Ancient Rome's rough quarter, now its most relaxed.
In ancient Rome this was the Subura, the crowded, noisy, slightly dangerous district where the poor lived below the grand houses on the hills. Today it is a neighbourhood of small workshops, vintage shops and cafés, and it sits in a dip between the Colosseum and Termini station.
It is the part of the centre where people still live, and it shows. There are laundry lines and scooters, an old man on every bench, and not a single hotel porter in a hat.
What to see
Piazza della Madonna dei Monti
The neighbourhood's living room: a fountain, steps to sit on, and cafés on every side. Come for the morning coffee crowd or the aperitivo hour.
Via del Boschetto and the lanes around it
A narrow street of small shops and workshops, with plenty of side lanes to follow. It is quiet, and good to wander.
Down to the fora
From Monti it is a short walk down to the Imperial fora and the Colosseum, so a morning in the ruins pairs well with lunch up here, away from the ticket queues.
Where to eat
We name a place only when we have checked that it is still trading, and show the date. Where we have not, we tell you what to look for.
A bar with a counter at breakfast
What to look for
Stand at the counter, order a coffee and a cornetto, and pay at the till first. The bars around the square are full of locals until about nine.
A wine bar for aperitivo
What to look for
Several small wine bars around the piazza put out a plate of salumi and cheese with your drink in the early evening.
