Complete guide to avoiding pickpockets and theft in Rome in 2026: where they happen, how the pickpockets' techniques work, what to do if you're robbed, how to protect yourself.
Rome has a real problem with pickpocketing, it's not propaganda to scare tourists but an objective fact: the Questura of Rome records thousands of pickpocketing cases a year, concentrated massively in the tourist areas and on public transport. This guide tells you where they happen, how they work, and how to defend yourself without turning your trip into a permanent security mission.
Le zone ad altissimo rischio: (1) Metro A (red line), especially the Termini, Spagna, Barberini, Repubblica, and Ottaviano (San Pietro) stops, the pickpockets work in a group in the crowded carriages at peak hours; (2) Bus turistici 40, 64, H (they connect the center to the main attractions), the pickpockets get on and off at the main stops; (3) Piazza di Spagna e Fontana di Trevi the crushes in front of the attractions are the ideal environment for quick hands; (4) Stazione Termini and surroundings, the area of Via Giolitti and Via Marsala outside the station; (5) Fori Imperiali e Colosseo in the waiting lines. Medium-risk areas: Campo de' Fiori at night; Trastevere in the evening on the weekend; the Spanish Steps at Trinità dei Monti.
La distrazione della firma: someone approaches with a sheet to sign for a "petition" or a "fundraiser," while you're distracted by the signature, an accomplice empties your bag or backpack. Never sign anything for anyone on the street. The child with the newspaper: children (often 10-14 years old) approach with a piece of cardboard or a newspaper that they wave in front of you to hide their hands underneath, in the quick movement they slip out your wallet. The metro swarm: a group gets on the metro with you and positions itself around you, in the crush they pretend to be ordinary passengers while they work. Warning sign: if someone repeatedly pushes you on the metro without apologizing, get off at the next stop. Il finto poliziotto: rarer but documented, someone approaches you saying they're a plainclothes officer and asks to see your wallet "for a check," Italian police never do this; refuse and immediately call 113.
Report: at the Questura of Rome (Via San Vitale 15, open 24h) or at one of the police offices in the stations (Termini has a railway police office). The report is necessary for: the travel insurance policy, the refund of credit cards (immediately call your bank's blocking number), the replacement of a stolen passport (your country's Embassy in Rome requires the report). The stolen passport: contact your country's Embassy in Rome, almost all of them issue emergency travel documents in 24-48 hours. The stolen credit cards: the international blocking number is on the back of the card, save it in advance on your phone.
It isn't exaggerated, Metro A of Rome (especially at peak hours 8:00-10:00 and 17:00-20:00 and during tourist hours 10:00-14:00) has one of the highest concentrations of pickpockets in Europe in proportion to the number of passengers. The Italian Ministry of the Interior publishes statistics on pickpocketing by area, Rome, and specifically Metro A, is always in the top positions in Italy. The solution isn't to avoid the metro (it's the fastest and cheapest urban transport) but to use it with awareness: money belt in front, no backpack on your back at peak hours, wallet in the front pocket of your pants instead of the back one.
The historic center of Rome at night is generally safe for tourists, Trastevere, Campo de' Fiori, Piazza Navona, the Jewish Ghetto are busy and relatively safe neighborhoods even after midnight. The exceptions: the area around Termini Station after 23:00 requires more attention (the area has a presence of homeless people and drug addicts that in rare cases has led to assaults); some areas of Tor Bella Monaca and Corviale (the outskirts) that no tourist has any reason to visit. The nighttime Rome of the historic center isn't Naples (often inflated in the perception of danger) nor Milan Centrale at night, it's a normal European city with the normal precautions of the case.
Every trip to Italy builds up layers of understanding that no guidebook can fully anticipate. But some things you can know before you leave, and they make the difference between a good trip and an extraordinary one. The practical notes that follow are the ones an Italian guide would give friends, not clients.
In some historic Italian trattorias (the most famous example is Trattoria Mario in Florence, Via Rosina 2) the system is shared tables, you don't get a private table but sit wherever there's room, even next to strangers. This isn't rudeness, it's the original system of the Italian osterie, where people sat wherever they found a spot. The upside: you often end up talking with the Italian diners, who are almost always happy to recommend dishes or tell you about the place. At trattorias with the shared-table system: come in, say how many you are, the waiter shows you a seat; start eating independently of the other diners. The one mistake to avoid: asking for a private table at a trattoria that only works with the shared system.
For tourists who want to take home quality Italian products at supermarket prices: Eataly (in the main cities, high-quality DOP/IGP products but at high prices); Esselunga (Lombardy, Piedmont, Tuscany, the supermarket with the best food section for value); Conad (a national chain, good food sections); LIDL Italia (good for regional products at very low prices). For wines: the independent enoteche give personalized advice far better than the big retailers, search "enoteca" plus the city name on Google and pick the ones with the most reviews in Italian.
Italy is formally cashless-friendly (a POS terminal has been mandatory for everyone since 2022) but still dependent on cash in many situations. The rule of thumb: always keep €50-100 in cash for emergencies (parking, tips, markets, neighborhood bars). For withdrawals: the ATMs of national banks (Intesa Sanpaolo, UniCredit) charge no fees on withdrawals with Visa/Mastercard, the fees you pay are your own issuing bank's. Currency exchange at the airports: almost always unfavorable by 3-8% against the interbank rate. The fintech cards (Revolut, Wise) give the rates closest to the interbank rate with no fixed fees, they're the best option for travelers visiting Italy for more than a week.
The anti-inflation strategies: (1) Eat where Italians eat, the trattoria with the weekday set menu (first course + main + wine €12-18) costs half of any restaurant with photos of the dishes; (2) use regional trains for short routes, Rome-Orvieto: regional €8 vs high-speed €30+; (3) book museums for the first Sunday of the month (free entry); (4) sleep in family B&Bs instead of hotels, same quality, prices 30-40% lower; (5) buy food at the supermarket for snacks; (6) travel in April-May or September-October, hotel prices fall 25-40% compared with the peak summer months. A 10-day Italian itinerary is realistically plannable at €80-100/person/day (all in) if you follow these rules.
Italian taxis are regulated by the municipalities, each one sets its own fares. Official taxis are white (in the big cities) or other colors set by the municipality, with a mandatory meter and a license on display. How to get one: call the city's radio taxi number (in Rome: 06-3570, 06-4994, 06-88177; in Milan: 02-8585, 02-6969; in Naples: 081-202020); use the IT Taxi app (www.ittaxi.it, the official aggregator of Italy's radio taxis); look for the taxi ranks at the fixed points (train stations, airports, main squares). The fixed airport fares: Rome FCO to the center €50 (a fixed municipal fare, not negotiable); Naples Capodichino to the center €23 (fixed). The Uber and Bolt apps operate in Italy with NCC drivers (not taxis), legal but with some service differences compared with traditional taxis.
The golden hour (the first and last hour of daylight) turns any Italian subject into something extraordinary, but in Italy the golden hour has a particular intensity for the quality of the Mediterranean light. The best moments to photograph the main sites: the Colosseum (dawn 6:30-7:30, frontal light; sunset 18:30-19:30, side light); Piazza del Duomo in Florence (early morning 7:00-8:30 before the crowds); the Tuscan Val d'Orcia (morning with low fog, October-March); the Cinque Terre (sunset from the Corniglia or Manarola overlook). The best weather for Italian photography: the day after rain in summer (clean air, dramatic skies, shiny pavements); the autumn fog in the Po and Arno valleys; the rare snow on the historic center of Rome or Florence (an event about once every 5-10 years).
Northern Italian cuisine (Piedmont, Lombardy, the Veneto, Emilia-Romagna): fresh egg pasta (tagliatelle, tortellini, lasagne), butter and cream as fats, rice (risotto is a northern first course), polenta (the Veneto and Lombardy), beef and pork, fragrant white wines and structured reds. Central Italian cuisine (Tuscany, Umbria, Lazio): olive oil as the main fat, fresh and dry pasta, pork and game, pecorino, legumes (lentils, beans), robust red wines (Chianti, Brunello, Sagrantino). The cuisine of southern Italy and the islands (Campania, Puglia, Sicily, Calabria, Sardinia): olive oil, tomato, durum wheat, fish and seafood, Mediterranean vegetables (eggplant, peppers, artichokes), North African and Arab spices (in Sicily especially), buffalo and sheep dairy. The paradox that surprises tourists: the "Italian" food eaten outside Italy is almost always a southern version (pizza, spaghetti, oil and garlic), but the most famous cuisine within Italy is the Emilian one (prosciutto, parmigiano, tortellini).
The main Italian airports (Rome FCO, Milan MXP/LIN, Venice VCE, Naples NAP) saw a significant rise in delays during the 2022-2025 summer seasons, the main cause: European air traffic returned above pre-pandemic levels while the air-traffic-control infrastructure didn't grow accordingly. In case of a delay over 2 hours or a cancellation: immediately activate your right to a refund/rerouting (EU Regulation 261/2004); ask the ground staff for written confirmation of the delay (needed for the compensation claim). Tools for claims: AirHelp (www.airhelp.com), ClaimCompass (www.claimcompass.eu) handle the claim on your behalf, keeping a percentage (25-35%) of the compensation obtained, convenient if you don't want to handle the process yourself.