How can you see Rome in two days? Is there a good 48 hours in Rome itinerary I can follow? This is our best itinerary to see Rome highlights in just 2 days at a realistic and satisfying pace.
Two days are a really short time to see a city as rich in attractions as Rome.
However, sometimes 48h are all we get and, in that case, you will be happy to hear that with a well-planned itinerary, you can see a surprising amount of Rome sights in 48 hours.
While will not see ‘Rome’ by any stretch of the imagination in this time, you will have the chance to get a taste for its city center, visit a couple of its most famous landmarks, enter some of its incredible churches, have some lovely meals and take a stroll with gelato. Which really, it is not what Rome is all about, but it is a good start!
For this to work out, however, here are two main things to keep in mind when visiting Rome with limited time available.
The first is that you will walk A LOT, so good shoes are essential!
The second is that you will have to compromise on something: it may be a museum, a leisurely lunch, saving money, or a relaxed pace, because Rome is just too big and too full of things to be all crammed into two days. Those who say have ‘done Rome in two days’ only think they have ‘done’ it: I am from Rome and I can tell you that those who thing two days are sufficient, just happen not to know what else the city has to offer.
With the right itinerary though, the compromise doesn’t have to be unpleasant or feel like one.
On this page, you find how recommend you organize your time over 2 days in Rome, compromising as little as possible as seeing as many Rome must-see sites as possible (within reason!).
Rome in 2 days: are you on Pinterest? Pin this!
Please note: this post contains affiliate links and, should you make a purchase through them, we might make a small commission at no extra cost to you.
How to see Rome in two days itinerary at a glance
The table below will show you quickly how your two days in Rome will look like.
Whenever relevant, I have added links to my recommended ticket/ tour provided.
| Time | Attraction | Ticketed |
| 9.00 | Rome Golf Cart Tour or Vespa Sidecar Tour for an overview of the city | Yes |
| 12.00 – 13.30 | Lunch near the Colosseum | n/a |
| 2 pm | Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, Campidoglio Hill | Yes |
| 5- 6pm | Pantheon / Navona area | n/a |
| 2.30- 7pm | Sunset drinks and Dinner in the Pantheon area | n/a |
| after dinner | Trevi Fountain | n/a |
| Day 2 | Attraction | Ticketed |
| 9.00 | Vatican City | Yes |
| 1.00 pm | Lunch near the Vatican | Booking Recommended |
| 2.30pm – 7pm | Borghese gardens, Spanish steps | n/a |
| 9pm | Dinner at in Trastevere | No, but booking is recommended |
Where to stay if you have 2 days in Rome
If you only have two days to see Rome, being in the city center is essential.
The best area to stay in Rome is the Pantheon/Piazza Navona area, closely followed the Monti District.
The best hotels for two days in Rome are:
Hotel Martis Palace – 4 star hotel jusy beside Piazza Navona, my absolute top choice
Hotel Smeraldo – 4 star hotel, another lovely choice in a pretty street in the Piazza Navona area, very central
Hotel Abruzzi – good mid range hotel close to the Pantheon in a perfect central location
You can find here >>> more recommendations for hotels near the Pantheon.
Itinerary: Day One of two days in Rome – morning
To make the most of your time in Rome, I recommend you start your stay with a tour that gives you an overview of the city and that allows you to have a first encounter with the top landmarks in the city. Specifically, I recommend you do so by taking a Goal cart Tour or a vespa sidecar tour of the city, to really fun and really handy way to get around.
The Golf Cart tour is suitable for all ages: good golf carts are comfortable, sturdy, they are driven by a Rome guide (so, not just a chauffeur, an actual trained guide) and they are small and electric, which means they can bring you close to landmarks in areas of the city closed to traffic or inaccessible by standard cars and buses.
While this is a quintessential tourist activity, I do feel like recommending it even to savvy travelers as it genuinely allows you to get the lay of the land like no other activity in Rome. The best golf cart tour I feel like recommending for quality of cart, guides and itinerary is this one.
Another fantastic way to explore a lot of Rome quickly is by taking a vespa sidecar tour. Compared with the golf cart, the vespa sidecar tour covers more ground (the vespas are faster than the cart), the only thing is that of course the position in the sidecar may not be suitable for people with mobility issues or very long kids.
Whichever approach you decide to take (golf cart, vespa or none), I then recommend you start you walking adventure from the Colosseum.
The Colosseum makes an ideal starting point for a walk into the city center: it will wow you, not leave you exhausted and, once you leave, you’ll find yourself in a good location to quickly reach your next stop.
The Colosseum and the Roman Forum are beside each other and you can visit both inside (in which case, factor in about 3 hours) or even just stroll along them.
There are many tickets you can choose from (guided, self guided, arena only, arena + underground, family tickets, etc): I have detailed all the options in this guide to the best tickets to the Colosseum.
Overall, you should schedule about 3 hours to see Parco Colosseo.
You can easily spend a lot longer here but with three days in Rome, I believe 3 hours will be a good compromise between a decent visit and time for other areas.
Top Tip! When visiting ancient Rome, make sure you also climb up to the top of the Palatine hill, just above the Forum.
The climb is easy and the view at the top marvellous, you can even catch a view of St Peter’s Dome!
You can find here >>> my complete guide to the Palatine Hill and some photos that will show why I consider it unmissable.
The closest metro station to the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Campidoglio / Piazza Venezia is: Colosseo.
Climb to the top of the Capitoline Hill
After the Colosseum, I recommend you start walking to the historic center, which is where you’ll spend the afternoon/
From the Colosseum / Roman Forum, you will first walk to Piazza Venezia, where you will encounter Il Vittoriano, aka the Altar to the Fatherland.
The Vittoriano is open to the public and you can climb to its second terrace for free. however, I recommend you instead walk few extra minutes to walk up the next hill, the Campidoglio (Capitoline Hill one of the most scenic locations in the whole of Rome.
Campidoglio is one of the seven hills of Rome and it is worth a visit on several accounts.
As you climb up, you first notice the beautiful Renaissance Square, Piazza del Campidoglio.
Designed by Michelangelo, it is one of the most beautiful squares in Rome and it hosts a the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, one of the most important statues in Rome (it is a replica, the original is in the Capitoline Museums, on the same square).
Behind the piazza, you find a panoramic terrace with breathtaking views over the Forum, one of the best photo spots in Rome!
Day one afternoon: Rome historic center
At this point, you find yourself in Rome historic center, aka the area you normally see in photos of Rome, the area with cobbled streets, churches at every corner and open air museum feel that is so typical of the city.
You can honestly spend a full week in this area alone and not be done, but the area is also small enough that if you know what to look out for, you can see a lot of the top sites it hides in the space of an afternoon. To make the most of your time, I recommend you follow this Rome city center walking itinerary here, which leads you to Trevi, Pantheon, Navona and more.
Aperitivo and dinner
After all your heard work, I recommend you have aperitivo at the fantastic Divinity Terrace at the iconic Pantheon Hotel, one of the best rooftop terraces in Rome and the sit down for a well deserved meal.
Coffee, lunch and dinner ideas for day 1
Near the Colosseum: Cafe Cafe for coffee near the Colosseum; La Naumachia for sit down lunch
Near the Pantheon: Pandali for a light lunch; Alice Pizza for pizza by the slice; Poldo e Gianna for a sit down meal; La Ciambella for a special dinner
Good to know! If you haven’t seen the Trevi Fountain by golf cart or during the walk above, you can see it after dark now. While busy, it is one of my favorite things to do in Rome at night as the fountain lit up is really cool.
2 days in Rome itinerary – Day 2 morning: the Vatican
I believe the morning of your second day in Rome should be devoted to St Peter’s Square, Basilica and the Vatican in general.
This is a gorgeous part of the city and I recommend planning a full morning to see it or ideally most of the day. How to go about it depends on what you want to see, budget and anergy levels.
At a glance, you can:
- See St Peter’s Square and Basilica only – this would only take about 2 hours or so
- See the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel (2-3 hours)
- See all of the above – which will take a full morning or more.
To help you decide what to see and how, I recommend you read my full guide to visiting Vatican City here. My top recommendation is to visit all, but to do it with the tour, which makes it informative, easy and time efficient. My favorite tour is this one: what I love about it is that you have a guide that is just for yourself (or for a maximum of 6 people, if you opt for the semi private version of the tour) and go through the museum quite swiftly without compromising on quality of the visit/
Please be advised that the Vatican enforces a dress code for visitors to both basilica and museums: you can find here >>> the dress code for the Vatican
Good to know: if you don’t feel like tackling the Vatican Museums, you can still enjoy a day at the Vatican. This is my guide to things to do in Vatican City that are not the Vatican Museums.
A fun fact: Vatican City is an independent state and walking into it means you are crossing an international border. There is no border control but few things give it away; the Swiss guards, protecting the Vatican in their colorful uniforms, and the Vatican post boxes. They are yellow, while those in Rome are red!
Day 2 afternoon – Borghese Gardens, Piazza di Spagna, Trastevere
A morning at the Vatican often means a lot of time indoors, so I always like to balance it with some time outdoors.
A lovely way to get some fresh air and still see Rome is to get a taxi and head to the Borghese Gardens, a monumental park in Rome city center with stunning views over the city. You can enter the park form different entrances but I recommend you ask the taxi to leave you close to the Pincio Terrace, which offers stunning views over Rome.
After you have filled your eyes with beauty and have taken in the fresh air, I recommend you take the short stroll from Pincio to Piazza di Spagna, where you find the famous Spanish Steps.
Coming from Il Pincio, you arrive to the steps form the top, which means you get again stunning views and also, you don’t have to climb the steps up but more leisurely walk down! The steps are wonderful to see and, once at their basis, you find yourself back in Rome city center and, if you chose one of the hotels, mentioned above, close to home!
Dinner – Trastevere or Testaccio
For your dinner in Rome, I recommend a last effort and a walk or a taxi ride to Trastevere. Trastevere used to be away mentioned as ‘real local Rome’ and a ‘place for foodies’ and I’ll be honest, this is vastly not the case anymore (it is so overrun, for the most part!) but I still recommend it because it is different in atmosphere from the rest of Rome you’ve seen so far and still has lovely streets and restaurants worth trying. Depending on what you like, La Gattabuia, Antica Pesa and Taverna Trilussa are all famous and deservedly so. If you prefer not to tackle the masses, a lovely alternative is Testaccio: Felice a Testaccio has the best cacio e pepe in Rome and is a wonderful address for a last night in the city.
Coffee, lunch and dinner ideas for your second day in Rome
Near the Vatican: Cresci cafe (coffee, pastries, light lunch), Forno Feliziani (pizza by the slice, quick bites), Romane’ for a full sit down meal.
In Trastevere: La Gattabuia, Taverna Trilussa, Antica Pesa
In Testaccio: Felice a Testaccio
Two days in Rome: travel tips
Make sure you book in advance both the Colosseum and the Vatican, if visiting.
Wear comfortable shoes – you can find my recommended shoes for Rome here.
Wear comfortable yet modest clothing if you want to visit churches – most do not enforce a dress code but many do. Avoid very short shorts and revealing tops if church hopping is on the agenda.
Allow yourself to get lost! While I have given here a detailed itinerary, I highly recommend you also stray from it.
This itinerary is suitable for all travellers who don’t mind walking. If you are visiting with kids, however, I recommend you read our recommended 2 days Rome itinerary for families instead.
As you will see, most areas mentioned here are close to each other and you won’t stay lost for long!
I hope you enjoyed this Rome 2 days itinerary and it helped answer the question: how can I see Rome in two days?
Rome in 2 days packing list – FREE Printable!
Download you free printable packing list here!
Rome in 2 days itinerary – Pin this!
