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Baths of Diocletian

Posted by (Bellevue, WA) on

Putting the final touches (finally) on my itinerary for Rome. The Rick Steves Italy and Rome guidebooks make mention of the Baths of Diocletian as being free entry. Further research shows that you must pay 8E to see this site. Still further research says that you can enter through the Basilica to view the Baths without charge.

So, my questions are:

  1. Is the church entry method possible? Do you only see part of the Baths? Is this part sufficient to feel that you got a sense of the Baths? Reading of various reviews indicates that the signage is quite poor and impossible to read, so wondering if I would be able to follow along despite this fact.
  2. Given the poor signage, is it worth it to pay for the Baths, or is this a skippable site? Would the Baths of Caracalla be a better site to see instead?

Very interested in others' opinions on this. I have very limited time in Rome and have a ridiculous number of places I am excited to visit, but this one intrigued me, so it made the list. Now I am wondering if I should scratch it. Thanks for your honest opinions!

Posted by
1386 posts

I've been to both and enjoyed both very much, but if you are looking to prune your list of places to visit, I vote for seeing Caracalla. It's more impressive, more memorable, and easier (and quicker) to visit --- Diocletian has lots of rooms and you wander around a lot (so, there's a sense of discovery when you find yet another room, but also a feeling that you're missing parts of the complex).

Posted by
1944 posts

We visited the Baths of Diocletian, which is adjacent to the Roman Museum, in 2017. Even though it is in plain sight just across the street from Roma Termini station, I consider it a 'hidden gem' in Rome, the museum too!

There may have been a charge to enter, but I don't think expensive at all. It is beautiful, spacious, and mind-bending that all classes of Romans would meet--I think it opened in the 3rd Century A.D.--to bathe and do business.

Don't miss it--also at the Roman Museum there are artifacts from The Bronze Age, which is 1000 B.C.

Posted by
1386 posts

If you do go to the Baths of Diocletian, and go in the evening, you may be lucky to see the huge flocks of birds swarming in the sky above the building --- there is no roof in many places and the sight is just spectacular and goes on for many minutes. Here's a video that will give you some idea of the starlings' swarming and it says they do it from October to February --- we were there in early December at 5:00pm : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVko9jyAkQg

Posted by
479 posts

We went to see them on our last trip , as we were staying nearby. We could not find free entry, and paid ( i think) 8 euros each. To be honest they were not a highlight for us. There was very little information and we had trouble even finding them in the building.
I’m sure we had missed some vital step, but I can not recommend making them a priority

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