Things to do · Rome · Italy
20 best things to do in Rome
20 sights and experiences ranked for a first visit, with honest notes on time, cost and crowds.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Photo: This Photo was taken by Wolfgang Moroder . Feel free to use my photos, but please mention , CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answer
The essential sights in Rome are Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill and Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel. Of the 20 picks below, 10 are free, 6 work on a rainy day and 3 suit children. Allow about 4 days to see the highlights without rushing.
Key facts
- Top sight
- Colosseum
- Free sights
- 10
- Good on a rainy day
- Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel
- Time to see the highlights
- 4 days
At a glance
| Sight | Area | Time needed | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colosseum | Colosseo | 1.5 hours (half a day with the Forum) | Mid-priced |
| Roman Forum and Palatine Hill | Colosseo | 2–3 hours | Mid-priced |
| Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel | Vatican City | 3–4 hours | Mid-priced |
| St Peter's Basilica | Vatican City | 1.5–2 hours with the dome | Free |
| Pantheon | Centro Storico | 30–45 minutes | Low cost |
| Trevi Fountain | Trevi | 20–30 minutes | Free |
| Spanish Steps | Tridente | 30 minutes | Free |
| Piazza Navona | Centro Storico | 30–45 minutes | Free |
| Borghese Gallery | Villa Borghese | 2 hours | Mid-priced |
| Trastevere and Santa Maria in Trastevere | Trastevere | Half a day | Free |
| Capitoline Museums | Capitoline Hill | 2 hours | Mid-priced |
| Castel Sant'Angelo | Borgo | 1.5–2 hours | Mid-priced |
| Villa Borghese park | Villa Borghese | 2–3 hours | Free |
| Appian Way (Via Appia Antica) | Appia Antica | Half a day | Free |
| Baths of Caracalla | Aventine | 1–1.5 hours | Low cost |
| Basilica of San Clemente | Celio | 45 minutes | Low cost |
| Campo de' Fiori | Centro Storico | 45 minutes | Free |
| Jewish Ghetto | Ghetto | 1–2 hours | Free |
| Aventine Hill and the Knights of Malta keyhole | Aventine | 1 hour | Free |
| Palazzo Massimo alle Terme | Termini | 1.5–2 hours | Low cost |
The 20 best things to do
Historic site · Colosseo
1.Colosseum
The largest amphitheatre of the Roman world was inaugurated in AD 80 and held an estimated 50,000 spectators for gladiator fights and animal hunts. Standard tickets cover the public levels and are combined with the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill; separate tours visit the underground passages (hypogeum) and the arena floor.
Book the first slot of the morning or a late-afternoon slot, and visit the Forum and Palatine at a different time of day on the same ticket to spread the walking.
- Time needed
- 1.5 hours (half a day with the Forum)
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Book ahead
- Timed tickets are required and sell out days or weeks ahead in high season; buy from the official Colosseum site or authorised resellers.
- Iconic
- History
- Kids
- Architecture
Historic site · Colosseo
2.Roman Forum and Palatine Hill
The Forum was the political and religious centre of ancient Rome: temples, the Senate House (Curia), the triumphal arches of Titus and Septimius Severus and the Via Sacra run through the valley. Above it, the Palatine Hill holds the ruins of imperial palaces and gardens with views over the Circus Maximus.
Climb to the Farnese Gardens on the Palatine for the best overview of the Forum, and carry water — shade is scarce.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Book ahead
- Entry is included in the combined Colosseum ticket; reserve in advance.
- History
- Iconic
- Views
- Outdoors
Museum · Vatican City
3.Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel
The popes' collections fill kilometres of galleries: classical sculpture such as the Laocoön, the Gallery of Maps, the Raphael Rooms with The School of Athens and finally the Sistine Chapel, where Michelangelo painted the ceiling and The Last Judgement. Photography is not allowed in the chapel.
Book the first entry slot of the day and move briskly to the Raphael Rooms and the Sistine Chapel before tour groups catch up.
- Time needed
- 3–4 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Book ahead
- Timed tickets bought on the official Vatican Museums site avoid queues that can last hours.
- Iconic
- Art
- History
- Rainy day
Religious site · Vatican City
4.St Peter's Basilica
One of the largest churches in the world, rebuilt in the 16th and 17th centuries with Michelangelo's dome and Bernini's colonnaded square, St Peter's holds Michelangelo's Pietà and Bernini's bronze canopy over the papal altar. Entry to the basilica is free; a paid climb of the dome ends on an outdoor walkway above St Peter's Square.
Arrive early to beat the security queue, and cover shoulders and knees or you will be turned away.
- Time needed
- 1.5–2 hours with the dome
- Cost
- Free
- Iconic
- Free
- Architecture
- Views
- History
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Historic site · Centro Storico
5.Pantheon
Rebuilt under Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century, the Pantheon still has the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world, about 43 metres across, with an oculus open to the sky at its centre. It has been a church since the 7th century and holds the tomb of Raphael. Sightseeing requires a low-cost ticket.
Visit during a shower to watch rain fall through the oculus onto the marble floor, which has drainage holes beneath.
- Time needed
- 30–45 minutes
- Cost
- Low cost
- Book ahead
- Buying tickets online skips the ticket queue on busy days.
- Iconic
- Architecture
- History
- Rainy day
Landmark · Trevi
6.Trevi Fountain
Nicola Salvi's Baroque fountain, completed in 1762, shows Oceanus in a shell-shaped chariot drawn by sea horses against the back of Palazzo Poli. Tradition says a coin thrown over your shoulder ensures a return to Rome; the coins are collected for charity. Seeing it from the piazza costs nothing.
Come early in the morning or late at night to see it without a wall of people, and keep a hand on your bag in the crowd.
- Time needed
- 20–30 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- Iconic
- Free
- After dark
- Couples
- Photo spot
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Landmark · Tridente
7.Spanish Steps
The 135 travertine steps, built in the 1720s, climb from Piazza di Spagna and the boat-shaped Barcaccia fountain to the church of Trinità dei Monti. Sitting on the steps is banned and fined, but the view from the top down Via dei Condotti is free.
Walk up the steps and continue along to the Pincio terrace above Piazza del Popolo for a sunset view over the domes.
- Time needed
- 30 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- Iconic
- Free
- Views
- Shopping
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Landmark · Centro Storico
8.Piazza Navona
The long oval of Piazza Navona follows the shape of Emperor Domitian's 1st-century stadium. Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers stands in the middle, facing Borromini's church of Sant'Agnese in Agone, and in December the square fills with a Christmas market.
Skip the terrace prices for coffee and come back after dark, when the fountains are lit and the crowds thin.
- Time needed
- 30–45 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Iconic
- After dark
- Architecture
Gallery · Villa Borghese
1.Borghese Gallery
Cardinal Scipione Borghese's villa holds one of the city's great private collections: Bernini's marble sculptures Apollo and Daphne and The Rape of Proserpina, a room of Caravaggio paintings, Titian's Sacred and Profane Love and Canova's reclining Pauline Bonaparte. Visits are limited to timed slots, which keeps the rooms uncrowded.
Start upstairs in the picture gallery while most visitors crowd round the Berninis on the ground floor, then come back down.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Book ahead
- Reservations are compulsory and sell out weeks ahead in high season.
- Art
- Couples
- Rainy day
- History
Neighbourhood · Trastevere
2.Trastevere and Santa Maria in Trastevere
Trastevere is best explored on foot from Piazza di Santa Maria, where the basilica's medieval gold mosaics glow in the apse. Continue to Villa Farnesina with Raphael's fresco of Galatea, or climb the Janiculum Hill for a panorama of the city's domes.
Wander in the late afternoon, climb the Janiculum for sunset, then come back down for dinner.
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Food
- Couples
- After dark
- Views
Museum · Capitoline Hill
3.Capitoline Museums
Often called the world's oldest public museum, founded in 1471, the Capitoline Museums face Michelangelo's Piazza del Campidoglio. Highlights include the original bronze equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, the Capitoline Wolf and Caravaggio's Fortune Teller, and an underground passage through the Tabularium frames a classic view over the Roman Forum.
Do not miss the Tabularium windows over the Forum, and stop at the museum's terrace café for the view.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Art
- History
- Views
- Rainy day
Castle · Borgo
4.Castel Sant'Angelo
Built as Emperor Hadrian's mausoleum in the 2nd century, the drum-shaped fortress later became a papal stronghold linked to the Vatican by the Passetto di Borgo, an elevated corridor. A spiral ramp climbs through papal apartments to a terrace beneath a bronze archangel, with views of St Peter's and the Tiber; Bernini's angels line the Ponte Sant'Angelo below.
Time the terrace for late afternoon, then cross the Ponte Sant'Angelo towards Piazza Navona at dusk.
- Time needed
- 1.5–2 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- History
- Views
- Kids
- Architecture
Park · Villa Borghese
5.Villa Borghese park
Rome's central park covers about 80 hectares above the Spanish Steps, with a small lake where you can rent rowing boats, the Bioparco zoo, bike and pedal-cart hire and the Pincio terrace overlooking Piazza del Popolo. The Borghese Gallery and the National Gallery of Modern Art stand in the grounds.
Hire a four-person pedal cart near the Pincio for a family loop of the park, then watch the sunset from the terrace.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Kids
- Outdoors
- Couples
- Views
Historic site · Appia Antica
6.Appian Way (Via Appia Antica)
Begun in 312 BC, the 'queen of roads' still runs south from the city past tombs, villas and early Christian catacombs such as San Callisto and San Sebastiano. Long stretches keep their original basalt paving and are best explored by hired bike, and parts of the road are usually closed to cars on Sundays.
Take a bus to the Appia Antica park information point, rent a bike and ride out past the Tomb of Caecilia Metella.
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Cost
- Free
- History
- Outdoors
- Active
- Off the beaten path
- Free
Historic site · Aventine
7.Baths of Caracalla
These 3rd-century imperial baths could hold well over a thousand bathers at a time. The towering brick walls of the hot and cold halls, fragments of mosaic floors and the underground service tunnels show their scale, and the site is usually far quieter than the Forum. In summer the Rome Opera stages open-air performances here.
Visit in the late-afternoon light, then walk downhill to the Circus Maximus.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Outdoors
- Off the beaten path
- Architecture
Religious site · Celio
8.Basilica of San Clemente
A short walk from the Colosseum, this 12th-century basilica sits on top of a 4th-century church, which was itself built over a 1st-century Roman house and a temple of Mithras. Stairs lead down through all three levels, where an underground stream can still be heard.
The upper basilica is free; pay for the excavations below, which are the real reason to come.
- Time needed
- 45 minutes
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Off the beaten path
- Rainy day
- Architecture
Market · Centro Storico
9.Campo de' Fiori
In the morning Campo de' Fiori is an open-air market for vegetables, flowers and spices beneath the hooded statue of Giordano Bruno, burned for heresy on this spot in 1600. In the evening it becomes a busy meeting point for drinks, and the lanes towards Palazzo Farnese hide good bakeries and delis.
Buy a piece of pizza bianca from a bakery just off the square and eat it in Piazza Farnese next door.
- Time needed
- 45 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Food
- Shopping
- After dark
Neighbourhood · Ghetto
10.Jewish Ghetto
Rome's Jewish community, one of the oldest in Europe, has lived by the Tiber since the 2nd century BC. Around the ruins of the Portico of Octavia, restaurants serve carciofi alla giudia, crisp fried artichokes, and the Great Synagogue houses the Jewish Museum of Rome; the small Turtle Fountain hides in Piazza Mattei nearby.
Come for lunch in spring when Roman artichokes are in season, and see the synagogue on the museum's guided visit.
- Time needed
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- History
- Food
- Free
- Off the beaten path
Viewpoint · Aventine
11.Aventine Hill and the Knights of Malta keyhole
On the quiet Aventine Hill, the keyhole in the door of the Priory of the Knights of Malta frames St Peter's dome at the end of a garden avenue. A minute away, the Orange Garden (Giardino degli Aranci) looks across the Tiber to the domes of the centre, and the early Christian basilica of Santa Sabina keeps its 5th-century carved wooden doors.
The keyhole queue is shortest early in the morning; return to the Orange Garden for sunset if you can.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Views
- Couples
- Off the beaten path
- Photo spot
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Museum · Termini
12.Palazzo Massimo alle Terme
Part of the National Roman Museum, this palazzo near Termini station holds superb ancient art with a fraction of the Vatican's crowds: the bronze Boxer at Rest, a marble Discobolus and, upstairs, rooms from the Villa of Livia frescoed as a garden full of birds and fruit trees.
Go straight to the top floor for the Villa of Livia frescoes and the mosaics, then work down to the bronzes.
- Time needed
- 1.5–2 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Art
- History
- Rainy day
- Off the beaten path
Pick by interest
| Interest | Best picks |
|---|---|
| Art and museums | Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, Borghese Gallery, Capitoline Museums and Palazzo Massimo alle Terme |
| History | Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel and St Peter's Basilica |
| Views | Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, St Peter's Basilica, Spanish Steps and Trastevere and Santa Maria in Trastevere |
| Outdoors and nature | Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, Villa Borghese park, Appian Way (Via Appia Antica) and Baths of Caracalla |
| Food and markets | Trastevere and Santa Maria in Trastevere, Campo de' Fiori and Jewish Ghetto |
| After dark | Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, Trastevere and Santa Maria in Trastevere and Campo de' Fiori |
| With children | Colosseum, Castel Sant'Angelo and Villa Borghese park |
| On a rainy day | Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, Pantheon, Borghese Gallery and Capitoline Museums |
What to book ahead
- Colosseum: Timed tickets are required and sell out days or weeks ahead in high season; buy from the official Colosseum site or authorised resellers.
- Roman Forum and Palatine Hill: Entry is included in the combined Colosseum ticket; reserve in advance.
- Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel: Timed tickets bought on the official Vatican Museums site avoid queues that can last hours.
- Pantheon: Buying tickets online skips the ticket queue on busy days.
- Borghese Gallery: Reservations are compulsory and sell out weeks ahead in high season.
Plan the rest of your trip
Questions travellers ask
+What is the number one thing to do in Rome?
Colosseum. The largest amphitheatre of the Roman world was inaugurated in AD 80 and held an estimated 50,000 spectators for gladiator fights and animal hunts.
+What can you do for free in Rome?
St Peter's Basilica, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Piazza Navona and Trastevere and Santa Maria in Trastevere. More free things to do.
+What is there to do in Rome when it rains?
Head indoors to Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, Pantheon, Borghese Gallery and Capitoline Museums.
+What is there to do in Rome at night?
Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, Trastevere and Santa Maria in Trastevere and Campo de' Fiori are best after dark.