Things to do in Rome this week

Where to go in Rome: events, concerts and shows worth your night

Rome’s evenings are as much a part of the city as its ruins: opera in an ancient bath complex in summer, an orchestra in a Renzo Piano concert hall, exhibitions in palaces on the Via Nazionale, and a late, unhurried night in Trastevere or Pigneto. Below is where to go in Rome when you want a night out, with addresses, and what tends to be on when.

Concerts and live music in Rome: the Auditorium and beyond

The Auditorium Parco della Musica (Viale Pietro de Coubertin 30, 00196, auditorium.com) is Renzo Piano’s three-hall complex north of the centre, home to the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and the city’s jazz, pop and world music programme; in summer its outdoor cavea takes the big names. Rock and pop tours play the Palazzo dello Sport and the Stadio Olimpico, and the smaller indie and jazz rooms are in Pigneto, San Lorenzo and out along the Via Prenestina.

Rome nightlife: Trastevere, Testaccio and Pigneto

Rome is not a club city like Berlin or Barcelona; it is a city of bars, piazzas and late dinners. Trastevere and Campo de’ Fiori are where visitors go; Pigneto and San Lorenzo are where Romans go, with bars along Via del Pigneto and around Piazza dell’Immacolata that stay open past 2 am. The clubs that do exist are in Testaccio, in the old slaughterhouse district, and along the Via Ostiense. The Metro stops around 11.30 pm on weeknights and 1.30 am on Fridays and Saturdays; night buses and taxis take over.

Opera, ballet and theatre in Rome

The Teatro dell’Opera di Roma (Piazza Beniamino Gigli 7, 00184, operaroma.it) runs opera and ballet from November to June in its 1880 house near Termini, then moves outdoors for July to the Terme di Caracalla, where opera and ballet are staged among the ruins of the Roman baths. The Teatro Argentina, where Rossini’s Barber of Seville premiered, is the main theatre; most of Rome’s stage work is in Italian, so opera, dance and music are the easier evenings for visitors.

Art galleries and museums in Rome for an evening out

MAXXI (Via Guido Reni 4A, 00196, maxxi.art), Zaha Hadid’s museum of twenty-first-century art and architecture in Flaminio, is the contemporary anchor, a short walk from the Auditorium. The Palazzo delle Esposizioni (Via Nazionale 194, 00184) stages the big touring exhibitions in the centre, and the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna in the Villa Borghese holds the modern collection. State museums are free on the first Sunday of the month; the Vatican Museums open on Friday evenings in the warmer months.

Rome festivals and events by season

• Spring: the Rome Marathon in March, Easter week, and the free concert on 1 May in Piazza San Giovanni.
• Summer: the Estate Romana programme of open-air cinema, concerts and theatre from June to September; opera at Caracalla in July; the Festa de’ Noantri in Trastevere in mid-July; and Ferragosto, when the city empties on 15 August.
• Autumn: the Rome Film Fest at the Auditorium in October, the Roma Jazz Festival in November, and the reopening of the opera season.
• Winter: the Christmas market and nativity in Piazza Navona from December, and the Befana on 6 January.

Things to do in Rome tonight and this weekend

The listings above are the live version of all this: every concert, show, club night and exhibition on in Rome tonight, tomorrow and this weekend, with times, prices and tickets, updated every hour.