Rome attractions

Trastevere locals have been shopping at the Piazza San Cosimato’s modest but lively morning food market for more than a century. Though smaller than other popular outdoor markets in the city, San Cosimato has a dedicated following; some of the vendor families have occupied a stall since its early days, handing it down through generations. The square is also ringed with bustling cafès and restaurants and home to a beloved open-air cinema on summer evenings.

Italy is known for its fashion and design: Some of the world’s most recognized luxury clothing and home decor labels are proudly “made in Italy.” If you love elegant Italian style, head to the Castel Romano Designer Outlet to shop for famous designer brands with significant discounts, such as Valentino and Versace. Popular with bargain hunters, the open-air shopping center has more than 150 stores offering up to 70 percent off retail prices.

Rome’s 19th-century Teatro dell’Opera di Roma is the Italian capital’s most important opera house. It’s most famous for hosting the premiere of Puccini’s Tosca in 1900. Originally named Teatro Costanzi, the theater was restored in the 1950s and looks straight out of a movie. Unless you’ve been inside a grand rival like London’s Royal Opera House, you haven’t experienced anywhere like this.

Palaces and homes with art deco, Greek, Gothic, baroque, and medieval flourishes make this neighborhood in central Rome a favorite among architecture buffs, as well as anyone curious to explore an area that most visitors overlook. Highlights of Quartiere Coppedè include a pair of ambassadors’ palaces—Palazzi degli Ambasciatori—as well as the fanciful Fontana delle Rane (Fountain of the Frogs), where the Beatles once frolicked.

Tracing its origins to the fourth century, the Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo is among the oldest churches in Rome and a highlight of the Caelian Hill, especially fascinating for Christian history buffs. The church is built above Case Romane del Celio, said to be the home and burial site of the converted Roman soldiers John and Paul, beheaded on the emperor’s orders.

The House of Augustus, imperial residence of Caesar Augustus, is one of the most striking Roman ruins on the city’s ancient Palatine Hill. This palace is home to well-preserved fresco wall paintings from the first century BC, depicting landscapes and theatrical scenes in bright colors and meticulous detail. Included in the Forum’s SUPER Pass sites, this ancient treasure is often a highlight of ancient Rome tours.

A public park overlooking Roman rooftops and domes, the Orange Garden (Giardino degli Aranci) was once part of a medieval fortress on the Aventine Hill. The peaceful garden is now known for its fragrant orange trees and romantic panoramas of Rome, with a terrace set above Trastevere and the Tiber River and a central lane of umbrella pines that perfectly frame the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica.

At the center of St. Peter’s Square, the second tallest Egyptian obelisk in Rome soars 84 feet (26 meters) into the air to signify the Catholic church’s power. Brought from Heliopolis to Rome by Caligula in AD 37, the red-granite obelisk was moved to its current location by Pope Sixtus V in 1586. It has no decorated sides and bears no carved inscriptions.

If your kids are overwhelmed by the crowds and culture in Rome, take a break at the 42-acre (17-hectare) Bioparco di Roma. Home to around 200 species of animals, including tigers, giraffes, chameleons, penguins, and Komodo dragons, this historic zoo is a highlight of Villa Borghese park.

In a city renowned for its impressive ceilings—most famously the Sistine Chapel—Rome’s Church of the Gesù (Chiesa del Gesù) is a standout. The massive 3-dimensional trompe l’oeil ceiling frescoes are so extraordinary that a large mirror has been strategically positioned, so visitors can look up without straining their necks. No less impressive are the tomb of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the man who commissioned this 16th-century church, and the wealth of relics in the church museum.

The elegant 16th-century Madama Palace (Palazzo Madama), seat of the Italian Senate since 1871, has a long and colorful history. The main draw of this landmark in the heart of Rome is its baroque facade. Senate proceedings generally limit opportunities to see the gilded ceilings and friezes inside the palace and learn about the building’s ties to the famous Medici family and its connection to the illegitimate daughter of Emperor Charles V.

Leonardo da Vinci is one of Italy’s most influential figures, and museums dedicated to the artist and engineer are scattered across the country. Among the most impressive is Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci Experience Museum (Museo Leonardo da Vinci Experience), where you can interact with models of Leonardo’s inventions, as well as see meticulous reproductions of his most famous works of art. The museum offers visitors a rare and comprehensive overview of the artist’s work as both an inventor and a painter.

Home to a towering waterfall, ancient ruins, and thick woods dotted with caves and crisscrossed by scenic trails, the Villa Gregoriana Park (Parco Villa Gregoriana) is an idyllic retreat just outside Rome. Located in Tivoli, this Italian National Heritage Trust gem—along with nearby Villa d’Este—is an ideal day trip from the capital city.

When the 16th-century Palazzo Valentini underwent a major renovation in 2005, the remains of two ancient Roman villas, thermal baths, and a public building—likely a temple—were discovered underneath the palace. Because the site was buried for centuries, the Domus Romane di Palazzo Valentini is remarkably well-preserved today. Marvel at original staircases, frescoes, mosaics, and inlaid marble floors with a multimedia tour.

For centuries, aristocratic families lived in Palazzo Altemps, a lavish mansion whose oldest section dates back to the 15th century. They collected art and rare artifacts, including marble statues from ancient Rome. Many were sold to world-renowned museums, such as the Louvre and the British Museum. But some are still on display within the Palazzo Altemps, now a museum prized for its sculpture collection. Visitors can also see artifacts from Egypt, ancient Roman pottery, and other treasures.

One of the oldest churches in Rome, the Basilica di San Lorenzo in Lucina has a simple porticoed facade that almost gets lost amid the tony boutiques and bustling cafés that crowd its eponymous square. A minor attraction among Rome’s ranks of famous churches, cathedrals, and basilicas, the Basilica di San Lorenzo in Lucina is often overlooked by visitors.

Rome may be home to the Vatican, but not everyone who lives (or dies) in the Eternal City is Catholic. One of the city’s loveliest cemeteries is dedicated to Protestants and non-Catholics, both Italian and foreign, and is home to a number of important tombs, including those of English poets Keats and Shelley. The Protestant Cemetery of Rome sits behind high walls in Testaccio, creating a rare quiet space near the city center.

Located within the Roman Forum (Foro Romano), the Temple of Caesar (Tempio di Cesare) was built to honor the murdered Roman leader Julius Caesar following his deification. Today, it is one of the most historically significant ruins in the vast archaeological site, marking where Caesar was cremated. Not much of the building has survived to the modern day, but you can still see a curved section of stone walls that once made up the temple’s altar.

Rome’s Basilica of St. Stephen in the Round (Basilica di Santo Stefano Rotondo) is the city’s oldest circular church. It is an active church and a lesser-known Roman attraction, where you can admire the original fifth-century architecture of the central core and the gruesome 16th-century fresco cycle depicting 34 scenes of martyrs’ suffering that line the outer wall.

The Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini is an offbeat and somewhat macabre attraction in Rome best known for its unusual Capuchin crypt. Five chapels inside the church are lined with important Italian works of art, while the attached convent houses a museum on the Capuchin Order. But the main draw is the crypt, decorated with the bones of more than 4,000 friars arranged in elaborate patterns on the walls and ceilings.

Welcome to Rome is an engaging multimedia experience that brings 3,000 years of Roman history to life in 30 minutes through video presentations, holograms, and scale models of the Eternal City and its most important monuments. Gain a deeper understanding of how the city was founded and evolved through the ages—from the Roman Empire to the 20th century—with this entertaining yet informative English-language introduction to the city.

Formerly home to Roman nobility, and, for a spell, Benito Mussolini, Villa Torlonia consists of three villas—the Casina delle Civette, the Casino dei Principi, and the Casino Nobile—and a surrounding English-style garden, a rare sight in the center of Rome. Villa Torlonia is renowned for its impressive collection of stained glass, fine furnishings, sculptures, and Italian art.

Opened in 2014, Cinecittà World is Rome’s amusement park dedicated to the art of film and movies. The park is situated just outside Rome, on the site of a former movie studio owned by Agostino “Dino” De Laurentiis, where classic films like Ben-Hur were filmed. Movie buffs—and their kids—come to enjoy roller coasters, a massive waterpark, live shows, and more.

Contemporary art might not be the first thing that springs to mind when you think of Rome. But, the sleek, trendy Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome (MACRO) provides a palate cleanser from traditional Renaissance frescoes and gilded baroque excess. Inside, you’ll find a rotating roster of temporary exhibits, while the building (designed by French architect Odile Decq) is an attraction in itself: Expect lots of glass surfaces, interconnected staircases, and a panoramic rooftop garden.

One of Rome’s hidden treasures, the Pietro Canonica Museum is home to a collection of works by its titular 19th-century sculptor and musician. Found within his luxurious fortress-style villa in the Villa Borghese gardens, this free museum offers visitors a unique glimpse into the artist’s life a century ago, as well as an army of bronze and marble sculptures and unexpected curiosities.

Along with its sister palace, the Palazzo Barberini, Palazzo Corsini makes up one half of Rome’s National Gallery of Ancient Art. The 18th-century baroque palace houses the Galleria Corsini, said to be the only collection of 17th-century paintings in Rome displayed as it was originally arranged in the 1700s. Visit to see baroque and Renaissance works by artists such as Caravaggio, Rubens, and Van Dyck, then take a stroll through the adjoining gardens, which are part of Rome’s Botanical Garden.

Rome was a popular stop for artists and writers during the Italian Grand Tour of centuries past. The Keats-Shelley House pays homage to a particular group of Romantic poets who resided in the Eternal City during the early 19th century, specifically John Keats, who briefly lived in the house at the end of his life. Inside the small museum are various personal and literary artifacts, plus paintings of Keats and fellow English writer Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Like many of Rome’s earliest Christian churches, the Basilica dei Santi Cosma e Damiano was once a pagan temple and incorporates elements of its original fourth-century Roman architecture. After becoming a Christian church in 527, however, the interior was richly decorated with mosaics considered to be masterpieces of sixth- and seventh-century art. Today, it’s open to the public for both viewing and services.

A paradise for foodies, Paciotti Salumeria is one of Rome’s most enduring and beloved gastro-emporiums. Family-run since 1970, it’s tucked into a tangle of backstreets outside of Vatican City. This visual and aromatic delight of a shop is known for its superb selection of cured meats, Italian cheeses, fresh bread, and other gourmet delicacies. While the store exists to serve locals, tourists can pick up vacuum-sealed produce and gift boxes to take home edible souvenirs.

When you think of Rome, the first artists that come to mind might be baroque painters like Carravagio or Renaissance masters like Michelangelo. But, since 2009, the Italian capital has also been home to an acclaimed collection of contemporary art in a slick building designed by the architect Zaha Hadid. Temporary exhibits at the National Museum of 21st-Century Art (MAXXI) often rotate, but whatever is on display, you can bet it will be worth seeing.