Where to stay in Rome
Six Roman neighbourhoods to sleep in, with the price for two in season and the one drawback listings leave out — plus the €6-a-night city tax on a B&B.
- First visit
- Monti
- For the evenings
- Trastevere
- Quiet, near the Vatican
- Prati
In Rome the neighbourhood picks your day: sleep in Monti and you are at the Forum in five minutes; sleep in Prati and you have coffee facing St Peter's dome. Prices can double between Termini and the Centro storico — but the neighbourhood still decides what your day looks like, so choose by where you want to be at nine in the evening.
The city is for walking, but the metro has only three lines and skirts the whole Baroque centre; what matters is how far you are from a line B station (Colosseo, Piramide, Termini) or line A (Ottaviano, Spagna), not how far from Trevi.
Prices below are for two, per night, in season (April–June, September–October), in a B&B or three-star hotel; off season count on 30–50% less. The city tax is paid separately, on the spot, and is not in the booking total.
Monti — for a first visit
The city's oldest quarter, wedged between the Forum, Via Nazionale and Termini: steep lanes, ivy on the facades, wine bars on Piazza della Madonna dei Monti and an evening crowd that is Roman rather than touristic. This is where a first stay belongs — the Colosseum five minutes away on foot, evenings spent on a bench with a glass rather than chasing a cab. A B&B or small hotel runs €140–250 for two in season, more for rooms facing the Forum, and metro B at Cavour and Colosseo, plus a ten-minute walk to Termini, make Monti the best-connected quarter in the city. The cost of that is small rooms, often in buildings without lifts, and noise on Via Cavour and Via Nazionale — ask for a room on a side street.
Trastevere — for evenings, not mornings
The quarter across the Tiber, under the Gianicolo: cobbles, washing on lines and the highest density of trattorias in the city. Here you don't 'go out' in the evening — you already are out, which suits couples and anyone for whom dinner matters more than the itinerary. An apartment for two, more common here than a hotel room and usually better, runs €120–230; the weak point is transport, since there is no metro, tram 8 reaches Largo Argentina and Piazza Venezia in ten minutes, and the Colosseum or Vatican mean a change or a 25–35 minute walk. On Fridays and Saturdays, between midnight and two, it is loud under the window, especially around Piazza Trilussa and Via della Scala — light sleepers should look south of Viale di Trastevere, around Santa Cecilia.
Prati — for quiet, the Vatican and a lift
A 19th-century district north of the Vatican: a regular grid, buildings with lifts, shops for locals on Via Cola di Rienzo. Families, older travellers and anyone who wants a hotel with a reception desk and a room where a suitcase actually opens find it here first — the best-value four-star hotels in the city, €130–260 for two. Metro A at Ottaviano and Lepanto runs two stops to the Spanish Steps and five to Termini, and the Vatican Museums are a ten-minute walk, worth its weight in gold at seven in the morning. Evenings are quiet to the point of dull, so dinner means Trastevere or the centre — half an hour on foot, or a taxi.
Testaccio — for people who travel for food
A working-class quarter south of the Aventine, built around the old slaughterhouse, the birthplace of Rome's quinto quarto tradition — offal dishes slaughterhouse workers took home as part of their pay. It suits people who plan the day around lunch and returning visitors who have already done the centre, and an apartment or guesthouse here, the cheapest of the 'nice' districts, runs €100–190 for two. Metro B at Piramide is two stops from the Colosseum, trams 3 and 8 run along the edge of the quarter, and the FL1 airport train stops at Ostiense, a five-minute walk. There isn't a single sight here — everything is a ride away — and the market, the main reason to come, closes in the afternoon and stays shut on Sundays.
Centro storico — Navona, the Pantheon, Campo de' Fiori
Baroque Rome between the Tiber and Via del Corso: everything on the postcards is five minutes away. Short stays of two nights, when time costs more than money, and an empty Piazza Navona at dawn as the whole point of the trip — that is what this quarter is for, and the price reflects it: €180–350 in season for a twelve-square-metre room with a view of a wall, since under €150 there is nothing clean here. There is no metro (Spagna or Barberini are nearest, a 15-minute walk), so buses 40, 64 and 87 through Largo Argentina do the work, and the airport means a taxi or the Leonardo Express from Termini (€14). Noise runs until one in the morning, delivery vans start at six, and the restaurants on the corners are for tourists — eat two blocks further on.
Termini and Esquilino — for budgets and early trains
The district around the main station: hotels in every building, Chinese and Bangladeshi shops, Piazza Vittorio with its market and the Baroque Santa Maria Maggiore. A bed is just a bed here, which is all that early trains and the Leonardo Express need, all that Ciampino passengers need (the buses arrive right here), and it buys rooms with a lift and air-conditioning for €85–150 — half what the same room costs in the centre. Both metro lines run through Termini, so does every suburban line, and the airport is 32 minutes away. Right around the station it is unpleasant at night, especially the east side (Via Giolitti, Via Marsala), though north of the station and around Santa Maria Maggiore it is perfectly normal; just don't take a first-floor room facing the street.
What to avoid
- 'Near the metro' without a station name. Rome has three lines; if the station isn't Cavour, Colosseo, Ottaviano, Spagna, Termini or Piramide, check on a map how near that really is.
- Rooms without air-conditioning from June to September. 35°C is normal in Rome; a fan is not a substitute.
- Apartments without a CIN code. Since 2025 every legal rental in Italy carries a national identification code; without it there is no city tax, no registration, and nobody to call when the lock fails.
- Around Tiburtina station and EUR. Cheap and on the metro, but in the evening you are half an hour from everything, in a district you will never warm to.
Rough prices by neighbourhood
For two per night, 2026 season, before tax — ≈
On top of these comes the city tax, paid on the spot, per person per night, for a maximum of ten nights: €4 in a one-star hotel, €5 in a two-star, €6 in a three-star, €7.50 in a four-star, €10 in a five-star; B&Bs and short-term rentals €6, hostels €3.50. Children under 10 are exempt. For two people, four nights in a B&B, that is €48 no booking site shows in the total.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
Which neighbourhood is best for a first visit?
Monti: the Colosseum and Forum on foot, metro B two corners away, Termini in ten minutes, and an evening you don't have to go looking for. For two, the seasonal price runs €140–250 — half what the Centro storico costs two kilometres away.
Is the area around Termini safe?
By day, entirely; at night the east side of the station is unpleasant rather than dangerous. Rooms north of the station and around Santa Maria Maggiore are normal, and at €85–150 the cheapest in the city with a lift and air-conditioning.
How much is Rome's city tax in 2026?
From €3.50 per person per night in a hostel up to €10 in a five-star hotel, paid on the spot, for a maximum of ten nights; the full table by star rating is above. Children under 10 are exempt.
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