A short guide to the most important and famous museums in Rome, showing some of the most important Italian and international art masterpieces.

Vatican museums

Viale del Vaticano, tel. 0669883860, mv.vatican.va. Not only the Sistine Chapel but also the Egyptian and Etruscan collections and the Pinacoteca. Mon-Sat 09.00-18.00. Sun (and bank holidays) closed except last Sun of month (free entry, 08.30-12.30). All times refer to last entry. For group tours of the museums and Vatican gardens tel. 0669884667. For private tours (museum only) tel. 0669884947. Closed 26 December and 6 January, Easter Sunday and Monday. Advance booking online: www.biglietteriamusei.vatican.va.

Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums

Tel. 0669881814, www.vatican-patrons.org. For private behind-the-scene tours in the Vatican Museums.

Bramante Staircase, exit stairs from Vatican City

State museums

Baths of Diocletian

Viale Enrico de Nicola 78, tel. 0639967700, www.archeoroma.beniculturali.it. Part of the protohistorical section of the Museo Nazionale Romano in the Baths of Diocletian plus the restored cloister by Michelangelo. 09.00-19.45. Mon closed.

Borghese Museum

Piazzale Scipione Borghese (Villa Borghese), tel. 06328101, www.galleria.borghese.it. Sculptures by Bernini and Canova, paint­ings by Titian, Caravaggio, Raphael, Correggio. 09.00-19.30. Mon closed. Entry times at 09.00, 11.00, 13.00 15.00, 17.00. Guided tours in English and Italian.

Castel S. Angelo Museum

Lungotevere Castello 50, tel. 066819111, www.castelsantangelo.com. Emperor Hadrian’s mausoleum used by the popes as a fortress, prison and palace. 09.00-19.00. Mon closed.

Castel Sant’Angelo, Ponte Sant’Angelo and River Tiber

Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine 

Colosseum: Piazza del Colosseo. Palatine: entrances at Piazza di S. Maria Nova 53 and Via di S. Gregorio 30.

Roman Forum: entrances at Largo Romolo e Remo 5-6 and Piazza di S. Maria Nova 53, tel. 0639967700, www.colosseo-roma.it. 08.30-19.15. Single ticket gives entry to the Colosseum and the Palatine (including the Museo Palatino; last entry one hour before closing). Guided tours in English and Italian.

Roman Forum in Rome

Crypta Balbi

Via delle Botteghe Oscure 31, tel. 0639967700, www.archeologia.beniculturali.it. Museum dedicated to the Middle Ages on the site of the ancient ruins of the Roman Theatre of Balbus. 09.00-19.00. Mon closed. Guided tours in Italian.

Etruscan Museum at Villa Giulia

Piazza Villa Giulia 9, tel. 063226571,

villagiulia.beniculturali.it. National museum of Etruscan civilisation. 08.30-19.30. Mon closed.

Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna

Viale delle Belle Arti 131, tel. 06322981, www.gnam.beniculturali.it. 08.30-19.30. Mon closed.

MAXXI

Via Guido Reni 6, tel. 063210181, www.fondazionemaxxi.it. National Museum of 21st-century art, designed by Zaha Hadid. Tues-Sun 11.00-19.00, Thurs and Sat 11.00-22.00. Mon closed.

Palazzo Corsini

Via della Lungara, 10, tel. 0668802323, www.galleriaborghese.it/corsini/en. National collection of ancient art, begun by Rome’s Corsini family. 08.30-19.30. Tues closed.

Museo Nazionale d’Arte Orientale

Piazza Guglielmo Marconi 14, www.pigorini.beniculturali.it. Interesting national collection of oriental art with some special exhibitions from its own collection and special loans.

Palazzo Altemps

Piazza S. Apollinare 46, tel. 0639967700, www.archeoroma.beniculturali.it. Ancient sculpture from the Museo Nazionale Romano, including the Ludovisi collection. 09.00-19.45. Mon closed.

Palazzo Barberini

Via delle Quattro Fontane 13, tel. 064824184, www.galleriabarberini.beniculturali.it. National collection of 13th- to 16th-century paintings. 08.30-19.30. Mon closed.

Palazzo Massimo alle Terme

Largo di Villa Peretti 1, tel. 0639967700,

www.archeoroma.beniculturali.it. Important Roman paintings, mosaics, sculpture, coins and an­tiquities from the Museo Nazionale Romano, including the Kircherian collection. 09.00-19.45. Mon closed.

Villa Farnesina

Via della Lungara 230, tel. 0668027268, www.villafarnesina.it. A 16th-century Renaissance villa with important frescoes by Raphael. Mon-Sat 9.00-14.00 excluding holidays.

City museums

Centrale Montemartini Art Centre  

Via Ostiense 106, tel. 060608, en.centralemontemartini.org. Over 400 pieces of ancient sculpture from the Capitoline Museums are on show in a former power plant. 09.00-19.00. Mon closed. Guided tours in English for groups if reserved in advance.

Capitoline Museums

Piazza del Campidoglio, tel. 060608, en.museicapitolini.org. The city’s collection of ancient sculpture in Palazzo Nuovo and Palazzo dei Conservatori, plus the Tabularium and the Pinacoteca. 09.00-20.00. Mon closed. Guided tours for groups in English and Italian on Sat and Sun.

Via Francesco Crispi 24, tel. 060608, www.museiincomuneroma.it. The municipal modern art collection. 10.00-18.00. Mon closed.

MACRO

Via Nizza 138, tel. 060608,

www.en.museomacro.org. The city’s collection of contemporary art, plus temporary exhibition space. 10.30-19.00. Mon closed. 

Mattatoio, Piazza Orazio Giustiniani 4, tel. 060608, www.museomacro.org. Open for temporary exhibitions 14.00-20.00. Mon closed.

Museo Barracco

Corso Vittorio Emanuele II 166, tel. 0668806848, www.mdbr.it. A collection of mainly pre-Roman sculpture. 09.00-19.00. Mon closed.

Museo Canonica

Viale P. Canonica 2 (Villa Borghese), tel. 060608, www.museocanonica.it. The collection, private apartment and studio of the sculptor and musician Pietro Canonica who died in 1959. 09.00-19.00. Mon closed. Guided tours in Italian and English (book ten days in advance).

Museo dei Fori Imperiali and Trajan’s Markets

Via IV Novembre 94, tel. 060608, en.mercatiditraiano.it. Museum dedicated to the forums of Caesar, Augustus, Nerva and Trajan and the Temple of Peace. 09.00-19.00. Mon closed.

Museo Napoleonico

Piazza di Ponte Umberto 1, tel. 060608, www.museonapoleonico.it. Paintings, sculptures and jewellery related to Napoleon and the Bonaparte family. 09.00-19.00. Mon closed. Guided tours in Italian and English.

Museo di Roma – Palazzo Braschi

Via S. Pantaleo 10, tel. 060608, en.museodiroma.it. The city’s collection of paintings, etchings, photographs, furniture and clothes from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. 09.00-19.00. Mon closed. Guided tours in English and Italian on prior booking tel. 0682059127.

Private museums

Casa di Goethe

Via del Corso 18, tel. 0632650412, www.casadigoethe.it. Museum dedicated to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. 10.00-18.00. Mon closed.

Doria Pamphilj Gallery

Palazzo Doria Pamphilj, Via del Corso 305, tel. 066797323, www.doriapamphilj.it. Residence of the Doria Pamphilj family, it contains the family’s private art collection, which includes a portrait by Velasquez, a sculpture by Bernini, plus works by Raphael, Titian, Tintoretto and Caravaggio. 09.00-19.00.

Galleria Colonna

Palazzo Colonna, Via della Pilotta 17, tel. 066784350, www.galleriacolonna.it. Private collection of works by Veronese, Guido Reni, Pietro di Cortona and Annibale Caracci. Sat 09.00-13.00 only. Private group tours are available seven days a week on request. For wheelchair access contact the gallery to arrange alternative entrance.

Keats-Shelley House

Piazza di Spagna 26, tel. 066784235, www.keats-shelley-house.it. Museum dedicated to the lives of three English Romantic poets – John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron. Mon-Fri 10.00-13.00, 14.00-18.00; Sat 11.00-14.00, 15.00-18.00. Guided tours on prior booking.