Rome at Night

We did a night tour of the Colosseum this past summer, and did not find it a good value.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/vip-colosseum-at-night-tour-by-the-roman-guy-a-great-disappointment

Rick Steves Night walk of Rome is awesome, taking you past all the lighted buildings. Best of all its free!

The Vatican has a Friday evening (7-11) "happy hour" with a concert that has become my favorite way of visiting the museum. Not too crowded, 'happy hour' is one small glass of wine and a wonderful cold supper buffet, the concert is sometimes professional other times university groups (not religious music at all). The best part is all the windows of the museum are open, letting in whatever fresh air there is. At 11 the guards usher (as opposed to rush) you from the Sistine Chapel but you still have a couple of beautiful hallways with exhibits and souvenirs to wander through. So it takes you another 15-30 minutes to actually get out of the building. No pressure, no pushing and much less sweating. Highly recommended.
But my all time favorite night time walk is though Trastevere (drinks on the Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere and dinner at Carlo Menta), then walk to the Forum (all lit up like you are seeing ghosts) then to the Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navona (sit on the steps of Sant' Agnese with a gelato), then to the bridge of the Angels for a powerful view of St. Peter's and Castel Sant' Angelo. Walk slowly - you're on vacation and have no appointments - and just enjoy being in Rome! I guarantee a good night's sleep (ok, your feet may be a bit sore) with wonderful dreams. Remember: You deserve this!

We did this food and drink tour in the evening (starts at 6:30). It’s not a city tour per se, but it’s was a lovely way to be introduced to Travestere. We are also taking our adult children this time and booked this again, it’s that excellent!

https://www.eatingeurope.com/rome/twilight-trastevere/

Hi Pete,

I keep this list handy and very often post it to new travelers. Perhaps you can browse through each one, compare itineraries, prices, amount of tour members, as well as check to see if they offer night tours that are available with your visit.

Look for discounts on their sites or if calling, inquire about discounts.

https://theromanguy.com/
https://www.walksofitaly.com/
https://www.througheternity.com/
https://darkrome.com/ (Dark Rome and City Wonders are sister companies)
https://citywonders.com/
https://angeltours.eu/destination/rome/

Keep in mind the time of year you will be traveling. Of course, high season will have abundant crowds, long lines in some cases.

Also, to get an idea of Rome's city centre and vicinity, check out the YT version of The Roman Guy.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+roman+guy Scroll through to view; especially the "neighborhood series." They have a lot of great suggestions and tips for the newer traveler. Sean, who is one of the company's leads, narrates most of the vids.

Keep in mind, it is always encouraged to check out the original websites of any suggested attraction - times, dates, closings, pricing, policies may change at their discretion.

Places like The Vatican, St. Peter's will have a security check - no large bags or backpacks in either. Bags of about 14-15" were allowed all the times I went to St. Peter's. So far, it has not changed.
There are very strict rules for no photo taking in The Sistine and St. Peter's (Chapel of The Blessed Sacrament.)

Strict dress codes are enforced especially for The Vatican and St. Peter's & most Churches.

The Colosseum was allowing bags of about the same size as above. The Borghese Gallery at one time did not allow any bags of any size - plastic totes were given out to carry wallets, phones, etc. Now, they have allowed small sized bags - 8"-9" in size. Other churches in Rome are not as strict with bag sizes.

You will probably visit The Pantheon - it is an active Church and its history is astounding. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheon,_Rome Piazza della Rotonda is very active and fun.

Piazza Navona is gorgeous with its flowing fountains.
Fontana di Trevi is magical - especially at night.
Piazza di Spagna (The Spanish Steps) and Trinità dei Monti (Church at the top of the stairs)
Altare della Patria / Piazza Venezia - Stunning and crazy busy.

Check out the https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/italia/lazio.html

Each one gives a bird's eye view of major attractions, piazzas and so on. You will get an idea of people crowding, what each area looks like at different times of the day. Sometimes they switch out the cams - usually Campo de' Fiori is up and running for day and night viewing. It is a lively plaza for sure. Sometimes, you can catch the lovely street musicians at Campo. They usually set up around the statue of Giordano Bruno < a very important landmark for the Piazza.

Check out https://www.romewise.com/ Elyssa is a Rome resident for many years. She is very knowledgeable and super nice.

Have fun planning and traveling to Rome!

Thank you all very much!!!

You are welcome! :)

@ Robert - Your ideas are drawing me back to Rome! Thank you.

Don't you just love this forum!?! It reminds us of wonderful feelings, experiences, memories, stories. It helps feed us with enthusiasm (as if we need it!) while we too are preparing our next trip. It gives us a chance to share, to encourage, and even to worn. Pete - have a wonderful time with your family! I'll be on Piazza Navona every evening about 10-11pm, July 20-27, sitting on the steps of Sant' Agnese with a gelato. Stop by and share your stories!

Hey Janet - what are you waiting for!?!?!? If you don't do it - someone else will and you won't get any of the benefits . . . like gelato (which we DESERVE)!

Am keeping this info for our upcoming trip....thanks for the great advice!

Highly recommend the Vatican at night. We did it last May and it wasn’t too crowded. We were nervous when we showed up because there was a Lot of people outside pushing around and it seemed like maybe it was a bad idea. (we arrived after 7 hoping to avoid the mad rush to get in.) However, once everyone was inside, there was no problem! The only room that felt crowded at all was the Raphael room with the School of Athens.
They only have it on Friday nights so make sure you plan for that and get your tickets in advance. This isn’t a “tour” but you can do an audio tour along with it. We did Rick Steves’.
For me, Rome was magical at night! I felt like it transformed after dark. Just wander around the touristy sights, Navona, Pantheon, Trevi, Victor Emmanuel, Forum, colosseum, Sant Angelo., etc! You could do Rick’s self guided walks. I don’t know that you would need a guided tour, unless you wanted to go into the Colosseum.
Definitely check out Trastevere also.
Rome Is beautiful with the lights!

Hopefully these shows/tours will be back in 2020. http://www.viaggioneifori.it/en/ Fabulous!

Hi Pete, we're in Rome for 4 nights early October and the 4 of us (adults) have booked a golf cart Night tour of Rome for 2 hours. You should try this, your itinerary or theirs whichever you'd prefer.

https://golf-cart-tour-rome.com/sightseeing-tours

Have also booked a Friday night Sistine Tour which you can do way ahead and not wait until 60 days prior to do the daytime tour...

Jean

A few years ago in July we did a nighttime tour of the Colosseum with a company called Walks of Italy. You might check them out. While less crowded and hot at night, it was a bit harder to see. It may be worth it though to have less crowds and heat. Walks of Italy has excellent reviews of trip advisor.