A weekend in Rome: what to see in 2 days, step by step

Before you go: the order of the days and bookings

The first thing to check is the day of the week. The Vatican Museums are closed on Sundays, except on the last Sunday of the month (free entry from 9:00 to 14:00, last admission at 12:30, with very heavy crowds). If your weekend falls on a Saturday and a Sunday, do the day 2 plan on Saturday and the day 1 plan on Sunday: the Colosseum, the Forum, the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain are open every day.

Two bookings need to be made in advance, on the official ticket offices only:

• Colosseum: named tickets, with a compulsory entry slot, released 30 days before the visit date. The name must match the ID shown at the check; since May 2026 it can be changed only once, no later than midnight Rome time on the seventh day before the visit.
• Vatican Museums: online booking on the museums' official ticket office, with a €5 surcharge per ticket. Beware of look-alike websites that resell the same tickets for more.

To get around, a BIT ticket costs €1.50 (100 minutes) and the Roma 48H pass €15; details are in our transport guide. Most of the journeys in this plan are on foot.

Day 1: ancient Rome and the historic centre

8:30-11:30: the Colosseum

Start with the first morning slot, when heat and crowds are most bearable. Metro line B, and since December 2025 line C, stop at Colosseo station, opposite the amphitheatre. Two tickets suit a first visit:

• 24h Colosseo, Foro Romano, Palatino ticket: €18. One entry to the Colosseum (first and second levels, without the arena) and one entry to the Forum and the Palatine, within 24 hours.
• Full Experience: €24, valid for two consecutive days. It adds the arena, or the arena and the underground depending on the option, with a limited visiting time inside the Colosseum, and access to the so-called SUPER sites of the Forum and the Palatine.

The €2 reduced rate is for European Union citizens aged 18 to 25. In October 2026 the site closes at 18:30 (last admission 17:30) until 24 October; from 25 October, winter hours bring closing forward to 16:30 (last admission 15:30). Full details are in our Colosseum page.

11:30-14:00: the Roman Forum and the Palatine

The same ticket gives access to the Forum and the Palatine, a few minutes' walk from the Colosseum along the Via Sacra. Allow at least two hours for the Sacred Way, the Curia, the House of the Vestals and then the imperial palaces of the Palatine, which overlook the Circus Maximus. Bring water: the public fountains, the nasoni, give drinking water, but shade is scarce.

14:00-15:30: lunch and Piazza del Campidoglio

Leave on the Via dei Fori Imperiali side and walk, in about fifteen minutes, to Piazza del Campidoglio, designed by Michelangelo. The square is free to enter. Behind the Palazzo Senatorio, the terrace offers a free view over the whole Forum. Have lunch in the streets of Monti, behind the Forum, rather than on the terraces facing the Colosseum.

15:30-17:00: the Pantheon

Allow twenty minutes on foot from the Campidoglio via Piazza Venezia and Via del Corso or Via del Plebiscito. The Pantheon is open every day from 9:00 to 19:00 (last admission 18:30, ticket office closes at 18:00). Since 1 July 2026 entry costs €7 (€2 for 18 to 25-year-olds, free for under-18s and Rome residents). The 43-metre dome and its oculus can be seen in half an hour. Hours change during religious services: see our Pantheon page.

17:00-18:00: Piazza Navona

Piazza Navona is five minutes' walk from the Pantheon. Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers stands in the centre of the former Stadium of Domitian, whose elongated shape the square has kept. Entry is free. The restaurants on the square are much more expensive than those in the neighbouring streets.

18:30-21:00: the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps

Head back east in about twenty minutes via Via dei Coronari or the Pantheon. Since 2 February 2026, access to the basin of the Trevi Fountain has been paid for visitors: €2, free for residents of Rome and its metropolitan city, under-6s and people with disabilities with one companion. Controlled access runs from 9:00 to 22:00, except on Monday and Friday (from 11:30 to 22:00), with last entry at 21:00; after 22:00 the fountain can be viewed freely and at no cost. Tickets are sold online, at tourist information points or on site, by card only. More information in our Trevi Fountain page.

The Spanish Steps are about ten minutes' walk away. Sitting on the steps of Trinità dei Monti is forbidden. Metro line A (Spagna station) then takes you back towards Termini or the Vatican area.

Day 2: the Vatican, Castel Sant'Angelo and Trastevere

8:00-11:30: the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel

The museums open Monday to Saturday from 8:00 to 20:00, with last admission at 18:00; the galleries are cleared thirty minutes before closing. A full-price ticket costs €20, or €25 with the online booking that skips the queue; the reduced rate is €10 (€15 booked). The entrance is on Viale Vaticano, about ten minutes' walk from the Ottaviano and Cipro stations of metro line A. Take the first slot: the route to the Sistine Chapel, through the Gallery of Maps and the Raphael Rooms, takes at least three hours. Photos are forbidden in the Sistine Chapel. Until the end of 2026, the museums are also closed on 1 November and on 8, 25, 26 and 31 December. See our Vatican Museums page.

12:00-13:30: St Peter's Basilica

Allow a quarter of an hour on foot from the museum exit to St Peter's Square, following the Vatican walls. Entry to the basilica is free, after a security check that can take time around midday. Dress is checked: shoulders covered for everyone, trousers or skirts at least to the knee. The basilica opens from 7:00 to 20:00. The climb to the dome is paid; with the lift, the basilica's online ticket office sells it for €22, basilica included. Until 25 October the dome is open from 7:00 to 18:00, then from 7:30 to 17:00. Full details in our St Peter's Basilica page.

14:00-16:00: Castel Sant'Angelo

Via della Conciliazione leads in just over ten minutes to Castel Sant'Angelo, the former mausoleum of Hadrian. It is open Tuesday to Sunday from 9:00 to 19:30 (last admission 18:30) and closed on Monday. Since 1 July 2026 the full-price ticket costs €18 (€2 for European Union citizens aged 18 to 25). The upper terrace gives one of the best views of St Peter's and the Tiber. Leave by Ponte Sant'Angelo and its Bernini angels.

16:30-22:00: Trastevere

Walk to Trastevere along the Tiber (about 30 minutes), or take tram 8 from Largo di Torre Argentina. Start with the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere and its mosaics, then wander the lanes between Piazza di Santa Maria and Piazza Trilussa. It is the liveliest district of Rome in the evening; book a table on Saturday. At sunset, the climb to the Janiculum, a quarter of an hour on foot from Via Garibaldi, offers a free panorama over the whole city. Our Trastevere guide lists the addresses.

The weekend budget

Prices observed in October 2026. With the Colosseum 24h ticket, the Vatican booked online and the Roma 48H, entries and transport come to €85 per adult; with the Full Experience and the dome, allow €113.

Traps to avoid

• Touts: around the Colosseum and the Vatican, touts offer "skip-the-line" tickets or guided tours at far more than the official price. A Colosseum ticket bought anywhere other than the official ticket office or an authorised reseller can be refused if the name does not match.
• Dress at the Vatican: a vest top or shorts that are too short will get you turned away from the basilica, and dress is also checked in the museums.
• Monday: Castel Sant'Angelo is closed; schedule it on another day.
• Pickpockets: they target metro line A, bus 64 to the Vatican and the crowds at the Trevi Fountain. Keep your bag in front of you.

Further reading

To choose accommodation well placed for this plan, read our guide where to stay in Rome. If you have one more day, our Rome in 3 days itinerary adds Villa Borghese, the Aventine and the major museums.