Rome is one of Europe’s most expensive cities to sightsee in, with tickets rising at several major sites in 2026. Yet much of what makes it extraordinary costs nothing at all. Churches hold masterpieces, the great piazzas are open day and night, and on certain days even the Colosseum is free. Here is how to see the best of Rome without spending a cent on entry.

St Peter’s Basilica

The largest church in Christendom is free to enter. St Peter’s Basilica opens daily from 7am to 7pm in winter, and inside you can see Michelangelo’s Pietà, Bernini’s bronze canopy over the papal altar and the Chair of St Peter. You only pay to climb the dome. Expect a security queue in the square, shortest at opening time, and cover shoulders and knees.

The great piazzas and fountains

Rome’s squares are its living rooms. Piazza Navona, built on the outline of an ancient stadium, has Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers. The Spanish Steps are free to climb, though not to sit on, and the view from Trinità dei Monti at the top is superb. Piazza del Popolo, Campo de’ Fiori and Piazza del Campidoglio, designed by Michelangelo, are all free.

The Trevi Fountain now charges €2 to step down to the basin between 9am and 10pm, but it can always be seen free from the square around it, and the basin area is free before and after those hours.

Free first Sundays

On the first Sunday of every month, state museums and sites open free. These include the Colosseum and the Roman Forum and Palatine, the Pantheon, the Borghese Gallery, Castel Sant’Angelo, the Baths of Caracalla and the villas at Tivoli. The city’s Capitoline Museums are free too. The Colosseum and Borghese Gallery still need booking, and free tickets go quickly, while the Pantheon has a single walk-up queue. The Colosseum is also free on 25 April, 2 June and 4 November.

The Vatican Museums run their own scheme: entry is free on the last Sunday of the month, from 9am to 2pm with last entry at 12.30pm, except when it falls on certain holidays. It cannot be booked, so expect a long queue.

Masterpieces in churches

Rome’s churches are free galleries of Renaissance and Baroque art. San Luigi dei Francesi, near Piazza Navona, has three paintings by Caravaggio on the life of St Matthew, and Sant’Agostino nearby has his Madonna of Loreto. Santa Maria del Popolo holds two more Caravaggios and chapels by Raphael and Bernini. San Pietro in Vincoli, in Monti, has Michelangelo’s Moses. Santa Maria in Trastevere and Santa Maria Maggiore glitter with early mosaics, and Sant’Ignazio has a painted false dome that tricks the eye. Dress modestly and avoid visiting during Mass.

The best free views

Climb the Gianicolo above Trastevere for a panorama across the domes, especially at sunset. The Pincio terrace above Piazza del Popolo looks towards St Peter’s, and the Orange Garden on the Aventine has a quiet terrace over the Tiber. Nearby, peer through the keyhole of the Priory of the Knights of Malta for a perfectly framed view of St Peter’s dome. From the Capitoline Hill, the terraces behind the Senators’ Palace look straight down on the Forum.

Parks, markets and the Appian Way

Villa Borghese is Rome’s central park, free to wander, with lawns, a lake and woodland paths. On Sundays much of the Appian Way is closed to traffic and becomes a place to walk or cycle past ancient tombs and aqueducts. Campo de’ Fiori’s morning market and the Porta Portese flea market on Sunday mornings are free to browse.

See the Pope

The Pope usually leads the Angelus prayer from a window above St Peter’s Square at noon on Sundays, which anyone can attend. General audiences are held on most Wednesdays; tickets are free from the Prefecture of the Papal Household.

Free water and walks

Rome’s nasoni, the cast-iron street fountains, run with fresh drinking water, so carry a bottle and refill it for free. Finally, the best free activity of all is simply walking: from the Pantheon to Piazza Navona, across the river to Trastevere, and back over the bridges at dusk.