Rome, full stop.

Follow our tips to discover the city at its most authentic.

Best of · Restaurants nearby · Aperitivo and nightlife · Breakfast & snacks · Ice cream & street food · Historic shops · Gifts · Social projects · 48 hours

BEST OF

Museums, markets, walks and things to do: everything we think is genuinely unmissable on a visit to Rome.

Colosseum and Roman Forum

One €18 ticket for the Colosseum, Forum and Palatine, valid 24 hours. Booking is compulsory and personal. Twenty minutes on foot or metro B.

Vatican Museums

Mon–Sat 8 a.m.–8 p.m., closed Sundays except the last of the month, when it is free. €20, or €25 if booked. Buy only at tickets.museivaticani.va.

Trastevere

Start from piazza Santa Maria, apse mosaics from around 1140. Half an hour on foot. Trams are replaced by buses in 2026: take bus H from Termini.

Galleria Borghese

You go in for a two-hour slot, 180 people at a time. Closed Mondays. €16 plus €2 booking, compulsory. Backpacks stay in the cloakroom.

Porta Portese Market

Rome’s largest flea market, Sunday mornings only, between piazza Ippolito Nievo and via Portuense. Come early.

RESTAURANTS NEARBY

The neighbourhood around Tomato Urban Retreat is Monti, one of the oldest and liveliest quarters in Rome: within a few streets you will find some of the best kitchens in the city, from Roman classics to contemporary cooking.

Trattoria Monti

Marche and Roman cooking ten minutes away, towards the Esquiline: the Camerucci family since the 1970s. Small room, book ahead. Closed Sun and Mon.

Trattoria Tram Tram

A San Lorenzo osteria, run by the Di Vittorio family since 1991: Roman and Apulian cooking, the rice, potato and mussel tiella. Closed Mondays.

Alle Carrette

A neighbourhood pizzeria at via della Madonna dei Monti 95, ten minutes downhill: thin Roman pizza, tables in the alley, low prices.

Ai Tre Scalini

An 1895 wine shop at via Panisperna 251, seven minutes: period wood and the creeper on the façade. Roman dishes until late. No bookings.

Santo Palato

Since 2025 at via Gallia 28, no longer piazza Tarquinia. Sarah Cicolini’s trattoria: offal and forgotten cuts, around €45. Book online.

And at night, you come home

We know these places because we go to them. Tomato is at Via Cesare Balbo 4, inside Monti: Termini is a ten-minute walk, the Colosseum a quarter of an hour. Private rooms and dorms, a café, a shared kitchen, coworking and an inner garden — and someone at the desk who can tell you where to go tonight.

Book here and you get us, not a middleman · Free cancellation up to 48 hours before · No booking fee

APERITIVO AND NIGHTLIFE

From wine bars to cocktails, from a glass in the piazza to a night that runs long, the Roman aperitivo is a habit worth picking up: outdoors, on a terrace, or in a bar that stays open late.

Monk

Not in Pigneto: it is at via Giuseppe Mirri 35, behind Tiburtina. Concerts, dj sets and stand-up. Free to get in. Closed Mondays.

Freni e Frizioni

Opened in 2005 in an old repair shop whose sign it kept: it is in the World’s 50 Best Bars. Via del Politeama 4, tables on piazza Trilussa.

Baronato quattro bellezze

An Arci club at via di Panico 23, half an hour on foot: founded with the actor Dominot, reopened in 2015. Late nights, a card may be required.

Rashomon

A techno club at via degli Argonauti 16, in a former factory. Friday and Saturday from 11.30 p.m., but you must join the list on their site.

Jerry Thomas Project

Italy’s first speakeasy, since 2010 at vicolo Cellini 30: no sign, book on the site, and you need the password from their newsletter.

BREAKFAST & SNACKS

For slow days, the city is full of cafés where you can linger over a long breakfast or an afternoon snack with friends. Some also welcome remote workers, with a real Italian coffee to keep you going.

Roscioli Caffè

The Roscioli brothers’ café, since 2016 on piazza Cairoli 16: 100% arabica, pastries in the morning, oysters at aperitivo. Open every day.

La casetta

A tiny bistro at via della Madonna dei Monti 62, eight minutes: a little ivy-covered house, home-made cakes and fresh juices.

Pasticceria Regoli

A family shop since 1916 at via dello Statuto 60, eight minutes: the most famous cream maritozzo in Rome. Closed Tuesdays.

Forno Monteforte

A city-centre bakery reborn in 2018, near Campo de’ Fiori: craft bread, long-fermented pizza, pastries. Open every day.

Faro – Caffè Specialty

Specialty coffee at via Piave 55, twenty minutes: they roast their own under the Aliena label — espresso, V60, Chemex. Brunch too.

ICE CREAM & STREET FOOD

Rome eaten standing up: between one sight and the next, a supplì, a slice of pizza or a good artisan gelato are as much part of the trip as the monuments.

Stefano Ferrara Gelateria

Three Gambero Rosso cones and best chocolate in Italy. But it is out at Infernetto: his Formaessenza in Marconi is handier, metro B.

Antico Forno ai Serpenti

A historic Monti bakery at via dei Serpenti 122, six minutes: 1930s fittings and organic Mulino Marino flour. Bread on the counter by 7.30.

Neve di Latte

Natural gelato, fresh milk and no shortcuts. The handy shop is via Vittorio Veneto 112, twenty minutes or metro A to Barberini.

Supplì Roma

At via di San Francesco a Ripa 137, in Trastevere, since 1979: ragù, carbonara and cacio e pepe supplì, plus takeaway pizza. Closed Sundays.

Food Box – Mercato Testaccio

Box 66 in the Testaccio market, run by chef Marco Morello: Roman fried food, farinata, salt cod, arepas. The market shuts at 3.30 — a lunch stop.

HISTORIC SHOPS

Shops open for generations, and the most multicultural market in the city. Nearly all within a quarter of an hour on foot.

Nuovo Mercato Esquilino

Via Filippo Turati 160, fifteen minutes: spices, fish and vegetables from half the world under one roof. Mon-Fri 7-14, Saturday until 17.

Libreria Rotondi

Via Merulana 82: an esoteric bookshop since 1941, listed as a historic shop by the city. Rare books on magic and the East. Closed Sunday.

Trimani

Via Goito 20: wine merchants since 1821, at this address since 1876. Six thousand labels, retail only. Mon-Sat 9-20.30, no break.

Farmacia Savignoni

Via dei Serpenti 125, eight minutes: the pharmacy of Monti, with a counter carried by three carved wooden caryatids and period walnut cabinets.

Coltelleria Prezioso

Via Carlo Alberto 41: kitchen, working and collectors’ knives. A family firm since 1870, five generations.

GIFTS & SOUVENIRS

Things made by hand, to take home. The first four are in Monti, minutes from us.

Libreria Panisperna 220

Via Panisperna 220, eight minutes: an independent bookshop opened in 2021, with talks most weeks. Open on Sundays too.

Studio Silice

Via Urbana 27, four minutes: glass has been worked in here since 2001. Bowls, mirrors, jewellery. Monday to Saturday, 10-19.30.

Plexi Shock

Via Urbana 88, six minutes: handmade jewellery in plexiglass and acrylic mirror, cut and assembled on the premises. WhatsApp 342 1817433.

Hang Roma

Via degli Zingari 32, seven minutes: bags and accessories in Italian leather, hand-sewn here in Rome. Doors open 11.30, close 19.30.

Soul Food Record Shop

Via di San Giovanni in Laterano 192: vinyl and CDs, punk, garage and soul, plus fanzines and shirts. Closed Sunday and Monday.

Emporio Centrale

Largo del Teatro Valle 1: Italian everyday objects, from kitchen to stationery, chosen from long-standing makers. Every day 10-19.

SOCIAL PROJECTS

Assets seized from the mafia, community kitchens and reclaimed spaces: places where you eat well and the neighbourhood gains something too.

Casa del Jazz

Viale di Porta Ardeatina 55: the villa of the Magliana gang’s treasurer, confiscated and turned into a public park with a concert hall.

Trattoria de Gli Amici

Piazza Sant’Egidio 6, Trastevere: Roman cooking by the Community of Sant’Egidio, staffed by people with disabilities. Lunch and dinner.

Casa Internazionale delle Donne

Via della Lungara 19: in the old Buon Pastore reformatory, occupied in 1987. Events most evenings, and the Ristrò with its garden.

Casetta Rossa

Via Magnaghi 14, Garbatella: a community kitchen in a public park. Since 2017 the suspended meal, now seventy a week. Closed Monday.

Forte Prenestino

Via Delpino 187, Centocelle: an 1880 fort occupied since 1986, thirteen self-managed hectares. No fixed hours: you go for gigs and festivals.

MULTI

The gardens of piazza Vittorio, eight minutes: every year in late September, four days of food and music from the communities living in Rome. Free entry.

48 HOURS IN ROME

If you only have a weekend: how we would spend it, starting and ending in Monti.

The first afternoon

Drop your bags and walk up into Monti: via Panisperna, via dei Serpenti, the little square with the fountain. Bread and pizza at Antico Forno ai Serpenti.

The first evening

Aperitivo at Ai Tre Scalini, which takes no bookings: get there early. Dinner at Alle Carrette, or Trattoria Monti towards the Esquilino.

Saturday morning

Breakfast at Regoli, then the Colosseum and Roman Forum: one ticket, named, booked in advance. It is a twenty-minute walk from us.

Saturday afternoon

Trastevere in the afternoon, starting from piazza Santa Maria. Aperitivo at Freni e Frizioni, dinner at Trattoria de Gli Amici.

The last morning

If it is Sunday, Porta Portese first thing. Otherwise the Galleria Borghese, two hours by reservation, and ice cream at Neve di Latte.

Discover our Turin location

In the lively San Salvario district, our hostel offers a distinctive stay built on respect for the environment and mindful hospitality. Visit the dedicated section to discover welcoming spaces, green initiatives and a lighter, more considered way of experiencing Turin.

Tomato Urban Retreat is a sustainable urban hostel with coworking spaces: in Turin, in San Salvario, since 2011; in Rome, in the Monti district, from June 2026. Private rooms and dorms, café, shared kitchen, 24-hour laundry and cultural events.

Quick links

Contact us

Address

Via Silvio Pellico 11, Turin
Via Cesare Balbo 4, Rome

Email

roma@tomato.to.it

Phone

+39 011 0209400 · Turin
+39 06 85879444 · Rome

CIN Torino IT001272B6RLOVAKX5 · CIN Roma IT058091B68CX6827V