5 Days in Rome

Nobody planned the Colosseum as a ruin. Emperor Vespasian started it around AD 70-72 on the filled-in site of Nero's private lake, after the Great Fire of 64, and his son Titus opened it in AD 80. It held an estimated 50,000 or more people for gladiator fights, animal hunts and staged battles. Then came the earthquakes: the one in 1349 brought down the south side, and the fallen stone went into palaces and churches around the city.

Book on the official site, ticketing.colosseo.it, up to 30 days ahead: the Colosseum entry has a fixed time slot, and you get about 75 minutes inside. The 24-hour ticket covers the first and second levels, the museum, and one entry to the Forum and Palatine. The arena floor and the underground tunnels are only on the Full Experience ticket (valid two days, 90 minutes inside, 24 EUR). Tickets carry your name and you keep ID visible at the entrance. Ignore the street resellers and the costumed gladiators at the gate.

Walk down from the Colosseum and you are in the Roman Forum, the valley between the Palatine and Capitoline hills where Rome ran its daily life: elections, trials, speeches, and the triumphal parades along the Via Sacra. Today it is a field of broken columns. Start at the Arch of Titus, follow the Via Sacra past the Temple of Vesta, where the Vestal Virgins tended the sacred fire, and end by the Curia Julia, the senate house Julius Caesar began.

Bring water, because there is little shade. The basic ticket includes the Forum and its museum. A few extra sites, among them Santa Maria Antiqua and the Curia, belong to the SUPER group, which you only get with the Full Experience or the separate Forum Pass SUPER.

Climb from the Forum to the Palatine, the middle one of the seven hills. Legend says the she-wolf found Romulus and Remus in a cave here, and archaeologists did find huts from the 9th to 7th century BC, so Rome really does start on this hill. Under Augustus it became the emperors' ground, and the ruins of the palaces of Augustus, Tiberius and Domitian are all here.

It is the quietest part of the ticket, with views over the Forum on one side and the Circus Maximus on the other. The House of Augustus is closed on Mondays, and the House of Livia is closed for restoration. For lunch, walk ten minutes into Monti rather than eating at the stalls by the Colosseum.

Climb to Piazza del Campidoglio, the square Michelangelo designed from 1536, with museum palaces on both sides. The Capitoline Museums began in 1471, when Pope Sixtus IV gave a collection of ancient bronzes to the people of Rome, and in 1734 they opened to the public, which makes them one of the first public museums anywhere. The Capitoline Wolf, the Dying Gaul and the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius are inside.

Non-residents pay 15 EUR, or 16.50 EUR while a special exhibition runs, and residents get in free. The Colosseum ticket does not cover the museums, so if you are tired, skip them and just enjoy the square.

Walk past the Circus Maximus, today a long grassy valley, and climb the Aventine to the Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta. Piranesi designed the square's screen of obelisks and stelae in 1765, and in the door of the Villa del Priorato, an extraterritorial seat of the Order of Malta, is a keyhole. Put your eye to it and you see an avenue of clipped cypresses with the copper-green dome of St Peter's at the end. Expect a queue of people doing exactly the same thing.

Then walk to the Giardino degli Aranci, the Orange Garden, a terrace over the river. Sunset is at 17:11 on 27 October, 16:49 on 15 November and 16:39 on 1 December. Down the hill is the Mouth of Truth, a stone face on the portico of Santa Maria in Cosmedin where visitors put a hand in for the photo.

Testaccio is where Roman food lives. The neighborhood is named after Monte Testaccio, a hill made of broken ancient olive oil jars, perhaps 53 million of them, and in modern times it became a center for butchers. The cheap cuts nobody else wanted turned into the quinto quarto (fifth quarter) cooking of the city, including coda alla vaccinara, oxtail stew, which you still find in the trattorie of Testaccio and Trastevere.

Felice a Testaccio, open since 1936 and known for cacio e pepe, is the classic, and it takes reservations on its website. Order the pasta, then the oxtail if you are brave.

The Vatican Museums started with one statue: the Laocoon group, dug up near Santa Maria Maggiore on 14 January 1506, which Pope Julius II had examined and bought almost at once. Today the museums hold about 70,000 works, some 20,000 on display, and in 2024 they had around 6.8 million visitors, so they are busy. The route runs through the Egyptian and Etruscan collections and the Raphael Rooms, and ends in the Sistine Chapel.

Michelangelo painted the Sistine ceiling between 1508 and 1512 and came back in the 1530s for the Last Judgment on the altar wall. The chapel is also where cardinals elect a pope. The rules are strict: silence, no photos, and large bags go in a free cloakroom. Hours are 8 am to 8 pm Monday to Saturday, with last admission at 6 pm. Buy tickets only at tickets.museivaticani.va, the one official site.

Bonci Pizzarium, a short walk from the museum, is the shop that made Roman pizza al taglio worth a detour. Slices come from big trays and are sold by weight, with no seating: you eat standing at the counter or outside.

Go at an odd hour, because mealtimes bring a line, and ask for a mix of slices.

St Peter's took from 1506 to 1626 to build and has a crowd of famous names in it: Bramante, Michelangelo and Maderno designed the church, and Bernini made the square and the fittings. It is the largest church in the world by interior size. Do not miss Michelangelo's Pietà.

Entry is free, but there is a security check, so allow time for the line. The dress rule is the same as at the museums: knees and shoulders covered. There is no cloakroom, so bring only a small bag. The dome has its own ticket, roughly 10 EUR on the stairs (551 steps) or 15 EUR with the lift to the terrace at the kiosk (online tickets cost more, check the official site), and in winter it closes at 5 pm. The basilica's closing time also changes with the season, so check before you go.

Walk down Via della Conciliazione to Piazza Pia, which became a pedestrian square in December 2024, just before the Jubilee, with the traffic moved into a tunnel. At the end stands Castel Sant'Angelo, built between 134 and 139 as Emperor Hadrian's tomb. The popes later made it a fortress, and a fortified corridor, the Passetto di Borgo, linked it to St Peter's. Clement VII took refuge here during the Sack of Rome in 1527.

The museum is open 9 am to 7:30 pm, last admission 6:30 pm, and closed on Mondays. The roof terrace is the real reason to go, with the Tiber and the old center laid out below. The angel on top recalls the legend that the Archangel Michael appeared over the tomb in 590 to end a plague.

Cross to the old center on Ponte Sant'Angelo, the bridge in front of the castle, as the light goes orange. Stop in the middle and look back at the fortress and the dome of St Peter's behind it. It costs nothing.

The Roman snack is supplì: a fried ball of rice with ragù and a core of mozzarella that stretches into a string when you bite, which is why it is also called supplì al telefono, like a phone cord. Supplizio, on Via dei Banchi Vecchi, a few minutes from the bridge, is a modern fry shop that does it well, and it is closed on Sundays.

Eat one standing, or make two or three supplì your dinner when you are tired of queues.

The Pantheon is the best-preserved ancient building in Rome, mainly because in 609 the Byzantine emperor Phocas gave it to the pope, who made it a church. The present building went up under Hadrian and was probably dedicated around AD 126. Its dome, 43 meters across, is still the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world, and the opening at the top, the oculus, is the only source of light. The painter Raphael is buried inside. In the 17th century Pope Urban VIII had the bronze from the portico melted down, and the story says some of it went into Bernini's canopy at St Peter's.

Entry has cost money since July 2023: 5 EUR at first, 7 EUR since 1 July 2026, under an agreement between the Ministry of Culture and the Diocese of Rome. Buy a ticket on the Musei Italiani site or app, or at the machines, and keep to your time slot. It is free for Rome residents, under-18s and on the first Sunday of the month. It is still a working church, so cover your shoulders and keep your voice down. Mass is at 10:30 on Sundays and 5 pm on Saturdays, and tickets are not sold for an hour before.

Two coffee houses within a few minutes of the Pantheon argue over the title of Rome's best. Tazza d'Oro, on Via degli Orfani, has roasted coffee here since 1944. Sant'Eustachio il Caffè, in a small square behind the Pantheon, dates from 1938 and is known for its house gran caffè. Drink at the counter, the way Romans do, because prices go up if you sit.

For gelato, Giolitti on Via degli Uffici del Vicario reportedly is the oldest ice cream parlor in Rome, and it has been the royal family's supplier.

Piazza Navona follows the exact oval of the stadium Domitian built in AD 80, which is why it is so long and narrow. In the 17th century, under Innocent X, whose Pamphili family palace faces the square, it became a Baroque showcase: Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers stands in front of Sant'Agnese in Agone, and from 1652 until 1866 the square was flooded every weekend in August for the Pamphili festivities. Today it is a stage for street painters and tourist restaurants, and the Four Rivers is the thing to look at. Five minutes away is the French national church, San Luigi dei Francesi, free to enter, with three Caravaggio paintings from 1599-1600 in the Contarelli Chapel, among them the Calling of Saint Matthew. It is the best free detour in Rome.

Cross Campo de' Fiori and walk south to the Portico d'Ottavia, the heart of the old Jewish quarter. Jews had lived in Rome since before Christian times, and in 1555 Pope Paul IV ordered about 2,000 of them into a walled ghetto here. Today the area is the home of Roman-Jewish cooking.

The dish to order is carciofi alla giudia, Jewish-style artichokes, flattened and fried twice until they look like a golden flower. They are a spring dish, so autumn menus may not have them. Nonna Betta, a kosher-style restaurant at Via del Portico d'Ottavia 16, builds its name on them, keeps separate meat and fish menus, and is closed on Tuesdays.

Cross the Tiber on Ponte Sisto and you are in Trastevere, the old neighborhood on the far bank (trans Tiberim, beyond the Tiber). Its anchor is Santa Maria in Trastevere, traditionally one of the oldest churches in Rome dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The present building was largely rebuilt in the 12th century and is known for its medieval mosaics.

There is an octagonal fountain in the square in front. Visit the church while the light is good, then wander the lanes behind it. Trastevere is lovely at this hour and very touristy in the evening, which is why dinner comes after the hill.

Climb the Gianicolo, the Janiculum, a hill west of the river that is not one of the seven hills but gives one of the best views of the city's domes and bell towers. At the top is the monument to Garibaldi, who defended the short-lived Roman Republic here against French troops in 1849. A cannon fires every day at noon, a tradition from 1847 that moved to the Janiculum in 1904.

Go up before sunset, which is at 16:49 in mid-November, and walk down in the dusk, when the lanes below fill with people going to dinner.

Trastevere lives on tourists, and the quality of its restaurants varies a lot, so choose with care. Da Enzo al 29, on Via dei Vascellari, is a small family trattoria that guides recommend for cacio e pepe, amatriciana and carbonara. Several guides say it does not take dinner reservations, so arrive when it opens for dinner and expect to wait.

If the line is too long, walk away from the main square and look for a short menu of Roman dishes, and avoid any place where someone stands outside to pull you in. If you would rather book ahead, Armando al Pantheon (since 1961) takes online reservations only.

The Galleria Borghese was the country villa of Cardinal Scipione Borghese, nephew of Pope Paul V, and it shows how a rich collector lived with art. He was an early patron of Bernini, and the gallery has the sculptures to prove it: Apollo and Daphne, the Rape of Proserpina and David. Caravaggio is well represented too, along with Raphael, Titian and Canova's Pauline Borghese as Venus.

Reservation is compulsory, even for free tickets. A visit lasts two hours, a new shift starts every hour with up to 180 people, and the first is at 9 am. The gallery is open Tuesday to Sunday, 9 am to 7 pm. Book online or by phone, five tickets at a time. Under-18s go free, still with the 2 EUR booking fee, and the Roma Pass covers the gallery.

Walk out of the gallery into Villa Borghese, the third-largest public park in Rome at about 80 hectares. Scipione Borghese began turning an old vineyard into gardens in 1605, and the city bought it and opened it to the public in 1903. Walk west past the small lake to the Pincio, the southern part of the park and one of the best viewpoints in Rome.

Giuseppe Valadier laid out the Pincio in 1809-14, and its terrace looks down on Piazza del Popolo. Look for the water clock built in 1873, which tells the time with falling water. Then take the ramps down to the square.

Before railways, Piazza del Popolo was the traveler's first view of Rome. It lies inside the northern gate of the old walls, where the Via Flaminia comes in from the north, and the last public execution here took place in 1826.

Santa Maria del Popolo, in the corner, holds two Caravaggio paintings in the Cerasi Chapel, the Conversion of Saint Paul and the Crucifixion of Saint Peter, from 1600-01, next to an altarpiece by Annibale Carracci. With the Contarelli Chapel on day three, that completes a free Caravaggio route through Rome. Sources list a midday closure from about noon to 4 pm, so go after 4 pm.

Walk down to the Spanish Steps, 135 steps from the Piazza di Spagna up to the church of Trinità dei Monti, which was under the patronage of the Bourbon kings of France. The square is named for the Spanish Embassy at its foot. At the bottom is the Barcaccia fountain, built in 1627-29, and on the right the house where the poet John Keats lived and died in 1821, now a small museum.

Rome's city rules ban sitting on the steps: a 2019 ordinance set fines of a few hundred euros, and while enforcement varies, police do tell people to get up. The Antico Caffè Greco on Via Condotti, Rome's oldest coffeehouse, open since 1760, was sealed in October 2025 after a rent dispute. It had not reopened at the time of writing, so do not plan a coffee there.

The Trevi Fountain is 26 meters high and 49 meters wide, designed by Nicola Salvi and finished in 1762, three decades after work began. It is the end of the Acqua Vergine aqueduct, which has fed Rome since antiquity, and its travertine came from quarries near Tivoli. Salvi hid a barber's ugly shop sign behind a sculpted vase that Romans still call the Ace of Cups.

Since 2 February 2026, non-residents who want to go down to the basin, the part closest to the sculpture, pay a 2 EUR ticket, valid 9 am to 10 pm, last entry 9 pm. Rome and metropolitan-area residents, children up to 5 and disabled visitors with a carer are free. Buy online at fontanaditrevi.roma.it, at civic museums and tourist info points, or at the gate. Looking from the square is free at any hour.

Five minutes from the fountain, on Via di San Marcello, the Antica Birreria Peroni says it has been open since 1906. It is a beer hall, not fine dining: Peroni on tap, simple dishes like bruschetta and sausage, and a cheap, noisy end to a long day.

Take the Roma-Lido train from Porta San Paolo, the station beside Piramide metro on line B, to Ostia Antica: about 40 minutes on the normal city ticket, with trains every 15 minutes on weekdays. Ostia Antica was the port of Rome at the mouth of the Tiber, with around 50,000 people by the 2nd century AD. Silt and sand covered it after it was abandoned, and only Pompeii and Herculaneum are better preserved. The river has since pushed the shoreline 3 kilometers away.

From the gate, follow the main street, the Decumanus, past shops, taverns, apartment blocks and temples. This is where you see how ordinary Romans lived, which the center of Rome cannot show you. The site is large and uneven with little shade, so wear flat shoes. The ticket is 18 EUR, valid for eight days and all sites in the park.

Agrippa had the theater built between 18 and 12 BC, and behind it is the Piazzale delle Corporazioni, the square where the port's trades had their offices. Look for the mosaics in the Baths of Neptune. A fire brigade, taverns and inns, and 18 shrines of the god Mithras show how many trades and cults a port town packed together.

Do not try to see everything: pick the Decumanus, the Forum, the theater and one bath house. The Ostiense Museum, on site, holds finds from the excavations and keeps shorter hours, closed on Mondays. Eating and picnics are banned among the ruins, so lunch means the Caffetteria degli Scavi on site, or the village by the ticket office with the Castello di Giulio II.

Ostia is also Rome's beach: the same train line goes on to Lido di Ostia, the only part of the city on the Tyrrhenian Sea. In summer it is full of rented loungers, and in the colder months it is a long, quiet seafront: a walk to the water and a coffee at a bar.

This stop is optional. If the site tired you out, go straight back to Rome: trains run about every 15 minutes on weekdays and every 30 on Sundays and holidays.

The Roma-Lido line ends at Porta San Paolo, a short walk from Testaccio, so finish with Rome's thin, crisp pizza. Pizzeria Da Remo, in Piazza di Santa Maria Liberatrice, is a loud, simple place known for its pizza romana, plus fried starters like fiori di zucca (zucchini flowers). Most sources say it does not take bookings and is closed on Sundays, so arrive when it opens at 7 pm.

Order a Margherita and share a beer: a good last dinner, in the neighborhood where the trip started.