Rome tests night-time tourism to beat heat and crowds

Rome is testing a new approach to managing its summer tourist crush: opening the city's historic sites at night. According to France 24, the pilot programme includes museums, parks, archaeological sites, monuments, villas and historic residences, a departure from the usual daytime-only schedule that has struggled to cope with record visitor numbers.

The initiative comes as the Italian capital contends with two pressures at once — the recent heatwaves that have made daytime sightseeing uncomfortable and even hazardous, and the sheer volume of visitors that saturates the most famous landmarks from morning until evening. Night openings shift some of that demand into cooler, less crowded hours.

The strategy is a logistical exercise as much as a cultural one. Rome's historic centre is a dense tangle of ancient streets, and its major sites — the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon — sit within walking distance of each other, which concentrates foot traffic in a small area during peak hours. Opening venues after dark spreads visitors across a longer window and reduces the strain on infrastructure designed for a far smaller city.

The pilot also reflects a broader European debate about overtourism and how heritage cities manage their most visited places. Venice, Florence and Barcelona have all experimented with restrictions, entry fees or timed ticketing. Rome's night-time offer is a softer instrument: rather than limiting access, it extends the hours in which access is possible.

For a city whose economy depends heavily on tourism — the sector employs a substantial share of the workforce in and around the capital — the experiment has a commercial logic as well. Longer opening hours mean more spending in restaurants, bars and hotels that currently see little trade after the sites close. Whether the pilot becomes a permanent feature of Rome's tourism calendar will depend on visitor take-up and the willingness of site managers to absorb the extra staffing and security costs.

The test is part of a wider municipal effort to manage the Jubilee year, which the Catholic Church has declared for 2025, and which is expected to draw millions of additional pilgrims to Rome. City officials have been preparing for that influx for months, and the night-time openings are one of several measures designed to prevent the historic centre from being overwhelmed.