Italy: Rome – Appian Way and the Catacombs

August 5, 2019
Lazio

🚴 Two Slightly Creaky Englishmen on E-Bikes: Rome on Two Wheels

We’ve all done it, haven’t we. You’re standing somewhere vaguely historical, your feet are killing you, and some smug individual glides past you on a bicycle or one of those peculiar Segway contraptions looking annoyingly pleased with themselves. And you think: I’d quite like to do that. I never actually do anything about it, of course, but the thought is there.

Well, during our stay in Rome we finally decided to stop thinking about it and actually give it a go. I booked us onto a six-hour e-bike tour, which felt like a reasonable commitment — long enough to feel we’d earned our pasta that evening, short enough that Karen wouldn’t divorce me if it all went horribly wrong.

We both enjoy cycling, though I’ll admit the years have taken a certain toll on our enthusiasm for anything involving sustained effort and hills. The electric-assist bike has therefore become something of an obsession, particularly for Karen, and this seemed like the ideal opportunity to find out whether they were actually any good or just an expensive way of pretending you’re fit.

🗺️ Top Bike Rentals and Tours — The Starting Point

We’d booked through Tripadvisor with a company called Top Bike Rentals and Tours, whose office sits a short walk from the Colosseum on Via Labicana — a road that has, in fairness, seen rather more dramatic departures than a couple of middle-aged tourists wobbling off on bicycles. The Colosseum itself dates to around AD 70–80, commissioned by Emperor Vespasian and completed under his son Titus, so the neighbourhood has form when it comes to spectacle.

The staff at Top Bike were genuinely brilliant — helpful, patient, and not at all visibly amused by us. They have a solid selection of manual bikes available too, but we headed straight for the e-bikes, which they have in good supply for both guided tours and straightforward rentals.

🚦 Into the Fray — Rome’s Streets

Our guide for the day was Alessandra, who introduced herself with the kind of calm confidence that suggested she’d shepherded far worse than us around Rome before. She ran us through a quick demonstration of the electronic assist system — which is really very simple once someone explains it to you — and then we were off.

The first stretch took us directly through the busy streets of Rome itself. Now, Rome has been a chaotic, noisy, traffic-snarled city since roughly the first century BC, when Julius Caesar was already complaining about the congestion, so in that sense nothing much has changed. With Alessandra leading the way, we navigated it without any serious incident, though I won’t pretend my heart rate stayed entirely calm. We made a couple of brief stops along the route so she could check how we were getting on with the bikes and share a bit of history about the sites we were passing.

🏛️ Through the City Walls and Out into the Countryside

After about twenty minutes or so, we passed through one of the ancient gates in the Aurelian Walls — great brick fortifications built between AD 271 and 275 to defend Rome as the empire started getting a bit wobbly at the edges — and suddenly we were out of the city entirely, heading along narrow country roads into what felt like another world.

I should mention, for those of a nervous disposition, that these roads were shared with cars and other vehicles, which added a certain frisson to proceedings. Our first planned stop was the Catacombs, but that deserves a section all of its own.

⚰️ The Catacombs

Our tour included a visit to the Catacombs of St Callixtus — the largest of Rome’s catacombs, and, as it turned out, one of the more memorable things we did on the entire trip.

🏛️ A Brief (But Useful) History

The Catacombs of the Appian Way are essentially the underground graveyards of the first Christians in Rome. Now, you might think burying the dead underground was some kind of secretive early Christian thing, and partly you’d be right — but the real reason was altogether more straightforward. As far back as the 5th century BC, Roman law forbade burials within the city walls. Sensible enough. So tombs were built on the outskirts, and the Appian Way — the great consular road that connected Rome with the south, laid out from 312 BC — became a popular spot. Drive along it today and you’ll still see the crumbling remains of grand Roman tombs lining the roadside.

While wealthy Romans built elaborate mausoleums to impress the neighbours — because some things never change — the early Christians took a different approach. They dug downwards. Miles and miles of tunnels were carved through the soft volcanic tufa stone, creating a labyrinthine underground cemetery that provided burial space for saints, martyrs, and ordinary Christians alike. The stone was soft enough to work with basic tools, which was fortunate given that no one was going to let these people commission a fancy architect.

✝️ Who Was St Callixtus?

The catacomb we were visiting was named after the deacon St Callixtus, who in around 199 AD was appointed by Pope Zephyrinus to oversee the management of the cemetery. It was clearly a big job, because Callixtus went on to become Bishop of Rome — effectively Pope — in 217 AD, serving until his death in 222 AD. Given the times, his death was not exactly a peaceful retirement; he was martyred, as was practically everyone of note back then.

Once Christianity became the dominant religion of the Roman Empire — following the Edict of Milan in 313 AD, when Emperor Constantine made everything official — there was no longer any need to bury the dead secretly underground. The catacombs gradually fell out of use, and over the centuries they were more or less forgotten. Buried, you might say, by history.

🔍 Rediscovery and Pilgrimage

They were rediscovered in the 16th century by a rather brave — or reckless, depending on your view — Roman archaeologist called Antonio Bosio, who nearly became a permanent resident when he got hopelessly lost in the tunnels in 1593. He eventually found his way out and went on to spend the rest of his life mapping and documenting the catacombs, publishing his findings in 1632, just after his death. Dedicated fellow.

Because so many famous saints were buried here, the catacombs became a place of Christian pilgrimage during the medieval period. This created something of a logistical nightmare — narrow underground passageways are not really designed for crowds of pilgrims, and things apparently got rather dangerous. The solution was to move the most important saints’ remains to churches above ground. Once that happened, the tourists stopped coming. Medieval tourists, anyway.

🚶 The Tour Itself

Today the catacombs are very much back on the tourist map, mainly drawing people like us — more curious than devout. The accessible tunnels represent only a fraction of the total network, which stretches for an estimated 20 kilometres on multiple levels. Archaeologists believe there are sections still undiscovered. The full extent may never be known, which is either wonderfully mysterious or mildly unsettling, depending on your disposition.

We were met by our tour guide — a fervent, practising priest with what appeared to be mild evangelistic intent. That said, he was extraordinarily knowledgeable and enthusiastic about both the history and the theology, and before we descended, he gave us a thorough introduction to the Christian symbols we’d encounter: the fish, the anchor, the chi-rho, and various others. All very informative.

It was a swelteringly hot day — Rome in summer is not for the faint-hearted — so stepping down into the cool underground passageways was a genuine relief. The tunnels were narrow, the antechambers and crypts small, and with a large group it was very much a case of follow-the-leader and don’t wander off. The thought of getting lost down there did briefly cross my mind. I pushed it firmly aside.

Lining the walls were the rectangular niches — called loculi — where bodies had once been interred and sealed in. Over the centuries most of the seals have been broken and remains removed, so today you won’t encounter any actual bones in these particular catacombs. They’ve been relocated to prevent further disturbance, which seems the decent thing to do.

🕯️ The End of the Tour

The 90-minute tour was genuinely fascinating — a vivid reminder of what early Christian life in Rome actually looked like, and of the extraordinary scale of what these communities built beneath the city’s feet. Some of the crypts have since been converted into small chapels where services are still held, and it was in one of these that our tour came to an end. The time had genuinely flown by.

Our guide delivered his closing remarks — which Karen was quietly convinced might turn into a full altar call requiring us to publicly renounce our sins before he’d reveal the exit. Happily, no such commitment was required, and we emerged blinking back into the Roman sunshine, the heat hitting us like opening an oven door.

Well worth it. Highly recommended. Even for the heathen tourists among us.

🛣️ The Appian Way — Queen of Roads (and Rather Bumpy, Too)

Soon after our slightly unsettling visit to the Catacombs, we climbed back on our bikes and headed off along what is arguably the most famous road in the history of the world — the Appian Way. Or the Via Appia, if you want to sound like you know what you’re talking about at dinner parties.

This extraordinary road was, quite simply, the world’s first real superhighway. Not in the motorway sense — there were no service stations selling terrible coffee and suspiciously orange sausage rolls — but in terms of ambition, scale, and sheer engineering audacity, nothing had ever come close. The Appian Way was the backbone of the Roman Empire, a critical artery that connected Rome to its most far-flung territories and kept the whole extraordinary machine running.

🏛️ A Road Built by One Man’s Rather Big Ambitions

The road was originally commissioned in 312 BC — and yes, that is not a typo — by a chap called Appius Claudius Caecus, who was the censor of Rome at the time. Censor, in Roman terms, meant a senior magistrate responsible for public works and civic order, rather than someone who went around blacking out rude words. Appius clearly had grand ideas, because the road he ordered built connected Rome all the way south to Capua, near Naples. That alone would have been impressive enough for most people, but the Romans, typically, weren’t most people. Over the following century or so, the road was extended further south and east, eventually stretching more than 300 miles to Brindisi on the Adriatic coast in what is now Puglia. At the time of its completion, it was the widest and longest road anywhere on earth, which is the sort of thing that makes you feel slightly inadequate when you consider we struggle to resurface the A303 in a timely fashion.

The Romans called it the Regina Viarum — the Queen of Roads. Given that it was built in 312 BC, the engineering achievement was, frankly, staggering.

⚔️ Emperors, Soldiers, Saints and One Very Unfortunate Slave

The road was built primarily for military purposes, which meant that practically every significant figure in Roman history had walked, ridden, or been carried along it at some point. Julius Caesar marched his legions along the Appian Way. Roman emperors processed along it in triumph. Merchants hauled their goods south towards the ports and north towards the capital. Early Christian converts were buried in the catacombs and tombs that lined the route, and indeed St. Peter himself is said to have walked it — though he had the rather mixed experience of eventually being turned around and heading back towards Rome to face his fate.

Less happily, the Appian Way was also the site of one of history’s grimmer episodes. In 71 BC, following the defeat of the slave rebellion led by Spartacus — yes, that Spartacus — the Roman general Crassus had 6,000 captured slaves crucified along the road between Capua and Rome, one every few yards, as a rather emphatic warning to anyone else with similar ideas. It is the kind of historical detail that puts a slight dampener on an otherwise pleasant bike ride.

🪨 The Road Itself — Magnificent, Historic, and Absolutely Diabolical to Ride On

The Appian Way is remarkably well preserved in places, paved with large, irregular volcanic basalt stones — locally known as sampietrini — that were fitted together with extraordinary precision and then sealed with mortar. Thousands of years of rain, cart wheels, marching sandals, and the occasional tourist have pressed them even more firmly into place. When you reach down and touch them, which we did, there is a genuinely powerful sense of connection to the past. You really are, quite literally, walking in the footsteps of Roman legionaries, early Christians, and one of the most consequential civilisations in human history. It is the sort of moment that makes you feel small in entirely the right way.

Originally, those flagstones would have sat reasonably flat and flush, with mortar filling the gaps, making for a perfectly serviceable road surface. Today, however, the picture is rather more complicated. Over the centuries, huge numbers of the original stones were removed entirely, or prised up and replaced in what can only be described as a completely random fashion. The culprits were a varied bunch — the Visigoths, who swept through in the fifth century and ransacked everything they could lay their hands on, various other marauding groups who followed their example, and, rather candidly, the local population who simply helped themselves to the stonework for building materials. It was, effectively, history’s longest-running skip.

The result is that while the Appian Way is deeply atmospheric and genuinely moving to travel along, it is also — and I say this with great affection — absolutely dreadful underfoot. The stones sit at all manner of angles, there are gaps, lumps, sudden drops, and sections that appear to have been relaid by someone working blindfold. Even on our rather excellent mountain-style e-bikes, with their chunky, forgiving tyres — the sort of bikes that could probably tackle a small quarry face — we frequently found it far easier to ride on the dirt track running alongside the ancient road than on the road itself. Which is, if you think about it, a fairly accurate summary of how a lot of Roman infrastructure has held up.

🍽️ Lunch, and the Important Business of Getting to Know People

After a good stretch of cycling — or, in some cases, being gently propelled along by battery power while pretending to pedal — we pulled off the road and stopped for lunch at a nearby tennis club. It was a thoroughly civilised affair, with proper food, a chance to sit down without worrying about the cobbles, and the pleasant discovery that our fellow travellers were, to a person, excellent company. Our guide, too, turned out to be a proper find — knowledgeable, funny, and entirely patient with the kind of questions that probably test the limits of professional tolerance. It was one of those lunches that goes on slightly longer than planned, in entirely the best possible way.

🐐 Goats, Good Samaritans and the Appian Way

After lunch, we got back on the bikes and carried on along the Appian Way. The Via Appia Antica, to give it its proper name, is one of the oldest and most important roads in the ancient world — the Romans started building it in 312 BC, and it eventually stretched over 350 miles all the way down to Brindisi on the heel of Italy. Emperors, legions, merchants and slaves had all trudged along this same route for centuries. And now, us lot on hire bikes.

Just as we were about to peel off towards our next stop, the Aqueduct Park, we rounded a bend and came face to face with a goat herder and his flock. Brilliant. Genuinely brilliant. Goats meandering across an ancient Roman road felt exactly right, like something out of a BBC4 documentary. Less brilliant, however, was the combination of stampeding goats and bicycles, which turns out to be every bit as chaotic as you’d imagine. Mercifully, he was only moving them a short distance, so we were back on our way fairly sharpish.

Briefly, as it turned out.

Further along the route, we spotted a baby goat — technically a kid, though it was behaving more like a teenager — who had somehow wedged himself between two fences and was making his feelings about this very clear indeed. Now, the reaction of our group split fairly predictably along gender and generational lines. The adult males (myself included, I’m not proud to say) assessed the situation, concluded it was not our problem and pedalled on. The children and ladies, however, were having absolutely none of that. Full Good Samaritan mode was activated. It took a fair bit of wrangling, some anxious bleating and considerable discussion about technique, but the goat was eventually liberated. Order restored. We cycled on.

🏛️ Parco degli Acquedotti — Rome’s Best Kept Secret

We had almost given up hope of finding anything in Rome that wasn’t rammed with tourists, overpriced, or both. Then we found it: Parco degli Acquedotti, or Aqueduct Park — a vast, open green space sitting just outside the city boundary, and completely free to visit. No queues, no ticket booths, no one trying to sell you a selfie stick. Extraordinary.

It is, frankly, one of those places that makes you wonder why it isn’t more famous. The locals clearly know about it — at weekends, Romans pour in here in droves with their dogs, their picnics, and their impossibly stylish cycling gear — but the tourist hordes largely pass it by in their rush to the Colosseum and the Vatican. Their loss, entirely.

🌊 A Feat of Engineering That Puts Modern Builders to Shame

The park takes its name from the ancient Roman aqueducts that march across the landscape in a series of magnificent arched spans — and they are genuinely breathtaking. The Romans began building their aqueduct network from as early as 312 BC, eventually constructing eleven major aqueducts that carried millions of litres of fresh water daily from mountain springs and distant rivers into the city. At their peak, these structures supplied a city of over a million people — no mean feat when you consider that most of us can’t get a plumber round within a fortnight.

The park contains long stretches of the Aqua Felix — commissioned by Pope Sixtus V in 1585, so relatively modern by Roman standards — as well as sections of the far older Aqua Claudia, which the Emperor Claudius completed around AD 52. The Aqua Claudia ran for roughly 69 kilometres from its source in the Anio valley and its towering arches, some still standing over 28 metres high, remain a genuinely astonishing sight. The fact that these things are still standing after two thousand years makes our recent kitchen extension feel rather embarrassing.

🚴 Cycling Through the Park

Cycling through the park was, without question, one of the highlights of the whole day. The paths are wide, the crowds thin, and the atmosphere wonderfully calm — a very welcome relief after the previous couple of days battling the noise and chaos of central Rome. We followed the route of the aqueducts as they gradually led us back towards the city, which was a lovely way to make the journey.

🚗 Back into the City — Hold on Tight

The return leg brought us back into Rome proper, straight into the evening rush hour. Now, I’ve driven in some fairly alarming places in my time, but Rome traffic is something else altogether. The reputation of Italian drivers for being, shall we say, enthusiastic, is entirely deserved. Lanes are treated as loose suggestions. Horns are used constantly and apparently for no reason whatsoever. Pedestrian crossings are purely decorative.

Mercifully, we had Alessandra with us. Our guide seemed utterly unfazed by the whole business — she was perfectly happy to plant herself in the path of oncoming vehicles so that we could slot through safely behind her. We were deeply grateful, if slightly terrified on her behalf.

⭐ Verdict — Absolutely Brilliant

This was a genuinely brilliant day out, and we loved every single minute of it. If you’re visiting Rome and you have the slightest interest in getting on a bike, I cannot recommend TopBike highly enough. The staff were friendly, helpful, and clearly passionate about what they do. The e-bikes were an absolute revelation — smooth, quick, and mercifully forgiving of middle-aged legs that haven’t done much recently.

In fact, Karen has now decided she wants one. I have pointed out that they are extremely expensive and weigh approximately as much as a small car. She remains unconvinced by my objections. I fear e-bikes may be arriving in our household sooner than I’d like.

Planning Your Cycle Tour

🚲 Top Bike Rental and Tours — Rome by Bicycle

There are few better ways to experience Rome than from the saddle of a bicycle. The Eternal City’s extraordinary blend of ancient ruins, Renaissance piazzas, baroque fountains and quiet cobbled lanes is ideally suited to two-wheeled exploration, and Top Bike Rental and Tours has spent nearly two decades perfecting the art of showing it off. Founded by members of the non-profit association “In the city we use the bike,” this is Rome’s first and most highly regarded dedicated cycling operator, consistently ranked at the top of Tripadvisor’s outdoor activities listings and warmly recommended by Rick Steves’ Rome Guide Book.

📍 Location

Top Bike Rental and Tours is located at Via Labicana 49, 00184 Rome, just a short walk from the Colosseum. The shop serves as the official meeting point for all guided tours and the pick-up location for all bike rentals. It is easily reached by public transport: take Metro Line A to Manzoni or Metro Line B to Colosseo, then walk along Via Labicana to number 49.

🕙 Opening Times

The shop is open every day of the year from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm, with the exception of 1st January and 25th December.

🌐 Website

www.topbikerental.com

📞 Contact

Telephone: (+39) 06 488 2893 Email: info@topbikerental.com

🗺️ Guided Tours and Fees

Top Bike Rental and Tours offers a range of scheduled and private guided tours, all conducted on quality Cannondale electric-assist bicycles. Tours are run in small groups of up to ten people and are available in English, German, Dutch, French, Spanish and Italian. Route planning is meticulous — around 70 to 90 per cent of each itinerary follows roads and paths that are closed to motor vehicles or subject to restricted traffic, making for a safe and relaxed ride regardless of experience level.

Rome Highlights Bike Tour A four-hour tour taking in the city’s most celebrated landmarks, including the Colosseum, the Imperial Forums, the Pantheon, Piazza Navona and more, weaving through quiet alleys, hidden squares and beautiful gardens. Group price: €75 per person. Private tour: from €110 per person.

Appian Way and Aqueducts Bike Tour A four-hour journey out of the city centre and into the ancient Roman countryside along the Via Appia Antica, passing the monumental arches of the Aqueducts Park and through landscapes that have barely changed since antiquity. Group price: €75 per person. Private tour: from €110 per person.

Appian Way, Catacombs and Aqueducts Bike Tour The most comprehensive Appian Way experience, lasting six hours and including a visit to the underground catacombs — one of Rome’s most atmospheric and lesser-visited sites. Group price: €99 per person. Private tour: from €140 per person.

🏆 The Overall Best Time to Visit

For most visitors, late April to early June and mid-September to October represent the sweet spot. The weather is reliably pleasant, daylight hours are generous, and the city’s most celebrated sights — the Colosseum, the Vatican Museums, the Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps — can be enjoyed without the suffocating heat or exhausting queues of peak summer. Prices for flights and accommodation are more reasonable, and Rome itself feels more alive and less like a theme park. If budget is the primary concern, a late January or February visit offers extraordinary value and a genuinely authentic experience of the Eternal City. Whatever the season, Rome rewards those who arrive with comfortable shoes, an unhurried spirit, and a willingness to wander beyond the obvious.

Best time to visit Rome

🌸 Spring (March–May)

Spring is widely regarded as the finest season to visit Rome. Temperatures are pleasantly mild, ranging from around 12°C in March to a comfortable 22°C by May, making it ideal for exploring the city on foot. The days are long and bright, the city’s piazzas burst into bloom, and the famous wisteria cascades over ancient walls and villa gardens. Crowds are building but have not yet reached the overwhelming levels of summer. Easter, which falls in spring, draws large numbers of pilgrims and tourists to the Vatican, so accommodation should be booked well in advance if your visit coincides with Holy Week. The Roman countryside is lush and green, and al fresco dining becomes an evening pleasure rather than an ordeal.

🧳 What to Pack: Lightweight layers, a waterproof jacket, comfortable walking shoes, a light scarf, sunglasses, SPF 30 sunscreen, a compact umbrella, smart-casual evening wear, and a crossbody bag for sightseeing.

☀️ Summer (June–August)

Summer in Rome is hot, often intensely so, with temperatures regularly reaching 32°C to 36°C and humidity making it feel even warmer. July and August are the peak tourist months, meaning long queues at major attractions, packed public transport, and inflated prices for flights and hotels. That said, summer has its charms. The city hosts outdoor film screenings, concerts at ancient venues, and vibrant evening street life that extends well past midnight. Many Romans leave the city in August, so certain neighbourhoods take on a quieter, more local character. Early morning visits to the Colosseum or the Roman Forum can be magical before the heat builds. Hydration and sun protection are non-negotiable.

🧳 What to Pack: Breathable linen or cotton clothing, a wide-brimmed hat, high-factor sunscreen (SPF 50+), a refillable water bottle, sandals and light trainers, a portable fan, a light cardigan for air-conditioned museums and churches, a modest cover-up for basilica visits, and insect repellent for evenings.

🍂 Autumn (September–November)

Autumn rivals spring as the best season to visit Rome and, for many seasoned travellers, surpasses it. September retains the warmth of summer — often 26°C or above — without the relentless crowds. October brings golden light, cooling temperatures, and the grape harvest in the surrounding Lazio countryside. Rome’s markets overflow with mushrooms, chestnuts, and seasonal produce, and the city’s restaurants are at their most enticing. By November, temperatures drop to around 12°C to 15°C and rainfall increases, but visitor numbers thin considerably and the great monuments can be enjoyed with far more space and serenity. Autumn light lends a particular beauty to Rome’s ochre and terracotta facades.

🧳 What to Pack: A versatile mid-layer (light wool or fleece), a waterproof coat, ankle boots or sturdy walking shoes, trousers and smart jeans, a warm scarf for evenings in November, an umbrella, SPF 30 sunscreen for September, and a tote bag for market shopping.

❄️ Winter (December–February)

Winter is Rome’s quietest and most affordable season for visitors. Temperatures hover between 4°C and 12°C, and while snow is rare, cold wind and persistent rain are common, particularly in January and February. Christmas, however, transforms the city. Piazza Navona hosts its traditional Christmas market, and the Vatican is especially atmospheric for Midnight Mass at St Peter’s Basilica. The major museums are less crowded, and queue times at the Colosseum and the Pantheon drop dramatically. Hotel rates fall sharply outside of the Christmas and New Year period. Those willing to brave the chill will find a more intimate, unhurried Rome — one closer to how the city actually lives and breathes.

🧳 What to Pack: A warm coat (wool or down), thermal base layers, a hat and gloves, a warm scarf, waterproof boots, thick socks, a compact umbrella, smart layers for Christmas concerts or dinners, and a small rucksack for day trips.

📊 Season Summary Table

🏆 The Overall Best Time to Visit

Where to stay?

1. Rocco Forte Hotel De La Ville

Sitting directly above the Spanish Steps on Via Sistina, Hotel De La Ville is one of Rocco Forte’s flagship properties in Rome. The building is a restored early 19th-century palazzo with 104 rooms, many featuring traditional wooden floors, marble bathrooms with handmade terracotta tiles, and views over the city’s rooftops. Dining is a genuine strength: there are three restaurants overseen by chef Fulvio Pierangelini, ranging from fine dining to a classic Roman trattoria, plus a rooftop terrace with panoramic views. The two-floor spa covers around 167 square metres and includes a hydromassage pool, steam room, salt room and sauna. The Trevi Fountain is a seven-minute walk away, and the hotel holds two Michelin Keys.

2. Hotel Scalinata Di Spagna

Perched at the top of the Spanish Steps in Piazza Trinità dei Monti, Hotel Scalinata di Spagna is a three-star, owner-managed boutique hotel occupying a 19th-century building in one of Rome’s most central locations. The hotel spreads across five floors and two staircases, with rooms decorated in either classic or contemporary style, several offering rooftop views across the city’s domes and terracotta skyline. A covered rooftop terrace serves the breakfast buffet, which gets consistently good marks from guests. Rooms come with air conditioning, free Wi-Fi, and a complimentary minibar. The Spagna metro station lift is just 50 metres away, making wider exploration straightforward. It’s a compact, well-run property that does what it promises — a reliable, well-located base for visiting Rome.

3. YellowSquare Rome

YellowSquare Rome sits in a large art deco building on Via Palestro, a ten-minute walk from Roma Termini station and within easy reach of the city’s main sights. It operates firmly in the hostel bracket, offering both dorm beds (for guests aged 18–45) and private en suite rooms, all air-conditioned and colourful. The social side is a big part of the appeal: there’s a bar with DJ nights, live music, a gourmet restaurant serving Mediterranean food, cooking classes, a hair salon, and coworking spaces for those who need to get some work done. A shared kitchen, outdoor patio, and bike hire round things out. It’s a well-organised, sociable base that suits independent travellers who want more than just a place to sleep.