07/19/2026
This is not Pompeii. This is Caracalla.
The Baths of Caracalla are one of the biggest and best-preserved ancient buildings in Rome, and one of the least crowded. Ten minutes from the Circus Maximus, 8 euro to walk in. Here is everything you need to plan the visit.
Entry is 8 euro. It is 2 euro for EU citizens between 18 and 25, and free for anyone under 18. When there is a temporary exhibition on, there is a 5 euro supplement.
On the first Sunday of every month it is free for everyone. That is the one day it gets busy, so if you want it quiet, go on any other day.
Buy at the gate or online through the official ministry ticketing site. On a normal day there is no timed slot and no name required on the ticket.
One thing that catches people out: your Colosseum ticket does not include Caracalla. They are two separate tickets. Plan it as its own stop.
Open every day, but the hours change with the season, so this matters.
Mondays are short: 9 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon. Every other day it opens at 9 and stays open into the evening, until 7:15 in the height of summer, earlier as the days shorten through autumn and winter. The ticket office always closes one hour before the site.
Closed only on 1 January, 1 May, and 25 December. Because event nights and the summer opera season can change the closing time, check the current schedule on the official site before you go.
How to get there
Take Metro B to Circo Massimo. From the station it is a flat ten-minute walk, straight down the tree-lined avenue.
The 628 bus stops near the entrance, and a few other lines serve the area.
Skip the taxi. The walk from the Circus Maximus is part of it, because the building grows in front of you as you get closer and you feel the scale before you are even inside.
What to see inside
Walk the main halls in sequence, from the hot rooms through to the great cold hall and out to the open-air pool. The mosaic floors are original, worn smooth over eighteen centuries, and you walk straight across them.
The underground is the best part, if you can get it. It opens only on weekends, by reservation, for a small extra charge. Down there you walk the tunnels where the furnaces heated the whole complex, and see the largest mithraeum ever found in Rome. Book it ahead, because places are limited.
Give it 90 minutes, or two hours if you add the underground.
Best time to go
Go first thing in the morning. The light is better on the brick and the tour groups are still at the Colosseum.
In July and August, do not come in the middle of the day. It is open ground with almost no shade, and Rome in the afternoon is punishing. Early morning or the last two hours before closing are best.
If your trip falls in summer, look up the opera calendar. For decades these ruins have been the stage for Rome's summer opera, with the performances lit against the ancient walls at night. It is one of the most extraordinary things you can do in the city, and most visitors never hear about it.
