Rome

Not necessarily underrated, but things to get left off of folk's lists… Galleria Doria Pamphili, an amazing art collection shown in spectacular rooms. Castel S Angelo at sunset, spectacular views over Rome from the upper levels.

Overrated would be the "Spanish Steps". Its a large staircase.

Just walk around and discover the back streets, you cant walk more than a few blocks without coming across some old ruins, a lovely Piazza, or some other amazing sight.

Thanks, Sherry, for your recommendation of the Galleria Doria Pamphilj. Just looked it up - gorgeous! We're staying at a hotel next to Piazza di Pietra, so this is very close...and it's open on Monday!

Oh yes, the Dora Pamphilj is amazing! It's worth the price of admission just to see the Velasquez portrait of Pope Innocent X, which many portrait painters think is the finest portrait ever painted. The audio tour, narrated by the current Prince Pamphilj, adds a delightfully personal touch to the place. By the way, I was there last March, and I had the place almost to myself. There was one other couple there, and a small group of college students came in shortly before I left.

I am definitely going to visit the Doria Pamphilj again when I return to Rome in October.

Catacombs of Priscilla, church of Santa Costanza (both in the same area).

Currently under scaffolding: parts of Colosseo, most of Trevi Fountain (no water, either), Spanish Steps.

Santa Maria Maddalena, one Piazza north of the Pantheon.

Not sure i would classify this as a little known spot, but, given the enormity of things to see I bet most don't go to see the Caravaggios in San Luigi dei Francesi.

On our 1st trip in 2008 we went to via Appia Antica. Going to make sure we return when we go back in Sept. Did the catacombs and just walked up the ancient Roman road. Very peaceful...I'd love to bike it and see the aquaducts, but my mom is coming along on this trip with me and hubby and I don't think she's been on a bike in decades. It was just a nice quiet change of pace from the hustle and bustle - I believe we went on a Sat - I remember the bus passing some weddings and wedding photos being done alone the road.

Oh gosh, there are probably no right or wrong opinions here but on my overrated list would be the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain and (ducking the tomatoes) St Peter's compared to so many other glorious and fascinating Roman churches.

Scraping off the rotten veggies, I'll qualify the statement above by saying the yes, every first-timer should see St. Pete's, and the size/architecture is impressive indeed but I personally find it lacking in a certain, mmm, ambiance (not sure that's the right word) provided by many others. The crowds and noise level doesn't help either; we lasted all of 45 minutes or so on the last trip as it was just a zoo.

Nicole, I'm with you on Via Appia Antica; it was, without a doubt, the best day we've yet to spend in Rome. Instead of starting at the closer end and going out, we started at Casal Rotondo, one early, sunny morning, and walked our way into the city, visiting ruins and churches and catacombs along the way. We had several peaceful hours with the road virtually to ourselves with the exception of a couple of local dog-walkers.

Churches? Yikes, my preferred list to St. Pete's is so long; Santa Maria Maggiore; Santa Maria del Popolo; Santa Sabina, Gesu; Santa Maria in Trastevere; San Clemente; San Giovanni in Laterano… Yes, most of them are in the guidebooks so it's not as if they're "off the beaten path" but I rarely see them on first-timers' wish lists, and are more lightly visited.

Aventine is also underrated; besides lovely, old Santa Sabina, there are some terrific views of Rome up there, and it's gorgeous when the rose gardens are in bloom in the spring. It's also blessedly free of heavy crowds. We're fans of a walk in Villa Borghese as well: also free of the masses, and largely overlooked except for the excellent Galleria Borghese, which we much prefer to the insanity at the Vatican.

It really depends on what your interests are. For example, if you like early Christian mosaics, there are dozens of churches you could check out and you'd likely be among only a handful of tourists. (One gem in particular is the chapel of San Zeno in Santa Prassede.) One lesser known fact about many of the churches in Rome is that they have at least one level underneath the sanctuary that is often open to tourists after paying a small fee (maybe 2 euros). These lower levels often have interesting crypts or they are the earlier version of the church or sometimes you might even see the remains of pagan temples.

If you like ancient Roman history, you can't beat the National Museum of Rome at Palazzo Massimo alle Terme. You'll have this amazing museum practically all to yourself. The same goes for the Capitoline Museums. Amazing yet not heavily trafficked.

If you like good food (who doesn't?), check out the restaurants in Testaccio, east of Trastevere. Very few English-speaking tourists there, so it helps to take along some sort of menu translation aid. (A lot of authentic Roman food is made from the leftovers of butchered animals, so you want to be sure to know what you're ordering.)

One good resource is romethesecondtime.blogspot.com/ but there are plenty of other blogs like it out there.

The Domus Romane/Palazzo Valentini is fairly newly opened and not yet in Rick's guidebook. Other forum contributors have enjoyed it:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/is-it-a-good-idea-to-book-ahead-for-the-le-domus-romane-di-palazzo-valentini

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/le-domus-romane-di-palazzo-valentini

I'm with the previous poster who suggested the Spanish Steps were overrated; its crowded, nothing amazing to see and nothing to write home about. A 10 year friend of mine suggested ducking into random churches and while sometimes it was rather dull I had one one "duck in" that resulted in a spectacular, completely empty church that took my breath away. If there was special art work I missed it in this church as I was taken aback by the beauty of the space. St. Peter's is crowded and easy to feel that its overrated but if you take a few minutes to consider the vision of it, the forces required to build it and then the sheer size you'll likely begin to think its not that overrated.
Enjoy!

I just finished vacationing in Florence and Rome. My most memorable sight was Apollo and Daphne, the sculpture, at the Borghese. Absolutely magnificent! Be sure and make a reservation.

At the church of San Pietro e Vincoli, there is a sculpture of Moses that was done by Michaelangelo for Pope Julius's tomb. It is breathtaking.

Some other great churches, in addition to the aforementioned St. Peter in Vincoli and Luigi dei Francesi, include Santa Maria della Vittoria (Bernini's Ecstasy of St. Teresa), San Carlo allo Quattro Fontane (Borromini's baroque masterpiece), Sant'Andrea al Quirinale (Bernini again), and Santa Maria della Pace (with a Raphael fresco). Sant'Ignazio di Loyola was another unexpected delight that I wandered into entirely by accident.