Celebrate New Year's Eve in Rome

By Go City Expert

Celebrate New Year’s Eve, Capodanno, in Rome and wave goodbye to 2014 as you welcome what 2015 will bring. If you’re going to be in Rome for this special time, read on; we’ve got a list of things to do in Rome to help you celebrate the 31st December into the 1st January. In true Roman style, there are historic traditions and both contemporary culture to appreciate – so take your pick, and buon anno to you! Coliseum Celebrate in one of the oldest parts of Rome, at one of the oldest attractions, the Coliseum. Dating back over 2,000 years it’s one of the most iconic backdrops to spending New Year’s Eve and you’re guaranteed a great photo moment. At midnight, you’ll be able to enjoy views over the city’s fireworks display and can continue the street party at your leisure. Imperial Forum Slightly down the way from the Coliseum, the Imperial Forum is featuring its very own Vintage Party this year to celebrate 2014/2015. Expect everything themed from the '30s to '60s – from music to decorations. You’re invited to dress up, too! Hosted by Swing Circus, there will be an orchestra, DJ, dancers and Linda Hop the swing performer. Not least, a marching band and a clown for the kids. Definitely worth a visit! Circus Maximus This year Rome is pulling out all of the stops and visitors and locals alike can enjoy plenty of historic backdrops for their New Year’s celebrations. Another venue to head to is Circus Maximus to enjoy a real knees-up. With a full blown concert, starting with the Italian one-to-watch Mannarino, followed by local rappers and artists, it’s after midnight that it all kicks off. With a break for the impressive annual fireworks, the early hours of 1st January 2015 will see a DJ set by Daddy G and Grant from Massive Attack. Names not to be sniffed at. St Peter’s Basilica If you are looking for something slightly more quiet and reflective, why not head over to St Peter’s Basilica. Starting earlier than the evening revellers, the Pope will be hosting the Feast of Mary, Mother of God, at St Peter’s Basilica at 5pm. Here, the Pope will celebrate the First Vespers of the Solemnity of the Mother of God, followed by the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, the traditional singing of the “Te Deum”, and the Eucharistic Benediction. You will need to pre-book tickets as it’s a highly sought after event. Alternatively, the following day (1st January 2015) you can attend a Mass at 10am (tickets are also required). Gianicolo As Rome is such a romantic place, spending New Year’s with your loved one in this historic city can be a special moment. We suggest you head up to the Gianicolo, a hill that starts in Trastevere. Climb this winding summit and you’ll reach one of the most spectacular viewpoints in the city. Overlooking the city, you can see the iconic domes from St Peter’s Basilica to Piazza Victorio Emmanuele II not to mention you'll get a great panorama of all the firework displays around the city, illuminating the sky line. Don’t forget your camera as you’re guaranteed a breath-taking New Year’s Eve. Don't forget you can make great savings if you explore Rome with the OMNIA Vatican & Rome Card. Granting you free entry into the Vatican City and sights, as well as free entry into the Coliseum and many other historic attractions with the Roma Pass. Click here to find out how you can save.

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Top 10 Museums and Art Galleries in Rome

A visit to Rome is more than just seeing the sights, visiting the Coliseum and having a slice of pizza. With a culture and heritage that far exceeds that of most countries, some argue, there is a wealth of knowledge and history to be learned in Rome from the countless museums and art galleries showcasing the hundreds of priceless marble statues, frescoes and mosaics that Rome is so famous for. We decided to put our heads together and come up with a top 10. As Rome has over five times that to pick, it was quite a feat whittling them down. Below is a good mix of the classical, the contemporary, the arty and the ancient. And what’s more, they’re either free or discounted with your Roma Pass – so now there really is no excuse. Castel Sant’Angelo One of the most imposing landmarks along the iconic River Tiber is Castel Sant’Angelo which has been a mausoleum and fortress in Rome for over 2000 years. Although its now a fascinating museum, visitors can learn about Emperor Hadrian, for whom it was built, as well as the various roles it has played over time, including a Papal refuge. There’s even a secret tunnel that leads into St Peter’s Basilica! Capitoline Museums The Capitoline Museums sit up on the Capitoline Hill behind the wedding cake, the Roman’s colloquial name for the Vittorio Emmanuele landmark. These museums are some of the most important in Rome and also in the world, founded by Pope Sixtus IV in the 1470s, who donated some of his own bronze statues. By making private collections open to the public, he inadvertently created the first museum! Here you’ll find some of the famous statues from Ancient Rome such as the She Wolf. Vatican Museums It’s said that the estimated worth of the Vatican Museums are an eye-watering sum of €15 billion – not a number to be sniffed at! Among the miles and miles of art, sculptures, tapestries, busts and mosaics is the impressive Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo in the 16th century. The Last Judgement is regarded as one of the most influential and iconic frescoes in all of art history, and considering its in the Holy See of the Vatican City, how could it not be up there in a top 10? Villa Borghese This grand villa in the stunning grounds of the Borghese Park was once the villa of the rich and influential Scipione Borghese. The collection within Villa Borghese started off as a private body of works and now contains both classic and contemporary art, with some pieces dating back 2000 years. To name drop some of the bigger artists on show, you can admire pieces by Bernini, Caravaggio, Boticelli and Rapahel. Villa Borghese is divided up into old and new and each room, or sala, offers something to be learnt from both past and present. Museum of Rome The Museum of Rome actually has two addresses, so you get two museums for the price of one in this case! One is located near Palazzo Braschi and its aim is to celebrate and champion the ‘forgotten art’ of the middle ages. Inside this museum you will see the lesser known pieces, which make it all the more impressive. From costumes and fabrics, to ceramics and sculptures, you’ll discover a side of Rome you never knew. MACRO From old into new, the MACRO celebrates everything modern and contemporary. An acronym for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome, the MACRO is housed in two buildings, aptly post-industrial; a former brewery of Peroni and a former slaughterhouse. These two big, open spaces make for a fitting and striking canvas in which to display the gallery’s impressive, and notable, collections of Italian art dating from the 1960s. A celebration of national modern art, a visit to this gallery will teach you about the Rome and the Italy of today and the modern influences of society. MAXXI The MAXXI is the Museum of the National Arts from the 21st Century and is one of Rome’s newer spaces. Opened in 2010, here everything is championed from art to architecture, and the bolder the better. The building itself , designed by Zaha Hadid, won the Sterling Prize for architecture by the Royal Institute of British Architects so it’s worth a visit to see the premise alone. Within the gallery’s impressive walls lie all matter of exhibits in the art and architecture realm. There’s also a library, café and theatre for the performing arts, as well as an outdoor space, too. Planetarium and Astronomy Museum Off kilter from the art and history, we delve even further back into the history of space and science. One of the lesser-appreciated museums in Rome is the Planetarium and Astronomy Museum which – for any adult or child interested in the subject – is well worth a visit with a spare few hours! Learn about our universe, how planets were formed and peer through the telescope at Technotown. It might not be art, but it’s a fun alternative! National Etruscan Museum The Etruscan period, is a period named after a group of ancient Italians in the Lazio - Tuscan area, dating roughly from 700BC to 4BC. The National Etruscan Museum within Villa Giulia in Rome is dedicated solely to preserving and upholding the Etruscan heritage and history that is rife throughout Rome’s past and culture. In the museum, Etruscan artefacts such as the famous almost-life size terracotta ‘his and hers’ sarcophagus of a man and wife at dinner, which dates to the 6th century BC. Other artefacts include the Apollo of Veii and the Cista Ficoroni. If you want ancient, ancient Rome – this is where you’ll find it. Museum of Roman Civilization Like it says on the tin, the Museum of Roman Civilization represents the history of Rome from an evolving civilization perspective. This museum focuses and reproduces the origins of the Eternal City to the 4th century through a model of archaic Rome, a full reconstruction of Trajan’s Column, and much more. Some of the thought provoking themes that are touched on and brought into light range from Caesar, to Christianity; schools and libraries; as well as commerce and agriculture. To gain a full understanding of Rome as a civilization there’s no museum like it. With the OMNIA Vatican & Rome Pass you can enjoy free entry to the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, as well as free entry into a further two of your choosing, from the Capitoline Museums to the MACRO. Find out more, here.
Go City Expert
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Is the Rome Pass worth it?

If you’re lucky enough to be holidaying in Rome this year then you’ll be planning some serious sightseeing. You’ve packed your camera, got your comfy shoes ready, but you’re missing that extra something to really make everything that bit easier... What will tick that final box on your trip to Rome? An OMNIA Vatican & Rome Pass of course! The Rome Pass is a no-brainer when you’re visiting the Eternal City. But is it worth it? It’s the key into all of the top historic attractions, museums and landmarks that you cannot miss when you’re in town, so read on to see how you can take your Rome vacation to the next level with the OMNIA Vatican & Rome Pass. The Rome Pass package includes: 1. Free entry into the Vatican City sights, including Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel and St John in the Lateran; as well as a free audio guide at St Peter’s Basilica 2. Fast Track Entry at Vatican City sights meaning you won’t have to wait in line (which can be particularly long during the popular summer months) 3. Free entry into 2 more attractions, including the Coliseum, Roman Forum & Palatine Hill, Capitoline Museums and many more... 4. Free 3-day bus tour ticket to hop on and off at your leisure and take in the sights from the comfort of your own seat (plus commentary!) 5. Discounted entry to all the other museum in Rome with the Roma Pass 6. Free travel around Rome for three days with the Roma Pass to get between your attractions with ease The beauty of the OMNIA Vatican & Rome Pass is that once you’ve got it, you can forget about everything else. It’s your all-inclusive ticket into top Rome attractions meaning you won’t have to worry about carrying around loose change for admission, and you can get from A to B with ease on the metro, trams and buses with your unlimited three day travelcard to make sure you've ticked off all the sights before you have to fly home. So if you're still asking if the Rome Pass is worth it, the answer is: yes! Where to buy the Roma Pass If you’re looking for where to buy the Rome Pass, it’s simple. Online! We’re the only place where you can buy this exclusive sightseeing package that takes care of all your needs whilst visiting the city. The Rome Pass is collection only, which means you don't have to worry about shipping or delivery costs, you just pre-order, download our free guidebook (in multiple languages) and start planning your holiday up to 12 months in advance. Then, when you arrive in Rome, simply head to one of the two central pick-up points to collect your sightseeing Rome Pass and you can begin your sightseeing adventure. It really couldn’t be easier. Discover Rome with the Roma Pass.
Go City Expert
Woman photographing St Peter's Basilica in Rome
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Best Time to Visit Rome for Weather

When planning a visit to Rome, there are a few things you should consider *besides* all those bucket-list Roman relics you want to tick off. That’s right: we’re talking about the weather. Rome’s location in west-central Italy means a generally warm climate with all the usual peaks and troughs of temperature you’d expect from a Mediterranean country in southern Europe. So what’s the best time to visit Rome for weather? Read on for our guide to all the seasonal pros and cons. Planning to spend a few days in town? The Omnia Vatican & Rome Pass can save you money when on attractions, activities and tours, including the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, the Colosseum, and the Circo Maximo Experience. Best Time to Visit Rome: Spring No point beating about the bush: Rome’s spring season is hands-down the most pleasant time of year to visit. In terms of weather, average highs in March start in the low 60s, rising to the balmy mid-70s by late May, and rainfall is relatively low, so you won’t have to carry an umbrella everywhere you go. Perfect conditions, in other words, for city sightseeing: cool enough for pounding the pavements for several hours and being exposed to the midday sun at open-air bucket-listers like the Colosseum and Roman Forum, but warm enough (most definitely warm enough) to justify that daily gelato. As the city shakes off the relative chill of winter, so the streets begin to fill with a thousand colorful blooms, presenting yet another fine reason to visit in spring. Stroll the streets for Insta-tastic snaps of pink cherry blossoms, purple wisteria and clouds of yellow mimosa, and don’t miss the pink azaleas that line the Spanish Steps in April and May. This is also when the sprawling Vatican Gardens are at their blooming best. And those clear spring skies don’t half make a great backdrop for souvenir snaps of the dome of St Peter’s either. Best Time to Visit Rome: Summer Sightseeing masochists may well relish the searing temperatures, madding crowds and infuriating attraction queues during the height of Rome’s summer season, but it can feel a little unpleasant to most normal people. June through August is peak season in the Eternal City, when average temperatures sit in the upper 70s/lower 80s, but have been known to top out as high as 108°F, not exactly the most comfortable conditions for stomping up Capitoline Hill or the Spanish Steps (all 135 of them, each more sweaty than the last). Having said all that, summer can be a great time to enjoy Rome’s great expanses of green space without the risk of a surprise downpour to ruin your picnic. We’re talking the wooded glades, leafy lanes and tranquil pools of historic Villa Borghese and the beautiful botanical gardens in Trastevere, among others. Then of course there are all those excellent rooftop bars, perfect for summer sunsets and Campari cocktails. Not to mention the people-watching opportunities afforded by the crowds that pour through Piazza Navona and Piazza di Spagna, with a dripping gelato in hand, natch. Don’t miss the chance to catch the historic Teatro dell’Opera in its temporary summer home: the ancient Roman Baths of Caracalla. It’s quite the atmospheric location for performances of La Traviata, Aida and the rest. Best Time to Visit Rome: Fall The temperature in Rome drops fairly rapidly in the fall, but not unpleasantly so. You can still reasonably expect September and October averages in the mid-to-high 60s, dropping down to the mid-to-high 50s by November. But what we’re really talking about is warm, comfortable days with slightly cooler evenings and an increased chance of rain: three out of four of Rome’s wettest months are in fall (the wettest, by some margin, follows in December). With peak season done and dusted and kids back in school, there are also plenty of hotel and flight bargains to be had at this time of year, and you won’t have to worry quite as much about booking all your tours months in advance nor queuing outside attractions like the Pantheon, Colosseum and St Peter’s Basilica for hours at a time. The fall’s pleasant climate makes it a great time for exploring the Appian Way. Pack a picnic of market cheeses, cured meats and fresh bread (and a light raincoat, just in case) and strike out along this ancient road, which remains largely unchanged since Julius Caesar marched his armies up it a couple millennia ago. A rented bicycle will give you the freedom to cover way more of this fine cobbled avenue than you could manage on foot in one day, allowing plenty of time to explore the numerous ancient monuments that lie beyond the lofty pines. Best Time to Visit Rome: Winter It will come as little surprise to European weather watchers that Rome’s winter season, from December to February, is its coldest and wettest. So yeah, you can forget balmy afternoons in Villa Borghese and sun-soaked selfies on the Spanish Steps for now; this is not the best time to visit Rome if fine weather is top of your wish list. If, on the other hand, you thrill to the promise of long afternoons gorging on hot chocolate and panettone in atmospheric cafes like the landmark Antico Caffè Greco on Via dei Condotti, or Caffè Sant’Eustachio between Piazza Navona and the Pantheon, your luck’s in. December is also, of course, Christmas market season, and boy does Rome go to town on its yuletide festivities. A Christmas tree festooned with hundreds of fairy lights towers over Piazza Navona throughout the season, as the city’s biggest and best Christmas market gets underway. Wander from this artisan craft stall to that roasted chestnut hawker, drinking in the joyful atmosphere, riding the old-fashioned carousel, joining the carol singers in full festive song, and sipping warming mugs of mulled wine, a drink that was in fact invented by the ancient Romans. Magical. Save on attractions in Rome Save on admission to Rome attractions with the Vatican and Rome Omnia Pass. Check out @omniavaticanrome on Instagram for the latest top tips and attraction info.
Stuart Bak
Stuart Bak

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