The 9 coolest neighbourhoods in Rome worth visiting

Piazza del Poplo, on the northern side of city, marks the beginning of the so-called Tridente (trident). That name is due to three almost parallel streets that enter the centre from Piazza del Popolo as if Neptune had struck out with his trident fork. So you have a choice here.

Straight ahead is Via del Corso, a shopping street that cuts across the centre towards the Colosseum as a central axis. If you take the right street, Via di Ripetta, you end up at the Vatican. Turn left (Via del Babuino) towards the Spanish Steps.

The nicest places to eat and drink are near the Spanish Steps, like Via della Croce, which does attract mass tourism. A nice alternative is Via Margutta, a street with galleries and the occasional restaurant.

My favorite places in Tridente:

• Restaurant: Babette, Via Margutta 1-d
• Lounge Bar: Zuma, Via della Fontanella di Borghese 48
• Shop: La Bottega del Marmoraro (marble worker), Via Margutta 53-b 
• Monument: Mausoleum of Augustus, Piazza Augusto Imperatore

Rome’s historic centre (centro storico) covers 1,430 hectares, according to Unesco’s World Heritage List. Actually, it includes everything that lies within the Aurelian city walls. But often the centro storico is referred to (by me) only as ‘the elbow‘. That is the arched area to the left of the Tiber. Apart from the river, this flat stretch is bordered by Tridente and the so-called ‘seven hills of Rome’.

This is obviously a big area, where the main sights (Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, Campo de’ Fiori) are, but also very touristy. Our preferences therefore include the less crowded area of Via Giulia and Via Coronari.

My favorite places in Centro Storico

• Restaurant: Evangelista, Via delle Zoccolette 11 
• Bar-small eatery: Casa & Bottega, Via dei Coronari 183 
• Ice cream: Gelateria del Teatro, Via dei Coronari 65 
• Church: Sant’Ignazio, Via del Caravita 8-a

Borgo is the small neighbourhood that lies between St Peter’s and the Angel’s Castle, and actually consists of just a few streets. There are a lot of places to eat and drink, but at night it is a dull place.

More alive is the neighbourhood immediately adjacent to Borgo called Prati. It is a late 19th-century neighbourhood built in a chessboard pattern, and in that sense is less rustic than many other neighourhoods of Rome. But it is a neighbourhood where people actually still live, and not a place (like the centro storico) that is only the free field of tourists (the fact that Prati is less touristic is nice for… tourists). You can shop well there too, especially on the central axis: Via Cola di Rienzo.

My favorite places in Borgo & Prati:

• Restaurant: Il Sorpasso, Via Properzio 31
• Bar (day&night) : Bukowski’s Bar,  Via degli Ombrellari 25
• Department store: Coin Excelsior, Via Cola di Rienzo 173
• Landmark: St. Peter’s Basilique, the Vatican Museums

The neighbourhood ‘Monti’ translated means ‘hills’. It is a bit of an exaggeration for what are actually hillocks, but it is undeniably true that the district lies on three elevations, hence the district’s coat of arms (three humps). Thirty years ago, no outsider would have set foot in Monti. It was stuffy, there are no famous monuments and the monticiani, the inhabitants, were poor slobs.

Now it is a hip neighbourhood. It is ‘in’ because of its little shops (no chain stores, hardly any franchise shops), its network of narrow streets and its remarkable proximity to the centro storico and ancient Rome.

My favorite places in Monti:

• Restaurant: Trattoria Valentino, Via del Boschetto 37
• Wine bar: Fafiuché, Via della Madonna dei Monti 28
• Bakery: Panificio Monti, Via Urbana 22
• Landmark: Church of Madonna dei Monti, Via della Madonna dei Monti 41

Trastevere is one of Rome’s nicest neighbourhoods, full of restaurants, bars and outdoor life with remarkably low traffic (except for the thoroughfare Viale Trastevere). But don’t think the neighbourhood is a discovery. The days when it was an up-and-coming neighbourhood, Rome’s Quartier Latin as it was called, are well over 40 years behind us.

From the Santa Maria in Trastevere square, the centre of the neighbourhood, head towards Via della Scala deeper into Trastevere. A pleasant atmosphere is created by shops, bars, the occasional gallery and street vendors selling alternative goods. In the evening, nightlife erupts here. Trastevere is the place for those who want a choice of restaurants, not only for pasta and pizza, but also for sushi and poke, and enotecas (wine bars).

My favorite places in Trastevere:

• Pizzeria: Ai Marmi, Viale di Trastevere 53
• Bar (day): Caffè Settimiana, Via di Porta Settimiana 1 
• Bar (night): Freni e Frizioni, Via del Politeama 4
• Museum: Villa Farnesina, Via della Lungara 230

Testaccio is a residential area from the late nineteenth century. Little of interest in terms of art, but (sports) history all the more so. This is where AS Roma was born, the football club with the biggest following in the capital.

There is also an interesting culinary tradition. Pizzeria Da Remo, for instance, is a true institution, famous for its wafer-thin Roman pizzas that come out of the oven until midnight. The service is Roman, so not very sophisticated, which is also sometimes nice because it feels so ‘authentic’.

Centre of the neighbourhood is Piazza Testaccio with the beautiful amphorae fountain in the middle. Sit here on one of the benches, or with a glass on the terrace of ‘Oasi della Birra’, and let authentic Roman life pass you by.

My favorite places in Testaccio:

• Pizzeria: Remo, Piazza di S Maria Liberatrice 44
• (covered) Market: Via Beniamino Franklin
• Bar (beer): Oasi della birra, Piazza Testaccio 38 
• Landmark: Piramide Cestia, Via Raffaele Persichetti 

San Lorenzo, named after the basilica of the same name, is a district sandwiched between the Central Railway Station (Termini), La Sapienza University, the monumental Verano cemetery and a huge train depot and part of the inner-city ring road (called Tangenziale). Beautiful is something else.

Hardly a building is not chalked up with graffiti, the streets are not, to put it euphemistically, the cleanest in Rome and the area lacks important monuments. But…

… if you are looking for authentic yet multicultural Rome, San Lorenzo is the place to be. Its streets are named after ancient populations from before the Roman conquest of Italy. The Etruscans, the Osci, the Aequi and the Volsci are a few of Lazio’s ancient peoples who have been brought out of obscurity thanks to these street names.

My favorite places in San Lorenzo:

• Restaurant: Pommidoro, Piazza dei Sanniti 44 
• Bar (day): Marani, Via dei Volsci 57
• Shop (LP’s): Il Mangiadischi, Via Luciano Manara 22 
• Landmark: Verano cemetery, Piazzale del Verano 1

Pigneto is named after a row of pine trees (Italian: pini), but there is no trace of them. Pigneto is a late-19th-century working-class suburb that was built without much planning and borders the elevated Tangenziale ring road, and the public transport company’s gigantic depot.

Its rawness has inspired numerous filmmakers, especially Pier Paolo Pasolini, who called the neighbourhood “the crown of thorns around the city of God”.

Via del Pigneto, the district’s main street, continues for 300 metres via a footbridge (over the deep train track) to the other side. There is the Pigneto metro station, which can also serve as a base for exploring the area.

On this side, Pigneto is a pretty ugly mix of building styles (high post-war flats and poorly maintained low buildings), but the neighbourhood has a soul there. The beating heart of Pigneto is on the terrace of Necci dal 1924 with lovely pergola.

My favorite places in Pigneto:

• Restaurant (bar and more): Necci dal 1924, Via Fanfulla da Lodi 68
• Pizzeria: Pizzeria Sant’Alberto, Via del Pigneto 46
• Bar (cocktail): Co.So, Via Braccio da Montone 80
• Monument: Mausoleum ‘il torrione’, Via Prenestina 73

Our selection is arbitrary. Why not include, for instance, the hundred-year-old neighbourhood of Garbatella or the multicultural Esquiline? And why not divide the centro storico into several parts?

You have to make choices, that’s how it is. Below I list a few more neighbourhoods that are interesting to visit (go out) for one reason or another.

• Garbatella (south) is the result of a social housing project based on the idea of garden village. Favourite place: Bar dei Cesaroni, Piazza Giovanni da Triora 6
• EUR is also on the south side, but here Mussolini regime buildings predominate. Pretty achitecture, a few nightlife spots, interesting but completely unknown museums. Favorite place: Caffè Palombini, P.le Konrad Adenauer 12
• Tor Pignatarra is an extension of Pigneto (east of the city centre) and is experiencing a revival. Favourite spot: Mausoleum of Elena, Via Casilina 641
• Parioli. The wealth that has characterised the neighbourhood (north) gives the inhabitants of Parioli the stereotype of a fairly high lifestyle to the point that their derogatory nickname is ‘pariolini ‘. Favorite place: Taverna Rossini, Viale Gioacchino Rossini 54