All over the Mediterranean world, people are out strolling in the early evening in a ritual known in Italy as the passeggiata. Rome’s passeggiata is both elegant (with chic people enjoying fancy window shopping in the grid of streets around the Spanish Steps and a little crude (young people on the prowl).
Romans’ favorite place for a chic evening stroll is along Via del Corso.
Join in as we walk from Piazza del Popolo down a wonderfully traffic-free section of Via del Corso, and up Via Condotti to the Spanish Steps. Historians can continue to Capitoline Hill. Although busy at any hour, this area really attracts crowds from around 5 to 7 each evening.
Friday and Saturday are the best. On Sunday, it happens earlier in the afternoon. Leave before 6 if you plan to visit the Ara Pacis (Altar of Peace), which closes at 7:30 pm.
As we stroll, you’ll see shoppers, flirts, and people-watchers filling this neighborhood of some of Rome’s most fashionable stores (mostly open until 8 pm). The most elegance survives in the grid of streets between Via del Corso and the Spanish Steps.
Piaaza del Popolo is marked by an obelisk that was brought to Rome by Augustus after he conquered Egypt. (It used to stand in the Circus Maximus). In medieval times, this area was just inside Rome’s main entry.
From Piazza del Popolo, stroll down Via del Corso. While many Italians shop online or at the mall these days and the elegance of this street has been replaced by international chains targeting local teens, this remains a fine place to feel the pulse of Rome at twilight.