Why now
Good time in December: 14°C days.
Crowds are heavy from Easter through October and the major sites now run on timed tickets, so late autumn and winter outside the holidays are when the city is easiest to see. August is hot and many family-run restaurants close for the whole month.
Best months here: June, September, October. December is not one of them — the label above measures the month against a fixed bar, not against the rest of the year here. Daytime highs, sea temperature and rainy days from three years of Open-Meteo reanalysis; a rainy day is one with at least 1 mm of rain, which is the WMO threshold and not the same as "it drizzled".
The place
Rome is a working capital laid over two thousand years of ruins, and it makes no effort to separate the two: a bus stop beside a temple, washing lines above a Baroque fountain. It suits people who walk a lot and eat at odd hours; it wears down anyone trying to tick off sights on a schedule.
What you can do
- 01Book the Colosseum and Forum for the first entry slot, then walk the Palatine before the tour groups arrive.
- 02Eat cacio e pepe and carciofi alla giudia in Testaccio or the Ghetto, where the Roman kitchen is least diluted.
- 03See Caravaggio in the churches of San Luigi dei Francesi and Santa Maria del Popolo; bring coins for the lights.
- 04Walk the Appia Antica on a Sunday, when it is closed to cars, as far as the Villa dei Quintili.
- 05Visit the Galleria Borghese on a pre-booked two-hour slot: Bernini's marble, Caravaggio, and a cap on visitors.
Where to stay · neighbourhoods
Stay in Monti, Prati or around Piazza Navona for a first visit; avoid the streets immediately around Termini, which are convenient but charmless.
Unusual things
- ◦Centrale Montemartini, classical sculpture displayed among the turbines of a former power station on Via Ostiense.
- ◦The Non-Catholic Cemetery beside the Pyramid, with Keats' grave, Gramsci's, and a colony of well-fed cats.
- ◦San Clemente, a twelfth-century church over a fourth-century basilica over a Mithraic temple, descended by stairs.
Day trips
Flight options
Routes come from OpenFlights (historical) and a 2026 route reference compiled from public timetables. Durations are the published schedule where we have it, otherwise a block-time model fitted on measured nonstop flights. Verify schedules with the airline before booking.
Flight.Deals has not measured this route from Bari yet, but it does measure Rome from Athens (€116 typical).
Entry requirements · IT passport
Source: passport-index-data, March 2026 (coarse indicator), covering 258 of our 268 destinations for each of 199 passports. Always confirm with the destination's official site.
Airports
Distances are centre to airport derived · nonstop counts are our route reference for 2026, not every flight that exists.
Local transport
- Airport to city
- Leonardo Express train, 32 min, €14
- Car needed?
- No — walkable or good public transport
- Getting around
- The centre is walkable and the two useful metro lines skirt it rather than serve it; buses are frequent but unpredictable. The Leonardo Express train runs from Fiumicino to Termini in about 32 minutes.
- Clock
- Same time as Bari (Europe/Rome) derived
- Daylight
- 9.2 hours of daylight in December · sunrise 07:30, sunset 16:40 derived
- Currency
- EUR
Good to know
Pickpockets work the 64 bus and the metro around Termini; keep bags closed and refuse the friendship bracelets offered near the Colosseum.
Alternatives at a similar price
Whole trip per person for 4 days from Bari in December, then the flight time; estimates, like the total above.
Sharm El Sheikh
Riyadh
Cape Verde
Addis Ababa
Tenerife
Muscat