Where To Stay in Rome

By <a href="#author-bio">Stuart Bak</a>
By Stuart Bak
View of St Peter's Square and Basilica from a nearby apartment in the Vatican, Rome

There’s no straight-out winner when it comes to deciding where to stay in Rome, so densely packed is the Eternal City with extraordinary things to see and do: think ancient monuments, baroque palazzi, lively piazzas and atmospheric mazes of cobbled alleys. And, in spite of its famed seven hills and seemingly impenetrable labyrinth of streets, it’s actually deceptively easy to get around, thanks to a relatively compact center and a user-friendly public transit system that includes metro, buses and trams. Check out our short guide to where to stay in Rome below...

Best for Seeing it All

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Rome’s Centro Storico – the ancient city’s historic center – is where you’ll find almost all of the big-hitting attractions. We’re talking the Pantheon, the Roman Forum, the Circus Maximus, Piazza Navona and more. Plus, within a mere 20 minutes’ walk, more bucket-list beauties, including the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain and St Peter’s Square. In short, if you’re a first-time visitor, an insatiable sightseer, or a family with kids who demand to be as close to the main action as possible, a stay bang in the center of town is likely to be your best bet.

Sure, the noise – a 24-hour cacophony of tooting Vespa horns, over-excited tourists and partying locals – can be irritating at times, particularly if you’ve booked a hotel overlooking a busy piazza or thoroughfare. But, hey, what price that epic view of the planet’s largest surviving Roman amphitheater? Or the ability to step straight from your hotel or apartment onto a bustling baroque piazza for your morning espresso and cornetti?

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It goes without saying that there are hundreds of eating and drinking options in the historic district, from tiny trattoria to luxury fine dining and dive bars to classy cocktail joints. So you won’t want for places to fill your face with delicious pizza romana. There’s an equally impressive variety of accommodations on offer here, too: glam luxury hotels, roomy family apartments, modest boutique B&Bs and more, though you’ll of course pay a premium for the location. But, boy, is it worth it.

Best for Luxury

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Strictly for those on an A-list budget, the Tridente neighborhood is Rome’s swankiest postcode. Named for the three huge prongs (oh ok then, roads) that radiate out from Piazza del Popolo, this area is packed with bucket-list attractions (hello, Villa Borghese, Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain!) as well as picture-postcard palm-lined piazzas, elegant townhouses, and some of the most wallet-worrying designer boutiques in town. That’s right: it’s here you’ll find Via dei Condotti, Rome’s most exclusive shopping street, where the likes of Armani, Fendi, Gucci and Valentino – to name just a few – ply their trade.

Unsurprisingly then, many of Rome’s glammest hotels can be found in this neighborhood from celeb hangout The Hassler at the top of the Spanish Steps to fashionista favorite Portrait Roma, where personal shoppers can be arranged for trips to nearby Via dei Condotti. Proximity to other big attractions including the Pantheon and Forum also make Tridente a surprisingly good choice for families – assuming you have deep enough pockets.

Best for Living Like a Local

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Cute ocher-colored houses with brightly painted shutters and iron balconies that drip with vines and ivy, charming cobbled piazzas where locals chatter in the shade of olive trees, and some of the best gelato in town! Welcome to Trastevere on the west bank of the Tiber, arguably Rome’s most photogenic neighborhood. Still within walking distance of the historic center and with some fine close-up views of St Peter’s Basilica (especially from Janiculum Hill), Trastevere is la dolce vita writ large, all café culture during the day and lively nightlife as dusk descends. It’s well-connected to the city center by bus and tram, largely car free, and has plenty of affordable Airbnb accommodation to boot! What’s not to like?

Join the locals for evening aperitifs on the steps of the monumental fountain on bustling Piazza Trilussa, as the sun sets over the medieval Ponte Sisto bridge. And make for San Cosimato market (daily except Sundays) for farm-fresh local produce including pungent Lazio cheeses, piquant Tuscan salamis and just-baked focaccia. You’ll quickly find that being on the edge of the main action needn’t mean missing out. Bars and restaurants are just as plentiful here as anywhere else, and trattoria, cafés and craft pubs have a pleasantly local feel.

Best for Visiting the Vatican

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Wondering where to stay in Rome if you’re primarily interested in exploring the Vatican’s extensive museums, snapping selfies in front of St Peter’s Basilica, marveling at Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel masterpiece and attending an audience with the Pope himself in St Peter’s Square? Prati may be the neighborhood for you. A little off the beaten track and therefore less touristy than more central districts, Prati is a suave suburb of smart shopping streets and broad Italian boulevards that makes for easy access to the Vatican and nearby Castel Sant’Angelo, an imposing cylindrical fortress commissioned by Emperor Hadrian as a family mausoleum 2,000 years ago, and now a fantastic museum packed with frescoes, sculptures, paintings and military weaponry, topped off with sweeping terrace views of the magnificent Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II and the city beyond.

There’s a good range of mid-range hotels to be found in Prati and, should you wish to bypass the Vatican and go straight to town, it’s just a short hop on the metro’s A-line. Stick around for what some say is the best pizza in Rome, courtesy of dough demon Gabriele Bonci and his legendary local foodie favorite Pizzarium. Try a slice of potato and mozzarella heaven. Serious carb overload for sure, but there’s a reason it’s their best seller.

Best for Hip Young Things

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Hip with a dollop of history is perhaps the neatest way of describing the post-industrial landscape of Ostiense, which is still dominated by the towering gasometer from the city’s decommissioned gasworks. Locals have taken the theme and run with it: here’s where to find trendy bars and experimental cuisine, and some of the best street art in the city. Metro subways, abandoned factories, apartment blocks: there’s no canvas too big or small for the up-and-coming Ostiense graffitos. Take a stroll and marvel at these impressive murals before heading over to the utterly amazing Central Montemartini museum, a former power station inside of which ancient Roman and Greek statues are juxtaposed against an industrial backdrop of huge turbines, vents and pipes. It’s really quite something.

If this all feels a bit modern, fear not: Ostiense is also home to some excellent old-school attractions, including one of Rome’s four major papal basilicas, St Paul Outside the Walls, an enormous Neoclassical confection with sections that date back to the 4th Century. And the rather incongruous Pyramid of Cestius, a gleaming white marble tomb that’s almost as old as the city itself, Find it at the northern end of Via Ostiense, the district’s main thoroughfare. Note that Ostiense is a little way from the main city center attractions so may be best reserved for second or third-timers when deciding where to stay in Rome.

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Stuart Bak
Stuart Bak
Freelance travel writer

Stu caught the travel bug at an early age, thanks to childhood road trips to the south of France squeezed into the back of a Ford Cortina with two brothers and a Sony Walkman. Now a freelance writer living on the Norfolk coast, Stu has produced content for travel giants including Frommer’s, British Airways, Expedia, Mr & Mrs Smith, and now Go City. His most memorable travel experiences include drinking kava with the locals in Fiji and pranging a taxi driver’s car in the Honduran capital.

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Couple throwing coins over their shoulders into the Trevi Fountain in Rome
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Neighborhoods in Rome

Exploring some of the planet’s best-preserved Ancient Roman architecture, wandering cobbled lanes lined with swoonsome palazzi and picture-perfect ocher-colored houses, or just watching the world go by over espresso at a sidewalk café: there’s really something for everyone in Rome’s patchwork of 21 districts, or rione. Hop aboard for our whistle-stop tour of seven of the best neighborhoods in Rome. Centro Storico Right in the heart of the action, Rome’s historic center is unquestionably the best place to start your voyage of discovery in this ancient city. The name is really a catch-all for the relatively compact area that encompasses – deep breath – the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, the Capitoline Museums and the Circus Maximus. And that’s just for starters. This magical labyrinth of atmospheric cobbled alleys, sprawling baroque piazzas and gleaming Renaissance palaces is a treasure trove for history lovers and, well, anyone with even a passing interest in beautiful art or architecture (you’ll find works by the likes of Caravaggio, Bernini and Michelangelo in many of the museums and churches around these parts). And, if it all gets too much, you can always rest up with tagliatelle at a traditional trattoria or people-watch over coffee and cannoli at a cute café. Afterwards, head over to the Largo di Torre Argentina, home of Rome’s biggest cat sanctuary, to spot felines basking in the sunshine amid the ancient ruins of Roman Republican temples and the Theatre of Pompey. Tridente Tridente picks up where the historic center left off, and is loosely defined as the area around the triple-prong of streets that radiate out south from Piazza del Popolo, a vast cobbled square lined with churches and palazzi, as well as several grand fountains and a monumental Egyptian obelisk (they don't do things by half in Rome). It’s here you can get kitted out in the finest Italian fashions in the boutiques on and around Via dei Condotti. We’re talking Gucci, Fendi, Armani, Valentino et al, so be prepared to splurge. Suitably attired, make for the Trevi Fountain where you can indulge in the age-old tradition of throwing in a coin. Assuming you have any left, that is. Then give the quads a workout on the 135-step climb up the Spanish Steps. At the top sits the magnificent Renaissance confection that is the Trinità dei Monti church. Step into its cool interior, where a pair of anamorphic frescoes from the 17th Century are among the many splendid decorative features. Monti Crammed in between the Colosseum, the Quirinal Hill, and the Santa Maria Maggiore basilica, diminutive Monti is an attraction all of its own. Ivy climbs ocher-colored houses and wraps itself round iron balconies and locals chatter over morning coffee on the picturesque piazzas. In case it wasn’t already obvious, this largely residential Rome neighborhood is a photographer’s paradise. Budding snappers should head to La Casetta, a tiny trattoria for which the term ‘ivy-clad’ is something of an understatement – it’s virtually drowning in the stuff! Or make for Piazza della Madonna dei Monti, a vibrant square where sunset Aperols are accompanied by sensational views of the Colosseum silhouetted against the skyline. Monteverde Vecchio The clue’s in the name here: Monteverde Vecchio is one of the greenest neighborhoods in Rome. Go here to seek respite from the urban sprawl and enjoy the fresh air and tranquility promised by the Janiculum Hill and the expanse of landscaped gardens surrounding the grand Villa Doria Pamphili. Trastevere Just downriver from the Vatican, Trastevere is another of those Rome neighborhoods that just begs to be photographed, chock-full as it is of café-lined piazzas, achingly picturesque medieval churches and those familiar ocher-colored houses sporting quirky cast-iron door knockers and brightly painted window shutters. Grab a gelato and stroll across medieval Ponte Sisto to Piazza Trilussa, where locals meet and mingle in the evening by the monumental fountain. Visit the fine botanical garden that overlooks baroque Palazzo Corsini. And don’t miss the Sunday flea market at Porta Portese, an absolute treasure trove for diehard rummagers. Take your best haggling game to snare bargains on everything from vintage fashions and antique jewelry to pre-loved vinyl, classic comic books and, well, just about every other trinket and knick-knack you can imagine. Ostiense On the banks of the Tiber, Ostiense wears its industrial heritage on its sleeve, its landscape dominated by a huge metal gasometer from the decommissioned gasworks. If that’s already piqued your interest in this buzzing ‘burb, where ancient and modern Rome collide, you’re going to absolutely love the Central Montemartini museum, where dozens of ancient Greek and Roman statues, busts and friezes hewn from marble and stone are displayed against a backdrop of pipes, engines, turbines and dials inside a former electrical power station. And that’s not all. There’s a thriving street art scene here – meaning Ostiense is one of the best places to see work from up-and-coming Rome graffitos – as well as a number of hip bars, a smattering of craft beer pubs, and a cat café. One of Catholic Rome’s ‘big four’ basilicas, St Paul Outside the Walls, cuts an incongruous figure against what is an otherwise distinctly modern urban landscape. Parione The central rione of Parione is probably most famous for its two sprawling piazzas. Make for vibrant Campo dei Fiori, where Rome’s longest-running market (operating here since 1869), brings its riot of color, sound and scent every morning (except Sunday). Follow your nose past the rainbows of blooming gerberas to the unmissable foodie stalls. You’d require the willpower of a saint to resist temptation in the face of these mountains of homemade cake, freshly baked loaves and pungent Italian cheeses. In the evening, do as the locals do and soak up the baroque splendor of Piazza Navona on a twilight stroll across its cobbled expanse, pausing to swoon at Bernini’s Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers), watch the street entertainers ply their trade and snap Instagram-ready shots of the fairytale palazzos and churches that line the square. Paper thin and ultra crispy wood-fired pizza at an authentic trattoria (washed down with local craft ales, natch) provides the perfect ending to a day in this historic Rome neighborhood. Save on things to do in Rome Save on admission to Rome attractions with Go City. Check out @GoCity on Instagram and Facebook for the latest top tips and attraction info.
Stuart Bak
Stuart Bak
Detail from Michelangelo's Creation of Adam panel on the Sistine Chapel Ceiling
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Best Museums in Rome

It goes without saying that Rome is one of the world’s finest open-air museums, with ancient temples, amphitheaters, monuments and Roman baths around almost every corner. Think the Forum, the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Circus Maximus... we could go on. Here’s our selection of 10 of the best museums in Rome, to whet your appetite for a trip to the Eternal City. Galleria Borghese Set within the Villa Borghese’s lush landscaped gardens, the Galleria Borghese contains one of the finest art collections in all of Rome, with landmark pieces from Italian masters including Raphael, Caravaggio, Bernini and Titian. Step inside this grand 17th-century Italian villa to marvel at works including Bernini’s dramatic Apollo and Daphne and Canova’s semi-nude Venus Vitrix, both sculpted from smooth Carrara marble. Don’t miss Raphael’s Deposition, Caravaggio’s Saint Jerome and Titian’s controversial 16th-century masterpiece Sacred and Profane Love. Afterwards, rent a boat and paddle across the lake to see the 18th-century Temple of Aesculapius in close-up. Baths of Caracalla When in Rome, do as the Romans do... and head for the thermal baths. Though, admittedly, the Baths of Caracalla are more fascinating history lesson than relaxing spa day. In their heyday 2,000 years ago, the baths would have accommodated somewhere in the region of 1,500 bathers at a time. Discover the tepidarium, calidarium and frigidarium and admire well-preserved floor mosaics as you explore this vast 3rd-century complex, its honey-colored crumbling stone walls and soaring arches presenting dozens of fine photo opportunities. Vigamus From the ancient to the modern, Vigamus is Italy’s first museum dedicated to video games, their artwork and cultural legacy. Gaming addicts can view exhibits including an 8-bit computer once owned by legendary games developer Dino Dini as well as the original Doom master disks and other important historical artifacts from the gaming universe. Head to the VR room for immersive video game experiences and relive your youth on the retro Street Fighter and Space Invaders arcades. There’s even a shop, for all your Sonic and Mario souvenir needs. Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel No visit to Rome would be complete without seeing the world’s most famous ceiling fresco. Inside the Sistine Chapel, tourists gaze heavenwards, jockeying for position to get the best shot of the Creation of Adam, the centerpiece of this mesmerizing work of High Renaissance art. But there’s way more to it than just this (relatively small) section, with eight further scenes from the Book of Genesis and several more biblical paintings, including a vast wall fresco behind the altar depicting the second coming of Christ. Astonishingly, Michelangelo completed some sections of this huge masterpiece in just one or two days. Tickets also get you access to the Vatican’s majestic halls, galleries and courtyards. Unmissable. Capitoline Museum It’s well worth the effort to climb the Michelangelo-designed steps up to the vast complex of museums on top of Capitoline Hill, where you’ll be rewarded with a quite astonishing array of archaeological discoveries including ancient Roman statues and pottery, plus important sculptures and paintings from the likes of Titian, Rubens, Van Dyck and Caravaggio. Don’t miss the statue of the Dying Gaul and the symbolic Capitoline Wolf, a bronze she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus, the mythical twin brothers who founded Rome. Though the wolf’s origins are disputed (possibly Etruscan, but arguably much later) she has called the museum’s Palazzo dei Conservatori her home since way back in 1471. Capuchin Crypt For bone-chilling experiences, the spooky crypts beneath the church of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini take some beating. The five rooms include the Crypt of Skulls, the Crypt of the Leg Bones and Thigh Bones, and the Crypt of Pelvises (complete with pelvis chandelier). Mummified hooded figures lurk in dark corners; in one room a skeleton on the ceiling clutches a scythe (also made of bone), in another a pair of mummified arms cross over each other in macabre representation of the Capuchin coat of arms. The ossuaries are said to contain the mortal remains of some 4,000 Capuchin friars. If a visit to this fascinating museum doesn’t cause you to reflect on your own mortality, perhaps nothing will. Leonardo da Vinci Experience Take a deep dive into the genius mind of the most celebrated sculptor, painter and engineer of the Italian Renaissance. This excellent interactive museum contains recreations of more than 50 of Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions, including flying machines, a bicycle, excavation equipment, weapons and a sewing machine, some of which you can even have a go at operating yourself. You can also get much closer to the Mona Lisa here than in the Louvre, with this and several other da Vinci paintings including The Last Supper and Lady with an Ermine presented in dazzlingly accurate reproductions, all painstakingly recreated by restoration artists from the Vatican Museums. Explora Rome isn’t exactly renowned for its child-friendly museums, so Explora – aimed squarely at under-12s – is a boon for beleaguered parents worn down by toddler complaints about ‘boring ancient stuff’. Several themed areas feature interactive, hands-on fun for the little people in your life, from train drivers’ cabins and fire engines to water play, construction areas and space for young inventors. Activities are grouped by age to ensure there’s something to entertain very young kids as well as pre-teens. We recommend booking in advance as Explora is, perhaps unsurprisingly, rather popular. Centrale Montemartini The temporary removal of a number of statues and sculptures from the Capitoline Museums to the Centrale Montemartini in 1997 became permanent when visitors responded positively to the juxtaposition of ancient Greek and Roman statues, busts and friezes against the industrial-age interiors of their new home. Here’s a unique opportunity to marvel at majestic wonders hewn from marble and stone set against the backdrop of huge pipes, engines, turbines and dials inside a former electrical power station. Truly one of the best museums in Rome. Castel Sant’Angelo Commissioned by Emperor Hadrian as a family mausoleum nearly 2,000 years ago, Castel Sant’Angelo is an imposing cylindrical edifice on the banks of the Tiber. It’s long and storied history has seen it used as a fortress, a prison and a papal residence. Today, mere mortals like you and I are able to visit this extraordinary museum, where a huge collection of paintings, frescoes, sculptures and military weaponry are displayed over seven floors. Suitably wowed by the opulent treasures within, head up to the castle terrace for some fresh air and far-reaching views across ancient Rome, including the picture-perfect bridge with its 10 angelic statues directly below. Save on the best museums in Rome Save on admission to Rome attractions with Go City. Check out @GoCity on Instagram and Facebook for the latest top tips and attraction info.
Stuart Bak
Stuart Bak
Movies Set in Rome
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Movies Set in Rome To Inspire Your Visit

Pay a visit to where some of your favorite films were set, walk in the footsteps of great characters and actors and feel transported to the silver screen from Rome!
Dom Bewley

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