12 Most Popular Streets in Rome

The most popular streets in Rome are great for exploring on foot, with many iconic sights to encounter along the way. Brimming with over 900 churches, ancient structures, and the priceless museums of the Vatican, Rome promises to be a rollercoaster ride for the senses.

A good way to get your bearings and plan a sightseeing itinerary is to pinpoint a few of Rome’s most important streets. Cue this guide, which flits from the grand boulevards that lead the way to St. Peter’s Basilica to the ancient cobblestones of the Appian Way.

Rome Hotels

1. Via della Conciliazione

The boulevard to the Vatican

Good for: History, Photo

Via della Conciliazione has to be one of the most photographed streets in the whole of Europe, let alone just Rome. Connecting the Castel Sant’Angelo to the walls of Vatican City, with St. Peter’s Basilica and its grand piazza dominating the western end, there’s hardly a more monument-rich part of the Italian capital than this.

However, this wide boulevard wasn’t always there. It’s actually the product of a 1950s reconfiguration of the city, which was initiated by Mussolini before WWII. In the place of the old tenement blocks, there’s now palatial complexes of Neo-Classical design, hosting bespoke bookstores and banks between the stone-carved streetlamps.

Location: Via della Conciliazione, 00193 Rome, Italy

2. Via del Corso

Rome’s main artery

Good for: History, Photo

Via del Corso, in Centro Storico, is the most important street in the city. It runs all the way from the south side of the old town, on the Piazza Venezia, to the historic northern gate to medieval Rome on the Piazza del Popolo. It’s never empty, with everything from high-street shopping to traditional Italian restaurants (osterias) along its length.

Although The Corso, as it’s known to the locals, was first laid out in the 3rd century BC, it only became an important thoroughfare in the Middle Ages, as the center of Rome shifted north from the ancient forum. Today, it’s a route past some of the town’s most iconic sights, from the Doria Pamphilj Gallery to the Trevi Fountain. Read more

Location: Via del Corso, 00187 Roma, Italy

Explore Via del Corso Hotels

3. Via dei Condotti

Chic shopping and designer names

Good for: Shoppers, Photo, Luxury

Via dei Condotti is a playground for A-listers and jet-setters looking to shop through big-name fashion brands in Rome. It offers a prime setting for a bit of upmarket retail therapy, because it runs under the exquisite Spanish Steps to the beautiful Palazzo Borghese, going east to west through the Rome old town.

Shopping really is the number 1 draw on the Via dei Condotti. There are global brands like Montblanc, Louis Vuitton, and Hermes. And there are local Italian craft shops, selling everything from handmade leather coats to bespoke jewelry. Be warned, things are not necessarily cheap on the Via dei Condotti, but they sure are classy. Read more

Location: Via dei Condotti, 00187 Roma, Italy

Explore Via Condotti Hotels

4. Campo de’ Fiori

A centuries-old gathering place

Good for: History, Photo, Shoppers

The Campo de’ Fiori is always abuzz with life and energy. It’s been a meeting point between two key neighborhoods in Centro Storico since the 1500s. It sits between the grand Palazzo Farnese and the lanes of Corso Vittorio Emanuele II. Because the boundaries of the Campo have never been officially laid out, it’s shifted shape and size over the centuries.

One thing that’s remained consistent for over 100 years is the daily fruit and fish market. It draws in local traders and fishers from the port at Ostia, along with eager cooks from the surrounding trattorias. Also don’t miss the grand statue of Giordano Bruno, one of the first people to argue that Earth revolved around the sun. Read more

Location: Piazza Campo de’ Fiori, 00186 Roma, Italy

Explore Campo de’ Fiori Hotels

5. Via Appia Antica

Tread in the footsteps of the Roman legions

Good for: History, Photo

Via Appia Antica was once the most important Roman road on the continent. It linked Rome to the big Adriatic port in Brindisi, helping to feed the people of the capital with grain from Egypt and beyond. The remains of the weathered stones can still be seen today, running southeast from the end of the Garbatella neighborhood.

Some historians claim that a trip to the Appia Antica is among the best free draws here. You’ll literally tread in the footsteps of ancient Romans, and see many millennia-old landmarks along the way. These include the Catacombs of St. Callixtus, a series of ancient burial tunnels, and the preserved ruins of the Circus of Maxentius, an arena just outside the city.

Location: Via Appia Antica, 00178 Roma, Italy

6. Via Margutta

The onetime home of movie stars

Good for: Couples, History, Photo

Via Margutta will whisk you away from the hubbub of downtown Rome to somewhere altogether more romantic and charming. It has the feel of a small alley in a Tuscan hillside village, only it’s a single turn off the crowded Via del Babuino and the Piazza del Popolo.

Quaint as it may look, Margutta occupies a place at the very beating heart of Rome’s modern cultural scene. It was here that legendary movie director Federico Fellini made his home. And the street was the backdrop in the Hepburn-Peck movie “Roman Vacation” of 1953. Today, folk come to pay homage to the stars that have crossed the via, or to visit the art galleries and vegetarian eateries. Read more

Location: Via Margutta, 00187 Roma, Italy

7. Via dei Fori Imperiali

First glimpses of the Colosseum

Good for: Budget, History, Photo

Via dei Fori Imperiali is where many first-time visitors to Rome get their initial sighting of the mighty Colosseum and the Roman Forum. That’s because it acts as the main connector between the medieval old city and the ancient part of town, wiggling from the Piazza Venezia to the foot of the great gladiator arena. It’s worth walking at least once.

Go northwest to southeast along Via dei Fori Imperiali and you’ll start with the cathedral-like marble monument of the Altar of the Fatherland looming overhead. Then you pass Trajan’s Column and the Forum of Augustus, before the soaring Colosseum, arguably the most iconic attraction in Italy, lurches into view. You’ll want to have your camera constantly in hand.

Location: Via dei Fori Imperiali, 00184 Rome, Italy

8. Via della Lungaretta

The romance of La Trastevere

Good for: Couples, History, Photo, Food

Via della Lungaretta showcases the fabled romance of what many consider to be Rome’s most enchanting district, La Trastevere. Via della Lungaretta runs through the midst of that neighborhood on the south side of the Tiber River, past handsome pastel-painted trattoria and flower-coated wine bars.

Everywhere you look here there’s a charming cafe or aperitif spot. You’ll smell the scents of pecorino cheese and pepper-topped pasta wafting above the cobbles. Delve in deeper, because Via della Lungaretta is also a gateway to hidden alleys that weave around La Trastevere’s labyrinthine interior, an atmospheric world of crooked sidewalks, old bookstores, and traditional eateries.

Location: Via della Lungaretta, 00153 Roma, Italy

9. Lungotevere Tor di Nona

By the rushing waters of the Tiber

Good for: History, Photo

Lungotevere Tor di Nona is just one part of the snaking Lungotevere, a series of leafy promenades that hug the Tiber River as it wiggles through the very middle of Rome. It’s also one of the loveliest walks, offering glimpses of the mighty Castel Sant’Angelo and the palazzos of the Piazza Cavour through the trees.

However, arguably the best thing about Lungotevere Tor di Nona is that it’s a breath of fresh air amid the hustle of old Rome. The maze of the Centro Storico district unfolds behind, so close you’ll almost be able to hear the clink of plates in the alleyway trattoria. Here, though, it’s just you and the gurgling of a couple of fountains by the Tiber.

Location: Lungotevere Tor di Nona, 00186 Roma, Italy

10. Via dei Giubbonari

Roman fast food and shopping galore

Good for: Food, History, Shoppers

Via dei Giubbonari is a quintessential medieval street. Summertime crowds of sightseers and shoppers are constantly passing up and down its length, going from the tramlines of Via Arenula all the way to the ramshackle markets of the Campo de’ Fiori.

Not too much has changed in 500 years on Via dei Giubbonari. There are still taverns, only now they’re Roman craft-beer bars. Retail outlets sell concept jewelry and handmade sculptures. Between retail therapy and bouts of walk-with-it pizza, be sure to drop into the Church of St Barbara of the Bookmakers, which is tucked down one of the most picturesque nooks in the whole city.

Location: Via dei Giubbonari, 00186 Rome, Italy

11. Tridente

A vibrant shopping and dining thoroughfare

Good for: Food, Photo, Shoppers

Tridente is formed by a trio of Rome’s great thoroughfares. Starting at Piazza del Popolo, it spreads south, west, and east on the Via di Ripetta, Via del Babuino, and the bustling Via del Corso. It’s capped off on its southern end by the chic shopping area of Via dei Condotti with its luxury boutiques.

The area encompassed by these 3 great roadways is home to the Rome of “La Dolce Vita” (The Sweet Life), a land where the turquoise waters of the Trevi Fountain babble down one alley and the carved stones of the Spanish Steps loom above the next piazza. This is a place for jewelry shopping and sipping prosecco on the sidewalks. Read more

12. Via di Sant Giovanni in Laterano

A lively pedestrian area known as Gay Street

Good for: Food, Nightlife, Single

Via San Giovanni is a 300-metre-long shopping and nightlife street leading to the eastern edge of the Colosseum in Rome. Since the 1960s, it has been the meeting place of the LGBTQ+ community. It was officially designated as Rome’s Gay Street in 2007. This is also one of the main locations for events during the Rome Gay Pride event each year.

The main stretch of road is a pedestrian area with shops, gay-friendly bars, and restaurants. Via San Giovanni is one of the best parts of Rome to head to for a night out. Famous bars and clubs in the neighborhood include Coming Out and The Race Club. Read more

Location: Via di San Giovanni in Laterano, 00184 Roma RM, Italy

This article includes opinions of the Go Guides editorial team. Hotels.com compensates authors for their writing appearing on this site; such compensation may include travel and other costs.