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Top 10: Rome Highlights
Although functioning as a vibrant, modern capital akin to any in Europe, the unique appeal of Rome is that the entire city is a vast, 3,000-year-old, indoor-outdoor museum. In every quarter you'll find ancient monuments, art treasures and timeless architecture in churches, galleries and protected ruins. Home to the world's smallest city, the Vatican, Rome has religion at its heart and history in its soul - a city that dazzles and inspires visitors time and time again.
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1. Vatican City
This tiny city-state is home to the Pope, the world's greatest museum, largest church, and the most astounding work of art ever created - Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling.
- Museums and Sistine Chapel
- Viale Vaticano
- 06 6988 3333
- Open Jan - Feb & Nov - Dec: 8:45am - 1:45pm Mon - Sat, Mar - Oct: 8:45am - 3:45pm Mon - Fri, 8:45am - 1:45pm Sat
- Adm €10.00, (€7.00 students under 26)
- Disabled access (partial)
- www.vaticano.va
- St Peter's Basilica
- Piazza S Pietro
- 06 6988 1662
- Open 7am - 7pm daily
- Free (basilica)
- Adm €5.00 (treasury) & €5.00 (dome)
2. The Pantheon
The most perfectly preserved of all ancient temples, this marvel of architectural engineering has a giant oculus forever open to the sky.
- Piazza della Rotonda
- Open 8:30am - 7:30pm Mon - Sat, 9am - 6pm Sun
- Free
3. Roman Forum
At the once-bustling heart of ancient political, judicial and commercial power, there's now an evocative emptiness, punctuated by grandiose arches, solitary columns and carved rubble.
- Via dei Fori Imperiali
- 06 699 0110 (information in English: 06 3600 4399)
- Open 9am - 1hr before sunset daily, closed 1 Jan, 1 May, 25 Dec
- Forum: Free
- Palatine Museum: Adm €8.00
4. Galleria Borghese
A stunningly beautiful pleasure-palace, this was the vision of an immensely rich, hedonistic papal nephew, who filled it with Graeco-Roman, Renaissance and Baroque works by the greatest masters.
- Villa Borghese, off Via Pinciana
- 06 328 10
- Open 9am - 7pm Tue - Sun
- Adm €8.00 (free under 18 and over 65)
- www.galleriaborghese.it
5. Colosseum and Imperial Fora
Imperial Rome constructed many impressive monuments, including the spectacular amphitheatre.
- 06 3996 7700 (reservations for all archaeological sites)
- Colosseum
- Piazza del Colosseo
- Open 9am - 1 hr before sunset Tue - Sun
- Adm €8.00 (includes the Palatine)
- Trajan's Markets
- Via IV Novembre
- Open 9am - 1 hr before sunset Tue - Sun
- Adm €6.00
- Nero's Golden House
- Viale della Domus Aurea
- Open 9am - 7:45pm Mon - Wed
- Adm €6.00
- Mamertine Prison
- Clivio Argentario 1
- Open 9am - noon, 2 - 5pm daily
- Donation
6. Musei Capitolini
At the ancient centre of religious Rome are found some of the world's greatest masterpieces, from 4th-century BC Greek sculptures to Caravaggio's revolutionary - even scandalous - paintings.
- Piazza del Campidoglio
- 06 6710 2071
- Open 9am - 8pm Tue - Sun
- Adm €6.00
7. Museo Nazionale Romano
These collections, housed at two sites, feature some of the world's finest ancient art, including Classical sculpture and stunning mosaics.
- A €20 ticket (valid for 7 days) gives admission to all Museo Nazionale Romano sites and many archaeological areas
- Palazzo Massimo alle Terme
- Largo di Villa Peretti 1
- 06 481 5576
- Open 9am - 7pm Tue - Sun
- Adm €6.00
- Palazzo Altemps
- Piazza Sant'Apollinare 44
- 06 6833 659
- Open 9am - 7:45pm Tue - Sun
- Adm €5.00
8. Santa Maria del Popolo
Built over emperors' tombs, this church offers one of Rome's richest displays of Renaissance and Baroque art, including masterpieces by Pinturicchio, Raphael, Caravaggio and Bernini.
- Piazza del Popolo 12
- Open 7:30am - noon, 4 - 7pm Mon - Sat, 8am - 1:30pm, 4:30 - 7:30pm Sun
- Free
9. San Clemente
With its mysterious passages and legends, this fascinating church provides first-hand experience of the layers that comprise Rome; here you can descend to a depth of 18m (60 ft) and go back over 2,000 years.
- Via di S Giovanni in Laterano
- 06 7045 1018
- Open 9am - 12:30pm, 3 - 6pm daily (from 10am Sun)
- Adm €2.60 to lower levels
10. Ostia Antica
Extending over several square kilometres, the remarkable ruins of ancient Rome's main port city hold many surprises and convey a powerful sense of everyday Imperial life.
- Viale dei Romagnoli 717
- Metro B, trams 3 & 30, or buses 23, 95, 75, 280 to Piramide, then local train from Porta San Paolo station to Ostia Antica
- 06 5635 8099/2830
- Open 9am - 1 hr before sunset Tue - Sun
- Adm €4.00
