Rome Then & Now: Immersive Self-Guided Audio Walking Tour

What's Included

Meeting and pickup

Itinerary

• 1
  Colosseum

  *Exterior* Your first stop. Outside the amphitheatre, narration opens the tour with how the building worked on a games day: the crowd, the awnings, the machinery beneath the arena floor. Press and hold the screen to see the façade reconstructed as it stood in the 1st century.

  15 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 2
  Colosseum

  *Interior* Optional visit with your own ticket. The audio continues inside with chapters on the hypogeum, the seating hierarchy and the arena floor. If you prefer not to enter, the tour continues seamlessly to the next stop.

  45 minutes • Admission ticket not included
• 3
  Palatine Hill

  Walk the hill where Rome placed both its legendary beginnings and its imperial palaces. From the terraces above the Forum, discover Romulus, the emperors who transformed the hill, and how the Palatine ultimately gave us the word “palace.” Includes narration from sub-stop at viewpoint of Circo Massimo

  30 minutes • Admission ticket not included
• 4
  Arco di Tito

  At the head of the Via Sacra, the audio covers the triumph of AD 71 and the menorah carved inside the arch — the spoils of Jerusalem carried through Rome, sculpted where you're standing. (You will need a ticket, included in the same general Parco Archeologico entrance)

  15 minutes • Admission ticket not included
• 5
  Foro Romano

  See the Roman Forum from a public viewpoint, no admission ticket required. From above, the scattered ruins become a city again as you identify the temples, basilicas and Via Sacra below. A Then & Now reconstruction helps reveal the Forum at its height, making this a perfect alternative for travelers who prefer not to enter the archaeological park.

  15 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 6

  Three surviving vaults of what was once the largest roofed hall in Rome, including the times of Constantino. The audio explains how the building stood and what it held, and the reconstruction restores the missing roof above you.

  12 minutes • Admission ticket not included
• 7
  Via Sacra

  The main street of ancient Rome, walked inside the Forum with your own ticket. Narration follows the road as triumphs did: prisoners, spoils and generals moving toward the Capitoline, over paving stones still rutted from traffic.

  8 minutes • Admission ticket not included
• 8
  Tempio di Vesta

  The house of the priestesses who guarded Rome's sacred flame. The audio covers who the Vestals were, the privileges and the punishments, and how the ruins of their courtyard and statues fit together.

  10 minutes • Admission ticket not included
• 9
  I Rostri

  Stand at the political heart of the Roman Republic, where speeches could sway a city and change history. This was Rome’s great public stage for persuasion, celebration, accusation… and sometimes brutal political revenge.

  8 minutes • Admission ticket not included
• 10
  Arco di Settimio Severo

  At the western end of the Forum, the audio unpacks the Severan dynasty, the campaigns carved into the reliefs, and the name that was chiselled out of the inscription... and why.

  10 minutes • Admission ticket not included
• 11
  Curia Julia

  The Senate House, one of the best-preserved buildings in the Forum. Narration covers what happened in this room, how the Senate actually worked, and how the building survived by becoming a church.

  15 minutes • Admission ticket not included
• 12
  Piazza del Campidoglio

  Michelangelo's piazza, laid over the most sacred hill of ancient Rome. The audio connects the Renaissance square underfoot to the Temple of Jupiter that once crowned it, with views back over the Forum.

  15 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 13
  Mercati di Traiano - Museo dei Fori Imperiali

  The brick tiers of what's often called the world's first shopping complex. Narration covers Trajan's Forum, the engineering of the hillside, and how the column beside it told a war story in stone. (Free view from outside)

  15 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 14
  Trevi Fountain

  Rome's most famous fountain, and the ancient aqueduct still feeding it. The audio follows the water from the Aqua Virgo to the Baroque theatre in front of you, with the crowd, the coins and the ritual explained.

  20 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 15
  Spanish Steps

  The great staircase between the piazza and Trinità dei Monti. Narration covers Grand Tour Rome, the foreign artists and poets who lived on these steps, and Bernini's sinking-boat fountain at the bottom.

  15 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 16
  Area Sacra di Largo Argentina

  Four Republican temples sunk below street level, viewed from the railing at no cost. The narration explains what stood here -including the portico where Caesar was killed- and why the site is now also famous for its cats.

  15 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 17
  Pantheon

  *Exterior* The best-preserved building of ancient Rome, seen from the piazza. Narration covers Agrippa's inscription, Hadrian's rebuild, and how the portico once met a very different square. Press and hold to see it as it stood.

  20 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 18
  Pantheon

  *Interior* Optional visit with your own ticket. Inside, the audio moves to the dome and the oculus: how the concrete was engineered, why the opening was never closed, who rests there and how the building has stayed standing for two thousand years.

  25 minutes • Admission ticket not included
• 19
  Piazza Navona

  The shape of the square is the shape of the stadium beneath it. The audio traces Domitian's arena under your feet, then Bernini's fountain above, with a reconstruction of the racing track that became a piazza.

  20 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 20
  Campo De' Fiori

  A market square by morning and a meeting place by night, with a darker past. The audio covers the executions once held here and the statue of Giordano Bruno standing where he was burned in 1600.

  12 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 21
  Castel Sant'Angelo

  Hadrian's mausoleum turned papal fortress, seen from the Ponte Sant'Angelo. The audio traces its lives -imperial tomb, refuge, prison- with Bernini's angels lining the bridge in front of you. Interior visits require a separate ticket.

  20 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 22

  *Extra* An optional encore beyond the city centre, on the road that carried Rome's armies south. Narration covers the engineering of the paving, the tombs lining the route, and what it meant to leave the city by this gate. (Best way is to drive or get a taxi there)

  30 minutes • Admission ticket free

Additional info

• Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
• Service animals allowed
• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels
• This is a self-guided walking tour of approximately 6 km on Rome's historic streets, mostly flat but with cobblestones throughout and some steps and inclines (Capitoline Hill, Palatine terrace). Travelers set their own pace and can pause, skip stops or split the route across several days. Not recommended for wheelchair users or travelers with significant mobility limitations. A smartphone and headphones are recommended. Roman cobblestones can be bumpy for strollers

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