Wednesday 21 April 2027 is Natale di Roma, the birthday of Rome. The city marks the anniversary of its founding on 21 April every year, with historical reenactments, a parade in ancient Roman dress and one famous shaft of sunlight at the Pantheon.
If you are in Rome for it, or timing a spring trip around it, this post covers the legend behind the date, how the day is celebrated, and how the first hour in Rome works.
What is happening
Rome’s birthday celebrates the foundation of the city. According to legend, affirmed by the ancient Roman scholar Marcus Terentius Varro, it was on 21 April 753 BCE that the brothers Romulus and Remus founded the settlement that became Rome, near the Tiber river where, in the story, they had been raised by a she wolf after being abandoned at its banks. You will see Romulus and Remus with the she wolf all around Rome, most famously at the Capitoline Museums.
The modern celebration fills the streets around the ancient center. Along Via dei Fori Imperiali, the broad avenue from Piazza Venezia to the Colosseum, a parade features actors and history enthusiasts dressed in ancient Roman clothing: soldiers, gladiators, politicians and Vestal Virgins. At the Circus Maximus there are further reenactments, ancient games and competitions including mock gladiatorial fights, watched well from the Belvedere Romolo e Remo overlooking the Circus, with the Palatine Hill, where Romulus is said to have founded the city, across the way. The main events typically take place on the Sunday after 21 April as well, to let more people enjoy them.
The quiet marvel of the day is at the Pantheon. At midday on 21 April, weather permitting, the sunlight shines directly through the oculus in the dome and illuminates the entrance door, an alignment the ancient builders constructed to occur precisely on this date in honor of Rome’s birthday. Rome’s birthday is not an official holiday now, so there are no official closures or travel restrictions to plan around; the city simply celebrates, and Rome’s Rose Garden also opens every year on 21 April.
Getting there after you land
The Leonardo Express is the reliable ride, nonstop to Roma Termini, the airport bus is the cheapest seat in, and the flat rate taxi covers the door to door trip inside the city walls. See our Fiumicino to Rome transfer guide for every option, priced and compared.
Airport busCheapest
The cheapest seat into Rome, run by SIT, Terravision and Cotral to Termini, and the slowest option when traffic builds.
Leonardo Express
Nonstop to Roma Termini every 15 to 30 minutes, immune to the road traffic that slows the bus and the taxi.
Taxi, flat rate
One flat price to anywhere inside the city walls from the official white taxi rank, worth it with heavy bags or three or more people.
The full first hour: Rome guide
The ride in, the first ticket and the first meal, plus where to stay in Rome.
Where to stay, and getting back
For a Splurge, Hotel de Russie, on Via del Babuino, is a storied luxury hotel between Piazza del Popolo and the Spanish Steps, built around a secret terraced garden that feels hidden from the city. For Sweet spot, Hotel Artemide, on Via Nazionale, is a polished four star a short walk from Termini and the Colosseum, with soundproofed rooms, a rooftop terrace and a small spa. For Budget, The Beehive, on Via Marghera near Termini, is a friendly, design conscious budget stay with dorms and private rooms and a garden cafe.
Termini is the practical base for an event trip: the Leonardo Express and the airport bus both end there, and the Artemide and the Beehive sit a short walk away. For getting back, ride the Leonardo Express out to Fiumicino, or take the flat rate taxi if your flight is early.
The first hour, sorted
Get connected before you fly: the guide names an Airalo eSIM for Italy, cheap plans that install in minutes, with Saily as a good alternative. A local SIM has to be registered to your passport under Italian law, so bring it. Free Wi-Fi is standard in cafes and most hotels.
Cards work in most places, including metro ticket machines. Keep 30 to 40 euros in cash for small bars, market stalls and the cover charge, the coperto, that appears on bills when you sit down; standing at the bar is cheaper and more Roman.
For a first meal, the guide sends you to a plate of carbonara and a suppli, a fried rice ball, at a lunch counter, followed by your first gelato of the trip. Roscioli is the carbonara benchmark and Trapizzino in Testaccio does street food properly. Book Colosseum and Vatican Museums tickets before you fly: it is the difference between walking in and queuing for two hours.
Rome rewards the traveler who plans the arrival and then lets the city take over. Browse the events calendar for what else is on while you are in town, and use plan your trip to line up the days around it.
The Colosseum, the food and the coast at Ostia, for the days around the event.
Get the Rome first hour checklist by email
The ride in, the first ticket and the first meal, in the Rome guide PDF you can read on the plane.
The checklist, free, from After You Land.
What else is on
The events calendar tracks every guided city, strikes and stoppages included.
Events calendarLine up the rest
Plan your trip pulls the guide, the stays and the bookings for this trip into one place.
Plan your trip