Prati is where Romans go to live well: broad streets laid out in the 1880s and 1890s, the Vatican Museums at the end of the block, and a food scene that has nothing to do with tourists.
Via Rodi is a residential street a few hundred metres from the Vatican Museums entrance on Viale Vaticano. In the morning you can be inside the Sistine Chapel before the coaches arrive; at night the neighbourhood is quiet, well lit and full of families walking dogs.
Two metro stations of line A, Cipro (ten minutes) and Ottaviano (nine), put Piazza di Spagna at fifteen minutes and Termini at twenty. Via Cola di Rienzo is the shopping street, with the Castroni delicatessen and the covered market of Piazza dell'Unità. St Peter's Square is a fifteen-minute walk through Borgo.
Eat where the locals eat: pizza al taglio at Bonci's Pizzarium, the trattorie of Via dei Gracchi, gelato at Gelateria dei Gracchi, supplì at Sorpasso. With a car, the apartment building has paid parking, a rarity in Rome, and the Via Aurelia and the GRA ring road are minutes away.
Where to eat
- Pizzarium (Bonci) — The most famous pizza al taglio in Italy, Via della Meloria, five minutes away.
- Gelateria dei Gracchi — Pistachio and hazelnut made from the nut, not the paste.
- Sorpasso — All-day bistro with Roman classics and great supplì, Via Properzio.
- L'Arcangelo — Refined Roman cooking, the gnocchi on Thursdays are famous.
- Castroni — Delicatessen and coffee bar on Via Cola di Rienzo since 1932; buy your gifts here.
What to see
- Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel — Book the first slot (8 am) online; from the apartment you are at the door in ten minutes.
- St Peter's Basilica — Free; climb the dome early. Dress code: shoulders and knees covered.
- Castel Sant'Angelo — Hadrian's tomb turned fortress; the terrace at sunset.
- Via Cola di Rienzo — Prati's shopping street and the Piazza dell'Unità covered market.
- Borgo Pio — The village-like lanes between the Vatican and the river.
Practical tips
- —Wednesday mornings the Pope holds the general audience: access to St Peter's Square is restricted from early morning (in winter the audience moves indoors).
- —The Vatican Museums are closed on Sundays, except the last Sunday of the month (free, 9–14, very crowded).
- —Paid parking in the building: ask us when you book.