We're at Campo de' Fiori, Rome's oldest market and possibly the most enthusiastic display of…read moretourist traps per square meter. Once a site for public executions (Bruno's brooding statue still watches over), it now specializes in overpriced pasta and garlic braids. It's more performance art than produce. Vendors heckle, truffle oil flows freely, and yes, someone will try to sell you limoncello in a boot. I walked through as part of a food tour, which felt like the right way to enjoy the chaos, briefly, and with snacks elsewhere. Not the best market in Rome, but definitely the most theatrical.

Our tour driver brought us here during a lunch break on our excursion. This restaurant was located…read morein Rome, Italy and it was not included in the tour price.,The service was good and the ambiance chill and vibrant. We got the diavola pizza, fries, and a soda. The pizza and fries arrived hot and fresh, with pizza crust crispy. They also offered outdoor seating as well. All in all, a good place to grab a quick bite while exploring Rome.

Honestly, save your time and your one euro coin. The church…read moreitself is beautiful, but the entire experience has been completely ruined by social media hype. We waited in line for a literal hour just to reach the famous "selfie mirror" to get a photo with the ceiling fresco. When you finally get to the front, you have to pay 1 euro, and you're rushed through it so fast you can barely even check if the photo turned out.

To think, I almost avoided visiting this STUNNING 17th-century church - Chiesa di Sant' Ignazio di…read moreLoyola, when visiting Rome, Italy (09/25/2025 - 10/01/2025) because it is Tik-Tok and IG "famous" for being the "mirrored church" to take an iconic selfie... yes, you read that correctly..iconic selfie. I was for sure it was going to be crowded w/ social media influencers and I was correct..it was crowded but don't let that deter you from seeing this historical beauty! Chiesa di Sant' Ignazio di Loyola is known as the "mirrored church" because it has a mirror strategically placed to see the beautiful painted ceiling fresco. (see pics & videos included in this review from my visit on Tuesday 09/30/2025 - at 10:56am) It also has a painted illusion of having a real soaring dome on a flat ceiling - very cool for sure and does make you look twice just to confirm it's indeed an illusion! Here are a few helpful fyi(s) that I wanted to pass along: --- - long line for the mirror right as you enter the church - if there is a line of people waiting for the mirror, you don't have to wait in that line if you don't want to take a selfie w/ the mirror and are only wanting to see the church...as someone else mentioned in a previous review, you can get creative w/ taking a selfie w/ the beautiful ceiling. My hubby & I took our selfie pic while we were sitting in the pew and used a timer on our phone (see pic included). ---- visit early to avoid the crowds & to fully enjoy your experience at this church Avoid the crowds so you can really take in how detailed and beautiful the architecture and paintings are. Trust me, you'll enjoy your experience so much more w/ less people. ---- it's free to visit but do bring some money w/ you to give as an offering --- just a reminder to be respectful when visiting because it is a holy place Chiesa di Sant' Ignazio di Loyola truly is something special and of the MANY Rome basilica's I've explored during my 2 visits to Rome, it is now my FAVORITE basilica thus far. Hope this info helps. :)) Rebecca visiting Rome, Italy from Austin, Texas (USA) 09/25/2025 - 10/01/2025

One of Rome's famous plaza's to visit and explore. Beautiful fountains and architecture. Plenty of…read morerestaurants around the edge. While we didn't dine at any of them, it sounds like a wonderful place to grab a drink and people watch. Worth a stop.

Super touristy, but also a wonderful place to sit in a cafe with an Aperol Spritz and watch the…read moreworld go by. The waiters don't seem to mind how long you sit there and don't push you to order food. They probably get paid the same no matter what you order, unlike the U.S.

Being located in front of Saint Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Museums, the cobble stone square…read morein front of this massive structure matches its grandeur of scale. 140 saints from the Catholic tradition, sculpted from travertine ranging from 10 to 11 feet in height, encircle the piazza as part of Bernini's Colonnade. The red granite obelisk jutting out in the center is much older than all the structures surrounding it, originating around 1900 BCE in Egypt, traveling to Italy and then to Rome in 37 CE, finally moving most recently to its present position in 1586. This massive feat to move the 330-ton tower of stone 260 meters to the center of the square required 900 men, 75 horses and complex, engineered crane systems. Two granite fountains--one north of the obelisk, one south--were signatures left by the master architects of St Peter's. The north one by Carlo Maderno, who designed the monumental facade and nave and the other by Gian Lorenzo Bernini who designed the Piazza San Pietro with its colonnade of saints. On any given day prior or during a mass, there are 20,000 chairs set up in a space that holds 60,000 people comfortably standing though history has known crowds of up to 100-130K. Tickets are free for papal audiences though need to be booked in advance for seated sections. There's not much "to do" per se, though walking here (and in many places in Rome), once you look past the hoards of visitors it's awe-inspiring to contemplate the history that's taken place here, and take a break from your Vatican exploration. From the piazza, a pleasant, less crowded stroll east down Via della Conciliazione (which has obelisk-shaped street lampposts) brings you to Castel Sant'Angelo, a 2nd century fortress with a museum inside and beautiful panoramic views of the city.

When we were in Vatican City in the afternoon, we skipped the plaza. We came back in the early…read moreevening and it was much less crowded. The square is directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica. Both are named after Saint Peter, an apostle of Jesus whom Catholics consider the first Pope. There is an obelisk in the center and 284 columns that create the elliptical shape of the square.

Cool Piazza at the Northern City Wall and also a gateway to Villa Borghese. This piazza has an…read moreobelisk, two churches, two fountains and also restaurants. There is a huge shopping area with parallel streets of shops, one that goes to Piazza di Spagna, at the base of the Spanish Steps. Five Stars!

I came I saw and I conquered. Wow, what a great place is this blessed City. You could spend hours…read morein this area. Great restaurants and shopping too.

Realizing I may have left my review for the Pantheon in the wrong spot, and now I feel a bit more…read moreconfident I have found the right Yelp business... I am re-posting it here while we figure it out! Would take a lot for me to not give one of the oldest standing structures (still in use by the way) in the entire world a 5 star review right? Quite frankly, walking in and looking up is just enough to bring you to a state of awe at the massive freestanding dome, still completely open in the middle, where the sun moves about the room throughout the day. Over the years it has taken on both a secular and religious bent. There are several people buried there with large monuments, the most recent was the man who brought Italy out of monarchial rule. It appears Catholic services are still held here on occasion, and there are pews for prayer and places to light a candle for blessings. It's no longer free to get in, you can wait in a first come first serve line, or try your luck at buying tickets online... though we tried several times and the online payment system would not work for us. All in all, it's a 30 minutes stop to see one of the oldest intact structures in the world, and that is always worth it to me.

While visiting Roma , this was one of our stops. No time to…read morevisit inside since our time was limited as our stop in Roma was during our Mediterranean cruise. Beautiful structure on the outside so grand, it's nice to see one of these days maybe next time we will be able to go inside.

There is no cost for walking around the premises of the Castel Sant'Angelo. It does take some time…read moreto walk around the entire building. There are lots of people that visit this landmark; however, it is not overly crowded. The atmosphere is chill, people are just walking around and taking pictures. The landmark is best for people wanting to see the sites of Rome, love history, and architecture. Overall it is a great experience in Rome. You do need to be cautious of people who are trying to engage you in conversation and give you a bracelet, They will start out by saying nice shoes or commenting on your skin color. My husband was a mark throughout all the cities in Rome. Unfortunately, we did engage in a conversation with the person and ultimately got robbed - yes robbed of 30 euros. The man literally grabbed the money out of my hand and began to run away.

Castel Sant' Angelo along the Tiber River, is one of Rome's most captivating landmarks. The…read morestructure is huge and daunting. It was originally built as Emperor Hadrian's mausoleum nearly 2,000 years ago, the castle later became a fortress, a papal refuge, a prison, and eventually a museum.. What makes Castel Sant'Angelo especially memorable is the atmosphere. The thick stone walls, hidden passageways, and spiral ramps. The angel statue atop the castle gives the entire site a dramatic, almost theatrical presence.

This is another one of these spots in Rome that is a must see! This is a truly historic building…read moreand there is so much history here. If you don't have time to stop in and do everything they have inside, it is still great to walk around and take if the beautiful building with the incredible horse statues at the top. Be careful when walking around though. There is a large street with multiple crossings but cars fly by. So double check when crossing the street and don't get too distracted that you put yourself in danger.

3 is for the piazza in its current state--as of April 2026 construction was very much still…read moreunderway so a large section of what is usually a very open cobblestone piazza, was cordoned off, leaving the remaining roadways along the perimeter narrow and congested. Located at the intersection of major thoroughfares Via del Corso and Via dei Fori Imperiali, without the construction, the view across the square towards the massive complex of the Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II is awe-inspiring, you need to stand fairly far back towards the middle of the square to get a full look at the building. The piazza so named due to the Palazzo Venezia built here as ordered by Cardinal Pietro Barbo (later Pope Paul II) in early Renaissance times, and also because this place became the embassy of the Republic of Venice back in 1560. In 1797 this area came under jurisdiction of the Habsburg Empire and served Austro-Hungarian diplomats until Italy reclaimed it in 1916. Dedicated to King Victor Emmanuel II, credited with unifying Italy, the Vittoriano Monument was built between 1885-1911 and is also known as the Altare della Pàtria (Altar of the Fatherland). Later a shrine was added honoring soldiers who died in WWI without identified names.

There's enough Forum you and enough Forum me, this archaeological site is deceptively massive and…read morespread out, and one of the most renowned throughout Rome and the world. Layers upon layers of history are built on top of itselves here, to the east close to the Colosseum is the Tempio di Venere e Roma (Temple of Venus and Rome), built on top of two former residences of Emperor Nero, beneath the bare mound surface is an elaborate domed rotunda. Under the Farnesian Gardens on the risen Palantine Hill belies the ancient remains of the first imperial palace (Domus Tiberiana), with soaring vaulted ceilings and deep chambers. In more than one pagan temple, churches and basilicas have been erected, Basilica di Santa Francesca Romana, Basilica dei Santi, and Tempio di Antonino e Faustina, a tribute by the emperor Antoninius Pius to his wife Faustina after her passing, later modified in the Middle Ages into Chiesa di San Lorenzo de' Speziali in Miranda. Entry for most starts at the Arco di Tito on the eastern edge of the park, where individual and group ticket holders alike go thru security and stream in to traverse the grounds that emperors and plebes alike strode over for two to three millennia. From there you walk west, and perhaps south then west--up the stairs to the gardens and remains of former residential quarters of antiquity. Most in-person and audio tours will take you this direction too, and I'd recommend this as a good way to learn more about the site. There are some metal info placards posted around the ruins that are helpful as well. Plan at least one hour to walk thru just the ground level of the Forum, if you want to take your time and get to the entire Palantine Hill then three hours is more realistic. The archaeological site has minimal shade in open areas, so bring water and maybe a hat in the warmer months; you can walk into a few of the churches or museums, including the Museo del Foro Romano, and the recently restored Domus Tiberiana (mentioned above). On top of Palantine Hill there are more trees. My first time here I completely missed Palantine Hill and that was a mistake! This time around after an hour and a half, the park was closing and I still didn't see about half of it in as much detail as I would've liked...I guess that means there needs to be a next time!

Any student of history will appreciate the Roman forum which was the center for the majority of all…read morethe official and major activities that incurred in ancient Rome to include speeches, debate, gladiator fights in some instances, and even the return of victorious armies and new Caesars that you see in so many movies. When I saw the ruins and what was left of the forum I had assumed that this magnificent epicenter of old Rome had been ransacked and destroyed when the Roman empire fell. In fact and unfortunately, it's slowly fell into disrepair and ruins the direct result of lack of maintenance and care by the Roman people and government over time. In addition to the remaining structural ruins and statues that currently reside here you will find placards scattered about these ruins that explain the history of the forum and what each significant ruin stood for and was used for. Very educational and not to be missed as this clearly was one of the most significant ancient centers of the old world.

My son, nephew and I stumbled upon this fantastic building on our last day visiting Rome. We were…read morewandering around after making an attempt to visit The Vatican Museums with no luck, the lines were literally around the block. We were on our way to The Pantheon. This place is awesome, not so much from the outside, yet once you enter..... it's absolutely gorgeous. I googled some information about it, to follow. "Santa Maria in Vallicella, also called Chiesa Nuova, is a church in Rome, Italy, which today faces onto the main thoroughfare of the Corso Vittorio Emanuele. It is the principal church of the Oratorians, a religious congregation of secular priests, founded by St Philip Neri in 1561 at a time in the 16th century when the Counter Reformation saw the emergence of a number of new religious organisations such as the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), the Theatines and the Barnabites. Adjacent to the church is the Casa dei Filippini or the House of the Oratorians. There is a marked contrast between the pale travertine facade of the church and the brick built facade of the Casa. The Casa includes the Oratory designed by the Baroque architect, Francesco Borromini." Reference wikipedia It's located about .5Km from the Pantheon, and easily accessible via bus.