The Magic of Rome at Night

There’s no place like the Eternal City, and there’s no place like the Eternal City at night. It was perhaps our favorite time of day, post sun-blazing heat and the weariness of touring amongst the masses. Rome comes alive at night in ways you don’t see it during the day. The colors, the food, the drink, but most of all the spectacular historical architecture set against a backdrop of lights and night sky. You can’t escape the enchanted, even mysterious, feeling one gets in Rome once the sun goes down. I’m not sure there’s any better city to doddle around at night than in Rome.

How did the kids make it for late nights after touring around all day in the heat? It’s called jet lag. New York is 6 hours behind, so 10:00 p.m. there was 4:00 p.m. or us. It worked. And we loved our nights, eating out and strolling around the buzz of the people and the piazzas and the lit up buildings such as the Pantheon. Everyone is about, and it’s refreshing and relaxing in the cool of the air, people at leisure taking in the magnificence of it all. The energy is contagious, and you want to keep walking and checking things out, rounding the next bend to see what might be going on in the square beyond.

It’s also perfect for kids. The street vendors are selling their stuff, and even if you’re not a fan, you’ll still buy it just to see your kids play with all the toys that light up in, say, Piazza Navona. Swirling balls of lights that they toss up in the air for what seems like an eternity is not only sort of magical to watch, given the backdrop, but keeps those kids occupied forever! Move to another piazza and get some gelato and have them do it all over…that’s how our nights happened (post delicious meal of course).

Our favorite places to hang out were the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, and the bustling neighborhood of Trastevere and Piazza Santa Maria, with its bridges swirling with night colors. This is an especially fun part of Rome to wander about – though crowded – like the Greenwich Village of Rome, with a zillion trendy restaurants and shops, and entertainment in the squares.

So if you’re going to Rome sometime in the near future, or ever, make sure to leave some time for night strolling. You’ll appreciate it, and so will the kids (you can vaguely spot them throwing up their night glow toys in the distance in the photo below). All photos were taken with my I Phone, so not the best captures, but hopefully convey the mood!

Enjoy this post and would like to save it or share with others? PIN IT!