Piazza di Spagna Landmark / Shopping Area / Square

Piazza di Spagna, Rome –

Heralded and admired by the likes of John Keats, Mary Shelley, and Casanova himself, the Piazza di Spagna is a beautiful square noted for the famous Spanish Steps leading up to the Trinità dei Monti church.

Nowadays, the steps are usually crowded with tourists and stylish young Italians who gather to mingle and flirt, while the piazza and its main road, Via Condotti, have become home to Rome’s most exclusive shopping district where flagship stores like Prada and Gucci line the streets.

Despite the throngs of tourists, the piazza and steps are still impressive in terms of architecture and atmosphere, and a climb to the top at sunset reveals a wonderful panorama speckled with Renaissance domes, majestic national monuments, and the hordes of pedestrians below.

At the corner on the right as one faces the steps is the house where English poet John Keats lived and died, which is now a museum dedicated to his life and work.

Crowds at Piazza di Spagna thin considerably by 10pm, which is the best time to see the square and to lounge on the steps admiring the lights of the city.