The 20 best, in orderBest things to do in Rome
What to do in Rome, from the first morning to the last night: the 20 things worth your time, in the order this site would do them, with how long each takes, what it costs and when to go.
- 20
- Things to do, in order
- 9
- Cost nothing
- 8
- Are under a roof, for a wet day
- 10
- Take two hours or less
Best things to do in Rome
Show
All 20
1Monument
Walk into the Colosseum and the Roman Forum
Monument, Ancient Rome
The largest amphitheatre the ancient world ever built, and beside it the valley where Rome was governed for a thousand years. One ticket, one long morning.
- Time to allow
- 3 to 4 hours
- Cost
- Ticket
- Best time
- At opening, or in the last two hours of the day
4.8507,568 Google ratingsFrom €25.50
How to do it2Museum
See the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican Museums
Museum, Vatican City
The popes' collections, room after room, ending under Michelangelo's ceiling. Book a time, walk past half of it without guilt, and save your eyes for the last room.
- Time to allow
- 3 to 4 hours
- Cost
- Ticket
- Best time
- First entry of the morning, or after lunch
4.6211,319 Google ratingsFrom €32.50
How to do it3Church
Climb the dome of St Peter's
Church, Vatican City
The largest church in the world, with Michelangelo's Pietà by the door and his dome over the altar. Entry is free. The climb to the top of the dome is the best view in Rome.
- Time to allow
- 1.5 to 2.5 hours
- Cost
- Free, ticket for the dome
- Best time
- Before nine in the morning
4.8184,832 Google ratingsFrom €17
How to do it4Monument
Stand under the dome of the Pantheon
Monument, Historic centre
A Roman temple nineteen centuries old, still roofed, still in use, with a hole in the top of its dome that lets in the sun and the rain. The best-kept building of the ancient world.
- Time to allow
- 30 to 45 minutes
- Cost
- Ticket
- Best time
- Around midday, when the sun comes through the roof
4.8288,556 Google ratingsFrom €7
How to do it5Monument
Throw a coin into the Trevi Fountain
Monument, Trevi
The largest Baroque fountain in the world, pouring out of the back of a palace into a square barely bigger than itself. Come early, or come at midnight.
- Time to allow
- 20 to 40 minutes
- Cost
- Free from the square, ticket for the basin
- Best time
- Before eight in the morning, or late at night
4.7525,298 Google ratingsFrom €11.30
How to do it6Museum
See Bernini's marbles at the Galleria Borghese
Museum, Villa Borghese
A cardinal's villa in a park, with the best of Bernini, six Caravaggios and a Titian, and never more than a few hundred people inside. The finest two hours in Rome, if you book.
- Time to allow
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Ticket, booked ahead
- Best time
- The first visit of the day
4.630,647 Google ratingsFrom €44
How to do it7Walk
Walk Piazza Navona and its fountains
Walk, Historic centre
A square in the shape of the Roman racetrack buried under it, with three fountains, a Borromini church and Bernini's Four Rivers in the middle. Rome's great outdoor room.
- Time to allow
- 30 to 60 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- Best time
- Early morning, or after dinner
4.7218,630 Google ratingsFrom €39
How to do it8Monument
Climb the Spanish Steps
Monument, Piazza di Spagna
A staircase of 135 steps that sweeps up from a boat-shaped fountain to a church with two towers. Climb it, look back over the roofs, and do not sit down.
- Time to allow
- 30 to 45 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- Best time
- Early morning, or at sunset from the top
4.6113,220 Google ratingsFrom €29
How to do it9Walk
Spend an evening in Trastevere
Walk, Trastevere
The old quarter across the river: ochre walls, washing lines, ivy, a twelfth-century basilica glittering with mosaics, and more trattorie to the street than anywhere in Rome.
- Time to allow
- 2 to 3 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Best time
- Late afternoon into the evening
4.823,423 Google ratingsFrom €44.10
How to do it10Monument
Go up Castel Sant'Angelo
Monument, Borgo, by the Tiber
An emperor's tomb that became the popes' fortress, prison and bolt-hole. You climb a spiral ramp through the middle of it to a terrace level with the dome of St Peter's.
- Time to allow
- 1.5 to 2 hours
- Cost
- Ticket
- Best time
- Late afternoon, for the terrace at sunset
4.7111,713 Google ratingsFrom €18
How to do it11Museum
Meet the she-wolf at the Capitoline Museums
Museum, Capitoline Hill
The city's own museum, on a square designed by Michelangelo: the bronze she-wolf, the Dying Gaul, Marcus Aurelius on his horse, and a gallery that opens straight onto the Forum.
- Time to allow
- 2 to 3 hours
- Cost
- Ticket
- Best time
- Mid-afternoon, when the tour groups have gone
4.719,050 Google ratingsFrom €43
How to do it12Underground
Go down into the catacombs on the Appian Way
Underground, Appia Antica
The first great Roman road, still paved with its ancient stones and lined with pines and tombs, and under the fields beside it, twenty kilometres of early Christian burial galleries.
- Time to allow
- 2.5 to 4 hours
- Cost
- Ticket for the catacombs, the road is free
- Best time
- A Sunday morning, when the road is closed to cars
4.612,656 Google ratingsFrom €14
How to do it13Walk
Eat your way from Campo de' Fiori to the Ghetto
Walk, Historic centre
A market square with a heretic's statue in the middle, and ten minutes away the old Jewish quarter, where Rome's most particular cooking is served beside a Roman portico.
- Time to allow
- 1.5 to 2.5 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Best time
- Morning for the market, evening for the Ghetto
4.471,649 Google ratingsFrom €35
How to do it14Garden
Watch the sunset from the Pincio
Garden, Villa Borghese
Eighty hectares of pines, lawns and fountains above the centre, with a lake you can row on and a terrace that looks over Piazza del Popolo to the dome of St Peter's.
- Time to allow
- 1.5 to 3 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Best time
- The last two hours before sunset
4.696,072 Google ratingsFrom €59.80
How to do it15Monument
Walk through the Baths of Caracalla
Monument, Aventine, south of the Circus Maximus
The ruins of a public bath house the size of a small town, with walls still standing to the height of a ten-storey building and mosaic floors underfoot. All the scale of the Colosseum, and a tenth of the people.
- Time to allow
- 1 to 1.5 hours
- Cost
- Ticket
- Best time
- Late afternoon
4.626,346 Google ratingsFrom €9
How to do it16Walk
Look through the keyhole on the Aventine
Walk, Aventine
A quiet hill of convents and gardens above the Tiber: a terrace of orange trees with a view of the whole city, a church of the fifth century, and a keyhole with St Peter's in it.
- Time to allow
- 1 to 1.5 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Best time
- Late afternoon, for the light over the river
4.726,310 Google ratings
How to do it17Church
Go down through the centuries at San Clemente
Church, Celio, near the Colosseum
Three buildings on top of one another: a medieval basilica with a golden mosaic, a fourth-century church under it, and under that a Roman street and a temple of Mithras.
- Time to allow
- 45 to 75 minutes
- Cost
- Church free, ticket for the excavations
- Best time
- Early afternoon, straight after the Colosseum
4.78,103 Google ratingsFrom €30
How to do it18Day trip
Take a day in Tivoli for its two villas
Day trip, Tivoli, 30 km east
Two World Heritage Sites in one hill town: the garden of fountains a cardinal built when he failed to become pope, and the country palace of the emperor Hadrian, bigger than Pompeii.
- Time to allow
- A full day
- Cost
- Tickets, and the journey
- Best time
- Spring or early autumn, on a weekday
4.735,517 Google ratingsFrom €65
How to do it19Day trip
Walk the streets of Ostia Antica
Day trip, Ostia Antica, 25 km south-west
The port of ancient Rome, buried by sand and dug out almost whole: streets, apartment blocks, bars, baths, a theatre. Pompeii's rival, half an hour from the city by local train.
- Time to allow
- 4 to 6 hours
- Cost
- Ticket, and a local train
- Best time
- A clear morning in spring or autumn
4.710,455 Google ratingsFrom €27
How to do it20Church
Find Caravaggio's paintings in three churches
Church, Historic centre
Six of Caravaggio's greatest paintings still hang in the three Roman churches they were painted for. They are free to see, and you can walk between all three in half an hour.
- Time to allow
- 1 to 2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Best time
- Mid-morning, or after four in the afternoon
4.88,651 Google ratingsFrom €30
How to do it
How long each one takes
The time to allow for each, shortest first, so you can see what fits into a spare hour and what needs a day. These are this site's estimates for an unhurried visit.
- Trevi Fountain20 to 40 minutes
- Pantheon30 to 45 minutes
- Spanish Steps30 to 45 minutes
- Piazza Navona30 to 60 minutes
- San Clemente45 to 75 minutes
- Baths of Caracalla1 to 1.5 hours
- Aventine Hill1 to 1.5 hours
- Caravaggio in the churches1 to 2 hours
- Castel Sant'Angelo1.5 to 2 hours
- Galleria Borghese2 hours
- St Peter's Basilica1.5 to 2.5 hours
- Campo de' Fiori and the Ghetto1.5 to 2.5 hours
- Villa Borghese and the Pincio1.5 to 3 hours
- Trastevere2 to 3 hours
- Capitoline Museums2 to 3 hours
- Catacombs and the Appian Way2.5 to 4 hours
- Colosseum and Roman Forum3 to 4 hours
- Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel3 to 4 hours
- Ostia Antica4 to 6 hours
- TivoliA full day
The track is eight hours long. The bar ends at the longest visit, and the line inside it marks the shortest.
What visitors say
Each place's overall rating on Google, and how many people have given one. The longer the bar, the more people have been and said so.
- Trevi Fountain4.7525,298 Google ratings
- Colosseum and Roman Forum4.8507,568 Google ratings
- Pantheon4.8288,556 Google ratings
- Piazza Navona4.7218,630 Google ratings
- Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel4.6211,319 Google ratings
- St Peter's Basilica4.8184,832 Google ratings
- Spanish Steps4.6113,220 Google ratings
- Castel Sant'Angelo4.7111,713 Google ratings
- Villa Borghese and the Pincio4.696,072 Google ratings
- Campo de' Fiori and the Ghetto4.471,649 Google ratings
- Tivoli4.735,517 Google ratings
- Galleria Borghese4.630,647 Google ratings
- Baths of Caracalla4.626,346 Google ratings
- Aventine Hill4.726,310 Google ratings
- Trastevere4.823,423 Google ratings
- Capitoline Museums4.719,050 Google ratings
- Catacombs and the Appian Way4.612,656 Google ratings
- Ostia Antica4.710,455 Google ratings
- Caravaggio in the churches4.88,651 Google ratings
- San Clemente4.78,103 Google ratings
Read on Google Maps. A walk is shown by the rating of its main sight: Trastevere by the basilica of Santa Maria, the Appian Way by the Catacombs of St Callixtus, the Aventine by the Orange Garden, Tivoli by the Villa d'Este, the Caravaggio churches by San Luigi dei Francesi. Ratings change, and so will this.
Where they are
Each number is a thing on the list, where it stands in Rome: the blue band is the river, the green blocks are the parks, gardens and cemeteries. North is up and each square of the grid is one kilometre, so you can see what is next to what and plan a day on foot.
- 1Colosseum and Roman Forum
- 2Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel
- 3St Peter's Basilica
- 4Pantheon
- 5Trevi Fountain
- 6Galleria Borghese
- 7Piazza Navona
- 8Spanish Steps
- 9Trastevere
- 10Castel Sant'Angelo
- 11Capitoline Museums
- 12Catacombs and the Appian Way
- 13Campo de' Fiori and the Ghetto
- 14Villa Borghese and the Pincio
- 15Baths of Caracalla
- 16Aventine Hill
- 17San Clemente
- 20Caravaggio in the churches
River and green areas: © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Off the map: 18. Tivoli, 26.4 km from number 1, 19. Ostia Antica, 22.2 km from number 1.
Things to do in Rome: common questions
- What is the number one thing to do in Rome?
- On this site's list: walk into the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. Then see the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican Museums, and climb the dome of St Peter's. The order is this site's own: what a first visit should do first.
- What can you do in Rome for free?
- 9 of the 20 things on this list cost nothing: St Peter's Basilica, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, Spanish Steps, Trastevere, Campo de' Fiori and the Ghetto, Villa Borghese and the Pincio, Aventine Hill and Caravaggio in the churches.
- What is there to do in Rome when it rains?
- 8 of the 20 are under a roof: Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, St Peter's Basilica, Pantheon, Galleria Borghese, Castel Sant'Angelo, Capitoline Museums, San Clemente and Caravaggio in the churches.
- What is there to do in Rome at night?
- Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, Spanish Steps, Trastevere and Campo de' Fiori and the Ghetto are all at their best after dark.
- How many days do you need in Rome?
- The 18 things on this list that are in the city add up to between 26 and 39 hours of visiting, by this site's estimates, without the time to get between them. At about six hours of visiting a day, that is 5 to 7 days for all of them, and three or four days for the first ten.
- What are the best day trips from Rome?
- Tivoli (30 km east) and Ostia Antica (25 km south-west). Each takes a full day.
Where to stay in Rome
- Hotel Hassler4.8Five-star hotel, Spanish Steps
- Hotel de la Ville4.8Five-star hotel, Spanish Steps
- J.K. Place Roma4.8Five-star hotel, Via del Corso
- Portrait Roma4.8Five-star hotel, Via dei Condotti
How the list is made
The choice and the order are this site's: what a first visit to Rome should do first. Nobody has paid to be on the list or to be higher on it. The times are estimates for an unhurried visit, not measurements.
Where a row shows a price, it is the lowest price of the ticket or tour its page links to, as its seller showed it on the day the page was checked. The ratings are Google's and change over time.