Rome apps: For many people, the Christmas holidays are an opportunity to treat themselves to a trip to discover a new city. Unlike summer, there is no sea, and the ski holiday usually starts with the New Year, so European capitals often remain a must for singles, couples and families. One city that knows no stopping in welcoming tourists is Rome, which will close in 2023 with around 35 million overnight stays, a trend growing by 9% compared to the 32 million recorded in 2022. The beauty of the landscape, the scent of history, the Pope and the countless churches, the genius of the best artists over the centuries, and a long list of places to enjoy represent an attraction that attracts people from all over the world.

With the technology available today, however, you can better plan what to do when you arrive at your destination. Choose places to visit, preview historical buildings thanks to the virtual tour, and discover AR/VR experiences to get to know previously unseen sides of some of the world’s most popular museums. So let’s see which apps to download to your smartphone always to have information and updates at your fingertips to ensure a trip to remember.

Moovit

Before figuring out what to put on your list of places to see, you need to know how to get there and, therefore, how to get around. In this sense, the app of reference in Rome and beyond is Moovit, which offers real-time information on public and private transport, incorporating all the different mobility options. Numbers, lines and timetables of buses, trams, metro, bike and car sharing to plan daily stops and avoid wasting time (sometimes a harbinger of surprises in Rome, because walking around the city and its alleys one can discover corners of history otherwise difficult to reach). This is a tip that applies in general, as Moovit offers mapping of 3,500 metro areas in 112 countries worldwide and an app available in 45 languages.

Musement– Rome apps

Conceptually similar to Moovit in bringing together a large volume of suggestions, this app offers an overview of the most famous and popular places for tourists and locals. It ranges from museums to temporary events, from guided tours to exclusive experiences, and also includes free initiatives and attractions for children. It should also be considered when there is no desire to book visits, as it allows you to get to know must-see places that may not have already been part of your itinerary. Musement’s catalogue includes more than 1,000 destinations in 80 countries. In the case of Rome, this ranges from discovering the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel to touring the Colosseum and Roman Forum, as well as strolling around the Fontana di Trevi and Piazza Navona to the marvellous Villa Borghese Gardens.

Rome Reborn 4.0

Travel back in time to ancient Rome, discovering the secrets of the city at the height of its urban development in 320 AD, before the capital of the Empire was moved to Constantinople. This is what Rome Reborn 4.0 is: the ideal app for history lovers and tourists who want to study history with the most accurate digital reconstruction ever made for a city of antiquity. More than 7,000 monumental buildings can be observed in their details, with now vanished decorations and monuments in their original version.

Designed by Bernard Frischer, Rome Reborn 4.0 is the result of historical research work that began in 1996. Among other options, it includes the 3D virtual tour ‘Flight Over Ancient Rome’, a unique and meaningful immersive experience that takes you back in time by flying over the city’s main sites, such as the Imperial Palace and the Basilica of Massenzio, from above. The app also allows you to listen to descriptions of 61 monuments, temples and buildings, comparing their appearance in ancient and contemporary times.

Time Travel Rome apps

Another must-have for lovers of history and archaeology, the app developed in Geneva by Pavla SA is dedicated to the Roman Empire and goes beyond the city because it brings together Roman works in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa with a catalogue of more than 5,000 sites and monuments, plus 300 ancient texts and no less than 10,000 photographs depicting the peculiarities of ancient Rome. There is also a map with the roads of the era, created by experts from the Mercator-E and AWMC research centres.

Virtual 3D Pantheon 

The list of places to see in Rome is long, but if there is one place that deserves to be visited, it is the Pantheon, a temple dedicated to the divinities of the past and characterised by its circular structure, with the opening of the dome at the top of the building that lets in the light from outside, giving very special lighting effects. To get an idea of the site, with just under 9 million visitors in 2019, it was the country’s most-visited Italian state museum. Easy to reach as it is located in the city centre, those who want to view it on laptops and smartphones before seeing it live can take advantage of the virtual tour offered on the Basilica di Santa Maria ad Martyres website, another name by which the building is known.