Trastevere Rome – All our local tips

On the premises of a former grocery shop, the Grammelot is a real jewel. Located in the Monteverde area, the hill that overlook Trastevere, a short walk away from the Gianicolo terrace (probably the best view spot – and among the most romantic! – at night), it’s one of the few option in the area.

It’s a wine bar, so wine & food tasting are the big business. Ma jazz is in Teodoro’s(the owner) heart, so jazz music is played every now and then. You will be amazed by finding out that the Grammelot is favourite of many famous musicians and singers…

On thursday evenings, from 19.30, jazz aperitivo are served: have your choice of oysters, cheese or cured meat with a prosecco or any other quality wine from the wide list, and enjoy the laid back atmosphere. Plenty of usual customers will welcome new guests and make them feel at their ease.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Al Grammelot | Bars | Aperitivo from € 8.00
Via Giacinto Carini, 39 | Trastevere | +39065809166
Mon – Sat 11:30 – 02:00, Sun 17:00 – 01:00

Let’s say you want to impress your girlfriend, your friend, yourself and enjoy a fine dine in a lovely setting without going bankrupt…then Antico Arco is your choice (at least, it was mine on several occasion, and it never let me down!).

Hip, yet cozy, it is centrally located, up on the Gianicolo hill that rises above Trastevere, but far from the boasting crowd of the most popular tourist area; it’s sophisticated but without excess; it’s romantic, may you wish so.

It is, most of all, an authentic Italian restaurant whose popularity keeps growing (so don’t forget to make a reservation!) matched with a wine bar that allow you to just drink, should you feel so. Their risotto with Castelmagno cheese has been on the menu for ages but it’s still my favorite, so are the chocolate-based desserts (they do their best to keep chocolate on the menu even in the hot season, but don’t be disappointed if you won’t find any: attention to quality is high and if it cannot be guaranteed, dishes are replaced by something equally delicious!)

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Antico Arco | Restaurants (Gourmet Italian) | Meal about € 35.00
Piazzale Aurelio 7 | Trastevere | +39065815274
Mon – Sat 20:00 – 00:00

The “Bali Bar and Restaurant” is located in the heart of Trastevere. It’s an ethnic spot with a cocktail bar and a restaurant cooking South-East Asian food. The first thing that strikes you is the wooden furniture, bamboo paper, cushions, sofas, rugs, furniture, drawings and paintings that echo the East.

Once you sit, you tease the palate by many choices of tea, herbal tea and Ayurveda, sushi, sashimi: the ethnic cuisine is a very good alternative to a classic Italian dinner.

For lovers of cocktails, the menu offers a wide range: from the traditional crushed to original cocktails fruit cocktails with fresh tropical fruits.

The restaurant also has a room for smokers.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Bali Bar | Bars, Coffee & tea, Restaurants (South East Asia) | Full meal € 30.00
Via del Mattonato 29 | Trastevere | +39065896089
Restaurant Tue – Sun 20:00 – 23:00 | Bar 21:30 – 02:00 daily

This spot is a little gem of the house of blues in the Trastevere area where you can eat and drink as you listen to a Blues concert. The place is relatively small and therefore you have to call in advance if you want to reserve a table to sit at. But the cool thing about the place is that you feel that you are part of the group that is playing.

One of the first times that I went to listen to a Blues group, it was the “Blues Stuff” a group from Naples and some of their songs can be very entertaining, but the bar has other groups and singers that go there such as Andy Summers, Scott Henderson or Chad Wakerman.

I like Big Mama because of its small size. The groups or singer usually gets the crowd involved making it a more fun and interesting experience.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Big Mama | Bars, Music | Membership Entrance € 10,00
Vicolo di San Francesco a Ripa 18 | Trastevere | +39065812551
21:00 – 01:30 daily

Bodum Home Store and Cafè is the concept store of Bodum, the celebrated Danish design label. The store stocks all the company’s famous products, from teapots to coffee makers to cappuccino foaming tools, as well as kitchen/bar tools and gadgets.

The Cafè is set just aside the shop, and feature a selection of quality fruit juice, snacks, cakes and sandwiches, as well as a short menu for a quick lunch that proposes local and international recipes.

The setting is cozy and enjoyable; a social table is available, and so are newspaper and magazines, all day around.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
BODUM | Coffee & tea | Meal from € 15.00
Via San Francesco a Ripa 141 a/b | Trastevere | +390658344926
10:00 – 22:00 daily

In the heart of Trastevere there’s this pizzeria that opened about 20 years ago and quickly became famous in Rome because it is very cheap and very good!

The atmosphere is very familiar, with limited seating space. The food is excellent! The bruschette from the simple with tomato to the most tasty and varied, such as gorgonzola and honey, are good. The Roman pizza is crisp and low, not much consistency but cotta wood-cooked and overall good workmanship and quality.

If you go there for the first time and want to try something different from the usual pizza, the council strongly calzone filled with ricotta and nutella is simply wonderful (although many calories!!!).

The only flaw (but a sign of quality!) is the line we need to do stand in to eat, but it is really worth it! For this reason it is advisable to book and arrive punctually in time….

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Dar Poeta | Restaurants (Pizzeria) | Full meal € 15.00
Vicolo del bologna 45 | Trastevere | +39065880516
19:00 – 23:00 daily

If you want to immerse yourself in lush vegetation and be intrigued by thousands of different types of flowers, plants, bushes, and trees, Rome’s botanical garden is the place to visit. It is an open-air museum in the heart of Trastevere run by the Department of Plant Biology of Rome’s University “Sapienza”.

There is a 20-step itinerary within the garden which you can follow to admire all the different ‘holdings’ of the museum, or you can simply take a stroll and see where you end up. The itinerary is described in a pamphlet available in different languages at the entrance. I found it pretty well done and so: thank you, Prof. Loretta Gratani, (author of the pamphlet and director of the garden) you made our visit much more enjoyable.

I really enjoyed the Japanese garden, the sequoia (yes, we have one in Rome!!!) and ginko trees, the officinal herb garden, and the succulent plants greenhouse.

One of the challenges of visiting is actually trying to read out loud the names of the plants. Try pronouncing Brachychiton populneus or Chamaerops humilis or Nannirrhops ritchiana!

Note 1: If you happen to be in the garden at around mid-day, please brace yourself for the daily canon going off on the Gianicolo Hill. I was not prepared and almost had a heart-attack.

Note 2: Since this is not a proper park, please be sure to check the opening times. For instance, it is unfortunately NOT open on Sundays or on holidays. Also, the greenhouses close at 12:30.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Orto Botanico | Art & culture, Relaxing | Entrance fee adults € 4.00
Largo Cristina di Svezia | Trastevere | +3949917107
Mon – Sat 09:00 – 17:30

This is the most famous flea market in Rome; it is an enormous market that extends from Portuense to Via Ippolito Nievo (a parallel of Trastevere).

Here you can find absolutely everything, from clothes to bicycles to furniture. You can find anything that you (don’t) need, from second-hand painting to antique books published in the 19th century in the about 4000 stands that it holds. Here you can actually barter for a better price too.

Make sure to go early before it gets too crowded. I like to go once a month to bargain shop on a nice Sunday morning.

To reach it you can take Metro B to Marconi then the 170 bus or Metro B to Piramide and then take the 280 bus.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Porta Portese | Shopping | painting € 15.00
Piazzale Portuense to Viale Trastevere | Trastevere
Sun 07:00 – 13:00

It would be reductive to see Italy’s “Gioco del Lotto” as merely a lottery. It is more like a ritual and an interpretation of life than mere compulsive gambling. As any true Lotto player knows, anything that happens to a person can be the inspiration for one’s numbers pick. You wake up with a toothache? That’s number 73. You have an exam tomorrow? Exam is 8, tomorrow is 44. You tread on dog-poop? That would be 86 for poop, 61 for dog and 27 for the act of stepping. How does one know the numbers? You can consult the “books” -which vary from North to South- or get help from an “expert”.

Serena is such an expert. For over twenty years, she and her dad have run this small, yet “lucky” ricevitoria in Trastevere. You tell her what happened to you and she will kindly suggest the most suitable numbers. Then, you’ll have to decide which draw-wheel you’d like from among the ten city and one national wheels available. Needless to say, if you dream of a dead relative offering you the winning Lotto numbers, those numbers should be played on the Bari wheel, as it is assigned to dead people talking.

The Lotto game also builds up into the Superenalotto which targets those who want to “win big”. While the Superenalotto is more recent, the Lotto game, the precursor to any state lottery, was invented in Genoa in the 1500’s. Both games are deeply-rooted among Italians, young and old.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Ricevitoria 32 | Relaxing | Lotto ticket € 1.00
Via della Luce 72 | Trastevere | +390658333040
Mon – Sat 09:30-13:30 & 15:30 – 19:00

“Enjoy your drink, enjoy your life” is the motto which inspired the birth of Stairs, whom name is the english translation of the address where it is, Via della Scala.

The place is divided in two floors. The ground floor is the real heart of the place, where you can get cocktails from a list of 91, and long drinks, special coffees, wine and shots. On the lower floor there is a romantic and intimate atmosphere because of the leather couches, the diffuse lights and the ethnic environment. If you’re with a group of people, it’s very funny to order a jag with one liter of your favorite cocktail (to share, of course!).

The coolest thing of Stairs is that every week, from Thursday to Sunday, there’s “aperitivo” dedicated to a particular nation that changes every week: Italy, Spain, Maghreb and Japan are the most chosen countries.

It’s interesting to tell a bit more about the Japanese aperitivo: first of all, because of Stairs introduced it in Rome. Also, because usually during “aperitivo” you pay for drink and eat as you want, while this one is vice versa: you pay for sushi and drink white wine as you want!

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Stairs | Bars, Snacks | Cocktail at bar € 5.00
Via della Scala 43 | Trastevere | +390697277421
19:00 – 02:00 daily

Tina Pica was a very famous Italian actress who also acted with famous Neapolitan international star Totò. That is where the club takes its name. I like going to club-theaters where I can relax sipping a soft drink and having some munchies while watching someone on stage entertaining me. Tinapika is the ideal place to come and see the newest cabaret shows in town, also for non-Italian speakers. I met some foreigners at this club and they were laughing, too.

I cracked myself up when I came here to see “Bambine Cattive” (Bad Girls), a group of Italian comedian actresses who perform here every Sunday night. They are absolutely marvelous, funny, sharp lines, high class sense of humor, the lack of dirty language makes it unique. Each character has its own personality and style. The audience went nuts, they laughed non-stop, it was a blast. I was impressed by all of them: Giulia Ricciardi came up with the idea of forming the cast:Annalisa Aglioti, Barbara Foria, Teresa Lallo, Nadia Perciabosco, Laura De Marchi, Giuditta Cambieri. A very warm farewell to Celeste Brancato, extraordinary, intense actress who has recently passed away and was part of the crew.

On schedule at Tinapika, coming soon is also Gianluca Giugliarelli, extremely versatile and hilarious, even if you just look at his gestures and the way he moves his legs, the way he talks, the sounds he makes with his voice. He imitates Italian celebrity popstar Ornella Vanoni very well and one of his new sketches is about the son of a big shot who spends €20K to go out with his friends to a nightclub and asks daddy to buy him a new car because the air freshener in his SUV flew out of the window while he was racing on the highway.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Tinapika | Bars, Snacks, Theaters | Beer in a bottle € 7.00
via Fonteiana 57 | Trastevere | +39065885754
Fri – Sun 22:30 – 01:00