Rome: Sometimes Free

Rome sights (er, sight) that are (is) sometimes admission-free

Unlike many other major European capitals, Rome doesn't really go in for the whole "get in free on the second Tuesday" sort of thing—aside from the annual, week-long, nation-wide Settimana per la Cultura, when all state-run sights throughout Italy are free (national museums, galleries, monuments, and archaeological sites); usually the third week of April (though Italy's ongoing economic malaise stemming from the global recession has led them to cancel this freebie week most years since 2008, including in 2014). » more

However, the Vatican Museums have always been free (and crowded!) the last Sunday of each month. And, as of 2015, all the state-run sights in Rome are free on the first Sunday of the Month.

Free in Rome the last Sunday of each month

The Vatican Museums ★★★

Rome's most magnificent collections of museums—including the Sistine Chapel—are free on the last Sunday of each month. Of course, this is not a secret, so expect a crush of visitors, especially of schools on class trips and other cash-strapped groups. Sure, you get in for free, but the crowds may not make it worth your while. At the very least, try to show up when the doors open so you can be at the head of the surging masses (and make a beeline for the Sistine)... » more

 

Free in Rome the first Sunday of each month

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

 

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

 

Galleria Borghese ★★

Rome's Galleria Borghese in the middle of the city's largest park is a frescoed 1613 villa packed to the gills with amazing works by Bernini, Caravaggio, and Raphael—not to mention ancient statuary—and ranks as one of my top three small museums in the world. Warning: Entry is on timed tickets which you must book ahead of time (and it can sell out days in advance)... » more

 

Museo Nazionale Romano: Palazzo Altemps ★

The Palazzo Altemps branch of the Rome National Museum is perhaps the prettiest of the four branches (the other three are all up near Termini), with loads of excellent ancient sculptures and other Roman art installed in the frescoed rooms of a 16th-century palace just off the north end of Piazza Navona... » more

 

Museo Nazionale Romano: Palazzo Massimo alle Terme ★★

The best of the four branches of the Rome National Museum contains excellent statuary plus exquisite ancient Roman mosaics, bronzes, frescoes, coins, and jewelry in a 19th-century villa... » more

 

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

 

Museo Nazionale Romano: Baths of Diocletian

Installed in the palazzo that was converted out of a portion of the ancient baths complex; intriguing space, but least interesting of the Rome National Museum's four collections... » more

 

Museo Nazionale Romano: Baths of Diocletian

Installed in the palazzo that was converted out of a portion of the ancient baths complex; intriguing space, but least interesting of the Rome National Museum's four collections... » more

 

Baths of Caracalla ★

The largest surviving ruins of an ancient baths complex in Rome is a crumbling complex of brick walls and broken archways sprawling over 33 acres that could once accommodate 1,600 bathers. It is also a spectacular setting for summertime opera and concert performances... » more

 

Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica: Palazzo Barberini ★

When a Barberini finally made pope (Urban VIII), his fabulously wealthy family celebrated by hiring Carlo Maderno to build them a huge palace, later embellished by Borromini and Bernini. It houses half of Rome's National Gallery of paintings (the other half's in Trastevere’s Palazzo Corsini), with masterpieces by Caravaggio and Raphael backed by baroque frescoes by Pietro da Cortona.... » more

 

Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica: Palazzo Corsini

This 15th-century palace houses the original half of Rome's National Gallery of paintings (the other half's in the Palazzo Barberini, near Via Veneto). The paintings are hung sort of all squished together, but its worth a visit for such big names as Raphael, Caravaggio, Fra' Angelico, Guido Reni, Rubens, Van Dyck, and Guercino... » more

 

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

 

Galleria Palazzo Spada

The 1540 Palazzo Spada has fabulous stuccoes on its facade and courtyard. While the painting gallery it houses is small, it represents one of the best examples of an intact 17th-century private collection, still displayed in rooms with their original furnishings and decor intact... » more

 

The Tomb of Cecilia Metella

The best of the Via Appia tombs, the resting place to the daughter-in-law of Crassus, a 1st-century BC land mogul and Julius Caesar's financier, transformed into a midget medieval castle... » more

 

Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli★

East of Rome lies Tivoli, a hilltown home to lavish palaces (the Renaissance Villa d'Este is but the most famous of them), and, just outside town, the well-preserved ruins of Hadrian's Villa. This sumptuous summer palace was designed by the Spanish-born Emperor himself as a sort of sprawling, architectural souvenir scrapbook of the varied building styles he saw during his travels across the empire, from Middle Eastern to Egyptian to European... » more

 

Tips & links

Share this page

Search ReidsItaly.com