What’s on in Rome this month?

A miraculous snow in the middle of the Summer, relaxing atmospheres by the river, secret terraces, ancient lights and more. There’s so much to do in Rome this August 2023!

Without wasting a lot of time, let’s dive into these super exciting things to explore in the city! 🤩

Things to do in Rome in August 2023

The miracle of the snow in Santa Maria Maggiore – August 5th

This is one of the most evocative events of the Roman tradition: the Madonna of the Snow!

Everything started with a legend, which you can read here.

Celebrations will start inside the basilica on August 5th at 10AM with the Holy Mass, which includes white rose petals falling down the ceiling, to remind of the snow. Same will happen after the Vespers at 5PM.

Later that day, at 9PM, the show will start in the square outside the basilica. Light, music and holograms shows, together with opera singing. The grand finale will be at midnight, when snow flakes will softly fall onto the square and the basilica, turning everything in white!

Lungo il Tevere

Every summer the Tiber river banks illuminate with lights, music and entertainment.

From 7PM stands of food, drinks and little markets make a really cool background to your stroll along the river. You can find pizza, burgers, seafood and bars.

Free entry, no ticket required. Stands are located between Ponte Sisto (access by Piazza Trilussa, in Trastevere) and Ponte Sublicio.

For more info: http://www.lungoiltevereroma.it/

Are you looking to make your August Rome trip special? Are you looking for something fun, unique, personal? Our in person experiences grew from the legacy of our media content online. We won’t dwell on academic frills, only on insider’s knowledge with the fun storytelling of a local expert. Check our private and semi-private experiences here

This is Wonderland

This is a new experience of light installations and shows inspired by the fairytale of Alice in Wonderland, that you can find in the EUR district of Rome: This is Wonderland!

The exhibition is located in the secret garden of the EUR district, which you can reach easily by metro (metro station: EUR Palasport). There’s a lot of photo ops, thanks to the colorful Chinese lanterns in the shape of the characters of Alice in Wonderland, that illuminate this beautiful garden and the waterfalls.

This is great for families with kids. Inside the park there are food stands, shows and also a relaxing Shisha bar inspired by the Caterpillar 😜

Better enjoyed after sunset 😉 This exhibition will last until September 17th

More info and tickets here.

Summer sales – from July 6th to August 19th

When we say that sales in Italy can get you real deals, we mean it. In the Lazio region (hence Rome too) the Summer sales started on July 6th. All the shopaholics of Italy look forward to the sales, which usually take place in January (winter sales) and July (summer sales) for a period of 6 weeks.

At the beginning the discounts will be lower, starting from around 20-30%. it is good to shop at the beginning of the sales if you already know exactly what to get and you don’t want to risk not finding it anymore.

But the more you wait, the more the discounts increase, leaving the last weeks of sales with discounts as high as 50-60-70%. Of course in that case you’ll have a limited selection of sizes and colors. But that is also when the best bargains can be made.

Where to shop in Rome city center? There are many places such as Via del Corso, via Nazionale, Monti district, in the little streets near Campo de’ Fiori, and many more.

Happy shopping!

Planning a last-minute trip to Rome and didn’t have time to book a tour? Check our remaining availability in the next 20 days here 😉

Festival delle Terrazze – Festival of the Terraces

From August 1st to August 8th, some of the most inaccessible terraces will open to the public!

Rome doesn’t have skyscrapers as many other capital cities around the world, but a terrace on the 5th floor is enough to take your breath away!

Here you can find the full program of the festival, which includes art installations, video art, workshops and more.. all taking place on top of open air terraces around Rome!

All the events are free, but in some cases you need to book in advance.

After all these events in such a warm weather, you might also want to learn more about the history of the city, without queueing in the sun 😅 That is why we designed the Walking through the Capitoline hill and Imperial Forums tour. It’s a short tour (1.5hrs) also available in a sunset version, starting at 7:30PM and enjoying the beautiful sunset lights over the ruins 🧡

How was the artificial light in Ancient Rome?

This is one of the exhibitions we loved the most! 🤩 Artificial light is something today we take for granted, but thanks to that we are able to extend the length of our days (otherwise we would be in bed right after sunset!).

The Ancient Romans not only already extended their days. They also did it in style! In this exhibition you can see lamps of all types and shapes coming from different museums: Pompeii, Archaeological Museum of Naples and the Musei Capitolini.

You might think this is just a boring display of lamps. It is not. You’ll get to see incredible lamps in the shape of trees, bats, people.. which were not only illuminating, but also projecting their shadows on the walls, creating alluring and mysterious atmospheres.

You can find this wonderful exhibition inside the Musei Capitolini until October 8th.

More info here: https://www.museicapitolini.org/en/node/1013072

When Rome was a Republic – exhibition at the Musei Capitolini

This exhibit at the Capitoline Museums tries to give an overview about the transformation of the Roman society across 5 centuries, from the beginning of the Republic to the birth of the Empire. In case you didn’t know the Roman legacy started first as a monarchy, then it became a Republic, to the become an empire. This exhibit focuses on the Republican period, to give you an idea, the times of Cicero, Caesar and so on..

Majority of the artifacts which you can see in this exhibition are usually not visible to the public, because they are usually kept in the deposits (did you know that the deposits are sometimes more crowded of artifacts than the museums themselves?!).

This exhibit started on January 13th and will last until September 24th. More info here: https://www.museicapitolini.org/en/node/1012211

This exhibition can be perfectly combined with the “Wonders of the Capitoline hill” itinerary included in our Video Guide.

Caracalla Festival 2023 – from May 30th to August 10th

Have you ever been to a concert within 2000 years old walls? Things like these can only happen in very few places in the world, and one of them is in Rome. The Caracalla festival takes place in none other than Caracalla baths!

Opera, ballet, cinema, theatre, jazz and pop music. All this is taking place this summer, starting from May, in this ancient Roman thermal bath ruins. 50 gigs in total.

More info here: https://www.operaroma.it/news/caracalla-festival-2023

Live a unique experience with us!

If you want to make your August Rome trip special and looking for something fun, unique, personal… you’re in the right place!

Our in person experiences grew from the legacy of our media content online, meaning that we focus on discovering the authentic side of Rome. We won’t dwell on academic frills, only on insider’s knowledge with the fun storytelling of a local expert. Our experiences include the hidden gems of Trastevere, Centro Storico and the heart of Ancient Rome. You can find them all here!