Are you thinking of finally visiting Rome but you’re not sure how long of a stay you’ll need? Rome is a massive city and even the list of the most mainstream attractions is quite lengthy here. Don’t worry, though, as we’ll cover exactly that today. How many days do you need in Rome?
Naturally, there’s no fits-all answer here. It all depends on you, your style of tourism and your desires in Rome in particular. Some people prefer haste, some prefer to crawl through their destinations and others prefer to not move from the beach at all. Still, we’ll provide you with a few examples of to-see lists that you can follow in a set amount of days to show you more or less what’s the typical itinerary for Rome. The first variant is, of course, for those of you who love the rush.
What to see in Rome in a day?
Can you see much in one day in Rome?
If we were to try to only see the main attractions in Rome, literally circle around them without stopping or actually entering these sites, this is already 4 hours. The route would include:
- starting at Roma Termini
- Basilica of Saint Mary Major
- Foro Romano and its area
- Altare della Patria
- Trajan’s Column
- Piazza Venezia
- Trevi fountain
- Pantheon
- Piazza Navona
- Tiber river and its bridges
- Castel Sant’Angelo
- Piazza San Pietro
- St Peter’s Basilica
- return via the Trastevere or Piazza del Popolo
Alongside this, you’ll basically have time for visiting one of these places. We recommend St Peter’s Basilica, though only if there’s no queue at the moment (which is very rare in the high season) or to book a ticket in advance for a selected time to the Pantheon. You can ‘see’ a lot in Rome in a day still, though it is just looking at it all from behind a glass pane at best. Still, if a day is all you’ve got or you can afford, that’d be our go-to list.
What to see in Rome in two days?
Rome in 2 days
If you have an extra day, it gets a bit complicated – in the one day variant, we didn’t have much of a choice to visit more attractions. Now, we’ve all these options open. We’d say that you can add the Vatican City and its museums and/or the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. With a slightly slower pace in the day before, this would make for a more pleasant experience overall while still seeing the main stuff.
What can you see in Rome in three days?
Rome in 3 days
Three days is already a decent chunk of time for Rome. You can visit all the places mentioned above, get both the Vatican City and the Colosseum if you couldn’t already in two days, the Pantheon and St Peter’s Basilica. You might also have some leftover time if you’re not too slow to visit a small village in Lazio for half a day and relax in the countryside beyond just Rome.
How about Rome for a week?
Rome in 7 days
With a week on your hands, you’ve all the time you’d need for Rome. You can easily fit all the attractions mentioned above, including actually entering them stress-free, and add two trips to the nearby towns, such as Civita di Bagnoregio, Viterbo, Subacio or Anagni. You can also visit one of the nearby beaches, find hiking spots, go shopping in Rome or simply unwind and look for nicher attractions in Rome. Naturally, if we were to try to find literally all the attractions Rome has to offer, a month wouldn’t be enough, but a week is what we’d call a perfect comfortable option.
How many days do you need in Rome?
What’s right for you?
Naturally, this all depends on what your circumstances are. We’d say that three to five days is ideal for a trip to Rome, but we don’t exactly like rushing and we do tend to prefer some time to catch our breath. If you really don’t like rushing and can spare the time, we’d say a week is perfect. Still, be it a day or a week, Rome will always provide you with something unforgettable.
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