Top sights in Rome

The top museums, churches, monuments, and experiences of Rome, Italy

The Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Vatican Museums

Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel ★★★

Rome's most magnificent collection of museums includes Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling, the Raphael Rooms, exquisite ancient Roman sculptures, and a painting gallery stuffed with works by Leonardo da Vinci, Giotto, Caravaggio, Raphael, Fra' Angelico, and many more... » more
 
Basilica San Pietro

St. Peter's Basilica ★★★

The capital of Christendom and most magnificent basilica on Earth is a late-Renaissance/early-baroque masterpiece of architecture and decoration, an artistic collaborations across the centuries between the likes of Michelangelo and Bernini, and something of a personal pulpit for the man who lives next door: the Pope... » more
 
Coliseum

Colosseum ★★★

The world's greatest sports arena, where 50,000 spectators cheered bloody contests between gladiators—and between man and beasts—that could last 100 days or more and involve the slaughter of literally thousands of animals and men. Yes, ancient Rome was a cheery place... » more
 
Foro Romano

Roman Forum ★★★

Lines of chipped columns, crumbling triumphal arches, broken temple porticoes, the curve of abandoned marketplaces, armless statues patinaed with age—you can wander at will through the ghost city of an ancient Rome that, 2,000 years ago, ruled over the entire known world... » more
 
The Pantheon

The Pantheon ★★★

The only ancient Roman temple to survive the millennia intact is also one of the most amazing architectural spaces in Rome, an expansive cylinder swaddled in precious marbles, topped by a vast concrete hemisphere, and pierced by a wide shaft of sunlight from the oculus at the center... » more
 
Piazza di Spagna - Scalinata Trinità dei Monti

The Spanish Steps ★★★

A graceful arc of stairs—set off by azaleas in spring and always overflowing with chattering Romans and tourists—is tied in an off-center double-bow to an elegant hillside at the very heart of Rome's trendiest shopping district... » more
 
Fontana di Trevi

The Trevi Fountain ★★

The world's most famous wishing well is a riot of sculpture and favorite late-night gathering place in Rome... » more
 
Piazza Navona in Rome

Piazza Navona ★★

Sit at a café table on the oblong Piazza Navona square—built atop the oval of an ancient Roman stadium, lined by palaces and churches, and centered on Bernini's fantastic Four Rivers fountain—and just watch the carnival of Roman life spin past you... » more
 
The Catacombs of St. Calixtus

The Catacombs of the Appian Way ★★

These miles of low, dimly lit tunnels carved into the soft tufa honeycomb the earth beneath the Via Appia Antica are wildly popular among tourists. The catacomb tunnels are pigeonholed with tens of thousands of niches where early Christians buried their dead and left some of the world's first Christian art... » more
 
Papal audience

Attending a Papal Audience ★★

Unlike the Middle Ages, when you had to have excellent connections to see the Bishop of Rome (that's the Pope's real title), these days papal audiences are pretty easy to come by—so long as you're willing to share the moment with several thousand other audience members... » more
 
Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome

Castel Sant'Angelo ★

The pope's personal fortress is a giant cylinder of a castle glowering above the Tiber and hiding at its core the tomb of Hadrian and a dozen other ancient Roman emperors... » more
 
Ostia Antica

Ostia Antica ★★
The ghost town ruins of Rome's ancient seaport are like Pompeii without the crowds—and just a 14-mile subway ride west of downtown... » more
 

Tips & links

How long does Rome take?

Planning your day: Rome wasn't built in a day, and you'd be hard-pressed to see it in that brief a time as well. Still, you can cram a lot into just a day or three.

To help you get the most out of your limited time in the Eternal City, here are some perfect itineraries, whether you have one, two, three, or four days to spend in Rome.

» Rome itineraries

Book ahead

There are some sights for which you should definitely reserve tickets ahead of time: The Colosseum (long lines), Borghese Galleries (limited admissions). For others, booking ahead may be wise... » more

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