Rom Easter St. Peters

Rome Easter 2024 · 5 tips and tricks for Easter in Rome

Last Updated on 17. March 2024

For pilgrims and tourists, Easter in Rome is not just a church festivity. You can enjoy the pleasant climate, nature, art and good food.

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Easter in Rome is absolutely high season. Here you will find our information on church celebrations and what to do in Rome.

Museums at Easter

For the Colosseum, the Borghese Gallery and the Vatican Museums, you need to make reservations well in advance. All three museums are booked up early. Possibly there is then still the possibility to get last minute tickets from the contingents of tourist operators.

The Rome Tourist Pass is incredibly convenient. With just one booking, you can select the most important museums such as the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Vatican Museums, the Castel Sant’Angelo, the Galleria Borghese and a guided tour of St. Peter’s Basilica. It also includes all necessary reservations.

Colosseum at Easter

Rome Easter Colosseum

The Colosseum, the Imperial Forums and the Palatine are also open on Easter Sunday and Easter Monday. Info about the Colosseum

On the evening of Good Friday, the Pope celebrates the Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum and it is closed in the afternoon. The Colosseum metro station is also closed.

As an alternative to the archaeological park of the Colosseum, we recommend the excavations of Ostia Antica, which together with a trip to the sea in Lido di Ostia are very suitable for a day trip. Tickets for Ostia Antica

National Museums and Municipal Museums

Rome Easter National Musums Arte Moderna

Museums are open on Easter Sunday as they are on every Sunday. Some smaller museums are closed on Easter Monday as on any Monday. For details, see Museums in Rome. Reservations are recommended for the Colosseum and for:

All available tickets can be found at this link for museum tickets.

Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museums

The Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel will be closed on Easter Sunday and Easter Monday. There are extended opening hours during Easter week.

St. Peter’s Basilica and Dome

Rome Easter Altar of the Pope

Admission to St. Peter’s Basilica is free. Unfortunately, there is currently no option for priority skip the line entry and so you can expect long waits at the security checkpoint. There are short waits in the early morning just after opening at 7:00.

St. Peter’s Basilica, dome and grottoes are closed during the Pope’s masses and audiences. You can find details in the calendar below.

Guided tours

At Easter, many guided tours are also booked up early. You can book a variety of tours with our partner Getyourguide. Rome Tours at Getyourguide

Vatican Calendar Easter 2024

All events with the Holy Father are broadcast on the Internet by Vatican Media. You can also follow the broadcasts on our General Audiences page. On the page you can also make free reservations for the audiences. For the Papal Masses you can request tickets from the Papal Prefecture.

March 24, Palm Sunday

10:00 Papal mass blessing of palm branches (usually olive branches). St. Peter’s Basilica is closed until the end of mass.

12:00 Angelus prayer of the Pope in St. Peter’s Square

March 27, 9 am General audience of the Pope

March 28, 9:30 a.m. Chrism Mass with the Holy Father

March 29 Good Friday

17:00 Mass celebration with the Pope in St. Peter’s Basilica or at the Colosseum

21:15 Stations of the CrossVia Crucis at the Colosseum

March 30 Holy Saturday

7:30 p.m. Papal Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica Easter Vigil service

Easter Sunday March 31

10:00 Papal mass

12:00 Blessings Urbi et Orbi in St. Peter’s Square

Easter Monday

12:00 Regina Caeli on St. Peter’s Square

April 3 9 am General audience of the Pope

How it was four years ago:

On March 27, 2020, on a Friday during Lent, Pope Francis held a moving ceremony on the occasion of the corona pandemic and gave the blessing Urbi et Orbi

YouTube player

Via Crucis

The Stations of the Cross with the Pope takes place on the evening of Good Friday at the Colosseum 21:00 – 22:45.

The Colosseum and the metro station are therefore closed on Good Friday afternoon.

There is a big crowd and you can see the Pope only with binoculars. Of course, it is very impressive to celebrate the Stations of the Cross together with so many faithful. But it is also very exhausting and you have to be there early to find a good place.

You can see on our site the live broadcast of the Stations of the Cross of the Pope.

See on Youtube the Stations of the Cross 2023 at the Colosseum.

YouTube player

Shopping

All shops are open on Good Friday. Good Friday is a normal working day in Rome. Easter Sunday and Easter Monday are similarly high holidays in Rome as Christmas. Easter Sunday – Pasqua – is a family day, on Easter Monday – Pasquetta – the Romans visit friends and have lunch together. The shopping centers and many shops in the center and all shops in the periphery are closed. The shops in Termini Central Station and individual small fruit and grocery stores in the center are open. The luxury supermarket with restaurants Eataly is open. It is behind the Pyramide / Ostiense train station metro B, tram 3.

The Porta Portese flea market is also open on Easter Sunday. Here you will find everything from junk to antiques. Be careful of pickpockets! Tram 3 + 8 8 – 13

The so-called minimarkets are also open. There, however, you pay very high prices.

Eating out

Sweet Easter bread, Easter eggs, boiled eggs and Easter pizza are part of the Roman tradition of Easter breakfast. The Romans are not used to an extensive breakfast, but it must be at Easter.

Many also combine a late breakfast with lunch for a brunch lasting several hours. Artichokes are still in season until the end of April and are prepared in a variety of ways. Pickled as “Carciofi alla Romana” or fried as “Carciofi alla Giudia”, in pancakes “Frittata” or with offal “Coratella con Carciofi” are just a few of the preparation options.

Furthermore, it includes a selection of antipasti, cheese and cold cuts, savory pastries, a soup. This is followed by a first course of pasta and potato gnocchi and then, obligatory, the lamb “Agnello” or “Abbacchio”. Finally there is the classic “Colomba”, a yeast pastry with candied fruit and almonds in the shape of a pigeon, desserts of the Neapolitan tradition and all kinds of dessert variations.

As some restaurants may be closed on Easter Sunday and Easter Monday, a reservation is recommended. Many Romans go to the sea and therefore you won’t find a table in Ostia without a reservation.

Roman cuisine can be found in the ghetto, and on the Tiber island at Sora Lella. Also in Trastevere you will find a variety of trattorie and restaurants.

Rome Easter Brunch

For brunch and lunch on Easter holidays, we have gathered some ideas for you. We also recommend our article Brunch in Rome. In any case, you should make a reservation.

In the heart of Trastevere, Via Natale del Grande 52, you will find Eggs. The name is program with egg dishes and variations of Carbonara. On Easter Sunday and Easter Monday you will get a classic Roman Easter breakfast here.

In the Pigneto district you will find a lunch menu in the Bistrot Pigneto 1870, Via del Pigneto 25. Bus 81, local train RMG from Termini, departure at the exit of the regional train station, opposite the hotel Radisson Blu, until the stop Ponte Casilino.

Brunch is available at Rosti in Pigneto, there is also a garden. Via Bartolomeo d’Alviano 65, Metro C Station Pigneto.

You get an organic brunch in the Testaccio district at the Ketumbar, via Galvani 24, Metro B station Piramide.

Near the metro station Cipro is the Bistrot Secondo Tradizione, in via Rialto 39. Here you will find Roman cuisine.

Between the Parliament and the Pantheon in Piazza Capranica is the wine bar Collegio. The family owns a well-known winery in the region. Here too you will find traditional cuisine.

At the end of the market Porta Portese, at Lungotevere Portuense 200, you will find the restaurant Pasticcio on the 5th floor Pasticcio. Here you can enjoy a well-kept brunch with a view.

A popular bistro with organic products is Vivi Bistrot in the Villa Pamphili, just the thing for the holiday in the parks of Rome. There are now several branches, in Palazzo Braschi at Piazza Navona, in Via della Mercede 50 in the center and in the Rinascente department store in Via del Tritone.

For a trip to the countryside we propose you the Via Appia Antica. You simply take bus 118 from Piazza Venezia and get off at the Calixtus Catacombs or at the Catacombs of St. Sebastian. It’s about a two miles walk from the Circus Maximus on Via di Porta San Sebastiano. By bus 218 from San Giovanni you can get off at Quo Vadis or at Ardeatina / San Sebastiano. More about the Catacombs>

A noble and well known place is the L’Archeologia opposite St. Sebastian. Opposite the mausoleum of Cecilia Metella is the nice and simple garden restaurant Il Giardino di Giulia e Fratelli. Right next to it you will find the top location Hostaria Antica Roma, which is owned by the same family.

Churches in Rome with English services

Christianity is a worldwide religion and nowhere can you feel that more than in Rome. You can pray and celebrate mass in Rome in any language.

We have compiled here a small list of churches where masses are celebrated in English. We have prepared Google Maps links to help you find your way.

Roman Catholic Churches:

Sant’Anna in Vaticano, Via Sant’Anna, Vatican City
The church is freely accessible through Porta Sant’Anna and there is a Mass celebration in English on Sunday afternoon. Schedule · Google maps

Pontifical Irish College, Via dei SS. Quattro 1 Link · Google maps

St Isidore’s College, Via degli Artisti 41 Link · Google maps

Oratory of San Francesco Saverio del Caravita (Roman Catholic), Via della Caravita 7, http://caravita.org/ Google maps

St Patrick’s American Church, Via Buoncompagni 31 Link · Google maps

S. Silvestro in Capite, Piazza S. Silvestro 1 Link · Google maps

S. Susanna American Church, Via XX Settembre 14 Link · Google maps Closed for restoration

Venerable English College, Via di Monserrato 45 Link · Google maps

Other christian churches:

All Saints’ Anglican Church, Via del Babuino 153, Link · Google Maps

St Paul’s Within-the-Walls (Episcopal), Via Nazionale 16a, nearby Metro Repubblica Link · Google Maps

Ponte S. Angelo Methodist Church, Piazza Ponte S. Angelo 68, Link · Google Maps

Rome Baptist Church, Piazza San Lorenzo in Lucina 35, Link · Google Maps

St Andrews Presbyterian Church of Scotland, Via XX Settembre 7, Link · Google Maps

Map of the Churches with English Services

See the places on Google Maps

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