The largest amphitheatre ever built by the Roman Empire — 80 arched entrances, room for 55,000 spectators, and nearly 2,000 years of history under one travertine shell. Walk the arena floor reconstruction and look down into the hypogeum where gladiators and animals once waited.

Ancient columns of the Roman Forum with the Palatine Hill behind

ROM.002· landmarks

Foro Romano e Palatino

The political heart of the ancient world — temple columns, the Curia Senate house, the Arch of Titus, and the ruins of imperial palaces on the Palatine Hill above. Bring water, wear a hat, and give it at least two hours; this is where Rome actually happened.

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ROM.003· landmarks

Pantheon

The best-preserved building of ancient Rome — a 2nd-century temple with the largest unreinforced concrete dome ever built, still standing 1,900 years later. A modest entry fee since 2023, always astonishing, and busiest around the oculus at midday when a single shaft of light crosses the floor.

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Trevi Fountain illuminated at night with Neptune sculpture

ROM.004· landmarks

Fontana di Trevi

The most theatrical fountain in the world — Neptune's chariot carved into the side of a palazzo, 1,400 litres of water a second, and a coin-toss ritual (right hand, over the left shoulder) that supposedly guarantees a return to Rome. Come at dawn to see it without the crowds.

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St Peter's Basilica dome and Bernini's colonnade at St Peter's Square

ROM.005· landmarks

Basilica di San Pietro

The largest church in Christendom — Michelangelo's dome, Bernini's baldachin over the papal altar, and the Pietà behind glass to the right of the entrance. Free to enter; the dome climb (551 steps, partial lift) gives the best rooftop view in Rome.

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Museos

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Interior gallery of the Vatican Museums leading toward the Sistine Chapel

Musei Vaticani & Cappella Sistina

One of the largest museum complexes on earth — the Raphael Rooms, the Gallery of Maps, and, at the end of the route, Michelangelo's ceiling and Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel. Book a timed entry; the queue without one can run past two hours.

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Galleria Borghese

The single best small museum in Italy — Bernini's Apollo and Daphne and David under one roof, plus Caravaggios and a Canova sculpture of Napoleon's sister. Entry is capped and timed at two hours per slot; book weeks ahead, this always sells out.

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Piazza del Campidoglio designed by Michelangelo, entrance to the Capitoline Museums

Musei Capitolini

The oldest public museum in the world, opened in 1734 on Michelangelo's Piazza del Campidoglio. Home to the Capitoline Wolf, the colossal fragments of Constantine, and a rooftop café with a direct view of the Forum below.

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Galleria Doria Pamphilj

A private noble collection still owned by the Doria Pamphilj family, hung salon-style across gilded state rooms — Velázquez's portrait of Innocent X, two Caravaggios, and an audio guide narrated by a family member. Consistently the least crowded major collection in central Rome.

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Curving concrete architecture of the MAXXI contemporary art museum in Rome

MAXXI — Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI Secolo

Zaha Hadid's swooping concrete-and-glass building is as much the exhibit as the contemporary art and architecture shows inside. The clearest evidence that Rome isn't only ancient — a short taxi ride north of the centre, and worth the trip.

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Gastronomía

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Plate of cacio e pepe pasta at a Trastevere trattoria table

ROM.001· restaurants

Trattoria Da Enzo al 29

A tiny Trastevere trattoria that draws queues down the street for the Roman trinity — cacio e pepe, carbonara, and amatriciana, all made the traditional way. No reservations, no shortcuts, no regrets.

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ROM.002· restaurants

Dar Poeta

Trastevere's best-loved pizzeria — a thicker, longer-proofed Roman crust than most, a legendary Nutella-and-ricotta calzone for dessert, and a queue that starts before opening.

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ROM.003· restaurants

Roscioli

Deli, wine bar, and restaurant in one — a marble counter piled with salumi and cheese out front, and a serious kitchen in back turning out the carbonara most Romans consider definitive. Book two weeks ahead for dinner.

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Vida nocturna

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ROM.001· nightlife

Freni e Frizioni

A former mechanic's garage in Trastevere turned into Rome's benchmark aperitivo bar — a generous buffet included with every drink, and a courtyard that fills up fast once the sun goes down.

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Bartender mixing a signature cocktail at Co.So bar in Pigneto

ROM.002· nightlife

Co.So Cocktail Bar

A former Vatican bartender's Pigneto cocktail bar built around Roman flavours — a Carbonara-inspired cocktail is the signature order, served in a room too small to ever feel anything but packed.

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ROM.003· nightlife

Ai Tre Scalini

A Monti wine bar so small and so popular that the crowd spills onto the cobblestones outside most nights. The house-infused mirtillo (blueberry) liqueur is the local order, best had standing up with a plate of cheese.

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ROM.004· nightlife

Jerry Thomas Speakeasy

Rome's original speakeasy, credited with reviving Italy's cocktail scene — a password, a hidden door near Campo de' Fiori, and bartenders who take Prohibition-era technique seriously. Membership card required at the door, easily arranged on arrival.

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Actividades

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Underground hypogeum tunnels beneath the Colosseum arena floor

ROM.001· activities

Colosseo Sotterranei & Arena Floor Tour

Special-access tour down into the hypogeum — the underground tunnels where gladiators and animals waited before being raised onto the arena floor by a network of lifts and trapdoors. Small groups, limited daily slots.

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Early morning light in an empty Vatican Museums gallery

ROM.002· activities

Vatican Museums Early Entrance Tour

Enter before the general public with a small group and a guide, walking the Gallery of Maps and Raphael Rooms in relative quiet before reaching a considerably less crowded Sistine Chapel.

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Hands rolling fresh pasta dough during a Roman cooking class

ROM.003· activities

Roman Pasta-Making Class

Hands-on class in a Testaccio kitchen — hand-roll tonnarelli, learn the emulsification trick behind proper cacio e pepe, and sit down to eat everything you made with a glass of local wine.

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Vintage Vespa sidecar parked on a cobblestone street in Rome

ROM.004· activities

Vespa Sidecar Tour of Rome

Ride shotgun in a vintage Vespa sidecar past the Colosseum, along the Tiber, and up to the Aventine keyhole view — a driver does the work while you photograph the city from the road.

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Boat cruising the Tiber River past Isola Tiberina at sunset in Rome

ROM.005· activities

Tiber River Sunset Cruise

An hour on the water past Isola Tiberina, Castel Sant'Angelo, and a dozen bridges as the domes and pines of Rome turn gold. A quiet, low-effort way to see the skyline from a completely different angle.

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Guide leading a small group food tasting tour through Trastevere

ROM.006· activities

Trastevere Food & Wine Walking Tour

A three-hour crawl through Trastevere's back streets — supplì, pizza al taglio, a cheese-and-salumi stop, and enough local wine to make the maze of alleys feel entirely reasonable to get lost in afterward.

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Eventos

Qué hacer en Roma

Fútbol, baloncesto, teatro y conciertos en Roma, actualizados a diario desde fuentes en vivo — horarios, sedes y todo para seguir un partido o un espectáculo.

Eventos →