Free self-guided walking tour of ancient Rome, from the Colosseum to the Spanish Steps

This free self-guided walk through the centre of Rome is about 6.3 km long, with about 1 hour 25 minutes of walking and 14 stops. It starts at the Colosseum and ends at the Spanish Steps. Every stop below has a short summary and a link to the source it is based on.

Distance and walking time come from the OpenStreetMap foot router (routing.openstreetmap.de), calculated along streets between the stops of Guidera's curated tour "Rome: The Ancient Empire".

What does the route look like?

The route starts at the Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine, passes the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum, climbs to the Piazza del Campidoglio, and continues past Trajan's Column and the Vittoriano to Largo di Torre Argentina, the Pantheon, Piazza Navona and the Trevi Fountain, ending at the Spanish Steps.

What will I see on this walk?

1. Colosseum

The Colosseum, just east of the Roman Forum, is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built and the largest standing amphitheatre in the world. Construction began under Emperor Vespasian in AD 72 and was completed in AD 80 under his son Titus. It was later named the Flavian Amphitheatre after the family name of the emperors who built it.

Source: Wikipedia: Colosseum

2. Arch of Constantine

The Arch of Constantine, between the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill, was commissioned by the Roman Senate to celebrate Constantine's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in AD 312. Dedicated in 315, it is the largest Roman triumphal arch, 21 m high and 25.9 m wide.

Source: Wikipedia: Arch of Constantine

3. Palatine Hill

The Palatine is the centremost of the seven hills of Rome and one of the oldest parts of the city. Emperors built their palaces here, starting with Augustus; before that it was home to the houses of the rich. Today it is largely an open-air museum.

Source: Wikipedia: Palatine Hill

4. Roman Forum

The Roman Forum was the heart of ancient Rome: a rectangular plaza surrounded by the ruins of important government buildings, used for processions, elections, public speeches and trials. Originally a marketplace, it lies in the small valley between the Palatine and Capitoline hills.

Source: Wikipedia: Roman Forum

5. Piazza del Campidoglio

Piazza del Campidoglio sits on top of the Capitoline Hill. Michelangelo designed the square in 1536. It is framed by the Palazzo Senatorio, Rome's city hall, and the two palaces of the Capitoline Museums.

Source: Wikipedia: Piazza del Campidoglio

6. Capitoline Museums

The Capitoline Museums are Rome's main civic museums, in the Palazzo dei Conservatori and the Palazzo Nuovo on either side of the square. The collection began in 1471, when Pope Sixtus IV donated statues including the Capitoline Wolf, and it opened to the public in 1734, which makes it the oldest public museum in the world. Highlights include the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius and the Dying Gaul.

Source: Wikipedia: Capitoline Museums

7. Trajan's Column

Trajan's Column in Trajan's Forum commemorates Emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars and was dedicated on 12 May 113 AD. It is famous for its spiral relief showing the wars, and stands about 35 m high including its pedestal.

Source: Wikipedia: Trajan's Column

8. Altare della Patria

The Vittoriano, or Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland), is a national monument to Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of a unified Italy. Designed by Giuseppe Sacconi, it was built between 1885 and 1935 between Piazza Venezia and the Capitoline Hill.

Source: Wikipedia: Victor Emmanuel II Monument

9. Largo di Torre Argentina

Largo di Torre Argentina is an open square with four Roman Republican temples and the remains of Pompey's Theatre. Julius Caesar was assassinated in the Curia of Pompey, and the spot where he is believed to have been killed is in the square. The name comes from the Torre Argentina, a tower named after Strasbourg, whose Latin name was Argentoratum.

Source: Wikipedia: Largo di Torre Argentina

10. Piazza della Minerva

Piazza della Minerva, near the Pantheon, takes its name from a temple to Minerva that Pompey built on the site. The church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva faces the square; inscriptions on its façade mark Tiber floods between 1422 and 1598, as this is the lowest area of Rome.

Source: Wikipedia: Piazza della Minerva

11. Pantheon

The Pantheon is an ancient Roman temple, rebuilt under Emperor Hadrian and probably dedicated around AD 126 on the site of an earlier temple by Agrippa. Since AD 609 it has been a Catholic church. It is perhaps the most famous and most architecturally influential rotunda.

Source: Wikipedia: Pantheon, Rome

12. Piazza Navona

Piazza Navona follows the long oval shape of the Stadium of Domitian from the 1st century AD, where ancient Romans watched games. In the 17th century it became a showcase of Baroque design, with work by Bernini and Borromini. The Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi stands in front of the church of Sant'Agnese in Agone.

Source: Wikipedia: Piazza Navona

13. Trevi Fountain

The Trevi Fountain, designed by Nicola Salvi and completed by Giuseppe Pannini in 1762, is the largest Baroque fountain in the world, 26.3 m high and 49.15 m wide. It marks the end point of the Acqua Vergine, the revived Aqua Virgo aqueduct of ancient Rome.

Source: Wikipedia: Trevi Fountain

14. Spanish Steps

The Spanish Steps are a monumental stairway of 135 steps between the Piazza di Spagna and the Trinità dei Monti church at the top. They were designed by the architects Francesco de Sanctis and Alessandro Specchi.

Source: Wikipedia: Spanish Steps

Can I do this walk with an audio guide?

Yes. This route is one of the curated tours in Guidera, the iPhone app I build ("Rome: The Ancient Empire", 14 stops). In Guidera, text stories are free (5 per day); audio narration and Walkman mode, which narrates each stop automatically as you walk, are part of Premium. You can stop and resume the tour where you left off. You can also download the tour and walk it offline: on the free tier one featured tour at a time, text only, after a short video; with Premium, up to 10 tours with audio. Map tiles aren't saved, so open the tour map once while online. Guidera runs on iPhone, not Android.

Sources

English Wikipedia articles, checked 1 October 2026: Colosseum, Arch of Constantine, Palatine Hill, Roman Forum, Piazza del Campidoglio, Capitoline Museums, Trajan's Column, Victor Emmanuel II Monument, Largo di Torre Argentina, Piazza della Minerva, Pantheon, Rome, Piazza Navona, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps. Route and distances: OpenStreetMap foot router, map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

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