ROME - LOCATION GUIDE
ART & DESIGN
Exceptional Tours Expertly Delivered
Our location guide offers you information on the range of visits available in Rome. All visits are selected with your subject and the curriculum in mind, along with the most popular choices for sightseeing, culture and leisure in the area.
The information in your location guide has been provided by our partners in Rome who have expert on the ground knowledge of the area, combined with advice from education professionals so that the visits and information recommended are the most relevant to meet your learning objectives.
Making Life Easier for You
This location guide is not a catalogue of opening times. Our Tour Experts will design your itinerary with opening times and location in mind so that you can really maximise your time on tour.
Our location guides are designed to give you the information that you really need, including what are the highlights of the visit, location, suitability and educational resources. We’ll give you top tips like when is the best time to go, dress code and extra local knowledge.
Peace of Mind
So that you don’t need to carry additional money around with you we will state in your initial quote letter, which visits are included within your inclusive tour price and if there is anything that can’t be pre-paid we will advise you of the entrance fees so that you know how much money to take along.
You also have the added reassurance that, WST is a member of the STF and our featured visits are all covered as part of our externally verified Safety Management System.
STUDY VISITS
Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel and St Peter’s Basilica
The Vatican Museums occupy part of the palaces built by the Pope and is home to one of the most extensive art collections in the world. The world’s most famous chapel, the Sistine Chapel is housed within the Vatican Museums, where you will see the infamous frescoes by Michaelangelo. St Peter’s Basilica is the burial site of St Peter. The tomb of John Paul II is located in the grottoes below the floor of the Basilica and can be visited by the public, although there can be large crowds there.
Galleria Borghese One of the world’s great art collections, containing the haul that Cardinal Scipione Borghese assembled in the early 17th century in his Roman garden villa. The collection includes Titian’s Sacred and Profane Love, work by Caravaggios and Bernini’s sublime sculpture Apollo and Daphne.
Website: www.galleriaborghese.it
Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna Full of neoclassic and romantic paintings, the museum also houses Italy’s largest collection of 19th- and 20th-century works. Several of Italy’s most renowned art masters have works on display here including Boccioni, Morandi and Fontana as well as other work including pop art, surrealism and expressionism, hailing Degas, Monet, van Gogh, and Ernst. Website: http://www.gnam.beniculturali.it/
Capitoline Museum Popes had been amassing this peerless collection of artworks for some 250 years before the museum was opened to the public. Inside are works ancient and modern, including Rome's emblem, the bronze she-wolf suckling twins Remus and Romulus, Bernini's remarkable statue of Pope Urban VIII, and a picture gallery with paintings by Caravaggio, Tintoretto, Titian and others.
Website:en.museicapitolini.org
Galleria Spada in Palazzo Spada The palazzo was purchased by Cardinal Spada in 1632. He commissioned the Baroque architect Francesco Borromini to modify it for him, and it was Borromini who created the masterpiece of forced perspective optical illusion in the arcaded courtyard,
The gallery includes four galleries of 16th and 17th-century paintings by a host of artists including Guido Reni, Titian, Rubens, Caravaggio, Domenichino, Parmigianino, Michelangelo Cerquozzi, and many more.
Website: http://www.galleriaborghese.it/spada/it/
Fondazione MAXXI
A daring piece of contemporary architecture designed by Zaha Hadid who won an international design competition. The building is a composition of bending oblong tubes, overlapping, intersecting and piling over each other, resembling a piece of massive transport infrastructure. The MAXXI consists of two museums: "MAXXI art" and "MAXXI architecture".
Website: www.fondazionemaxxi.it
Natonal Gallery of Ancient Art (Arte Antica)
Contains examples of fresco, as well as an art collection from the galleries of Rome’s great families, including works dating from the 12th to the 18th century, such as Filippo Lippi’s ‘Madonna and Child’. Other masterpieces displayed are Raphael's Fornarina (said to be a portrait of the baker's daughter he loved and may have been engaged to at the time of his death in 1520), Holbein's pompous Henry VIII and Titian's Venus and Adonis.
Website: http://galleriabarberini.beniculturali.it/
Museum and Crypt of the Capuchins
A unique site in all its ghoulish glory! The bones of generations of monks, buried here in soil brought from Jerusalem then dug up to make room for newcomers, are arranged artfully in patterns on walls and ceilings, and fashioned into macabre chandeliers. Don’t forget the Capuchin museum, which most visitors barely acknowledge as they speed their way towards the main attraction.
This nineteenth-century palace in Neo-Renaissance style, close to the Termini Train Station, houses one of the world's most important collections of Classical art.
Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_della_Concezione_dei_Cappuccini
National Roman Museum - Palazzo Massimo alle Term
Situated close to our accommodation in the Termini area, the four floors of the museum, sculptures, frescoes and mosaics, coins and jewels document the evolution of the Roman artistic culture.
The museum contains celebrated masterpieces of statuary, among them being the Lancellotti Discobolus (Discus Thrower), the Maiden of Antium and the Hermaphroditus Asleep, as well as magnificent sarcophagi such as the Sarcophagus of Portonaccio. In the rooms of the ground floor are exhibited splendid Greek originals.
Website: http://archeoroma.beniculturali.it/en/museums/national-roman- museum-palazzo-massimo-alle-terme
CULTURAL VISITS
The Colosseum
This is considered to be one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and is the largest amphitheatre built in the Roman Empire.
The Pantheon
A magnificent ancient temple that was later converted to a church. Dating from AD125 it is the most superb architectural monument to have survived intact from Ancient Rome. Raphael is buried here.
Roman Forum
This was once the heart of Ancient Rome and the centre of public life. It is the site of public speeches, trials and commercial transactions.
Palatine Hill
According to Roman mythology this is where Rome was founded. Ideally located looking down on to the Roman Forum, this became the home of several Roman Emperors
Spanish Steps
The famous steps where locals and tourists alike congregate to people watch and soak up the atmosphere. The Spanish Steps are close to Via del Corso, one of the well-known high end shopping streets of Rome, so window shopping in the many designer shops is a popular pastime. Trevi Fountain
A must see- this is one of the most famous fountains in the world. The Trevi Fountain is located close to the Pantheon so many people choose to visit both together. Keats-Shelley Memorial House
Located on the Spanish Steps, this is the final home of John Keats. It contains an extensive collection of paintings, sculpture and manuscripts which celebrate the lives of Keats, Shelley and Byron. Guided Tours Of Rome
We can arrange guided walking tours for half or full days around the city, which can be tailor made to your preferred visits. Popular themes include:
Ancient Rome
Modern Rome’s Squares
Rome By Night – Illuminated Tour
This night time tour will last approx. 2 hours on board a coach and will take in key sites: Piazza Venezia, Capitoline Hill, Jewish Quarter , Castel Sant‘Angelo, St Peter’s Basilica, Ancient Aurelian Walls framing Villa Borghese Park. Time Elevator – 5D Experience
You will experience a simulated ride where you will travel through the rich history of Rome. Starting with its foundation, through the glorious days of the ancient Roman empire, the Renaissance with its masterpieces of architecture and art, the events of the 20th century, culminating in an aerial flight over the Rome of today. Free Time
Most people choose to spend their free time in Rome either visiting the shops or relaxing in one of the many squares where you can pick up a coffee or an ice-cream and soak up the culture of the city. Here are some of the most popular areas. Shopping:
Via Del Corso
Via Frattina
Via Nazionale
Termini Squares:
Piazza Navona
Piazza Venezia
Campo dei Fiore
Piazza di Spagna
RESTAURANTS
Most hotels in Rome operate on a B&B basis only. We can arrange evening meals in restaurants in the city with options to suit all tastes. The most popular choices are Hard Rock Café, traditional Italian Trattoria or self-service style buffet restaurants if you are in a hurry. Ask us for more details.