Is Rome expensive?

How to spend less in Rome

• Come in January. In our sample, the median 4-star price for January nights was €76 (47 prices). For May it was €215 (39 prices). Google shows a different mix of hotels on each date, so part of the gap is the hotel mix.
• A 3-star hotel is often enough. Across the 11 sampled months, 3-star rooms cost a median €81 a night, against €113 at 4-star.
• Tuesday was cheaper than Saturday at 5-star. At 5-star hotels, the same room cost a median 6.8 % more for a Saturday night than for the Tuesday night before it (301 pairs). At 4-star hotels we found no Saturday premium. We did not price other weekdays.
• Eat where Romans eat lunch. Published prices point to about €10 for a simple lunch and €25 for a trattoria meal. The sources range from €5 to €40, as the table shows. Espresso at the bar is listed at €0.90 to €1.
• Buy a plain transit pass first. The 72-hour ATAC pass costs €22. The 72-hour Roma Pass costs €63, so it only pays off if you use its museum entries.
• Mix paid sights with free ones. A Vatican Museums ticket or tour has a median from-price of €47. St. Peter's Basilica, the big squares and many churches with famous art cost nothing.

Flights are not part of this study. All totals cover what you spend once you land in Rome.

Rome hotel prices by month

In our sample, a hotel room for two in Rome cost a median €81 a night at 3-star, €113 at 4-star and €445 at 5-star.

On 25 October 2026 we read 2,156 nightly prices of 472 hotels on Google Hotels, for stays from November 2026 to September 2027. Each price is for one room and two adults. We left out 12 hostels and campsites. The prices come from Google's list of up to 60 hotels per night, not from every hotel in Rome. A 3-star month rests on 32 to 54 prices, a 4-star month on 39 to 50. The 5-star figures come from a separate 5-star search. We did not check whether prices include taxes or breakfast.

€105 Nov

€79 Dec

cheapest €76 Jan

€132 Feb

€104 Mar

€112 Apr

dearest €215 May

€121 Jun

€118 Jul

€90 Aug

€139 Sep

By month and star class

For 4-star rooms, January had the lowest median in our sample, at €76 a night, and May the highest, at €215. The hotels in Google's list change from date to date, so read each star class on its own.

About these numbers

Medians per room per night for 2 adults, as Google Hotels listed them. Each month rests on one Tuesday and one Saturday night. We read the months 23 to 324 days ahead. October is not in the sample. “Cheapest” and “dearest” mean the lowest and highest median in this sample.

Saturday against Tuesday

How we compared weekends

For each pair, we priced one hotel for a Saturday night and for the Tuesday before it. Saturdays cost a median 4.4 % more at 3-star and 6.8 % more at 5-star. At 4-star the median difference was 0 %.

Hotels worth a look (ratings from Booking.com)

• Centro Storico Hotel Albergo Santa Chiara

  Hotel by the Pantheon, 200 metres from Largo Argentina and a 5-minute walk from Piazza Navona.

• Monti Nerva Boutique Hotel

  Boutique hotel in Rione Monti, steps from the Colosseum, with a bistro and bar in the lounge.

• Prati Relais Roma Vaticano - METRO station Ottaviano

  Hotel on Via degli Scipioni in Prati, a 3-minute walk from the Vatican Museums.

• Trastevere Trastevere Roma | UNA Esperienze | Preferred Hotels and Resorts

  Four-star hotel on Via Emilio Morosini in Trastevere, with a terrace, lounge and 24-hour front desk.

These hotels rate 8 or more on Booking.com. Where our sample holds no price for a hotel, we show none. Where you stay changes the price. In our sample, a 4-star room for two cost a median €189 a night in the historic centre, €143 in Termini and Monti and €90 outside the centre. Each area has its own mix of hotels, so this shows where Google's list was cheaper, not the same room for less. We placed each hotel by its map position, so the areas are rough. The centre rests on 63 prices from 29 hotels. Prati, by the Vatican, had too few 4-star prices to compare. The centre lets you walk to the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. Termini has the main station and the airport train. Further out, pick a hotel near a metro stop. Our guide to where to stay in Rome lists well-rated hotels in each area.

Booking.com ratings and hotel notes as shown on 25 October 2026.

How much food costs in Rome

Published prices for a meal in Rome run from about €5 for a cheap meal to €12 to €40 at a trattoria. The two fine-dining examples we found were €90 and €180 per person.

We did not measure these prices ourselves. Travel guides, food-tour companies and restaurant booking sites publish them, and we quote each one word for word with its source.

Drinks

Expect to pay about €0.95 for an espresso at the bar, €5.50 for a glass of wine and €2 to €5 for a beer.

The calculator leaves out breakfast and drinks. Many hotels include breakfast, and the city's drinking fountains (the nasoni) give free water.

Free things to do in Rome

Many of Rome's best sights cost nothing: St. Peter's Basilica, the great squares, the parks and many churches full of famous art.

• Free St. Peter's Basilica

  Entry to the church is free. Expect a security line. The climb to the dome costs extra.

• Free Piazza Navona and the Spanish Steps

  Two of the city's great public spaces. You may walk the Spanish Steps, but city rules ban sitting on them.

• Free San Luigi dei Francesi

  This church near Piazza Navona holds three paintings by Caravaggio, and entry is free.

• Free Villa Borghese gardens

  The park is free to walk. The Borghese Gallery inside it is not, and it needs a booking.

• Free The Janiculum hill

  A short climb from Trastevere gives a wide view over the domes of the old center.

• Free, last Sunday of the month Vatican Museums

  Entry is free on that morning, but not on some holidays. Lines are very long, so check the official hours before you go, or pay on another day.

Tourist tax, transit passes and the airport train

The calculator uses the 4-star rate for every style. Rome charges less per night at simpler hotels and more at 5-star hotels. The rate table we found is not this year's, so the rate may have changed. Ask your hotel for its current rate.

Is the Roma Pass worth it?

Only if you visit paid museums. The 72-hour Roma Pass costs €63, while the ATAC 72-hour ticket costs €22. Your first two entries must be worth more than €41 together to make up the difference. After those, the pass gives a discount, not free entry.

Card prices from the official seller, Musei in Comune di Roma, read 25 October 2026. Transport worth is the price of the ATAC 48-hour ticket (€15) and the ATAC 72-hour ticket (€22). The 72-hour pass includes your first two museum or site entries, the 48-hour pass your first one. Check which sites take it before you buy.

Sources