The famous 135-step staircase between a church and a designer-shopping piazza.
🛡️ Independent — no pay-to-rank🔎 Graded for who you are✓ Verified 2026-06-17How we grade →
The verdict
Who it's worth it for
Great for
Families with kids
Couples
Solo travellers
Photographers
Depends
Travellers on a budget
If you've only got a day
History & culture buffs
Not for
—
Worth it for families with kids, couples and solo travellers.
Why we say this
Insider secrets & local vibes
A wide travertine cascade flanked by azaleas in spring — at 7am, empty and golden, it's a real photograph; the rest of the day it's a crowded thoroughfare.
Not independently verified — estimated
You can't sit on the steps — banned and fined since 2019 — so the one thing every visitor instinctively wants to do is the one thing you can't.
Not independently verified — estimated
Mobbed for most of the day; the gap between the postcard expectation and the shuffling reality is the real letdown here.
Not independently verified — estimated
What it feels like
Reading the room, traveller by traveller
As a couple
Only really rewards an early-morning or azalea-season visit; otherwise a two-minute photo on the way to Via Condotti.
First-timers
Worth ticking, but it's a pass-through icon — don't build a slot around it.
Good to know
Before you go
Cost
Free
Time
15–30 min
Last verified
2026-06-17
Best time
Early morning for photos without the crowds, or April for the azalea display.
Getting there
Directly above Metro A Spagna station.
Accessibility
It is a staircase; the piazza at the base is level and step-free.
Sitting on the Spanish Steps has been banned since July 2019, with fines around €250 (up to €400 for damaging or dirtying them), enforced by patrolling officers. en.wikipedia.org ↗
🛡️ Independent — no pay-to-rank🔎 Graded for who you are✓ Verified 2026-06-17How we grade →