Walk 7 - Trastevere to Capitoline Museums & Roman Forum

Self-guided walk for independently minded visitors

'She Wolf': can be found at the Capitoline Museums, Rome

Trastevere to Capitoline Museums walk route

Trastevere is a delightful district, renowned as a restaurant area where you will get glimpses of the “real” Rome.

In a short distance you will cross the River Tiber, pass churches you can visit, walk through archeological remains and visit the Capitoline Museums (and all the other attractions in the immediate vicinity of Capitoline Hill).

Although the walk is written starting from Trastevere, it is very easy to use the page to go in the opposite direction.

For further visitor information on the Capitoline Museums see our pages Visiting the Capitoline Museums and Visiting the Roman Forum, Rome.

The length of this walk is relatively short, crudely about 2 km or just over a mile, if you walked it without stopping at a brisk pace it would be only around 30 minutes.

However, this is the ancient centre of Rome, where every turn, nearly every building is of interest. The beauty of doing this walk independently is you take it at your own pace and take as long as you like.

Sightseeing in Rome
Most visited sights in Rome
Colosseum	St Peter's
Roman Forum	Vatican Museums
Spanish Steps	Trevi Fountain
The Pantheon	Borghese Gallery
Capitoline Museum	Basilica di San Giovanni
Piazza Navona	Baths of Caracalla
Appian Way	Ostia Antica
Rome's best ...
Museums & galleries	Churches & temples
Catacombs
Rome sightseeing
Tourist passes
Hop-On buses	Walking routes
Rome tours
Colosseum	Vatican
Rome in 1 day	Rome by night
Walking tours	Rome by bike
Private tours
Day trips from Rome
Pompeii	Florence

Leonardo Express Rome Airport Fast Train To city Centre

Rome Fiumicino Airport Private Car Service

Rome
sightseeing

Main sights Rome

Rome's best ...

Rome sightseeing

Rome tours

Day trips from Rome

The aim of this page is to focus on the logistical aspects and give sufficient information in the form of text and images so that you can get a good idea of what to expect and allocate in terms of time.

Do get a good guide book and do pick up a detailed street map, many of the free street maps given out by hotels are adequate. Probability is that you will be attracted by something just off the route described here and go off at a tangent, all part of the fun of exploring the ancient centre and making your own discoveries.

Both Trastevere and the Capitoline Hill are points where you can link in with our other walks linking the major sights of Rome.

Walk 1 - A circuit of Villa Borghese

Walk 2 - Spanish Steps to Trevi Fountain

Walk 3 - Trevi Fountain to the Pantheon

Walk 4 - The Pantheon to Trastevere via Piazza Navona

Walk 5 - The Pantheon to Vatican City via Piazza Navona

Walk 6 - A walk above and around Trastevere

Walk 7 - Trastevere to Capitoline Hill & Museum

Walk 8 - The Pantheon to Colosseum via Roman Forum & Capitoline Hill

Walk 9 - The Appian Way (outside Rome City Centre)

Trastevere to Capitoline Hill direction

With your back to the main entrance of Santa Maria in Trastevere church and square, the main visitor attraction in Trastevere make your way to the exit on far left of the piazza in front of you.

Follow Via della Lungaretta eastwards ignoring all turn-offs. This passageway is lined with restaurants until you come to a main road after about 200m. Taking care cross over to the Via della Lungaretta that continues directly opposite and keep going straight in an easterly direction where after about another 250m the Via della Lungaretta ends at the small Piazza Castellani next to the River Tiber.

Turn left and then directly opposite take care to cross the main road and cross the Ponte Cestio bridge to Tiber Island.

Outline map of walk between Trastevere and Capitoline Hill

Pass San Bartolomeo church on your right on the island and continue straight over to exit the island to the north shore of the River Tiber.

Portico of Ottavia archeolgical site Rome

Archeological site: take path through Portico of Ottavia

The Cordonata Up To The Capitoline Museum

The Cordonata: steps to the Capitoline Museums

Take care using the pedestrian crossing to cross the busy road and continue down the road directly opposite (Via del Portico d'Ottavia) that immediately kinks left.

Around 100m down Via del Portico d'Ottavia just before the road bends left again you will be attracted to viewing platforms with information boards and ruins on your right.

Portico of Ottavia is an archeological site open between 9am to 6pm daily and is free to enter.

Look for steps heading down from the walkways and at the bottom follow the path heading eastwards through the site. The path eventually exits onto the busy Via del Teatro di Marcello. Turn left and in your own good time cross over to the other side of the wide road.

As the road bends left into a busy gyratory system with a bus station in its middle you cannot fail to notice the two flights of steps on the right. The one to the right (The Cordonata, pictured here) goes directly up to the Capitolone Museums on Capitoline Hill, the end of our walk.

Capitoline Hill to Trastevere direction

Starting in front of the Capitoline Museums descend the stairs (The Cordonata, pictured here) down to the main road, (Via del Teatro di Marcello) and turn left.

In your own good time cross over to the other side of the road before the road swings left about 150m down the road.

On your right you will see the entrance to the Portico d'Ottavia an archeological site open between 9am to 6pm daily and free to enter.

Follow the path into the site down into the ruins, the path bends right into a westerly direction. At the end of the path with information boards climb the stairs up to the Via del Portico d'Ottavia road above.

Turn left at the Via del Portico d'Ottavia and follow for about 200m to its end at a main road with the Ponte Cestio pedestrian bridge opposite over to Tiber Island. Cross using the pedestrian crossing and cross the bridge to the island passing the San Bartolomeo church on your left then over the second bridge to the south bank of the River Tiber.

When you exit the Pont Cestio bridge from Tiber Island, turn left and immediately cross over the road to enter a small square, Piazza Castellani opposite. Take the first road right off the square, Via della Lungaretta that heads west. Via della Lungaretta is pretty straight and if you keep to it will eventually take you to the end point of the walk Piazza San Maria after crossing a main road around mid-way.

Popular tours & tickets in Rome

Vatican Museums Tours & Fast Track Tickets

Vatican Museums Fast Track Tickets €27.00

Fast track admission to Vatican Museum

Vatican Museums Fast Track Tickets + Audio Guide €39.90

Fast track admission to Vatican Museum with Audio Guide

Vatican Museums Fast Track Tickets + Early Entrance €56.00

Fast track admission to Vatican Museum before public opening

Vatican Museums Fast Track Access With Coach Transfers €60.00

Tour in English plus hotel pickups

Vatican Museums Private Tours With Fast Track Access Prices vary on numbers

Your own personal guide for your own grouo of 1 to 9 people