The Best Tours in Rome for First-Time Visitors

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Customers are eating pasta on Rome Food Tour
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Rome Food Tour through Trastevere

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Rome, for all its beauty, elegance, and charm, is not the easiest city for first-time visitors. Fitting in trips to the Vatican, Colosseum, Pantheon and Trevi Fountain — just to name a few of the most famous — is no easy feat, even if they’re all within walking distance. 

Part of the problem is that there is simply so much to see in Rome. The trick is to be ruthlessly (but rationally) selective in what you do. When even locals say that you can spend a lifetime in Rome and barely scratch the surface, those only visiting for a few days have to be even more efficient with their time. But that doesn’t mean filling each day with two or three tours so you’re dead on your feet by the time you get to dinner. Deciding which tours to book, and which to leave for the next trip, is more important in Rome than for many other European cities.

Another big problem is availability. Unfortunately for you — but fortunately for us 😉 — you are not the only one planning to come to Rome. And with the effects of overtourism being felt throughout the Italian capital, booking Rome tours early is becoming more essential each year. Those who don’t often arrive to find there’s either no availability for the dates they’re in town or they have to shell out a small fortune for third-party tickets for the Colosseum or Vatican.

To help you get the most out of your time in the Italian capital, we’ve come up with a list of the best tours in Rome for full immersion in Roman history, culture, and cuisine. We’ll also be suggesting the order in which you take them (though of course you can deviate as you see fit).

Walking Tour of Rome’s Historic Centre

Walking tours are great activities to start with in any new city as they let you to get your bearings while offering the cultural and historical context that will serve you throughout your trip. Depending on what time you arrive — or when during the year you visit — you might want to book either a Daytime Rome Walking Tour or a Rome Night Walking Tour

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Stunning nighttime view of illuminated Colosseum exterior showcasing ancient Roman architecture during Carpe Diem Tours Rome evening sightseeing experience

Piazza Venezia

Colosseum by Night

ℹ️ Pro-tip: Walking tours are pretty effective antidotes to jetlag since they get you out of your hotel and into the sun. ✈️ 🕙 So book one for the day you arrive, get straight out there, and start ticking the highlights off your list. Your brain might feel like cotton wool but your circadian rhythms will thank you. 😉

So what do you see on a walking tour of Rome? Well, pretty much all the main highlights! You’ll visit the Spanish Steps, perhaps the world’s most famous flight of stairs where models would once pose hoping for talented artists to make them their subjects; the iconic Trevi Fountain, an ornate Baroque masterpiece of finely carved marble and aquatic statues and symbols; and the emperor Hadrian’s Pantheon, our best-preserved temple from the time of the Roman Empire. 

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Pantheon

Trevi Fountain

You’ll also visit Piazza Navona, an elongated square with Bernini’s cryptic fountain in the centre; Trajan’s Column, an imperial tomb and military monument from the early second century CE; and the Altar of the Fatherland, an enormous white neoclassical monument to the Unification of Italy (and an eyesore to some locals, a thing of beauty to others). And, in the distance, the city’s most iconic monument of all — the Roman Colosseum.

➡️ Book the Rome by Day Walking Tour

➡️ Book the Rome by Night Walking Tour

These walking tours are ideal for couples and families alike, and offer an insightful overview of the city in a short time (2 to 2.5 hours). And with a small group (around 15 people or fewer), you can ask all the questions you want, take photos, and truly engage with the experience.

🇻🇦Visiting Rome for Jubilee 2025? Check out our Jubilee Vatican Walking Tour

Colosseum Tour with Arena Access 

If you could only pick one ancient Roman monument to see during your trip to Rome, it would have to be the Colosseum. As spectacular by day as when illuminated at night, the Colosseum is the iconic symbol of Roman power. Enormous, imperious, and built around an arena where violence and spectacle reigned supreme. 

Now here’s the kicker. More than 12 million tourists visited the Colosseum in 2023, reflecting a broader trend of rising visitor numbers in Rome (the one exception being the 2020-2021 “Covid” years). Put simply, the Colosseum is getting busier, but it ain’t getting any bigger. So Colosseum ticket availability is becoming an issue, especially during high season. 

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Stepping out onto the Colosseum Arena Floor

Our brilliant guide, Paolo

This leaves visitors with three options for visiting the Colosseum. 1) Navigate the official website (much improved but still lacking clarity) to purchase a ticket. 2) Turn up on the day without one and leave it all to chance (not recommended as you’ll be standing in line for hours) Or 3) Book from a range of Colosseum tours that includes skip-the-line tickets

By far the best-value is the 3-hour Small-Group Colosseum Arena tour, which grants you special access straight onto the Colosseum’s arena floor through the Gladiator’s Gate. What makes this one of the best tours in Rome is that it gives you restricted-area access out onto the stage where their gladiatorial combats, wild-animal hunts, and perhaps mock naval battles played out before a baying mob of 50,000 Romans.

Group of tourists with professional guide exploring ancient Roman archaeological site and historical ruins during Carpe Diem Tours Rome educational experience
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The tour also includes a visit to the Palatine Hill – the birthplace of Rome — and the Roman Forum, the once-bustling center of Roman public life. You’ll walk the same roads as Julius Caesar, visit what is believed to be his tomb, and see the temples, arches, and basilicas that formed the heart of the empire.

➡️ Book your Colosseum Arena Tour

➡️ Enjoy Exclusivity with a Private Colosseum Arena Tour

ℹ️ Pro-tip: As the Colosseum is mostly outdoors and exposed to the elements, consider a morning or late evening tour if visiting in summer. Also make sure to bring sensible footwear and a refillable water bottle. (Rome is full of drinking fountains where you can fill up for free).

Rome Food Tour through Trastevere

Roman food enjoys a world-class reputation. 

The Eternal City was recently voted the best food city in the world for 2025, and when you consider just a few of its foodie offerings — pizza al taglio, rigatoni alla carbonara, spaghetti cacio e pepe and gelato — this reputation makes perfect sense.

Now here’s the catch. Rome is full of tourist traps selling reheated shop-packet pasta at hugely inflated prices. If you don’t do your research when planning where to eat in Rome, you’re likely to be caught out at some point during your trip. That’s why we recommend taking a food tour on one of your first days in Rome, to try all of Rome’s best-loved dishes and drinks and learn what to look out for and what to avoid. 


Our Rome Food Tour treats guests to an abundance of delicious treats, from supplì (gooey fried rice balls) and porchetta (slices of roast pork) to thin cuts of pizza al taglio (Roman-style pizza cut with scissors) and Roman pasta dishes. All accompanied with local Italian wine or soft drinks and ending, of course, with creamy artisan gelato

Plus, as you wander between bites, your guide will share delicious stories about Rome’s food culture – from the secrets of perfect pasta recipes to how locals shop at open-air markets each morning.

➡️Book a Small-Group Food Tour of Rome

➡️Book a Private Food Tour of Rome

Pasta & Tiramisu Cooking Class

Eating out in Rome’s restaurants is all when and good. But nothing tastes as good as food you’ve made yourself. A Roman cooking class is an excellent way to immerse yourself in Italian culture, learn recipes to impress friends and family back home, and meet other like-minded travellers. Oh, and all of this with plenty of prosecco or soft drinks throughout. 🥂 

The Pasta & Tiramisu Cooking Class is a delightfully interactive way to dive into Rome’s culinary traditions. In this 3.5-hour class, a professional Italian chef will teach you step-by-step how to make two of Italy’s most beloved recipes from scratch: fresh pasta (like fettuccine or ravioli) and the decadent dessert tiramisu.

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If you have never taken a cooking class before, the Pasta & Tiramisù Class is perfect for first-timers. Mascarpone cream and coffee infused tiramisù is one of Italy’s tastiest desserts, and making homemade fettuccine pasta from scratch is far easier than it looks. (Although the effort involved in needing will count towards your daily exercise). The low difficulty level of these two recipes also makes this cooking class fantastic for families. Kids love the chance to play chef (and maybe sneak tastes of sweet cream or pasta dough). 

ℹ️Tailor your cooking class: For couples or groups of friends, try a Spritz & Spaghetti Class. It’s kinda like the Pasta & Tiramisù class’s boozy brother, where you’ll learn to make a range of Italian cocktails alongside your homemade pasta dishes.  

Yes, that’s right – after all the cooking, you’ll sit down with your classmates to enjoy a full dinner of your own pasta dish followed by tiramisu for dessert. A selection of wine (and soft drinks for the little ones) is typically included to toast your newfound cooking prowess.

➡️Book a Small-Group Pasta & Tiramisu Cooking Class

➡️Book Your Private Pasta & Tiramisù Class

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Alexander Meddings
Check iconVerified Writer
Alexander Meddings is a professional copywriter and postgraduate in Roman history from the University of Oxford. After graduating with his MPhil, he moved to Florence and then Rome to carry out his research on the ground and pursue his passion at the source. He now works in travel, as a writer and content consultant, and in education as a university lecturer and translator.
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