What to do in Rome when it rains: museums, churches and underground sites

The major museums, for a whole day indoors

Each of Rome's three major museums takes up half a day or more. They are also the first to be overrun when it rains: book as soon as the forecast announces a wet day.

• The Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel: €20, plus €5 for online booking, Monday to Saturday from 8am to 8pm (last entry 6pm), closed on Sundays except the last one of the month. Several kilometres of covered galleries: the most complete answer to a rainy day. See our Vatican Museums page.
• Galleria Borghese: €16 plus a compulsory €2 booking, in two-hour slots, Tuesday to Sunday from 9am to 7pm. Bernini's sculptures and Caravaggio's paintings are seen entirely indoors, but the gallery stands in the middle of the Villa Borghese park: bring an umbrella for the approach. See our Galleria Borghese page.
• The Capitoline Museums: €15 for non-residents, daily from 9:30am to 7:30pm (last entry 6:30pm). The underground gallery linking the two palaces lets you see the Forum from a sheltered terrace.

Palace galleries and less crowded museums

Palazzo Massimo and Palazzo Barberini

Palazzo Massimo, a short walk from Termini station, houses part of the National Roman Museum: statues, mosaics and frescoes from the Villa of Livia, whose painted garden covers all four walls of a room. The €15 ticket also gives access, once each and within the following week, to Palazzo Altemps and the Baths of Diocletian. Open Tuesday to Sunday from 9am to 7pm (last entry 6pm).

Palazzo Barberini, right by Barberini metro station (line A), displays Raphael's Fornarina, Caravaggio's Judith and Pietro da Cortona's ceiling. The €15 ticket includes Galleria Corsini in Trastevere and is valid for 20 days. Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 7pm (ticket office until 6pm).

Galleria Doria Pamphilj and MAXXI

On via del Corso, Galleria Doria Pamphilj is a private collection set in the family's palace: Velázquez's portrait of Innocent X, paintings by Caravaggio, galleries hung with canvases from floor to ceiling. Tickets cost €16 (€17 online, audio guide included). It opens on Mondays, which makes it valuable on that day, but it is closed every Wednesday.

For contemporary art, MAXXI, designed by Zaha Hadid in the Flaminio district, opens Tuesday to Sunday from 11am to 7pm (€15 on site, €14 online).

The Pantheon and the churches

The Pantheon, when rain falls through the oculus

The oculus of the Pantheon, the opening at the top of the dome, has never been closed: when it rains, the water falls in a column in the middle of the rotunda. The slightly domed floor is pierced by 22 drainage holes that take it away. Entry costs €7, from 9am to 7pm, by time slot booked online; it is free on the first Sunday of the month.

Three churches within walking distance of the Pantheon

Rome's churches are free and offer instant shelter. Be respectful during services and cover shoulders and knees.

• Sant'Ignazio di Loyola: 5 minutes' walk away, open daily from 9am to 11:30pm without a break. Andrea Pozzo painted a trompe-l'oeil vault and a fake dome on canvas here, both creating an illusion of depth.
• San Luigi dei Francesi: the French national church, between the Pantheon and Piazza Navona, holds Caravaggio's three paintings of Saint Matthew. Open on weekdays from 9:30am to 12:45pm and 2:30pm to 6:15pm, on Saturdays from 9:30am to 12pm and 2:30pm to 6:30pm, on Sundays from 12pm to 12:45pm and 2:30pm to 6:30pm.
• Santa Maria sopra Minerva: just behind the Pantheon, Rome's only major Gothic church, with its starry blue vault.

Below ground: underground Rome

Two sites are literally visited beneath the city, safe from any shower.

• The Basilica of San Clemente: beneath the 12th-century church lie a 4th-century basilica, then 1st-century Roman buildings with a shrine to Mithras. Excavations €10, with online booking (limited entries), Monday to Saturday from 9am to 12:30pm and 2pm to 6pm, Sundays from 12pm to 6pm. See our San Clemente page.
• The Domus Aurea: the rooms of Nero's palace, under the Oppian Hill opposite the Colosseum, open Friday to Sunday, by booking only with the Colosseum Archaeological Park. Options and times in our Domus Aurea page.

Shopping arcades and cafés

Galleria Alberto Sordi, an early 20th-century covered shopping arcade on Piazza Colonna, reopened in 2024 after renovation, lets you cross the centre in the dry. Mercato Centrale, inside Termini station (via Giovanni Giolitti 36), gathers Roman food counters under a large hall, daily from 7:30am to 11:30pm.

For a coffee break near the Pantheon, Sant'Eustachio Il Caffè (piazza di Sant'Eustachio 82) serves until 1am, and Tazza d'Oro (via degli Orfani 84) is a minute from Piazza della Rotonda. Antico Caffè Greco, on via dei Condotti, has however been closed since October 2025.

Summary table by type of place

Prices observed in October 2026.

Our tips for a rainy day

• Book the day before: Galleria Borghese and the San Clemente excavations require booking, the Vatican Museums and the Pantheon work with time slots, and places go fast when rain is forecast.
• Watch out on Mondays: most state museums (Borghese, Massimo, Barberini) and MAXXI are closed. Go instead for the Vatican Museums, the Capitoline Museums, Galleria Doria Pamphilj, the Pantheon and the churches.
• Watch out on Sundays: the Vatican Museums are closed, except on the last Sunday of the month, which is free and very busy.
• Group by area: the Pantheon, Sant'Ignazio, San Luigi dei Francesi, Doria Pamphilj and the cafés are all less than 10 minutes' walk from one another.
• Shoes: Rome's cobblestones (sampietrini) turn slippery in the rain; wear soles with good grip.

Further reading

To fit these places into a longer stay, follow our Rome in 3 days itinerary. To find out when rain is most likely, see the best time to visit Rome, and to get around in the dry, read our guide to getting around Rome.