Rome, head south to Ostiense — a former industrial district that's become the…
Testaccio Food Market & the Best Bites
If you want to eat your way through the real Rome — the city's authentic food culture, away from the tourist traps — the Mercato di Testaccio is the place to do…
Testaccio: Rome's Real Food Neighborhood
If you want to eat the way Romans actually eat — and understand where Roman cuisine came from — go to Testaccio. South of the center and largely off the tourist…
The Jewish Ghetto: History, Food & a Walking Route
Tucked between the Tiber, Campo de' Fiori, and Piazza Venezia, Rome's Jewish Quarter — historically the Ghetto — is one of the city's most atmospheric and moving…
Campo de' Fiori: Market by Day, Buzz by Night
Few squares capture Rome's split personality like Campo de' Fiori. By morning it's a centuries-old open-air market, all fruit, flowers, and produce under canvas…