Christmas in Rome: This year, more than ever, Rome is ready to be the tourism capital. Not that this is news to the Romans, who are accustomed to welcoming tens of thousands of people every day, including art history enthusiasts and the curious attracted by the unique mix of monuments, food, and typicality of Italy’s leading city. Boosting the number of visitors will be the Jubilee, the Holy Year that the Catholic Church celebrates every 25 years. The official kick-off will take place on 24 December 2024, with the opening rite of the Holy Door of St Peter’s Basilica by Pope Francis. Estimates by the city administration and Church leaders speak of around 50 million tourists (compared to the 35 million recorded in 2023), a large part of whom will be pilgrims in Rome for the first time.

Christmas in Rome

For them and all the others who will choose the city as a holiday destination during the Christmas holidays, it is useful to prepare to make the most of the days and discover some of Rome’s many beauties. The Capitoline Museums and the Colosseum, as well as the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon, are as exceptional as they are popular sights. However, the city offers much more, and to know how to get around and not waste time, it is good to have a handful of apps with you to facilitate your visit.

I won’t mention globally popular apps such as Uber, TripAdvisor, Booking, Glovo and Google Maps, which are always useful no matter where you are. When it comes to planning travel in a city for a limited number of days, one must first understand how to get around and what options are available to save time. Also because Rome is not the best city in Europe to get around by public transport: there are only three metro lines, the buses are many but not always punctual, the traffic could be more reasonable, and the taxis sometimes prove insufficient for the demand of citizens and visitors.

Citymapper

It is an app that should be downloaded onto your smartphone immediately, as it allows you always to have city maps at your fingertips. Of course, Google Maps does its job well, but this is an easy-to-use app that provides all the transport options on one screen so you can immediately guess the shortest and cheapest solution. The good thing is that along with buses, metro, and trains, it also includes scooters, scooters, and electric bicycles, which are often the best means of transport for shorter journeys and where other means of transport cannot reach.

Probus Rome

Untangling oneself in the vortex of buses is arduous in Rome because the city is immense, and buses are almost the only means of transport that covers the entire territory. However, punctuality is not the best, so having an app that indicates arrival and departure times, delays, stops (there are more than 8000), connections, destinations closest to your location, the possibility of viewing the bus route and receiving real-time updates is ideal for wasting as little time as possible standing still instead of enjoying the city. All the data reported by Probus comes from Roma Mobilità, the city’s official public and private mobility app. Which provides the same information and, in addition, adds the areas and times when the ZTLs are active, restricted traffic zones where it is not permitted to drive your car.

MooneyGO and BIPiù

It is useful for making and paying for tickets for public transport. MooneyGo is the former MyCicero and allows you to easily buy tickets for buses, metro, trams, and local trains, which are validated in the app; it also allows you to pay for car parking and thus avoid going to shops to buy paper tickets. BIPiù is the alternative system to traditional payments on ATAC vehicles, the company that manages public transport in Rome, for purchasing and validating 100-minute tickets and season tickets.

Rome Travel Guide

Dante Alighieri said that the eyes are the window to the soul, but as well as seeing Rome, one must also understand it. That is why having an audio guide to discover the city’s secrets is useful. From history to monuments to city attractions, including places for a refreshing break, this app offers an extensive list of tours to listen to (some free, some for a fee), with the addition of 3D videos of the places you visit during your walk. Like almost all the apps mentioned, Rome Travel Guide consumes data traffic, so watch out for roaming; I advise buying an eSim on one of the many virtual shops (I use FlexiRoam), depending on the days and the amount of data traffic you want.

Rome Pocket Guide

The app that turns the iPhone into a tourist guide to discover topical moments and curiosities about the history of Rome. Find yourself in the exact spot where Julius Caesar was stabbed to death, discover the place where the English poet John Keats died, or find out why the typical Roman pavement was suddenly covered in hay but also where the recycled marble of the Colosseum ended up. Questions that are solved by this audio guide, which includes hundreds of stories, places and city attractions, not only about the Eternal City. The advantage is that this app also works offline, with a series of reviews that make it easier to choose places to eat. 

Trova Trails Rome

Launched by a British couple who have lived in Rome for 14 years, it is a must-have for families with children. Because it offers a series of interactive trails alternating between puzzles, humour and fun facts that excite both young and old to discover the city. The two authors, graphic designer Aleen Toroyan and journalist Nick Squires, describe the app as ‘a cross between a treasure hunt, an escape room and a city guide‘.

For each route you take, you earn points by solving riddles and spotting buried treasures and enchantments you encounter on the way, while at the same time, children learn about the history of Rome through ideal pills to keep key information in mind. Five are available: Colosseum Valley, Pantheon, Castel Sant’Angelo, Capitoline Museums, Trastevere Il Gianicolo, and Il Cuore di Roma. They last 45 to 120 minutes, can be downloaded and cost €9.90 each, while the package with the five tours is available for €23.99. Money is well worth spending, at least reading the comments of those who have tried the experience.

Christmas World

As the name suggests, the app is a passepartout for the Christmas experience in Rome. A playground with 11 new attractions compared to last year, for an initiative that has attracted 1.5 million visitors so far. Merry-go-rounds, shows, enchanted cities, dances and culinary traditions are some activities for adults and children scheduled in the Villa Borghese, one of Rome’s green lungs. The app is also useful for planning the visit, exploring the attractions via GPS navigation, and receiving any offers and real-time notifications about the booked visit.

MedinAction

For the Christmas holidays and throughout the rest of the year, it is a good idea to be prepared with this app that allows you to find medical assistance anytime. With medical teams speaking English and other languages, you can get the care and support you need in difficult times. Booking a home visit, scheduling a video call for medical advice, and knowing where to go for diagnostic tests – this and more are available in MedinAction. Let’s hope we never have to use it!

Fountains in Italy

Most useful in the summer when the search for coolness is blessed throughout Italy, this app remains handy for discovering Rome’s many fountains. Places to admire, but sometimes also to exploit to quench your thirst. Of course, one should not exaggerate, perhaps dipping one’s bottle in the Trevi Fountain, because in Rome there are fountains in which to drink: they are called nasoni, a slang term due to their shape, and they offer clean and safe water, the same water that comes out of the Roman people’s home taps.