What to do and see in Rome at Easter in 2024

Easter in Rome is an opportunity not to be missed. Depending on your interests, you can immerse yourself in a spiritual Easter by witnessing the evocative Via Crucis traditionally presided over by the Pope, or choose to tour the 7 churches. You can opt for an Easter in the open air in the fascinating archaeological sites of Rome, where in this period nature begins to awaken, or discover the many parks of Rome for an Easter Monday picnic or a bike ride. But if you are in Rome and want to try a bit of everything, you can also take advantage of Easter in the museums, many of which are also open on Easter Monday, with activities, guided tours and shows.

Given the great attraction that Rome has during the Easter period, it is a good idea to organize your trip in advance. Practical advice is to carefully plan the sites and museums you want to visit. In this regard, we suggest the Visit Rome Pass, a single card that includes entry to all the attractions we will tell you about and many others, unlimited access to public transport is also included.

For what to do and see at Easter 2024 in Rome we start from Holy Week, those days preceding Easter Sunday. Holy Week is full of important spiritual events, which in Rome become fascinating and engaging and which are truly worth taking part in. It starts from the first Sunday, Palm Sunday, when olive or palm twigs are blessed in all churches, which the faithful generally take home as a symbol of peace. If you want to participate in a celebration, we recommend choosing one of the oldest churches near the Colosseum: The Church of San Clemente. One of the most intense moments of Holy Week is the celebration of the Via Crucis at the Colosseum, presided over by Pope Francesco. The Way of the Cross is celebrated on Good Friday, the one before Easter, starting from 9.00 pm, you will see many candles being lit and following the procession. We advise you to arrive well in advance, even the Colosseum, like the other destinations, is included in the Visit Rome Pass.

While on Easter day in the Vatican you will have the opportunity to attend the mass celebrated by the Pope, in the splendid St. Peter's Basilica. All the liturgical events linked to Easter are experienced with much participation by the faithful and for the occasion many pilgrims and tourists arrive in city. Very suggestive, if you are interested in a spiritual itinerary, is the tour of the 7 churches of Rome, a pilgrimage practiced since the Middle Ages in the 7 most ancient and beautiful Basilicas of Rome, there is even a saying that says go around the seven churches  to mean a long tour. The 7 churches are: St. Peter's Basilica, the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, the Basilica of St. Sebastian Outside the Walls, the Basilica of St. Giovanni in Lateran, the Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, the Basilica of San Lorenzo outside the walls and the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.

A very suggestive idea for Easter 2024 in Rome is to visit the archaeological sites, to combine good weather and culture. There are many sites linked to Ancient Rome, here we suggest 3 that are worthy of note due to their large spaces and beautiful views. The Palatine and Fori Imperiali are certainly highly recommended, for a long walk with many breaks to observe the views and admire the villas of the most illustrious emperors, right on the top of the Palatino hill (one of the 7 hills of Rome).

The complex of the Baths of Caracalla is imposing and majestic, not far from the Palatine and Fori Imperiali. The Baths of Caracalla constitute one of the grandest examples of Imperial Baths, which have preserved the original structure to this day. During the summer, the open-air shows of the Rome Opera Theater take place in this evocative setting.

The last site we suggest is not less important, but it is decentralized. These are the excavations of Ostia Antica, the archaeological site is particularly interesting because you will have the opportunity to understand how a city of ancient Rome was structured, with shops, forum, theater, and houses, among which we have an example of insulae, which recall the idea of our current multi-apartment condominiums.

For museums in Rome during Easter you are spoiled for choice, surely if you don't know them yet we recommend a visit to the Vatican Museums, consider it a whole day. The Leonardo da Vinci Museum experience is interesting and fun, to touch all of Leonardo's inventions firsthand, the visit allows an interactive experience allowing you to see, touch and try various works, the audio guide is included in the entrance ticket.

For lovers of contemporary art, the MAXXI, museum of 21st century arts, presents a fixed collection and temporary exhibitions. The museum was designed by architect Zaha Hadid in 2010 and is also worth a visit for the building itself. A final quality suggestion concerns the circuit of Rome's civic museums, which during the Easter period offers many possibilities for guided tours and experiences in their spaces. The circuit includes various museums, both archaeological such as the Capitoline Museums, modern such as the Museum of Modern Art and scientific such as the Planetarium and the Zoology Museum, ideal if you are traveling with children. Enjoying a tour of Rome's museums at Easter is always an opportunity not to be missed.

We continue our overview of Easter in Rome 2024 by talking to you about Easter Monday, the day after Easter Sunday. Once upon a time it was customary to prepare beautiful baskets containing the leftovers from the previous day's large meals and go on cheerful picnics in the midst of nature. It will be tasty during this day to prepare a picnic and choose one of the countless parks of Rome, to enjoy nature and relax in the greenery. If you also want to combine relaxation with a bit of culture then what's right for you is choosing one of the large villas in Rome with kilometers of walks, within which there are also unusual museums.

We have chosen two villas for you, the first is the Rome villa by exception, 80 m2 of park with 8 entrances. Villa Borghese is home to numerous important buildings, among which we suggest a visit to the fascinating Borghese Gallery, the Canonica Sculpture Museum which was also the residence of the sculptor himself and the Orangery, the Carlo Biliotti Museum is a museum of Contemporary Art where you find Andy Warhol and Giorgio De Chirico exhibited.

The second villa that we want to offer you is a true Art Nouveau jewel waiting to be discovered and not too well known from the tourist routes, Villa Torlonia, located in the Nomentano district of Rome. The villa is also famous for being the residence of Benito Mussolini and the most recent of the Roman noble villas which later became public parks. Inside the gardens, a real rarity is the Serra Moresca with shiny polychrome windows and the elegant peperino structure, recalling the atmosphere of the past. The Serra and the adjacent Moorish tower are inspired, as the name suggests, by architectural and decorative models from the Arab world. Inside the tower there is a large helical staircase, the most intriguing room is the dining room on the top floor, where a large sofa once stood which at the right moment was raised by a metal winch to make room for a laden table coming up from the kitchens.

The last suggestion we want to give you on what to do and see at Easter 2024 in Rome is an alternative route, which will give you the opportunity to experience Rome on a bike, preferably an electric bike one given that Rome can create difficulties due to its 7 hills with a bicycle without pedal assistance.

On board your bike you can choose different itineraries, one of the most interesting and easy is the Dorsale Tevere cycle path, which will allow you to cross the whole city alongside the Tiber with some small internal detours. If, however, you want to experience shorter routes we recommend cycling through Villa Borghese, which we told you about above, or the Appia Antica Regional Park. We wish you a happy Easter in Rome 2024!