Twenty-eight centuries of history, legends and fountains around every corner.
In Rome you walk on layers: a stadium turned into a square, an imperial tomb turned into a fortress, a pagan temple that is still a church. Emperors, popes and artists left their mark on every street, and ordinary Romans added legends of their own. Three free routes to discover it on foot, at your own pace.
Choose your free tour
All routes are free and can be combined. If it’s your first visit, start with the essentials.
From the Colosseum to the Capitoline Hill, a walk through the political and monumental heart of the Empire.
A mask that punishes liars, the place where Caesar died, a cheeky elephant and a bonfire Rome has never forgotten.
The fountains, squares and monuments you can't miss, linked in a single walk all the way to the Vatican.
The map
The routes cross in the old town. Tap a point to see which story awaits you there.
Filled points already have a published article; the rest are in the works.
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A day in the city
Link the three routes and you will see the best of the city on foot, for free: the essentials in the morning, history in the afternoon and legends as the sun goes down.
Morning
Afternoon
Early evening
Where to eat. Try Spaghetti alla carbonara at Armando al Pantheon.
What to eat
The dishes you can’t leave without trying, and the classic spots that have been serving them for years.
Egg yolk, crisp guanciale, pecorino romano and plenty of black pepper, and never any cream. The silkiness comes from tossing the hot pasta with the egg off the heat, and every trattoria swears by its own version.
Where to try it
Just three ingredients, pasta, pecorino and pepper, and a technique that is hard to master: the cheese melts into the cooking water to form a cream. At Felice a Testaccio they finish it at your table.
Where to try it
A Roman artichoke fried whole, twice, until it opens like a crisp golden flower. It is the signature dish of the Roman Jewish cooking of the old Ghetto, at its best from winter into spring.
Where to try it
Rome's rice croquette: rice cooked in tomato sauce, breaded and fried, with a mozzarella heart that stretches like a telephone cord when you bite it, hence the nickname «al telefono». You eat it standing up, in the street.
Where to try it
Oxtail stewed for hours with tomato and celery, finished with a hint of cocoa or with pine nuts and raisins, depending on the house. It is «quinto quarto» cooking from Testaccio, the old slaughterhouse district, and Checchino has been serving it since the 19th century.
Where to try it
