Rome’s Garbage Crisis

This has been reported for years now, but it's a local issue that doesn't seem to have made a dent in tourism. The people who suffer from major public service failures / mismanagement like trash pickup are residents. Tourist exposure is probably minimal to none, and what you are likely to see or experience depends on exactly what area of Rome you're in. I haven't' been recently, but I surmise that the heavily frequented tourist areas are sanitized while the local neighborhoods which tourists rarely see bear most of the brunt. I would not let this affect your trip plans.

Thanks, Agnes
We’re planning to spend most of our four days in Trastevere which I guess at one time was considered a non-touristy, residential neighborhood. But probably not anymore. (DC area here too - Old Town).

Was there in February for 9 nights, stayed in Monti, very close to the Piazza della Madonna dei Monti. Before leaving, I had read a lengthy thread on the TA forum about the"garbage problem", so was keen to make my own observations. The piazza and the area around it is quite busy each evening. On 2 evenings, all the trash cans were filled to overflowing. They were all empty the following morning. One morning I was waiting for a bus on Via Cavour, and had to move out of the way as a two-person team came up the street power-washing the sidewalk and picking up any trash they found. I never saw the big bins next to the sidewalks overflowing or smelling. In short, I what I found was Romans doing their best to keep their city clean.

(BTW, there was also a thread on this forum that I read before I left from a woman who said she was immediately targeted by some sort of crime boss when she entered the above piazza. I thought it my duty to enjoy my evening gelato while looking for this guy in the piazza. I never found him :-)

Rich,

I've been to Rome a couple of times now. I stayed in the Termini neighborhood. I did not see anything close to a crisis. I walked all over the city centre, major attractions, a few neighborhoods and did not see any kind of major overflow.

What I did observe are the little garbage trucks and sweepers going round and round main streets and piazzas picking up and cleaning up. I can't speak for all Rome's inner neighborhoods though.

During the celebration of The Immaculate Conception on the weekend of December 8th (start of the official Christmas season in Rome), around the major piazzas was an influx of trash because of the influx of people. Everyone and their eighth cousin were out and about until really late enjoying the celebration and holiday. The next day, it was all taken care of and under control.

Rome is a lovely, exciting, amazing and awe-inspiring, walking museum. Around every corner, you will come upon a surprise!

Have fun.

thread on this forum that I read before I left from a woman who said she was immediately targeted by some sort of crime boss when she entered the above piazza.

Oh brother. lol. "Crime boss?"

Did he introduce himself as such? Maybe she had too much Campari?

Also Rich,

Since you are staying a few days in Trastevere, perhaps you would like to take a view on this -

Trastevere, Rome in a Day: Hidden Gems & Top Attractions - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v75H2alRIW4&t=2s

Also, TRG, Hidden Gems of Rome: Campo de' Fiori in a Day - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nk6el0n1z9Q&t=5s

The Roman Guy has a lot of fun videos to watch. They give you a peek inside Rome neighborhoods, attractions, helpful hints, tips and suggestions. Sean is the narrator in most of the videos. They are funny and down-to-Earth.

Maybe take a look at the Lazio region https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/italia/lazio.html
The cams are strategically placed to give the viewer a bird's eye view onto piazzas, crowds, different things going on. Of course, keep in mind the 6-hour time difference - depending on what part of USA you are in.

Grazie, Girasole!

Prego, Rich :)

Rich,

This video is hilarious! It is a parody on Perillo Tours - Adam Sandler plays Steve Perillo who is the owner and tour operator.

Romano Tours - SNL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbwlC2B-BIg

Well, there's evidently some sort of issue but probably not everywhere and, so far, no responder on this thread has been to Rome within the last week or so it's tough to gauge where all the overflowing bins are. My guess is that whatever is stinkin' up the place is MUCH worse for the poor citizens than for tourists.

https://www.thelocal.it/20190713/disgusting-dumpsters-rome-garbage-crisis-sparks-health-fears
https://www.thelocal.it/20190710/rome-rubbish-will-be-cleaned-up-within-15-days

But October is 3 months away so whatever is happening now may be history by then. I personally wouldn't worry about it as you can bet they'll attend to the historic center/ tourist areas first. Besides, some bulging garbage bins here and there wouldn't interfere with all of the indoor attractions you're likely going to be visiting.

We stayed in Trastevere for five nights this past May and didn't notice anything unusual with the trash. It's a big city with occasional problems with trash collection, but we didn't sweat it at all. (But you do know about the graffiti, right? It's everywhere. It is an Italian word, after all.)

Girasole, I can't find the thread (maybe she deleted it) but it was something to the effect that she walked into the piazza with the fountain in Monti, she saw the supposed ringleader point them out to some "unsavory types" who descended on her and immediately tried starting to scam/pickpocket/harass her. It was quite over the top and, as you can imagine, difficult to believe.

I was just there two weeks ago. We stayed in the Termini area and walked all over Rome. We did see a lot of garbage on the sidewalks, but nothing that I would call a huge crisis (enough to change a trip). Their trash disposal is hanging trash bags sort of things instead of bins that did get to overflowing. When we were out early we noticed that they were empty.

Girasole, I can't find the thread (maybe she deleted it) but it was something to the effect that she walked into the piazza with the fountain in Monti, she saw the supposed ringleader point them out to some "unsavory types" who descended on her and immediately tried starting to scam/pickpocket/harass her. It was quite over the top and, as you can imagine, difficult to believe.

Eric, I never saw the thread. So she and her travel companions were targeted to be scammed right away by an alleged crime boss? Wow. lol.

We stayed in Trastevere during our trip in May and would agree that bins fill during the day, but seem to be emptied regularly. We loved that neighborhood and hope to get back - it’s lively with lots of food choices and a village feel. We liked the fact that Trams 8 & 3 serve the area well.

The dirtiest most garbage strewn city I have ever visited was New York City.....

The latest is that self replicating dumpsters have taken control of large parts of the Eternal City.
The Italian Armed forces have been mobilitate and the NATO Alliance has called upon Art. 5.
The Garbage forces have taken over numerous websites, including this one, and are recycling fake news.

I think Roberto is onto something. That would certainly explain a lot.

Didn't we have this conversation last year?

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/so-why-are-us-newspapers-saying-how-terrible-italy-is

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/roma-dice-basta-rome-says-enough-protests-1e626f22-5aa7-4632-a581-768b48065f34

I'm just back from my trip, we were in Rome last week Monday thru Saturday.

We stayed near the Pantheon, did a food tour in Trastevere, and visited the big sights everyone goes to, walking to/from/around those areas. We did NOT notice any trash piling up.

We had a car service to our Rome hotel from Siena, we did see some overflowing dumpsters before reaching the touristy areas. The driver mentioned that Rome is having some problems.