I have already published an extensive travel guide about Rome recently. Since many also want to go home with perfect photos, I have summarized in this post my tips for gorgeous photo locations without huge crowds.
For certain sights, you simply have to be at the place while everyone else is lying in their bed. The Trevi Fountain or Piazza di Spagna are for example on this list. For others, such as the Colosseum, however, there are spots where you can take beautiful photos at any time you just need to know where you should take them.
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Photo Hotspot #1 in Rome: The Trevi Fountain
As mentioned above, you MUST get up early. The place is very small and there will always be people there. We were one day at 7 a.m. at the Trevi Fountain with some other bloggers and photographers, but there have also behaved all nice, so you can get great photos. From 8 clock it is already problematic again, because then already start the first tours. So I recommend you go there between 6 and 7 o’clock or then directly to the sunrise although I can imagine that this is especially for photographers a time, where again move there more.
Photo Hotspot #2 in Rome: The Colosseum
If you walk from Piazza Venezia towards Colosseum, past the Roman Forum, and up a staircase on the left, you will find the photo hotspot in the pictures. There you can shoot photos from a wall perfectly at any time of day and have no crowds behind or next to you. We were there just before sunset and had plenty of space.
Photo Hotspot #3 in Rome: The Castel Sant’Angelo
Here are two tips for you. Some may already have read it in the Rome Travel Guide, If you go to the Castel Sant’Angelo you will find on the second floor (I think) a super cute restaurant with a fantastic view of the Vatican. If you do not feel like sitting down, you can also enjoy the same view just a few meters away. You can also go a bit higher – on the roof – from there you have an even better or further view.
View from the restaurant.
View from the roof.
If you would like to take a nice snapshot of the Castel Sant’Angelo itself, you should either be there at sunrise when the bridge is empty or follow my second tip. If you go over the bridge from the Castel Sant’Angelo you will find, no matter if you turn left or right, a long low wall, where you have a lot of space, and the Castel Sant’Angelo is even complete in the photo.
Photo Hotspot #4 in Rome: The St. Peter’s Basilica
For St. Peter’s Basilica, I can only recommend you, as well as for the Trevi Fountain, to get up early enough. At 6 o’clock, you do not have to be there right away, it should be early enough if you’re around 8 o’clock at the basilica. We were there at 9 o’clock, even when a fair took place, and were able to snap photos without large crowds.
Photo Hotspot #5 in Rome: Romantic view at Pincio hill
If you walk up the Spanish Steps and then turn left, you will pass several cute hotspots. Among other things, there was a wall full of Oleander, the flowers looked wild so I assume that they come back every year. At some point, you come to the Villa Medici, which can be reached by a staircase. In front of the villa is a small platform with a small wall on which you can sit and enjoy a stunning view over Rome. It was romantic! The same view you have from the well-known Terrazza del Pincio which is not far away, only it is very crowded, as this spot is quite well known. So the tip with the Villa Medici is a little insider.
