Best Museums in Rome
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From the classic National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia and National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, to lesser-known spots worth adding to your trip.
★ 4.7 · 4,511 reviews
Step into Villa Giulia, a Renaissance pope's country retreat turned home to the world's finest Etruscan collection. Marvel at the terracotta Sarcophagus of the Spouses, browse centuries of bronzes, jewelry, and tomb goods, then wander the villa's quiet courtyards and gardens.
★ 4.6 · 11,050 reviews
Discover the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in its grand Beaux-Arts palazzo near Villa Borghese. Wander spacious, uncrowded galleries tracing Italian art into modernism, with works by Klimt, Cezanne, and Van Gogh alongside contemporary exhibitions.
★ 4.6 · 30,270 reviews
Step into Cardinal Borghese's 17th-century villa for a two-hour window with one of the finest small art collections anywhere. See Bernini's Apollo and Daphne and David up close, alongside Caravaggios, beneath frescoed, gilded ceilings.
★ 4.6 · 208,892 reviews
Explore one of the world's greatest museum complexes inside Vatican City. Wander through Raphael's Rooms and endless galleries before reaching the climactic Sistine Chapel, where Michelangelo's ceiling and Last Judgment await.
★ 4.7 · 7,363 reviews
Step into Scuderie del Quirinale, the former papal stables turned Rome's top spot for blockbuster art shows. Book ahead and spend a couple of hours exploring major touring exhibitions, from pharaonic treasures to master retrospectives, just steps from the Quirinal Palace.
★ 4.7 · 96,233 reviews
Step into the most famous painted room on earth. Look up to trace Michelangelo's Creation of Adam and the sweeping Genesis scenes overhead, then take in the Last Judgment covering the altar wall.
★ 4.5 · 10,477 reviews
Step inside Richard Meier's glass-and-travertine pavilion beside the Tiber to see Augustus's Altar of Peace up close. Study the intricately carved marble reliefs of the 2,000-year-old monument, then browse rotating exhibitions on painting and design.
★ 4.6 · 9,057 reviews
Step inside Palazzo Barberini, a Baroque palace built by Bernini and Borromini. Wander beneath Pietro da Cortona's dizzying ceiling fresco and stand before Caravaggio's Judith Beheading Holofernes, with far shorter lines than the Vatican.
★ 4.9 · 3,289 reviews
Step inside Galleria Colonna, a private princely palace that only opens its doors a few hours a week. Wander the mirrored, frescoed Sala Grande lined with ancestral portraits and Roman antiquities, one of the most theatrical rooms in Rome.
★ 4.7 · 110,399 reviews
Explore Castel Sant'Angelo, Hadrian's mausoleum turned papal fortress and prison. Wander ancient masonry and Renaissance apartments, trace the secret passage to the Vatican, and finish on the rooftop terrace for views over the Tiber and St. Peter's dome.
★ 4.7 · 9,619 reviews
Step inside Trajan's Market, widely considered the world's first shopping mall. Walk through genuine 2nd-century brick vaults and shop fronts, following ancient ramps and passageways with sweeping views over the excavated Imperial Fora below.
★ 4.7 · 8,467 reviews
Step into the Doria Pamphilj's still-private palace on Via del Corso, where the noble family who lives here narrates your visit. Wander gilded, salon-style rooms packed with Velazquez's Pope Innocent X, Caravaggio, and Titian, guided by a free audio tour full of personal family anecdotes.
★ 4.5 · 12,919 reviews
Discover MAXXI, Rome's bold answer to its own classical past. Wander Zaha Hadid's curving concrete galleries in Flaminio and explore rotating contemporary art and architecture exhibitions rather than a fixed collection.
★ 4.6 · 6,328 reviews
Explore Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, a quiet branch of the National Roman Museum right by Termini station. Wander uncrowded galleries of ancient sculpture, marvel at Livia's villa garden frescoes, and browse a rich collection of ancient coins.
★ 4.7 · 18,878 reviews
Step into the world's oldest public museum atop Michelangelo's Piazza del Campidoglio. See the iconic Capitoline Wolf, colossal fragments of Constantine, and the original bronze Marcus Aurelius across two palaces linked by an underground gallery.
★ 4.6 · 24,108 reviews
Explore Renzo Piano's scarab-shaped concert halls, one of Rome's boldest modern spaces. Catch a classical or contemporary performance, wander the open-air grounds, and duck into the free museum of Etruscan and Roman artifacts unearthed on-site.
★ 4.4 · 5,597 reviews
Discover Explora, Rome's hands-on museum made just for kids. Let little ones explore science exhibits, human body displays, and role-play scenarios during a timed 1 hour 45 minute session.
★ 4.6 · 3,267 reviews
Step into Villa Farnesina, the banker's riverside retreat tucked away in Trastevere. Wander beneath Raphael's playful frescoes in the Loggia of Psyche and admire the Triumph of Galatea, all without the crowds of the Vatican.
★ 4.7 · 5,653 reviews
Discover Centrale Montemartini, a decommissioned power station turned sculpture gallery south of central Rome. Wander among classical marble gods, portrait busts, mosaics, and grave goods set dramatically against blackened steam and diesel engines still fixed in place.
★ 4.5 · 7,568 reviews
Explore Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome's grand 19th-century exhibition hall on Via Nazionale. Wander through its Neoclassical interior to see whatever major art, photography, or design show is currently rotating through.
★ 4.4 · 4,956 reviews
Step into Leonardo da Vinci's mind at this hands-on museum near St. Peter's. Explore large-scale working models of his flying machines and war devices, seeing his sketches come to life beyond the page.
★ 4.5 · 5,002 reviews
Step into the Baths of Diocletian, once ancient Rome's largest imperial bathing complex and now home to the National Roman Museum. Wander the massive Roman ruins and Michelangelo's cloister, exploring clearly labeled epigraphic and protohistoric collections just steps from Termini station.
★ 4.6 · 3,502 reviews
Step inside Palazzo Altemps, tucked steps from Piazza Navona yet skipped by the crowds outside. Wander frescoed courtyards and dramatically lit rooms holding the Ludovisi collection, including the celebrated Ludovisi Throne.
★ 4.5 · 8,634 reviews
Step into Donato Bramante's tranquil Renaissance cloister just off Piazza Navona. Wander its elegant two-story arcades while exploring a rotating immersive exhibition, from floral displays to digital art installations, set against centuries-old architecture.
★ 4.5 · 5,148 reviews
Step inside Palazzo Braschi, a Neoclassical papal palace turned city-history museum. Wander through paintings, costumes, and urban planning documents charting Rome's transformation into a modern capital, plus rotating exhibitions on themes like historic gardens.
★ 4.4 · 1,416 reviews
Explore the Pigorini Museum's sweeping collection of prehistoric and ethnographic treasures in EUR. Browse calligraphy, ceramics, fossils, and decorative objects from civilizations across continents, with helpful staff on hand to guide your visit.
★ 4.1 · 939 reviews
Step onto the sound stages where Italian cinema was made at Cinecittà si Mostra. Walk past original sets, costumes, and props while tracing a century of filmmaking from Fellini's classics to today's productions.
★ 4.4 · 4,142 reviews
Step into Museo delle Illusioni Roma for a playful break near the Colosseum. Test out hands-on optical illusions and trick exhibits made for snapping fun, photogenic pictures with the whole family.
★ 4.5 · 2,300 reviews
Step into the quiet halls of the Napoleonic Museum inside Palazzo Primoli. Browse portraits, furniture, jewelry, and personal effects tracing the Roman Bonapartes, with a friendly in-house guide on hand to bring the family's story to life.
★ 4.4 · 864 reviews
Discover Museo Carlo Bilotti, tucked inside Villa Borghese park's historic Orangery. Wander this free, easygoing museum to see Giorgio de Chirico's Metaphysical paintings alongside rotating exhibitions, a relaxed stop between park strolls.
Rome · 🎨 Museum
National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia
2h
National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art
Galleria Borghese
Vatican Museums
3h
Scuderie del Quirinale
Rome · 🏛️ Landmark
Sistine Chapel
1h30
Ara Pacis Museum
1h15
Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica - Palazzo Barberini
Galleria Colonna
1h
Castel Sant'Angelo
Mercati di Traiano Museo dei Fori Imperiali
Galleria Doria Pamphilj
MAXXI - National Museum of 21st Century Art
National Roman Museum - Palazzo Massimo alle Terme
Capitoline Museums
Rome · 🎭 Entertainment
Auditorium Parco della Musica
Explora - Il Museo dei Bambini di Roma
1h45
Villa Farnesina
Centrale Montemartini
Palazzo delle Esposizioni
Leonardo Da Vinci Experience Museum
National Roman Museum, Baths of Diocletian
Museo Nazionale Romano, Palazzo Altemps
Cloister of Bramante
30 min
Museo di Roma - Palazzo Braschi
National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography "Luigi Pigorini"
45 min
Cinecittà si Mostra
Museo delle Illusioni Roma
Napoleonic Museum
Museo Carlo Bilotti
