Piazza Venezia and Altare della Patria
The Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland) is a massive white marble monument on Piazza Venezia, built in honor of Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of unified Italy. Free to enter.
City in Italy
Rome
29 things to see
Rome is an open-air museum where the greatest hits cost nothing to stand in front of: Piazza Navona, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, and hundreds of churches are all free to enter. Several of those churches double as free art galleries, with Caravaggio paintings in San Luigi dei Francesi and Byzantine mosaics in Santa Maria Maggiore. On the first Sunday of each month, state museums and archaeological sites across the city open their doors for free, so it pays to time a visit around it. Free viewpoints stack up too, from the Pincian Hill terrace above Piazza del Popolo to the Janiculum and the keyhole on the Aventine, and Villa Borghese gardens are a fine spot to picnic on pizza al taglio and supplì for a couple of euros. Spring and autumn bring the gentlest weather and the lowest accommodation prices, and Rome makes an easy rail base for day trips to Orvieto, Naples, or Florence.
What to see
Things to do in Rome
What each one costs, where the cost is known.
Appian Way
The Appian Way (Via Appia Antica) is the ancient Roman road leading south from the city, lined with ruins, tombs, catacombs, and cypress trees. Free to walk.
Aventine Keyhole
The Aventine Keyhole is a small bronze keyhole in the door of the Priory of the Knights of Malta on the Aventine Hill. Free.
Campo de' Fiori
Campo de' Fiori is a lively square in the historic center that hosts a daily morning market selling fruit, vegetables, flowers, spices, and street food. Free to browse.
Castel Sant'Angelo
Castel Sant'Angelo is a cylindrical fortress on the Tiber, originally built as Emperor Hadrian's mausoleum. Entry is paid at a modest price.
Catacombs of San Callisto
The Catacombs of San Callisto on the Appian Way are the largest and most important Christian catacombs in Rome, stretching 20 kilometers underground on four levels with the remains of half a million early Christians. Entry is paid (guided tours only).
Colosseum
The Colosseum is the defining ruin of the Roman Empire, a 50,000-seat amphitheater built for gladiatorial combat and public spectacles. Entry is paid, with a combo ticket that includes the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill.
Monti
Monti is Rome's oldest rione (neighborhood), a compact grid of cobbled streets between the Colosseum and Via Nazionale. Free to wander.
Ostia Antica
Ostia Antica is the ancient port city of Rome, an archaeological park 30 minutes from the center by cheap metro and train. Entry is paid at a modest price.
Pantheon
The Pantheon is the best-preserved building from ancient Rome, nearly two thousand years old, and entry is free. The unreinforced concrete dome is still the largest of its kind, with the oculus at its center open to the sky.
Piazza del Popolo
Piazza del Popolo is a grand oval square at the northern entrance to Rome's historic center, flanked by twin Baroque churches and anchored by an Egyptian obelisk. Free.
Piazza di Spagna and Keats-Shelley House
Piazza di Spagna is the elegant square at the foot of the Spanish Steps with the Barcaccia Fountain (by Bernini's father) and the Keats-Shelley House (the building where John Keats died in 1821, now a museum, paid). Free to see the square and the fountain.
Piazza Navona
Piazza Navona is Rome's most theatrical public square, built on the footprint of a 1st-century stadium. Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers anchors the center, flanked by two smaller fountains and ringed by Baroque facades.
Piazza del Popolo Terrace
The Pincian Hill Terrace above Piazza del Popolo is one of Rome's finest free viewpoints, looking across the domes and rooftops to St Peter's and the Janiculum Hill. Free.
Roman Forum
The Roman Forum was the civic, religious, and commercial heart of ancient Rome. The ruins stretch across a valley between the Palatine and Capitoline hills.
Basilica di San Clemente
San Clemente is a three-layer archaeological site: a 12th-century basilica on top, a 4th-century church below, and a 1st-century Roman building and Mithras temple at the bottom. The upper basilica is free.
Santa Maria del Popolo
Santa Maria del Popolo is a church on Piazza del Popolo with two Caravaggio paintings (the Crucifixion of St Peter and the Conversion of St Paul) in the Cerasi Chapel, plus a Raphael-designed chapel. Free to enter.
Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore
Santa Maria Maggiore is one of Rome's four papal basilicas, a 5th-century church with a gilded ceiling (reportedly covered with the first gold brought from the Americas by Columbus), 5th-century mosaics, and Bernini's tomb. Free to enter.
Chiesa di Sant'Ignazio
The Church of Sant'Ignazio near the Pantheon has a ceiling fresco by Andrea Pozzo that creates one of the most spectacular optical illusions in art history: a flat ceiling painted to look like an impossibly tall baroque dome, complete with columns, arches, and figures ascending to heaven. Free.
Spanish Steps
The Spanish Steps are a monumental staircase of 135 steps connecting Piazza di Spagna to the Trinita dei Monti church above. Free to climb, free to sit, and one of the most recognizable gathering spots in Rome.
St Peter's Basilica
St Peter's Basilica is the largest church in the world and entry to the main nave is free. Michelangelo's Pieta, Bernini's baldachin, and the sheer scale of the interior make this one of the most overwhelming free experiences in any city.
Testaccio
Testaccio is the working-class neighborhood south of the Aventine Hill where Romans eat. Free to walk.
Largo di Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary
Largo di Torre Argentina is a sunken square of four Republican-era Roman temples where Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC. Free to see from street level.
Trastevere
Trastevere is Rome's most characterful neighborhood for evening walks and cheap eats. The narrow cobbled streets south of the Tiber are lined with trattorias, wine bars, and ivy-covered facades.
Trastevere Night Walk
Trastevere at night is a different experience from the daytime neighborhood. Free to walk.
Trevi Fountain
The Trevi Fountain is the largest Baroque fountain in Rome, wedged into the side of a palazzo at the end of a narrow street. Free, always accessible, and always crowded.
Vatican Museums
The Vatican Museums house one of the largest art collections in the world, culminating in Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling. Entry is paid.
Via dei Condotti
Via dei Condotti is Rome's most famous luxury shopping street, running from the Spanish Steps to Via del Corso. Free to walk.
Villa Borghese Gardens
Villa Borghese is Rome's most beautiful public park, a landscaped garden above Piazza del Popolo with lake paths, pine groves, temples, and the Pincio terrace overlooking St Peter's dome. Free.
On foot
Walks and free tours in Rome
Tip-based tours and self-guided routes, which is usually the cheapest orientation there is.
Ancient Rome Mile
The Ancient Rome Mile is a self-guided walking route from the Colosseum through the historic center to the Baroque heart of the city. Free to walk. It covers 2,500 years of history on foot in one long morning.
Rome City Centre Free Tour
The SANDEMANs Rome City Centre Free Tour walks through the historic center covering the major Baroque squares, fountains, and landmarks. Morning and sunset editions run daily, covering the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, and Piazza Navona in 2.5 hours.
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