Rome

Hotel Hassler Roma

Spanish Steps / Trinita dei Monti

Rome's legendary address at the very top of the Spanish Steps — classic rooms and suites with views over the domes, Imàgo's panoramic dining room, and Villa Borghese a stroll away. The hotel for a Roman milestone.

Hotel de Russie, a Rocco Forte Hotel

Piazza del Popolo / Tridente

A Valadier-designed palazzo between Piazza del Popolo and the Spanish Steps, wrapped around a terraced Secret Garden. Le Jardin's seasonal Italian cooking, the Stravinskij Bar, and a full spa — Rome's most glamorous retreat.

Hotel Raphael Relais and Chateaux

Piazza Navona / Centro Storico

The ivy-covered hideaway a few steps from Piazza Navona — a small museum of antiques and Picasso ceramics, with a flower-filled rooftop terrace and plant-based restaurant looking across the domes of the centro storico.

Chapter Roma

Regola / Campo de Fiori

A design-led four-star between Campo de' Fiori and the Jewish Ghetto — industrial-chic rooms, street-art touches, a rooftop terrace bar and some of the best food streets in Rome right outside.

Hotel Santa Maria Trastevere

Trastevere

A tranquil three-star in the lanes of Trastevere, its nineteen rooms opening onto a courtyard garden of orange trees — with a rooftop terrace, free bikes and Santa Maria in Trastevere around the corner.

The Hoxton Rome

Parioli

A stylish, good-value base in leafy Parioli, an easy walk from Villa Borghese — 192 rooms from Shoebox to Roomy, Elio for long Italian dinners, the all-day Cugino café and an outdoor terrace with a local crowd.

Hotel Artemide

Via Nazionale / Monti

A smart, elegant four-star on Via Nazionale between Monti and Piazza della Repubblica — well-equipped rooms with free daily-restocked minibars, near Metro A and an easy walk to Termini, Trevi and the Colosseum.

Rome Cavalieri, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel

Monte Mario

A resort above the city on Monte Mario: fifteen acres of Mediterranean park, outdoor and indoor pools, the Grand Spa Club, and La Pergola, Rome's three-Michelin-star restaurant. The family and summer choice when you want space as well as Rome.

Mama Shelter Roma

Trionfale / Prati, near the Vatican

A playful, design-led four-star near the Vatican with 217 colourful rooms, a winter-garden restaurant, a pizzeria, a seasonal rooftop bar and Roman-style baths with a heated indoor pool. Fun, good value and easygoing with children.

Generator Rome

Esquilino, near Termini

A stylish design hostel near Termini with private en-suite rooms as well as dorms, a rooftop terrace bar, a 24-hour cafe and the Lantern Bar, a short walk from Monti and the Colosseum. Budget prices with hotel-style privacy if you want it.

The Beehive

Termini / Castro Pretorio

A small, independent, eco-minded hostel near Termini, run for decades by its founders: calm private rooms and dorms, a courtyard garden, a shared kitchen and a warm, quiet atmosphere. Budget Rome for travellers who prefer peace to party.

Hotel Smeraldo

Campo de Fiori / Largo Argentina

A good-value, family-run hotel on a quiet lane between Campo de' Fiori and Largo Argentina, with 50 simple, comfortable rooms and three panoramic terraces. The budget way to sleep in the heart of the centro storico.

Hotel Ponte Sisto

Regola, by Ponte Sisto

An elegant four-star in a historic palazzo by the footbridge to Trastevere, built around a palm-shaded inner garden courtyard, with a panoramic terrace and bar. Between Campo de' Fiori and the river, it is the best of both banks.

Lunetta Hotel and Spa

Campo de Fiori / Parione

A stylish four-star on a tiny piazza by Campo de' Fiori, with a rooftop terrace looking at the dome of Sant'Andrea della Valle, a restaurant, and a wellness centre free for guests. Boutique comfort in the liveliest corner of the centro storico.

Hotel Locarno

Piazza del Popolo / Tridente

A beloved boutique hotel from the 1920s just off Piazza del Popolo: Art Deco interiors, an ivy-draped courtyard, a lively bar, a roof terrace and free bicycles for exploring Villa Borghese. Old-Rome glamour at a smaller scale.

Colosseum, Roman Forum & Palatine Hill

The amphitheatre that defined Rome, plus the Forum where the empire did business and the Palatine where emperors lived — all on one named, time-slotted ticket. Book early, bring ID, and give the ruins as long as the arena.

Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel

Seven kilometres of papal collections ending under Michelangelo's Sistine ceiling and Last Judgment — plus the Raphael Rooms, the Gallery of Maps and the Laocoön. Timed entry is essential, and the museums close on most Sundays.

St Peter's Basilica & Dome

The mother church of Catholicism — Michelangelo's dome, Bernini's bronze canopy and colonnade, and the Pietà — free to enter after security. Climb the dome for the finest view in Rome; with the Jubilee over, the Holy Door is sealed again.

Pantheon

The best-preserved building of ancient Rome — a temple turned church under a vast concrete dome open to the sky through its oculus. Entry now costs a few euros (free first Sunday); book a slot and come early or late.

Borghese Gallery

A cardinal's villa packed with Bernini's most breathtaking marbles, six Caravaggios, Canova's reclining Paolina and Raphael and Titian — seen in strict two-hour slots. Reservation is mandatory and the gallery closes on Mondays.

Capitoline Museums

The world's oldest public museum, on Michelangelo's hilltop piazza — the bronze Marcus Aurelius, the Capitoline Wolf, the Dying Gaul, Caravaggios, and the best indoor view over the Roman Forum. Calmer than the Vatican and a perfect Colosseum pairing.

Trevi Fountain

Rome's most theatrical fountain, a Baroque palace-front of tumbling water where you toss a coin to guarantee your return. Since February 2026 the close-up basin area costs two euros for non-residents; the piazza view stays free.

Spanish Steps & Piazza di Spagna

The elegant Baroque staircase linking Piazza di Spagna and Bernini's Barcaccia fountain to the twin towers of Trinità dei Monti. Free to climb, wonderful at golden hour — but sitting on the steps is banned and fined.

Piazza Navona

Rome's most beautiful Baroque square, built on the oval of Domitian's ancient stadium — Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers, Borromini's Sant'Agnese, street artists and café tables. Free, open all hours, magic at dusk.

Campo de' Fiori

A lively square with a morning market of produce, flowers and spices, the brooding statue of Giordano Bruno, and Rome's busiest aperitivo scene by night. Free, central, and the gateway to the bakeries and lanes of the old Regola district.

Trastevere

The ivy-draped, cobbled neighbourhood across the Tiber — golden mosaics at Santa Maria in Trastevere, trattorias spilling into tiny piazzas, Raphael frescoes at Villa Farnesina, and the Gianicolo view above. Best on foot, best in the evening.

Aventine Hill, Orange Garden & Keyhole

Rome's quiet, leafy hill: the Orange Garden terrace over the Tiber, the ancient basilica of Santa Sabina, and the famous Knights of Malta keyhole that frames St Peter's dome perfectly. Free, peaceful and best at sunset.

Appian Way (Via Appia Antica)

The Queen of Roads, laid in 312 BC and still paved with ancient basalt — tombs, catacombs, aqueducts and umbrella pines in a vast archaeological park on the city's edge. Best by bike, especially on quieter Sundays.

Castel Sant'Angelo

Hadrian's tomb turned papal fortress: a spiral ramp through two thousand years of Roman history, Renaissance papal apartments, and a rooftop terrace beneath the bronze angel with one of the best views of St Peter's and the Tiber.

Baths of Caracalla (Terme di Caracalla)

The most spectacular bathing complex of imperial Rome: soaring brick vaults, fragments of mosaic floors and vast open halls you can wander with room to breathe, a short walk from the Circus Maximus and the start of the Appian Way.

Capuchin Crypt and Museum

Beneath a church on Via Veneto, a row of small chapels decorated with the bones of thousands of Capuchin friars: arches, chandeliers and patterns made of skulls and vertebrae. Haunting, unforgettable and short, with a thoughtful museum first.

Catacombs of St Callixtus (San Callisto)

The most important of Rome's early Christian cemeteries, on the Appian Way: guided tours lead through cool underground galleries lined with burial niches to the Crypt of the Popes and the crypt of St Cecilia.

Ostia Antica Archaeological Park

Ancient Rome's port city, preserved at the mouth of the Tiber: whole streets of shops, apartment blocks, baths, a theatre and mosaic floors, easy to reach by train and far quieter than Pompeii.

Villa d'Este and Hadrian's Villa, Tivoli

The most famous Renaissance water garden in the world, cascading down a hillside in Tivoli with hundreds of fountains, paired with the vast ruins of Hadrian's Villa below: two UNESCO World Heritage Sites in one day trip from Rome.

National Roman Museum: Palazzo Massimo, Altemps and Baths of Diocletian

The finest collection of ancient Roman art in the city, without the Vatican crowds: the Boxer at Rest, painted garden frescoes from the villa of Livia and floors of mosaics, plus two more museum sites on one reserved ticket.

Villa Borghese Gardens and the Pincio Terrace

Rome's great central park: shady avenues, a little lake with rowing boats and a temple on an island, the Pincio terrace above Piazza del Popolo for sunset, and bikes and rickshaws for rent. Free, green and right beside the Borghese Gallery.

Gianicolo (Janiculum Hill)

The finest free panorama over Rome's domes and bell towers, from the ridge above Trastevere: Garibaldi on horseback, the noon cannon, the great Fontanone fountain and Bramante's Tempietto on the way up.

Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore

One of Rome's four papal basilicas, free to enter near Termini: fifth-century mosaics, a gilded coffered ceiling, two lavish Baroque chapels and the simple tomb of Pope Francis. Optional tickets add the loggia, museum, dome and underground.

Basilica of San Clemente and Excavations

Rome in three layers: a twelfth-century basilica with a glowing apse mosaic, a fourth-century church beneath it with medieval frescoes, and below that Roman houses and a temple of Mithras, with an underground river you can still hear.

Mouth of Truth (Bocca della Verita) and Santa Maria in Cosmedin

The ancient marble face that bites the hands of liars, made famous by Roman Holiday, in the portico of a lovely medieval church, beside two of the best-preserved Roman temples in the city. A quick, fun stop near the Circus Maximus.

Testaccio Market (Mercato di Testaccio)

A modern covered market in Rome's most authentic food neighbourhood: produce, cheese and cured meats, plus street-food stalls selling sandwiches, supplì and pasta to eat on the spot. Free to wander, cheap to eat, and full of Romans.

Vittoriano and the Terrazza delle Quadrighe

The vast white monument on Piazza Venezia, Rome's love-it-or-hate-it wedding cake, with a glass lift to a rooftop terrace beside its bronze chariots and a 360-degree view over the Forum, the Colosseum and the domes.

Jewish Ghetto and Portico of Octavia

One of the oldest Jewish communities in Europe, in a compact quarter by the Tiber: the Great Synagogue and Jewish Museum, the ancient Portico of Octavia, the Turtle Fountain, and Judeo-Roman cooking from fried artichokes to ricotta and sour cherry tart.