Rome

Ciao Bella: The Definitive Guide to Exploring the Eternal City

There is a moment, usually in your first evening in Rome, when the city stops being a list of sites and becomes a living thing. Perhaps it is when you round a corner near the Piazza Navona and a street violinist begins Puccini as the sun drops behind the cupola of Sant’Agnese. Perhaps it is when you notice that the cracked stones under your feet on Via dei Fori Imperiali were laid by sandalled feet two thousand years ago. Rome is not a city that performs for tourists. It simply carries on being itself, millennia deep, generous with beauty, indifferent to fashion, and absolutely certain that dinner should happen after 8pm.

This guide is for travellers who want to go beyond the postcard. We cover the great monuments, of course, but also the neighbourhoods that locals love, the regional Roman food that is nothing like the “Italian” food abroad, the logistics that save hours of queueing, and the small rituals that turn visitors into returners.

A City Built on Layers

Legend says Rome was founded by Romulus in 753 BC; archaeology says the Iron Age villages on the Palatine hill were already in place. From monarchy to republic to empire, the city ruled a Mediterranean world and scattered aqueducts, amphitheatres, and roads as far as Hadrian’s Wall. Sacked repeatedly in the early Middle Ages, it shrank to a few thousand inhabitants and grazed sheep among the Forum’s temples. The Renaissance and the Baroque then rebuilt it around popes, painters, and architects: Michelangelo, Raphael, Bernini, Borromini. Unification in 1870 made it Italy’s capital and Mussolini drove brutal avenues through the old quarters in the 1930s. What you see today is every one of these layers at once, stacked, recycled, and still inhabited. A medieval tower stands on a Roman temple base; a Renaissance palazzo has a modern espresso bar on the ground floor and a family apartment above.

The Essential Sites (and How to Enjoy Them)

The Colosseum, Forum and Palatine. The Flavian amphitheatre opened in AD 80 and could seat 50,000 for gladiatorial games, animal hunts, and staged sea battles. Buy a combined ticket online for a specific time slot; the standard ticket covers the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill and is valid for 24 hours, so you can do the Colosseum in the morning and the Forum after lunch when tour groups thin out. Splurge on the arena floor or underground (hypogeum) access for an unforgettable perspective. The Palatine, often skipped, is the hill where emperors lived and offers glorious views over the Circus Maximus.

Vatican City. The smallest state in the world contains some of the greatest art in it. The Vatican Museums culminate in the Sistine Chapel, where Michelangelo’s ceiling (1508-1512) and Last Judgment (1541) are even more astonishing in person than in reproduction. Book the earliest entry slot or, even better, the Friday-evening opening in high season. St Peter’s Basilica is free to enter; the queue moves quickly but security is thorough, so dress modestly (covered shoulders and knees) or be turned away. Climb the dome for a view down the nave and out across the city.

The Pantheon. Completed under Hadrian around AD 126, the Pantheon has the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world, nearly 1,900 years old. The 9-metre oculus opens to the sky; when it rains, water falls onto the floor’s slightly sloped marble and drains into ancient channels. Entry now requires a small ticket; go first thing in the morning for the full acoustic hush.

Trevi Fountain. Nicola Salvi’s 1762 baroque extravaganza was fed by a restored Roman aqueduct. Toss a coin with your right hand over your left shoulder to ensure your return. Visit at dawn or after 11pm to find the piazza nearly empty.

Piazza Navona. Built on the oval of Emperor Domitian’s stadium, this is Bernini’s stage. His Fountain of the Four Rivers personifies the Danube, Ganges, Nile and Rio de la Plata beneath an Egyptian obelisk.

Castel Sant’Angelo. Begun as Hadrian’s mausoleum, later a fortress and papal refuge connected to the Vatican by a secret raised passage. The ramparts give one of the best city panoramas.

Borghese Gallery. A jewel of a museum in a 17th-century villa, holding Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne, Caravaggio’s David with the Head of Goliath, and Canova’s Paolina Borghese. Entry is by two-hour timed slot, booked weeks in advance in high season.

Capitoline Museums. The world’s oldest public museum (1471) on Michelangelo’s Piazza del Campidoglio. Home to the bronze she-wolf, the Dying Gaul, and a breathtaking view of the Forum from the Tabularium arches.

Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore and San Giovanni in Laterano. The two other papal basilicas, astonishing and far less crowded than St Peter’s.

Ostia Antica. Just 25 minutes by train, the excavated port city of ancient Rome is what people go to Pompeii for, without the crowds.

Neighbourhoods to Wander

Centro Storico. The “historic centre” between the Tiber bend and the Corso, a warren of cobbled lanes around the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. Stay here if you can.

Trastevere. “Across the Tiber”, once working-class, now picturesque but still rooted. Medieval lanes, Santa Maria in Trastevere with its golden mosaics, and an after-dark life that spills from wine bars into the streets. Sunday lunch here is a Roman tradition.

Monti. The oldest rione, once a slum that housed Julius Caesar and later notorious brothels. Today a boho enclave of vintage shops, aperitivo bars around Piazza della Madonna dei Monti, and Roman ruins poking through basement walls.

Testaccio. Built on a hill of ancient Roman amphora shards. This is the birthplace of Roman working-class cuisine (the Mattatoio, the old slaughterhouse, gave rise to the quinto quarto dishes). Visit the covered market in the morning and eat at the old trattorias in the evening.

Jewish Ghetto. A small, atmospheric quarter around the Portico of Octavia. Home to Rome’s ancient Jewish community and to the best carciofi alla giudìa (Roman-Jewish fried artichokes) in the city.

Aventine Hill. A quiet residential hill with orange-tree gardens, the Giardino degli Aranci, and the famous keyhole at the Knights of Malta, through which you see St Peter’s framed by cypresses.

Coppedè and Flaminio. An eccentric early-20th-century district of fantasy architecture, and the home of Renzo Piano’s Auditorium Parco della Musica and MAXXI, Zaha Hadid’s contemporary art museum.

Garbatella and Pigneto. Younger, arty, excellent for craft cocktails and real neighbourhood trattorias.

Eating Rome Properly

Roman food is peasant food elevated: offal, pasta, pork, pecorino, olive oil, seasonal vegetables. The cooking is direct, the portions are generous, and the classics repeat on menus across the city because locals want them that way.

The four cornerstone pastas.

• Cacio e pepe. Tonnarelli or spaghetti, pecorino Romano, black pepper, starchy pasta water. Nothing else. Done well it is transcendent.
• Carbonara. Guanciale (cured pork cheek), egg yolks, pecorino, black pepper. No cream, ever.
• Amatriciana. Guanciale, tomato, chilli, pecorino on bucatini.
• Gricia. The “white amatriciana”: guanciale, pecorino, pepper, no tomato.

Other essentials. Saltimbocca alla romana (veal with prosciutto and sage). Coda alla vaccinara (oxtail stew). Abbacchio (milk-fed lamb) in the spring. Carciofi alla romana (braised artichokes) and alla giudìa (fried). Supplì (fried rice balls with mozzarella) as a starter or a street snack. Trippa alla romana on Saturday, still a tradition in many trattorias.

Pizza in Rome. Not Naples-style. Roman pizza comes in two forms: pizza al taglio (by the slice from a long tray, sold by weight) and the ultra-thin, crisp pizza tonda that appears after dark at places like Da Remo in Testaccio.

Gelato. The rule is simple: real gelato is stored in covered metal bins, not piled high in neon mountains of colour. Banana should be grey-brown, pistachio should be murky green.

Coffee. Rome takes its coffee at the bar, standing, and drunk in three sips. Cappuccino before 11am only. After lunch, an espresso or a macchiato. A caffè shakerato on a hot day. Historic coffeehouses include Sant’Eustachio and Tazza d’Oro near the Pantheon.

Markets and wine bars. Campo de’ Fiori (mornings only, a bit tourist-heavy now), Mercato di Testaccio, Mercato Trionfale near the Vatican. Look for “enoteca” signs for natural wines and simple, excellent food.

Where to Stay

• Centro Storico for atmosphere and walking access to everything.
• Monti and Celio for character and proximity to the Colosseum.
• Trastevere for romance and nightlife.
• Prati for quiet, elegant streets next to the Vatican and excellent shopping.
• Testaccio and Aventino for a more local feel with great food at lower prices.

Rome has grand historic hotels around Via Veneto and the Spanish Steps, elegant palazzo conversions in the centre, a growing scene of boutique hotels in Monti and Trastevere, and a network of convent guesthouses that are clean, quiet, and remarkably affordable if you do not mind an early curfew.

Practical Tips

• When to go. April to early June and late September to October offer mild light and manageable crowds. November and February are quiet and cool. July and August are hot (often 35°C+) and many restaurants close for ferragosto in mid-August.
• Getting in. From Fiumicino Airport, the Leonardo Express train runs nonstop to Termini in 32 minutes. From Ciampino, take the bus to Termini in about 40 minutes.
• Getting around. Rome is walkable; the centre is surprisingly compact. The Metro has three lines and is useful for longer hops (Termini, Vatican, Colosseum). Buses and trams are comprehensive; buy a 24, 48, 72-hour or weekly ticket and validate it each time you board. Taxis are metered; only take white, licensed cars with a number on the door.
• Tickets and passes. Book Colosseum, Vatican, and Borghese slots weeks in advance. The Roma Pass covers transport and two attractions with discounts thereafter and is worth it if you will be touring hard.
• Dress code for churches. Shoulders and knees covered. St Peter’s enforces strictly.
• Safety. Pickpocketing on the 64 and 40 buses and around Termini is the main concern. Wear your bag across your body.
• Language. A “buongiorno”, “buonasera”, “per favore”, and “grazie” will take you far. Waiters are usually patient with English but appreciate the effort.
• Tipping. A coperto (cover charge) is common; service is not always included. Leaving a few euros is appreciated but not expected.

A Sample Three-Day Route

Day 1. Colosseum, Palatine, Forum in the morning. Lunch in Monti. Afternoon at the Capitoline Museums. Sunset at the Altare della Patria terraces. Dinner in the Jewish Ghetto.

Day 2. Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel at opening. St Peter’s. Lunch in Prati. Castel Sant’Angelo and Ponte Sant’Angelo. Evening passeggiata through Piazza Navona and Pantheon. Dinner in the Centro Storico.

Day 3. Borghese Gallery at 9am; walk through the park to Piazza del Popolo and down Via del Corso. Trevi Fountain. Spanish Steps. Lunch near Piazza di Spagna. Afternoon in Trastevere and Testaccio; Aventine keyhole at sunset. Roman dinner with cacio e pepe and a carafe of Frascati.

Day Trips

• Tivoli. Villa d’Este’s fountains and Hadrian’s sprawling country villa, an hour by train.
• Ostia Antica. The remarkably preserved port city, half an hour by train.
• Castelli Romani. Hill towns south of Rome, white wine country, and lakeside lunches at Castel Gandolfo.
• Orvieto. An hour by train into Umbria, a hilltop town with a stunning striped cathedral.

Final Thoughts

Rome is inexhaustible, which is both its challenge and its gift. You will not see it all. You will leave with a list of places you did not reach and a stack of reasons to return. The trick is to surrender the list a little: to sit at the edge of a fountain at dusk, to let the old waiter choose your wine, to walk a street for no reason except that its ochre walls catch the afternoon light. Rome does not hurry, and once you have been there long enough, you find that you do not either.