Via Urbana 133: Where the Apartment Sits in Rome
In Monti, inside the historic centre, on the slope between the Roman Forum and Santa Maria Maggiore. This is the street I chose to live on, and here is exactly what is around it.
What Monti is
Monti is the first rione of Rome, the ground the ancient city called the Suburra, and two thousand years later people still live here. The streets are narrow and cobbled, the facades are ochre and umber, and the ground floors hold workshops, wine bars, a market and vintage shops rather than souvenir stalls. It is the most sophisticated neighbourhood in the historic centre precisely because it never set out to be one.
What that means for you is simple. You are inside the historic centre without being inside the machinery built for visiting it. Read my guide to Monti for what to do with that, or why I chose this rione over everywhere else in the city.
What you can reach on foot
Almost everything you came to Rome for is walkable from this door, which is the quiet luxury of the address and the reason I have never wanted to move.
- The Colosseum 6–8 min Downhill through Monti, and the walk is the good part of the day.
- The Roman Forum and Imperial Fora 5–6 min The same direction, entered from Via dei Fori Imperiali.
- Trajan's Markets 6–8 min The great curved market hall at the foot of the Quirinal.
- Santa Maria Maggiore 4–5 min Uphill at the far end of the neighbourhood, with the fifth-century mosaics.
- San Pietro in Vincoli (Michelangelo's Moses) 4–6 min Free to enter, usually quiet, and most visitors to Rome miss it.
- The Domus Aurea 7–9 min Nero's buried palace, on the hill above the Colosseum. Book ahead.
- Santa Prassede 5–6 min Small and easy to walk past; the Byzantine mosaics are among the best in Rome.
- Santa Pudenziana 5–6 min One of the oldest places of Christian worship in the city.
- Piazza della Madonna dei Monti 2–3 min The neighbourhood's living room, and where the evening happens.
- Cavour metro (line B) A few minutes The nearest station. Colosseo and Termini are walkable too.
These are my own times, walked from the front door, and they are ranges because that is honest. The Colosseum is six minutes if you stride and eight if you keep stopping to look up, which you will.
Getting here from the airports and Termini
| From | How | Price | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiumicino (FCO) | Leonardo Express train to Termini Non-stop to Roma Termini. €14 from the station machines or the Trenitalia app; buying through a resale site adds a booking fee. From Termini it is one stop on metro line B to Cavour. | €14 | 32 minutes |
| Fiumicino (FCO) | Official taxi A fixed fare to any address inside the Aurelian Walls, which includes Via Urbana. It covers up to four passengers with luggage, at any hour. Use the official white rank and check the licence says Roma Capitale. | €55 flat | Traffic dependent |
| Ciampino (CIA) | Coach to Termini Terravision, SIT and Schiaffini all run near-identical non-stop coaches from outside the terminal to Termini. Around €6 booked online, a little more at the airport desk. | from €6 | about 40 minutes |
| Ciampino (CIA) | Official taxi The official flat fare into central Rome within the Aurelian Walls, on the same terms as Fiumicino. | €40 flat | Traffic dependent |
| Roma Termini | Metro line B, or on foot Cavour is the first stop from Termini on line B, and the apartment is in the streets above it. A single BIT ticket costs €1.50 and stays valid for 100 minutes across metro, bus and tram. | €1.50 | One metro stop |
Fares checked on 17 August 2026. Operators change them without much warning, so treat these as the shape of the decision rather than a quotation. There is a fuller breakdown in the transport guide.
If you are arriving by car
Monti is inside Rome's ZTL, the limited traffic zone. Cameras read every plate that enters during restricted hours and the fine arrives by post, months later, at the address the rental company gives them. A satnav does not know or care about this and will happily route you to the door.
If you are driving to Rome, leave the car in a garage outside the zone and come in by metro or taxi. Licensed taxis are permitted inside the ZTL, so a taxi to the door is always safe.