Is Rome safe?

Violent crime against visitors is rare in Rome, and the Carabinieri stand in pairs outside the Pantheon and the Colosseum for most of the day. Theft is Rome's real story. It tends to happen on the Metro between Termini and Ottaviano, and on the 64 bus to St. Peter's, which packs tight enough that you feel a stranger's elbow in your ribs. Teams of two or three usually work the doors at Barberini and Spagna: one blocks the door, one lifts the wallet, and the Line A doors beep shut behind them. Wear a daypack on your chest, keep the phone in a zipped front pocket, and let a crammed train go, because the next one is likely 3 to 5 minutes behind. Nobody watches your bag while you read the map at Termini when you travel alone, so step into a cafe before the phone comes out. We think a zipped crossbody bag does more on Line A than any money belt.

Rome's scams cluster at the big sights. At the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps, men press a woven bracelet or a rose into your hand and then ask for €5 or €10, so keep your hands in your pockets on Piazza di Spagna and say "no, grazie" once. Costumed gladiators outside the Roman Forum may ask €20 for a photo you thought was free, and clipboard petitions around Saint Peter's Square are a distraction for a second pair of hands. Taxis are the other hazard, mostly at Fiumicino. Licensed cabs are white with a roof sign, and the fixed fare from the airport to anywhere inside the Aurelian Walls is currently about €55, roughly $62 at the 13 October rate. Refuse anyone who approaches you inside the arrivals hall. The FreeNow and itTaxi apps show a price before you get in, which helps when there is no companion to back you up in a fare dispute at 23:00.

After dark in Rome, the map matters more than the hour. Piazza Trilussa in Trastevere stays loud with buskers and clinking glasses until about 01:00, and Via del Boschetto in Monti and Via Marmorata in Testaccio run at much the same pitch. Tuesday evening was clear and about 19°C at 19:00, the kind of October night when half the city eats outdoors. The streets we'd skip alone late are Via Giolitti and Via Marsala on either side of the station, and the arcades of Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II in Esquilino, where the lighting is poor and the smell of urine hangs under the arches. Esquilino at midnight is uncomfortable more than dangerous. San Lorenzo and Pigneto have the cheapest drinks and the student crowds, but the walk home at 02:00 passes long empty blocks, so book a cab. Solo women tend to report catcalls more than threats, most often near the station and along the Lungotevere. Outlying districts such as Tor Bella Monaca and San Basilio carry some of Rome's worst crime figures, and no visitor has a reason to go.

Night transit is where solo plans in Rome come apart. The Metro's last trains tend to leave around 23:30 from Sunday to Thursday and 01:30 on Friday and Saturday, after which the nMA and nMB night buses follow the same routes about every 30 minutes. That timing matters for the Thursday 15 October concert at the Palazzo dello Sport in EUR, which is likely to let out close to the last Line B departures from EUR Palasport, so leave before the encore or prebook a taxi. Saturday 17 October's show at the same arena has the later trains. Tram 8 from Piazza Venezia is usually the simplest ride home to Trastevere. For company, a small-group evening food walk bookable on Viator seats you with 8 to 12 people and no single supplement, and at lunch the counters at Mercato Testaccio hand one person a supplì hot from the fryer without a raised eyebrow. A World Nomads policy that covers theft is worth the cost for one phone lost on the Metro. Dial 112 for any emergency in Italy, and operators in Rome can usually switch to English.