STUDENT PAGES
This page will list ideas for your free time in Rome. Below is an extract from our Student Handbook on things to do in your free time.
Some food venues we recommend: download our lists food markets, gelato, restaurants (to be updated)
In addition to the museums and churches which fill guidebooks (and are kept up-to- date in our staff database), there are more events, special exhibitions, festivals and street fairs than you could ever hope to see. Rome’s art scene isn’t as famous as New York’s, but there is a growing number of contemporary art galleries, especially near the Spanish Steps on Via Margutta, in the streets west of Piazza Navona, and increasingly in Testaccio.
Travel
We strongly advise against too much long-distance travel during your Rome program, because of the enormous climate impact of short-hop flights and because it is very rare to have a meaningful experience of place in a few days. If you do plan to travel outside of Rome on overnight trips you must respect the travel advisories of Gustolab staff and the US consulate. We provide an obligatory travel form that must be completed at least two weeks prior to any overnight trip outside of Rome.
Music
Live music is presented everywhere from huge venues such as the Olympic Stadium to small Testaccio nightclubs. Some of the best concerts are held outdoors in summer music festivals, some lasting into the fall. In the summer there are many outdoor events called Estate Romana (Roman summer), and in the fall the city pulls a collective all-nighter (called notte bianca) with concerts, performances, and parties everywhere. The newest venue for classical and popular concerts alike is Renzo Piano’s Auditorium, which boasts three varying-sized acoustic chambers and a large outdoor arena. Opera is performed at the main opera theatre near Via Nazionale, but also in various smaller venues in stripped down forms. See our website for listings of events and venues.
Sports
Calcio (soccer) is one of the greatest forces in Italian life. Spirits run wild and at times overflow on Sunday afternoon when either AS Roma or SS Lazio, the city’s two local teams, is playing. The teams share the Stadio Olimpico located north of the city center. Ticket prices range from 15 Euro to 80 Euro depending upon seating and can be purchased at the AS Roma store located on Piazza Colonna 360 or at the Stadio Olimpico box office. For more information, go to https://www.asroma.com and www.sslazio.it.
Romans also follow and play basketball (Rome’s PalaLottomatica stadium seats over 11,000 basketball fans for Virtus Roma home games), rugby, hosting several Six Nations games every year, and tennis which is the focus of annual tournaments at Stadio dei Marmi.
If you would like to play soccer, volleyball, basketball, swim, and more in Rome, just ask us! Be can recommend gyms and places to go jogging or join pick-up games. See our website for listings of places to play and practice. Download our list of sports venues here.
Nightlife
Rome’s active night scene involves lots of plain hanging out around the streets and squares, but also a busy schedule of musical events.
There are daily musical – classical, pop, rock, jazz etc. – and other cultural events organized at the new shell-shaped Auditorium designed by Renzo Piano. You can check the monthly program www.musicaperroma.it.
If you are interested in opera, Rome’s opera season runs all year at the Teatro dell’Opera. See: www.opera.roma.it. You should take advantage of the 50% discount that is granted to all students.
Clubs in Rome have been closed during the pandemic but when they return look for dance venues around Via Ostiense, Pigneto and San Lorenzo. Download our list of cinemas here
General Notes on Museums and Churches
Most museums are closed Mondays (exceptions being the Galleria Doria Pamphilj and the Vatican). All churches in Rome are still free and boast some of the best artworks around. Sometimes coins are needed to light the works, however; bring a pocketful of small coins to shed light on Caravaggio, Raphael and others. Churches are generally open from 7:00 am to 12:00 and again from 16:00 to 19:00, but this varies widely.
Volunteer opportunities
If you would like to volunteer during your stay in Rome, please let us know. Why volunteer? Contribute to your local hosting community, meet Italians, practice speaking Italian, learn about social life in Italy, build your resume, have fun!
Some volunteer organizations we recommend:
- Retake Roma is a non-profit organization that organizes city cleaning and beautification projects around the city. (https://retake.org/roma/)
- Caritas organizes and runs various community programs in Rome and international service projects abroad. Caritas focuses on helping the immigrant and refugee community in Rome, which includes their soup kitchens, food pantry, homeless shelters, Italian-language classes, medical check-ups, IT classes, and legal consultation. (www.caritasroma.it/condividi/)
- The Community of Sant’Egidio is a religious lay association that is dedicated to evangelization and charity in Italy and around the world in more than 73 countries. The Rome Sant’Egidio organization mostly serves the Roma and Sinti (immigrant communities) of Rome. Volunteer opportunities include teaching English, providing legal assistance, and working at one of the community centers to distribute clothing and food. (www.santegidio.org)
- LIPU
Take a Walk
Rome has more public green space per capita than any other European city: find it in vast parks like the Villa Pamphilj on the Gianicolo, the Villa Borghese on the Pincio, Villa Celimontana and Colle Oppio near the Colosseum. A neighborhood that combines archaeology and landscape is the Via Appia, the old Appian Way. Past the Catacombs of San Callisto the road is mostly an archaeological park which extends into the countryside in an area called Parco della Caffarella where sheep graze between agricultural fields and Roman tombs and temples.
Here are some nice walking destinations to walk to in the city: Campo Dè Fiori – During the day: local market, Piazza Navona – typical baroque style piazza, Piazza di Spagna (Spanish steps) – Trinità dei Monti, Palazzo del Quirinale (residence of the President of the Italian Republic), Campidoglio (Capitoline Hill), Via del Corso (Main shopping street), Piazza del Popolo, San Giovanni Basilica, San Clemente Basilica.
A bit further out, the Appian Way was once the main Roman highway to the eastern coast of the Italian Peninsula. This road is lined with tombs of Roman citizens, many of monumental dimensions. Cars run on parts of this road on weekdays and Saturdays, but some parts are closed on Sunday.
Suggested Day Trips Outside Rome
Thanks to rapid train connections, it is possible to take day trips to Naples, Florence or Venice and various places in between, such as Viterbo, Orvieto, Terracina and Gaeta. Closer destinations to explore by train or bus include Tivoli (site of Hadrian’s Villa, the Renaissance Villa d’Este and the dramatic waterfalls of Villa Gregoriana), the Alban Hills or Castelli Romani (towns like Frascati, Castelgandolfo, Genzano, Nemi) and the monastaries of Subiaco or Fossanova. Download our list of country fairs or sagre here.
For coastal trips, Ostia is a commercial boardwalk with crowded beaches a half-hour from Rome by subway. From Fregene north to Porto Ercole beaches get better but transportation more difficult—Cotral buses get to most places infrequently. Best of all, Sperlonga (Naples train line to Fondi) is a pretty, chic white hillside village with spectacular beaches below, practically like going to the Amalfi coast but much closer and hipper. Trip ideas here: