Appia Day 2025: Rome’s most underrated weekend experience

By now, you’ve probably heard about Rome’s world-famous Free Museum Sunday initiative – that monthly first Sunday when state museums throw open their doors for free. This is a nationwide initiative in Italy, but of course Rome attracts a significant number of tourists at this time, due to the sheer amount of museums in the city!

However,  while everyone will be queuing for hours at, say, the Colosseum on October 5, Romans in the know will be experiencing something infinitely cooler on that same weekend. And for two days straight: Appia Day 2025!

What exactly is Appia Day anyway?

For a few years now, Appia Day has celebrated the ancient Via Appia, known as the “Regina Viarum” (the Queen of Roads), which connected Rome to Brindisi and beyond during the Roman era. The Appian Way is considered the oldest road still in use today (part of it, anyway! Read on for more information). This year’s tenth edition will take place on October 4-5, 2025.

The ancient Appian Way (not to be confused with the, erm, chaotic and very modern “regular” Via Appia) was officially added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites in July 2024 and is considered the de facto open air museum of Rome. You can read more about it in one of our older blog posts, here.

Appia Day is a two-day festival that supercharges the concept of an outdoors heritage site by setting up events along the entirety of the ancient road. Featuring walking tours, exhibitions, and exclusive monument openings, Appia Day lets you easily combine this exploration with other Roman adventures, creating the perfect blend of mainstream sights and hidden gems. And it’s all for free!

How to make the most of your Appia Day experience

While the program hasn’t been fully released as we are writing this post, we recommend going to Appia Day’s official website and check out what’s already available for the Lazio region, the area of Italy Rome is part of. The events included in Appia Day will indeed take place in all parts of Italy through which the road passes.

A few things to consider:

If you’re commuting to the ancient Appian Way by public transport, keep in mind that bus no. 118 will get you close enough but it will be probably crowded and its route diverted to allow pedestrians on the road. Buses no. 30 or 714 also get you walking distance from Porta San Sebastiano, where the Appian way literally begins.

Not a big walker? Don’t worry! You can get in the area by taxi. The drivers will know which parts of the route are off limits to vehicles. And while the ancient Appian Way is a park, it is an archaeological one – so you’ll be able to find cafes and restaurants scattered along the monumental road and will be able to stop whenever you feel like taking a break. The museums there also have toilets that can be used.

Book ahead of time! But if you cannot, fear not…

We’re publishing this post a little ahead of time so there’s time to book your preferred event: places available are limited! So if the dates for this free event don’t work for you, or should you find that an Appia Day event is already sold out, fear not! You’ll be able to book any activity in the archaeological park through one of our trusted partners, for example at this address or  here.

Group tours and skip-the-line tickets