Checked on November 2, 2026 · Last year’s program, rules and timetables checked on the official websites of Roma Capitale, Roma Mobilità, the Vatican, the Colosseum and the Vatican Museums. The city usually announces the 2026 program in December.

Rome’s New Year’s Eve centers on a free concert at the Circus Maximus, which the city has organized for the last four years, starting at 21:00. Last year the metro ran until 2:30, and a city ordinance banned private fireworks from 31 December to 6 January. On 1 January, the Colosseum and the Vatican Museums are closed.

Cover photo: Zabbo, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

New Year’s Eve, Capodanno in Italian, is one of the busiest nights of the year in Rome. The city plans it in detail: a free concert, a ban on fireworks, a special public transport timetable, road closures and, on 1 January, a day of free events. The official program for 31 December 2026 is not out yet. Last year, Roma Capitale announced the concert on 15 December. We are Facile Tours, a local tour operator in Rome since 2012, so this guide puts together last year’s program from official sources, what is already confirmed for 2026, and a few honest tips. For the rest of the holiday season, see our guide to Christmas in Rome.

What happens in Rome on New Year’s Eve?

Most of the night revolves around the Circus Maximus, the Vatican and the squares of the historic center. Until the 2026 program comes out, last year’s timetable is the best guide. The rows marked 2026 are already confirmed.

Time on 31 December What happens Where
7:00 Via dei Cerchi closes to traffic for the concert (2025) Circus Maximus
10:00–14:00 Circo Maximo Experience, a visit with augmented reality; last entry 12:35 (2026) Circus Maximus
14:00 We Run Rome, a 10 km race with a 5 km fun run (2026) Start on Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
15:30 Last admission to the Colosseum, which closes at 16:30 (2026) Colosseum
17:00 The Pope’s First Vespers and Te Deum (2025; in 2026 at 18:00) St. Peter’s Basilica
18:00 Glass ban starts and more roads close around the concert (2025) Circus Maximus area
21:00 Buses and trams stop, except 12 lines and the n913 night bus (2025) Whole city
21:00 Free New Year’s Eve concert starts (2025) Circus Maximus
0:00 Midnight toast; private fireworks banned by city ordinance (2025) Whole city
2:30 Last metro trains; night buses follow the metro lines until 8:00 (2025) Whole city

Is there a free New Year’s Eve concert at the Circus Maximus?

Yes, there has been one in each of the last four years. The 2025–26 edition, the fourth in a row, was organized by Roma Capitale with the radio network RDS. It started at 21:00 on 31 December, with Alessandra Amoroso, Fabri Fibra and Tananai on stage and a DJ set that carried on after midnight. Entry was free, with no tickets. The edition before drew more than 70,000 people, according to Turismo Roma, the city’s tourism website.

The line-up for 31 December 2026 has not been announced yet. Roma Capitale usually announces it in mid-December on its website and on Turismo Roma.

These were last year’s rules around the concert:

  • Security gates: the concert area was fenced, with four entrances on Via dei Cerchi and Via del Circo Massimo.
  • No glass: an ordinance of the Prefect of Rome banned the takeaway sale and the carrying of drinks in glass from 18:00 on 31 December to 7:00 on 1 January, around the Circus Maximus and in nearby streets, as far as Piazza Albania, Piazza della Bocca della Verità and the Arch of Constantine.
  • No fireworks: the city-wide ban, explained below, applies here too.
  • Road closures: Via dei Cerchi closed to traffic from 7:00, and from about 18:00 the closures extended to Via del Circo Massimo and the streets towards the Mouth of Truth. Bus lines 85, 87, 628 and C3 were diverted from 7:00 on 31 December until 2 January.

How to get there: on foot or by metro line B. Circo Massimo station is next to the field, but Roma Mobilità, the city’s mobility agency, has warned in past years that it may close for the concert, so check romamobilita.it on the day. Our guide to the Circus Maximus explains what you see there by day.

The long grassy field of the Circus Maximus, with the ruins of the imperial palaces on the Palatine Hill behind
Photo: Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Are fireworks allowed in Rome on New Year’s Eve?

Not for private use. Every year the Mayor of Rome signs an ordinance against fireworks in the last days of December: on 29 December in 2021 and 2023, and on 30 December in 2025. Last year’s ordinance applied from 00:01 on 31 December 2025 to 24:00 on 6 January 2026, across the whole city:

  • Banned: firecrackers, rockets, Roman candles, launch tubes and similar fireworks that bang, crackle or whistle, even those sold freely in shops. The ban covers public places, and private places when the effects reach the street or other people’s property.
  • Still allowed: small items such as sparklers, party poppers that shoot confetti, cake fountains and Bengal lights.
  • Fines: from €25 to €500, and the fireworks are seized.
  • Exception: authorized displays by licensed professionals.

The ordinance explains why: every year fireworks injure people and animals, and they can damage Rome’s monuments and add to air pollution. The 2026 ordinance should follow at the end of December: check the Roma Capitale website for the new dates.

Where to watch at midnight: Turismo Roma names the terraces of the Janiculum (Gianicolo) and the Pincio, above Piazza del Popolo, among the best places to watch the fireworks. Both fill up, so go early.

How do you get around Rome on New Year’s Eve?

On 31 December, public transport follows a special timetable. This was last year’s, from Roma Mobilità:

  • Metro: extended until 2:30.
  • Buses and trams: last departures from the terminus at 21:00, except lines H, 2, 128, 170, 200, 280, 301, 336, 544, 766, 881 and 905, which ran until 2:30 to connect with the metro. The night bus n913 ran from 21:00 to 2:30.
  • After 2:30: night buses nMA, nMB, nMB1, nMC and nME followed the routes of the metro and the Metromare railway until 8:00 on 1 January, when the whole network restarted on the holiday timetable.

Taxis: official Rome taxis are white. At night, from 22:00 to 6:00, the meter starts at €7.50, and you can call one through the city’s ChiamaTaxi number, 060609. From Fiumicino airport there is a fixed fare of €55 to anywhere inside the Aurelian Walls, and from Ciampino €40, supplements included. Around midnight on New Year’s Eve, expect a long wait for a taxi, so plan your way back before you go out. The full fares are on the Roma Mobilità taxi page (in Italian).

Arriving or leaving that night? Our private transfers run between Rome and Fiumicino, Ciampino or Civitavecchia port at a fixed price per vehicle. Between 22:00 and 6:59 the night rate applies, 15% more than by day: €150 per vehicle for 1–3 people in a Mercedes E-Class, or €219 in a Mercedes V-Class for 1–7, between Rome and either airport, against €130 and €190 by day. The driver tracks your flight and waits for you in the arrivals hall. For 1–3 people with light luggage, the airport taxi costs less; a booked transfer makes more sense for a family, a lot of luggage or a flight that lands around midnight. The minivan takes up to 8 suitcases, and child seats are available on request when you book.

What does the Pope do on 31 December and 1 January?

Two papal celebrations frame the New Year in St. Peter’s Basilica. Last year, the Vatican’s official notice gave these times:

  • 31 December 2025, 17:00: Pope Leo XIV celebrated First Vespers of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, followed by the traditional Te Deum, a hymn of thanksgiving for the year that is ending.
  • 1 January 2026, 10:00: the Pope celebrated Mass for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, on the World Day of Peace. Afterwards, he recited the Angelus with the crowd in St. Peter’s Square.

Tickets for the Pope’s liturgical celebrations are always free. You request them from the Prefecture of the Papal Household through the official Vatican page; do not pay anyone for them. Check the times for 2026–27 on vatican.va before you make plans. For the rest of your Vatican visit, see our guide to visiting the Vatican.

What is open and closed in Rome on 1 January?

New Year’s Day is a public holiday, and the city starts slowly.

  • Closed: the Colosseum, together with the Roman Forum and the Palatine, is closed on 1 January 2027, and so are the Vatican Museums, which also close on 6 January.
  • Public transport: last year, night buses ran until 8:00, then the whole network followed the holiday timetable.
  • Roma Capodarte: on 1 January 2026, Roma Capitale held the fifth edition of this festival, with more than 100 events across the city, almost all of them free. It opened at noon with a concert by the band of the city police in Piazza di Spagna, and went on from the early afternoon until late evening, with a stage in Piazza Navona. The city’s civic museums, including the Capitoline Museums, were free that day, apart from two special exhibitions. A 2027 edition has not been announced yet.
  • The Tiber plunge: Turismo Roma describes a New Year’s Day custom that dates back to 1946. At noon, right after the cannon fires from the Janiculum, divers jump into the Tiber from the parapet of Ponte Cavour, a few steps from Castel Sant’Angelo. It is a tradition, not an organized event, and it went ahead again on 1 January 2026. Watch from the bridge or the riverbank, and leave the jumping to the regulars.
Ponte Cavour over the Tiber in Rome, the bridge of the New Year's Day plunge
Photo: Krzysztof Golik, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What do Romans eat on New Year’s Eve?

The classic dish of the night is cotechino with lentils: a large, slow-cooked pork sausage served with lentils, which are said to bring money in the new year. Turismo Roma also lists wearing something red among the customs of the night. If you want to eat out on 31 December, book your table well in advance. For more Roman dishes, see our guide to Roman food.

Sliced cotechino sausage served with lentils and polenta on a white plate
Photo: J.P.Lon, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Is Rome crowded and safe on New Year’s Eve?

It is busy: for the 2025–26 holidays, the city expected about 438,000 visitor arrivals between 29 December and 3 January. The big events are policed, with security gates at the concert. Our honest tips:

  • Arrive early at the Circus Maximus if you want a good spot, and travel light, because you go through a security gate.
  • Leave glass bottles and fireworks at home.
  • Keep your phone and wallet in a closed bag or a front pocket, as in any big crowd.
  • Expect bangs around midnight. The city’s own ordinance calls firecrackers a New Year’s custom. If you travel with small children or a dog, a quieter area may suit you better than the center.
  • Plan your way home before you go out: the metro, a taxi booked in advance or a walk.
  • Dress warmly. Our guide to the best time to visit Rome gives the average temperatures for December and January.

See Rome on New Year’s Eve with us

If you prefer to see the lit-up city without standing in a crowd, our private evening tours run in the holiday season too. For 31 December and 1 January, check the available start times when you book, and book early:

  • Private golf cart tour by night: 2 hours, starting at 20:00, 21:00 or 22:00, with pickup at your hotel in the historic center. You choose the stops, such as the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, the Trevi Fountain and the Colosseum, seen from the outside. It costs €450 for 1–3 people at 20:00 (€510 at 21:00, €550 at 22:00), then €150 per person from 4 (€160 or €170 for the later starts). The carts have rain covers. See all our golf cart tours in Rome.
  • Rome by night in a vintage Fiat 500: 2 hours in restored original Fiat 500s converted to electric (depending on group size, also a Fiat 850 Spiaggina), with a driver and pickup at your hotel in the historic center, starting at 20:00, 21:00, 22:00 or 23:00. The 23:00 departure runs until 1:00. Prices start at €590 for 1–3 people at 20:00, and €790 at 23:00. The cars are vintage convertibles, so dress warmly. Children must be at least 3, and some cars have no seat belts, because they were built before seat belts were required. If it rains, the tour runs in a golf cart with rain covers. See all our vintage Fiat 500 tours in Rome.
  • On 1 January, when the Colosseum and the Vatican Museums are closed, our private golf cart tour shows you the main landmarks of the historic center from the outside, with pickup at your hotel. It starts at 9:30, 10:00, 14:30, 18:00 or 18:30 and costs €350 for 1–3 people for 2 hours (November to mid-April), or €450 for 3 hours.

On 31 December, roads around the Circus Maximus close for the concert and the center is crowded around midnight, so your driver adapts the route. Drivers are not licensed guides, but they will gladly help with your requests. Both night tours are private, with up to 21 guests guaranteed and larger groups on request. You can find all our evening options on the Night Tours page, and our comparison of Rome at night by golf cart or Fiat 500 helps you choose.

FAQ

Is the New Year’s Eve concert at the Circus Maximus free?

Yes. In each of the last four years, Roma Capitale has held a free concert at the Circus Maximus on 31 December, with no tickets; last year it started at 21:00. The line-up for 2026 is usually announced in mid-December.

Are fireworks allowed in Rome on New Year’s Eve?

Not for private use. Every year the city bans firecrackers, rockets and similar fireworks from 31 December to 6 January, with fines from €25 to €500. Small items such as sparklers and party poppers are still allowed.

Does the metro run all night on New Year’s Eve in Rome?

No, but it runs late. Last year the metro ran until 2:30, and night buses then followed the metro lines until 8:00 on 1 January. Most buses and trams stopped at 21:00.

Is the Colosseum open on 1 January?

No. The Colosseum, the Roman Forum and the Palatine are closed on 1 January 2027, and the Vatican Museums are closed too. Last year the city’s civic museums opened free of charge on New Year’s Day, during the Roma Capodarte festival.

What time is the Pope’s Te Deum on New Year’s Eve?

Last year, the First Vespers and Te Deum began at 17:00 on 31 December in St. Peter’s Basilica, and the New Year’s Day Mass at 10:00 on 1 January. This year, the official calendar of the Prefecture of the Papal Household lists the First Vespers and Te Deum at 18:00 on 31 December 2026 and the Mass at 10:00 on 1 January 2027. Tickets are free.

Where can you watch the fireworks in Rome?

Turismo Roma names the terraces of the Janiculum and the Pincio among the best places to watch the fireworks at midnight. Both fill up quickly, so arrive early and dress warmly.