Hi!
Here are friendly links to previous blog posts:
#1 Welcome to Cornell in Rome Fall 2011
#2 Restaurants in Rome (Italian cuisine)
#4 Bakeries in Rome (the good ones)
#7 Where to hang out in Rome? Part 1/5: Lungo il Tevere
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#8
Where to hang out in Rome? Part 2/5:
Nightlife
Now, let’s talk about clubs and bars in Rome…We can’t forget those!
Here is a general map of Roman entertainment scene; it is helpful to know the general areas where different types of fun sources are located.
Partying area:
Campo de’Fiori / Piazza Navona
Trastevere
Testaccio
Pyramide
Little notes on raging in Rome:
1. Congratulations, you all can drink. Don’t even have to carry your IDs no mo.
2. Italians usually do not get overly drunk; hence they have a low tolerance for all the crazy things you might do with excessive alcohol in your blood.
3. Getting some ‘girly‘ drinks? Be careful, girly drinks in Italy do not necessarily mean ‘lower alcohol content’. You are supposed to drink the entire thing enjoying your three-hour-long dinner!
4. FYI, Italians don’t really dance at clubs…
5. Most of the clubs start heating up around 12am.
6. Enjoy your time there! The party usually goes till the morning comes.
7. Another big clubbing area is around the Metro station Piramide, but I personally have never been to that area for such occasions. Explore!
8. Some nicer, more contemporary, and high-ended clubs only accept people on the list… Meaning internet reservation. Go check on some hip events at http://www.romapiu.it; the website has all the information you need. And click on Mettiti in Lista (Add yourself on the list)!
– clubs you can enter this way: La Maison (Via Assisi 37. http://www.lamaisonroma.it), Playhouse, Central Park, etc.
Campo de’Fiori
The closest to most of the Cornell apartments, and also one of the popular tourist destinations. Turns into a huge market every morning. Surrounded by many bars and restaurants. You will be able to see many American students and many other English-speaking people as well.
Attention:
– All the bars close at 2am by law. No kidding, you will see some cops checking around.
– Sloppy Sam’s Drunken Ship, the most famous bar of Campo to the English-speaking population in Rome, used to be the capital of American students at night, but this famous bar recently has been closed.
Testaccio
The club zone of Rome. It used to be a working class neighborhood with a big slaughterhouse, but now it hosts all the fun nightlife in Rome. The only sector of Rome where food is available on the way home after clubbing at night!
– Many of these places offer free entry for ladies before certain hours; check on the websitse.
– Cabs are easy to catch, but it is also walking distance from Cornell apartments.
1. AKAB
Via di Monte Testaccio, 69
10pm-4am Wed-Sat, No credit cards
The most famous disco. Two floors inside filled with many young crowds all the time. Hip hop, random Italian and American pop, electronica
2. Coyote
Via di Monte Testaccio, 48
Dance your night away from 10:30 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. Open every day.
3. Eto
Two floors – dance floor on the first floor and a bar and a lounge on the second floor. Often rented out to private parties, or in collaboration with universities.
Via Galvani, 44
Closed Monday, Open 10:30 p.m. to 4:30 a.m.
4. Alpheus
Another big club that plays various types of music. Open day and night.
via del Commercio, 36
Clubs in other areas
5. Circolo degli Artisti
By taxi: about 11 euros, 15-min ride
By bus: 1 euro, 1 hour + alpha
Via Casilina Vecchia, 42 (06 7030 5684)
Open 9pm-3am Tue-Sun. Three-month membership card. No credit cards.
An awesome bar & live concert hall where the young (probably hipstery) Romans hang out. Big open space with large tables where you can chill listening to music. Good beer. Fridays are ‘black’ and rock; Saturdays are more disco from the 70’s to the 90’s. Students of American universities held a show during the Spring 2011 semester (check out my earlier post here) Wish I had known about this place earlier.
6. Scholars
Via Del Plebiscito, 101
Every day from aperitivo till late night
This is not a club…. Just a bar. English speaking Irish bar with Karaoke and many American students.
http://scholarsloungerome.com/
7. Gilda
Via Mario de’ Fiori, 97 Walkable distance.
Open Sept-June 11pm-4am Tue-Sun. Credit card yes.
Here’s a quote I found from an online review:
“Don’t even think about it unless you are (1) an aging film star, (2) a politician of the deeply slimy variety or (3) very rich/drunk/stupid. All silicone and no soul, Gilda is a dame no one should touch even with a pair of sterilized tongs.”
Yes, it is kind of true, I mean it surprised me how many ‘old’ people were hanging out on the floor. The entrance fee is quite irregular (sometimes ladies get in for free ans sometimes they don’t). Still, I remember having a good time- There were some of those ‘good looking (young) Italian men’ “communicatable” in English. So… I would recommend this place to you.
One of the nicer clubs in Rome. Unlike the clubs in Testaccio where diverse groups of people come, clients here are mostly Italians.
SAN LORENZO
San Loreanzo is located around the main university in Rome; it’s a collegetown. Bars and restaurants are significantly cheaper than in the historical center. Pretty artsy and young part of Rome.
8. Locanda Atlantide
Via dei Lucani 22b – Quartiere San Lorenzo
An ex-industrial warehouse. Don’t be put off at the facade, because it’s actually quite cool inside.
9. SAID Cioccolateria
Well, this is really not a party place. But… Are you a serious chocolate fan? Please go to this chocolate factory, you will love it. It does not offer any factory scenes that you may imagine from the title, but these guys make good chocolate, chocolate cake, hot chocolate, everything!
via Tiburtina 15
10. Bar à Book
via dei Piceni, 23
This is not a ‘real’ bar either.
Tired of Italian cafes where you have to drink your coffee standing up? Do you miss those cafes where you can just sit and chill without paying extra money? If you want to discover a nice place to sit down and study for the entire day, go to Bar a Book. Pretty cool.
Gay Vilage (EUR)
The Gay Village has settled in EUR (a neighborhood in Rome designed during Italy’s Fascist period; you will learn all about the architecture during the semester) in 2002. Rome is a surprisingly gay-tolerant and gay-friendly city – During Spring semester, the city of Rome hosted Euro Pride 2011, a successful event in which even Lady Gaga participated. Their website (http://www.gayvillage.it) introduces many parties in Rome.
– Sunny Kim