This article is about tourism in the modern city of Rome. For tourism in the ancient Roman empire, see Tourism in ancient Rome.
Rome is a tourist destination of archaeological and artistic significance. Among the most significant resources are museums – (
Vatican Museums (4.2 million tourists) are the 39th and 37th (respectively) most visited places in the world, according to a recent study.[1] In 2005 the city registered 19.5 million of global visitors, up of 22.1% from 2001.[2] In 2006, Rome was visited by 6.03 million international tourists, reaching 8th place in the ranking of the world's 150 most visited cities.[3] The city has also been nominated 2007's fourth most desirable city to visit in the world, according to lifestyle magazine Travel + Leisure, after Florence, Buenos Aires and Bangkok.[4] Rome is the city with the most monuments in the world.[5]
Rome has been one of the world's most visited cities for the past two millennia. In the
Roman Catholic Church, resided and still lives in Rome.[7] It became a worldwide centre of pilgrimage, and later in the Renaissance, as the city became a major European capital of the arts
, education, philosophy and trade, it became an important crossroads for bankers, artists and other people in general.
Later, in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, the city was one of the centres of the
Risorgimento
, and remained like that except for a brief period in the 1920s.
, where most major Roman hotels were and still are found.
After a brief fall in the number of tourists in the 1980s (due to some terrorist activity led by the Red Brigades and political scandals), the city has now become one of the world's most popular tourist attractions.
Tourism tax
Like other Italian cities, Rome charges a tourism tax which contributes towards the maintenance of public transportation and infrastructure. It ranges from €3 to €7 per person, per night, based on the hotel or other type of accommodation used (children under 10 years old are exempt, and the tax no longer applies after 10 days).[10]