A Local's Guide To Rome: Sightseeing For Pizza Lovers

A Local’s Guide to Rome is part of a series collaboration with Spotted by Locals Rome

There’s no meal simpler than pizza: a round base of dough baked with a topping of tomato sauce and cheese. The Italian dish is beloved around the world, but in Italy, with pizza shops around virtually every corner, how can travelers know where to find the best? Skip the tourist traps and follow the locals to the best slices and pies in Rome, all while taking in the beautiful sights and sounds of the Eternal City.

The Pantheon: La Ciambella

It’s hard to miss the Pantheon, the massive Roman temple turned church that was completed by the emperor Hadrian nearly 2,000 years ago. Snap a photo inside, then head to La Ciambella for traditional Roman pizza, the way the locals like it. While Neapolitan pizza from Naples in the south is considered the more traditional slice with its fluffier dough, Roman-style pizza has thinner, crunchier crust, and is typically served in rectangular slices.

Spanish Steps: Pastificio Guerra

No trip to Rome is complete without a photo at the Spanish Steps. After taking in the sights at the iconic landmark, stop by Pastificio Guerra. Surrounded by inauthentic spots for tourists, the eatery serves up simple, classic pizza that the locals approve. For those with a bigger appetite, a special €4 deal includes a takeaway meal of handmade pasta, water, a fork, a knife and, if you ask nicely, a glass of wine.

Castel Sant’Angelo: Mondo Arancina

There’s no shortage of 2,000-year-old monuments in Rome, including the Castel Sant’Angelo. First a castle, later a fortress used by the popes, and now a museum, the landmark offers sweeping city views from its highest turret. Nearby, Mondo Arancina is the locals’ go-to spot for takeaway pizza and Sicilian beer. Don’t miss the arancina, the Sicilian version of supplì, a rice croquette with a meat, mushroom and tomato sauce filling.

Porta Portese Flea Market: Trapizzino

After browsing the expansive Porta Portese Flea Market, the largest in Rome, walk across the Ponte Sublicio bridge from Trastevere to Testaccio. There, Trapizzino offers a new way of sampling the best pizza in Rome. While impolite, most Italians will admit to dipping a piece of bread into a pot of fresh sauce cooking on the stove—and getting their hand slapped for it. Trapizzino celebrates this guilty pleasure with pizza dough cut into small triangles filled with different flavors that change seasonally.

Villa Borghese: Pizzeria Serenella

After working up an appetite exploring Villa Borghese, a stunning landscape garden and one of the largest parks in the city, swing by Pizzeria Serenella. In Rome, there is no such thing as the average cost of a price of pizza. Pizza can be ordered in slices as big or as small as the imagination, which are then sold by weight. Sample several different types, from the Neapolitan buffalo mozzarella to the Sicilian pachino tomato with anchovies from Liguria and the homemade artichoke cream with grated pecorino cheese. Here, no matter the toppings, the dough is left to rise for more than 72 hours, making each slice light and fluffy.

A Local’s Guide to Rome photos courtesy of Carissa Gan, Larry Koester, Alex Lecea, Wynand van Poortvliet, Galen Crout, N i c o l a