The Eternal City’s well-established neighborhoods are famous, and for good reason — places like Tridente are home to the Spanish Steps and the Trevi fountain, Parione has Piazza Navona, and Trastevere is the longtime epicenter of buzzing nightlife and cool young things; but outside of the centro storico there are a handful of fabulous up-and-coming neighborhoods that are also worth checking out when in Rome.
Whether you’re looking for a place to stay, or somewhere different to visit for a slice of contemporary Roman life, these places offer a different view of Rome.
Pigneto
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Served by the still-under-development metro line C (so your best bet is to get around by bus or tram, or call for a taxi if you’re not so patient), the residents here are mostly students from the nearby Sapienza university and the new wave of immigrants to Italy. It’s a famously left-wing stronghold since the final years of World War II where the anti-fascist movement was born, and is now also an LGBTQ-friendly area — stop in the feminist bookshop Tuba for some literature, explore vegetarian cuisine at the famed Vitaminas24 or African fare at Taverna Del Mossob, and shop vintage in any of the well-curated boutiques around (not forgetting secondhand vinyl at Radiation Records). The surrounding walls are adorned with murals and graffiti of past partisan fighters and champion of the neighborhood Pier Paolo Pasolini (on via Fanfulla da Lodi). It might be a bit gentrified, but it’s not over-priced and, most importantly, it’s safe.
Ostiense
The former industrial area of Rome has since undergone a renaissance and become something of an art haven, making a reputation for itself as an urban art gallery with incredible street art on every corner, so come armed with a camera (or a fully-charged phone). In fact, the former power plant has been transformed into Centrale Montemartini museum which houses ancient Egyptian, Roman, and Greek sculptures, displayed against the old machinery from the space’s former life. Residents here are made up of a mix of families and students, but you can be sure that residential areas are secluded from the nightlife districts. It’s accessible on metro line B, and is just far enough away from the city center that it’s an affordable place to live and play. While you’re there, check out the four-story Eataly food market for a quick lunch, or souvenirs for back home.
Garbatella
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Initially conceived as a supporting neighborhood to Ostiense, where the factory workers and their families would live in apartment blocks called lotti, the area has quaint courtyards and gardens that create wonderful communal spaces that make it a popular area among families even to this day. The area is also served by metro line B and is only a 15-minute train ride from the city center, so you’re decently isolated from the tourist crowds of the summer, but still nearby enough. One focal point of the area is the Palladium Theatre, an art nouveau building from the 1920s that is now managed by the students from the nearby Roma Tre University and hosts the yearly Romaeuropa Festival in a celebration of arts, music, and cinema.