{"id":929,"date":"2025-03-11T12:12:43","date_gmt":"2025-03-11T04:12:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gagner-des-cadeaux.org\/index.php\/2025\/03\/07\/hidden-rome-a-guide-to-the-citys-best-kept-secrets\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T09:56:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T01:56:07","slug":"hidden-rome-a-guide-to-the-citys-best-kept-secrets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gagner-des-cadeaux.org\/?p=929","title":{"rendered":"Hidden Rome: a guide to the city’s best-kept secrets"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Rome is one of the world\u2019s most visited tourist destinations and its most popular attractions receive millions of visitors each year. Thankfully though, the city is so packed with world-class museums, churches and gardens that it\u2019s easy to escape the crowds and find a little corner that\u2019s all your own. Here is our selection of Rome\u2019s finest hidden treasures and secret pleasures.<\/p>\n

Great basilicas<\/h3>\n

St Peter\u2019s Basilica receives up to 20,000 visitors a day. However, there are other great basilicas in Rome that are magnificent, huge and exquisite, yet have astoundingly little tourist traffic. For instance, take the Metro out a few stops to San Paolo Fuori le Mura (Via Ostiense 190), the third-largest church in Christendom, and you may well be the only visitor. It\u2019s humbling in its vast scale, mostly 19th century, with a 5th-century triumphal arch that dates from its original incarnation and medieval Cosmati mosaics in the cloister.<\/p>\n

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San Paolo Fuori le Mura. Image by Arnaldo Vescovo\/Archivio Arnaldo Vescovo \/ Mondadori Portfolio \/ Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another gloriously beautiful patriarchal basilica is that of San Lorenzo Fuori le Mura (Piazzale San Lorenzo) in the university district of San Lorenzo. Arguably one of Rome\u2019s loveliest churches, with a stark, haunting beauty, it receives just the occasional visitor, which only adds to its atmosphere.<\/p>\n

Heavenly gardens<\/h3>\n

However, if you\u2019re looking for a secret-feeling place closer to St Peter\u2019s, take a tour of the Vatican Gardens, open to the select few who have the foresight to book a week in advance. It\u2019s a chance to peek into the Vatican\u2019s rarefied world: these finely manicured gardens have an Alice-in-Wonderland ambience, styled with groomed symmetrical box hedges and grottoes.<\/p>\n

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The finely groomed Vatican Gardens. Image by John Harper \/ Photodisc \/ Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Baroque treasure trove<\/h3>\n

Crossing over to the other side of the Tiber River, as hordes mill around the Spanish Steps, walk a few paces from the madding crowd and you can visit the little-known Museo Missionario di Propaganda Fide. In a building designed by baroque masters Bernini and Borromini, this houses centuries-worth of fascinating bounty that priests have brought back from overseas, but also allows a chance to peep into Bernini\u2019s wood-lined library and Borromini\u2019s Chapel of the Magi.<\/p>\n

Super-cheap pasta<\/h3>\n

Also in the Tridente district, which glitters with designer shops, there are several other fabulous, little-known spots: for a cheap, delicious lunch, try the tiny pasta shop Pastificio (Via della Croce). On Monday to Saturday lunchtimes, from 1-3pm, they serve two fresh pasta dishes; a scattering of those in the know hang around waiting for the food to be freshly delivered. You can eat here for EUR4 \u2013 an incredible bargain in this upscale area.<\/p>\n

Bespoke leather bags<\/h3>\n

Other great hidden spots in Tridente are the district\u2019s several stuck-in-time leather artisanal workshops. For example, at Pelleteria Nives (Via delle Carrozze 16), tucked away on the first floor, you can have a custom-made bespoke bag, wallet or belt made to your exact specifications, at the fraction of the price of the designer glitz on sale in the surrounding stores.<\/p>\n

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Rome\u2019s best tiramisu<\/h3>\n

Then, if you\u2019re in need of the perfect pudding, then you should head over Via della Croce, just a street away. Near here is a place legendary in Rome, but which few tourists ever discover: Pompi. This is famous for Rome\u2019s finest tiramisu (which means \u2018pick me up\u2019) in flavours from classic to pina colada. Spot it by the crowds of young locals outside, lolling around their scooters, all tucking into the light-as-air dessert.<\/p>\n

Masterful gelato<\/h3>\n

However, you might prefer gelato, in which case you\u2019re advised to go to the master, Claudio Torc\u00e8 (Viale Aventino 59), who has a little-known franchise on the Aventino. This place rarely appears in guidebooks, yet local connoisseurs swear that this is Rome\u2019s best ice cream. It\u2019s certainly its most inventive, specialising in flavours such as celery, carrot and gorgonzola.<\/p>\n

Contemporary dolce vita<\/em><\/h3>\n

Trastevere, the vibrantly pretty district south of the Vatican, is everyone\u2019s favourite setting for an evening drink, with its gorgeous tangle of ochre and orange ivy-draped buildings. It\u2019s the perfect place to pass the time outside a bar, but can get extraordinarily busy, especially in summer. To escape the crowds and embrace Roman cool, walk a short way up the Gianicolo (Janiculum hill) to Il Baretto (Via Garibaldi 27), a beautifully designed place with a vintage feel, leafy terrace and plate-glass views over the neighbourhood. If you\u2019re hankering after a taste of Rome\u2019s contemporary dolce vita<\/em> (sweet life), then this is where to head.<\/p>\n

This article was first published in February 2012 and updated in April 2018.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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