Rome
Who each neighbourhood suits, and who it doesn’t, from Where to Stay in Rome 2026: A Neighbourhood-by-Neighbourhood Guide.
Neighbourhood · 5 places
Turismo Roma, the city’s tourist board, calls the area around the Pantheon, Piazza Navona and Campo de’ Fiori the historic centre of Rome, and “the most famous and frequented” part of the city.
Best for first-timers who want to walk out of the door into old Rome · short stays
Neighbourhood · 1 place
Monti runs down to Via dei Fori Imperiali and Piazza del Colosseo, with the Imperial Forums along its edge. Turismo Roma calls it “bohemian and lively”: a maze of streets with restaurants, wine bars, art galleries and vintage shops, popular with Romans and visitors alike, and one of the city’s nightlife spots.
Best for a first trip built around ancient Rome · arrivals by train who’d like to walk from Termini · anyone who wants wine bars and restaurants close by
Neighbourhood · 2 places
Trastevere is on the right (west) bank of the Tiber, and it’s Rome’s largest rione, or historic district. Turismo Roma describes its alleys, squares and “numerous trattorias and taverns offering traditional Roman recipes”, and calls it one of the most famous places for a night out, full of young people every evening, in its bars and in squares such as Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere and Piazza Trilussa.
Best for trips built around food · evenings out · arrivals on the FL1 from Fiumicino
Neighbourhood · 1 place
Prati is on the right bank, “a few steps from the Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica”. It’s the 22nd and last of Rome’s rioni, created in 1921, and the only one outside the old city walls.
Best for trips built around the Vatican · anyone who’d rather sleep away from the nightlife · shoppers
Neighbourhood · 1 place
Termini, Italy’s largest railway station, is in the Esquilino. Turismo Roma calls the district one of the city’s “entry gates” and “the most multicultural district of the city”, for its many international restaurants and food shops, and its centre, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, the largest square in Rome.
Best for early trains and late arrivals · day trips by rail · anyone who wants the airport one train away
Neighbourhood · 2 places
Testaccio is on the left bank, south of the centre. Turismo Roma calls it “the familiar and true soul of Rome”, with trattorias serving traditional Roman cooking and plenty of bars, and describes Piazza Testaccio as the heart of “the most ‘Roman’ neighbourhood in Rome”.
Best for trips built around food · returning visitors · anyone who’d like to stay where Romans live
Neighbourhood · 1 place
The Aventine, above the Circus Maximus, is “a residential and refined district” in Turismo Roma’s words, popular for walks for its “quiet beauty”. Next door, San Saba is “a sought-after residential area surrounded by greenery”. The station is Circo Massimo, on metro line B, on Viale Aventino. The Celio is the hill beside the Colosseum, and the Colosseum itself is inside the rione.
Best for light sleepers · returning visitors · a stay built around ancient Rome, with the Colosseum and the Circus Maximus close by