A runaway princess, a reporter who can't believe his luck, and one perfect day in Rome. That's Roman Holiday, the 1953 Paramount film directed by William Wyler, with Audrey Hepburn as Princess Ann and Gregory Peck as Joe Bradley. Ann is a young royal on a goodwill tour of Europe. One night she slips out of her country's embassy in Rome, already sedated, and falls asleep on a wall above the Roman Forum. Joe, an American reporter, takes her home. Next morning he realizes who she is, and he spends the day showing her Rome while quietly planning the scoop of his life, with his photographer friend Irving snapping pictures. Underneath runs a second true story, about the man who wrote the film and couldn't put his name on it. This walk follows Ann's day, but Rome sets the order. You'll reach the ending halfway, at the palace of the farewell, and then go back for the Vespa ride, the night it all began, and the film's most famous joke. This is an unofficial walk, not made with or endorsed by the filmmakers or the studio. It's one of our self-guided walking tours, about 4.2 kilometers from Via Margutta to the Mouth of Truth.

Before you set off

The walking takes just under an hour, about 58 minutes for the 4.2 kilometers. With stops, photos and a gelato, allow closer to two hours. The nearest Metro to the start is Spagna, on Line A, about 500 meters away, or Flaminio by Piazza del Popolo. The streets are mostly flat but often cobbled, with one short climb on the Capitoline Hill near the end, so wear comfortable shoes. In the warm months, go early or late and carry water.

Three things to check before you go. Close access to the Trevi Fountain's basin now carries a small fee. The inside of Palazzo Colonna, where the film ends, opens to the public only on Friday and Saturday mornings, so if you want to see the hall from the film, walk on one of those days. And the Mouth of Truth sits behind a gate that opens in the daytime, usually with a queue. Traffic around Piazza Venezia is heavy, so stay on the sidewalk.

Via Margutta 51

You're on Via Margutta, a quiet street of galleries and studios tucked between Piazza del Popolo and the Spanish Steps. It already had a name as Rome's artists' street long before Hollywood arrived. Find number 51. It's a working building, with artist studios inside, and behind its street door, which is usually locked, lies a courtyard with the famous stairs that climb to Joe Bradley's door. If the door happens to be open, look through from the sidewalk. Please don't buzz.

This is where Ann wakes up. The night before, Joe found a young woman asleep on a wall above the Forum, and he brought her back here. In the morning she wakes in a stranger's home, wearing his pajamas, with no idea where she is. Then Joe sees her photograph in the newspaper. The girl he rescued is a princess. For a reporter, that's not a problem. That's the exclusive of a lifetime, as long as she never finds out what he does for a living.

Filming began in Italy in the summer of 1952, and the film was shot entirely in Rome, on real streets like this one, with the interiors filmed at the newly renovated Cinecittà studios. Turner Classic Movies calls it the first American picture since the Second World War made entirely in Rome. So the courtyard and the stairs are real. Whether the room behind Joe's door was ever filmed in this building is another matter, and nobody has settled it, so we'll leave it at the courtyard.

Ann doesn't stay long. She sets off alone into the city, and Joe has a story to chase. Walk south along Via Margutta to its end, step across to Via del Babuino and follow it into Piazza di Spagna. You'll see the steps rising ahead of you. About five minutes.

Spanish Steps

You're in Piazza di Spagna, at the foot of the Spanish Steps. Find a spot to one side, out of the flow of people, and look up the stairs. This is the film's postcard, the picture everyone knows.

Ann has just had her long hair cut short, and she's sitting on these steps eating a gelato, a princess enjoying an ordinary afternoon. Then Joe turns up, as if by chance. It isn't chance at all. Joe knows exactly who she is, and he has a plan. He'll give her a day of freedom in Rome. Irving will photograph all of it. And nobody will tell the princess that the friendly American is a reporter. Right here, on the steps, the two of them plan the day together. She wants a day off. He wants a story.

There's a lovely story about the two stars, too. Hepburn was still unknown when the film was made. According to Turner Classic Movies, during filming Peck asked for her to get equal billing with him. He seems to have guessed what the rest of the world was about to learn.

One warning before you copy Ann. Rome's city police rules, approved in June 2019, ban sitting on the Spanish Steps, and police began enforcing them visibly that August. The fine for sitting is 250 euros, with fines up to 400 euros for damage or mess, and some reports say eating and drinking on the steps are banned too. So Ann's gelato is now a fineable offense. Enjoy the view standing up, and save your gelato for later.

But how did Ann get that haircut? To find out, we step back an hour. Leave the piazza at its southern end and head south through the side streets, cross the busy Via del Tritone, and follow the signs for Fontana di Trevi. About eight minutes.

Trevi Fountain

Trevi Fountain, Rome

You're at the Trevi Fountain. Now we go back in time, to earlier that same day, before the gelato and before the steps.

Look for the street sign for Via della Stamperia, the little street that runs off this piazza. Number 85, near where it meets the piazza and Via del Lavatore, was the barber shop in the film. In recent years that shop has sold leather goods and handbags.

Fresh out of Joe's courtyard, Ann wanders the city on her own. She drifts past this fountain, past the crowds, and into the barber's shop just off the square. And there she has her long hair cut short. It's a small act of rebellion and a very big moment in the film. With one haircut, the princess disappears and a young woman on her own day off takes her place.

Picture how busy a scene like this must have been to film. According to Turner Classic Movies, the shoot was hampered by heat, noise, onlookers and paparazzi. And here's something else you can see that audiences in 1953 never did: color. Wyler came to regret shooting in black and white, but by TCM's account, switching to color on location would have meant new film stock and flying the film to London every day, so Roman Holiday stayed black and white. The blue of this water and the honey stone around it are your bonus.

If you want to get close to the fountain itself, check before you go. Since February 2026, close access to the basin, the area nearest the monument, costs 2 euros between 9 in the morning and 10 at night. The rest of the piazza is free.

With her new short hair, Ann heads for the steps, and you know what happens there. Then Joe takes her somewhere grown up. Leave the piazza west along Via delle Muratte, cross Via del Corso, and carry on west through Piazza di Pietra to Piazza della Rotonda, where the Pantheon stands. About ten minutes.