Lazio · Italy
Where to stay in Rome
Rome is a city in Lazio, Italy, home to about 2,748,000 people. This guide covers 9 hotels, 3 aparthotels and 1 apartment building in Rome, with about 761 rooms between them. 3 of them carry a published guest score, and the list below is ordered by it.
- Places to stay in this guide
- 13
- Best months
- April to June
- Nearest airport
- CIA14 km · Ciampino–G. B. Pastine International Airport
- Currency
- EUReuro
- Time zone
- Europe/Rome
- Language
- Italian
About
About Rome
Rome is the capital and largest city of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome.
Situated on the River Tiber, between the Apennine Mountains and the Tyrrhenian Sea, the "Eternal City" was once the administrative centre of the mighty Roman Empire, governing a vast region that stretched all the way from Britain to Mesopotamia. Today it remains the seat of the Italian government and home to numerous ministerial offices. Rome has 2.7 million inhabitants while the metropolitan area is home to around 4.5 million.
Wikipedia and Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Things to do
What to see and do in Rome
See
Italians are very fond of their landmarks; in order to make them accessible to everyone one week a year there is no charge for admittance to all publicly owned landmarks and historical sites. This week, known as "La settimana dei beni culturali", typically occurs in mid-May and for those 7 to 10 days every landmark, archaeological site and museum belonging to government agencies (including the Quirinale presidential palace and gardens, the Colosseum and all of the ancient Forum) is accessible and free of charge. Government-owned museums and historical sites have free admission on the first Sunday of every month.
Do
- Estate Romana Festival
- White Night (Notte Bianca)
- Opera at Caracalla
- Festa dell'Unità
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Where to stay
The best-rated places to stay in Rome
Ordered by guest score as each operator publishes it, weighted by the number of reviews so a handful of perfect scores does not outrank thousands of very good ones. Scores are shown on their own scale.
| # | Place to stay | Rooms | Guest score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leonardo Boutique Hotel Rome Termini hotel | 81 | 90/100 1,602 reviews |
| 2 | Leonardo Boutique Hotel Rome Monti hotel | 80 | 89/100 2,238 reviews |
| 3 | NYX Hotel Rome hotel | 324 | 89/100 1,435 reviews |
10 more places to stay, without a published guest score
| Place to stay | Rooms |
|---|---|
| Barceló Roma hotel | |
| Bob W Rome San Lorenzo apartment building | 44 |
| Bob W Rome Testaccio hotel | 29 |
| master Trevi hotel | 27 |
| MEININGER Roma Termini hotel | 109 |
| Occidental Aran Park hotel | |
| Occidental Aurelia hotel | |
| Rome Trastevere aparthotel | 24 |
| Rome Via Dei Reti aparthotel | 23 |
| Rome Via Fortebraccio aparthotel | 20 |
Schematic: the city centre in orange, each place to stay as a dot, distance rings in kilometres.
Where to stay
Which part of Rome to stay in
Rome can be divided into several districts. The so-called historical centre (centro storico) is quite small, being only around 4% of the city's area. This mainly consists of the area inside the Aurelian walls, and is protected by UNESCO.
The area to the southwest of Termini railway station has numerous large hotels; these are used in particular by groups and coach parties. On the other side of the station are many smaller, fairly inexpensive, hotels that are popular with individual travellers. Perhaps the best choice for a first-time visitor is to stay right downtown, (such as near the Pantheon). Most attractions are walking distance from there, and you will save much transportation time and leave more for enjoying the city.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
When to go
The best time to visit Rome
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Rome are April to June. August is the warmest month, with average highs of 31 °C; November is the wettest, with about 118 mm of rain.
Comfortable means average daytime high between 18 °C and 29 °C and under 80 mm of rain in the month. Averages for 1991–2020 over the surrounding area, a grid square about 50 km across, so a coast or a nearby mountain can make the town itself warmer or cooler. Data: CRU TS v4.10, Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia (Open Database License).
Getting there
Getting to Rome: airports and arrival
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Ciampino–G. B. Pastine International Airport (CIA), about 14 km from the city centre in a straight line; Rome–Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO, 22 km) and Perugia San Francesco d'Assisi – Umbria International Airport (PEG, 134 km) are also within reach.
Getting around
In a nutshell: Don't do it. Well, some people actually enjoy it as a master class in defensive driving. Roman traffic is chaotic (and has been since the first century BC), but it is possible to drive there. However, the roads are not logical, the signs are few and the condition of the roads gets worse daily. It will take a few weeks to understand where to drive, to get where you want to go. When driving in Rome it is important to accept that Italians drive in a very pragmatic way. Taking turns and letting people go in front of you is rare, but pedestrians are usually grudgingly yielded to.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
CIA · Ciampino–G. B. Pastine International Airport
FCO · Rome–Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci International Airport
PEG · Perugia San Francesco d'Assisi – Umbria International Airport
Local knowledge
Eating, drinking and staying safe in Rome
Eat
Rome is full of good restaurants, many in attractive settings, particularly when you sit outside in the evening. No one location can be recommended to search for a good restaurant: some of the best places to eat are in the most unpromising locations while well-situated restaurants can often live on their reputation rather than the quality of their food. Restaurants in guidebooks can be good but prices can be inflated because it is more than likely a "tourist trap". To find an authentic restaurant that won't break the bank, try to find a place in a more residential area or somewhere that isn't in the middle of the tourist locations.
Drink
Starbucks has long avoided Rome, but in April 2023 the first one appeared in the center of Rome. And no wonder: Italian coffee is great so our friends from Seattle would face a lot of competition. A latte in Italian is just a glass of milk. If you're expecting coffee in that glass, you should ask for a caffe latte. A latte macchiato (meaning "marked") is steamed milk stained with a smaller shot of espresso. "Espresso" or "normale" is just that, but more commonly just referred to as caffe. Espresso doppio means a double shot of espresso, while espresso macchiato is espresso 'marked' with a dab of steamed milk.
Stay safe
Rome is generally a safe place, even for women traveling alone. However, there have been rape cases around the Roma Termini train station, so be careful especially at night time. There is very little violent crime, but plenty of scams and pickpocketing that target tourists. As in any other big city, it is better if you don't look like a tourist: don't exhibit your camera to all and sundry, and keep your money in a safe place. Consciousness and vigilance are your best insurances for avoiding becoming a victim of a crime in Rome. Remember, if you are pickpocketed or victim of another scam, don't be afraid to shout, "Aiuto, al ladro!" (Help, Thief!) Romans will not be nice to the thief.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Good to know
Accessibility, parking and families in Rome
How many places to stay in this guide offer each, in their operators' own words.
of 13 places
of 13 places
of 13 places
of 13 places
of 13 places
of 13 places
of 13 places
of 13 places
Questions
Rome: questions travellers ask
What are the best-rated hotels in Rome?
By published guest score: Leonardo Boutique Hotel Rome Termini (90 / 100 · 1,602 reviews · www.leonardo-hotels.com (operator's own guest score)); Leonardo Boutique Hotel Rome Monti (89 / 100 · 2,238 reviews · www.leonardo-hotels.com (operator's own guest score)); NYX Hotel Rome (89 / 100 · 1,435 reviews · www.leonardo-hotels.com (operator's own guest score)).
When is the best time to visit Rome?
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Rome are April to June. August is the warmest month, with average highs of 31 °C; November is the wettest, with about 118 mm of rain.
Which airport is closest to Rome?
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Ciampino–G. B. Pastine International Airport (CIA), about 14 km from the city centre in a straight line; Rome–Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO, 22 km) and Perugia San Francesco d'Assisi – Umbria International Airport (PEG, 134 km) are also within reach.
Are there accessible hotels in Rome?
1 place in this guide list accessible rooms.
What currency is used in Rome?
euro (EUR).
Nearby
Destinations near Rome
Sources: city facts from Wikidata and Wikipedia; airports from OurAirports; climate from CRU TS v4.10 (University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit), 1991–2020 monthly means, 0.5° grid; places to stay, guest scores and amenities from each operator's own public pages. How this guide is made.