The Tridente is the three-street fan between Piazza del Popolo and Piazza di Spagna: Rome's shopping mile, its grandest hotels and, one street back, the quiet where our apartment lives.
Everyone climbs the Spanish Steps once. Living beside them is different: you cross Piazza di Spagna at eight in the morning when the street cleaners are finishing and the Barcaccia fountain is the only sound, then again at eleven at night when the tourists have gone and the steps belong to a few couples and a guitar.
Via Crispi, where the apartment is, runs parallel to Via Sistina and one block from Via Veneto. It is the residents' street: a bakery, a fruit shop, two supermarkets, a pharmacy and a handful of trattorie that do not need a sign. Within a few minutes you have two metro stations (Barberini and Spagna, line A), which puts the Vatican at fifteen minutes and Termini at ten.
From here the classic walk goes down Via Condotti to the Corso, across to the Pantheon and on to Piazza Navona, all on foot and all within twenty minutes. In the other direction the Pincio terrace above Piazza del Popolo, and Villa Borghese with the Galleria Borghese, are ten minutes uphill.
Where to eat
- Antico Caffè Greco — Rome's oldest café (1760), Via Condotti. Go for the rooms, stand at the bar to pay less.
- Il Margutta — Vegetarian institution on the artists' street Via Margutta, excellent brunch.
- Pastificio Guerra — Fresh pasta by the plate for a few euros, Via della Croce. Lunch only.
- Colline Emiliane — Family trattoria by Piazza Barberini, book for the tortellini in brodo.
- Ginger — Bright all-day bistro on Via Borgognona, good for kids.
What to see
- Keats-Shelley House — The poet's last rooms, at the foot of the Steps. Small, quiet, moving.
- Villa Medici — French Academy at the top of the Steps; gardens tour and the best terrace in Rome.
- Galleria Borghese — Bernini and Caravaggio; timed tickets, book two weeks ahead.
- Piazza del Popolo & the Pincio — Sunset from the terrace, then Caravaggio in Santa Maria del Popolo.
- Via Margutta — Ivy, studios and antique shops: the street of Roman Holiday.
Practical tips
- —Sitting on the Spanish Steps is fined since 2019; admire from the piazza.
- —The Trevi Fountain is 4 minutes away: go before 8 am or after midnight.
- —Sunday mornings the Corso is nearly empty until eleven.