World War II Walking Tour
Duration
2 hour(s) 30 minute(s)
Languages
English
Skip the line
Included
Explore Rome’s Fascist-era history hidden among iconic landmarks
Stand in Piazza Venezia beneath Mussolini’s historic balcony
Discover the influence of Fascism on the Roman Forum’s modern layout
Hear the moving story of Rome’s liberation in June 1944
€ 58.3
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This powerful and thought-provoking walking tour takes you through Rome’s central historic district to uncover the city’s complex role during Fascism, Nazi occupation and eventual liberation in 1944. As you explore well-known landmarks, your expert guide reveals how the city became the capital of Fascism for two decades and how traces of this era still lie hidden in plain sight. Beginning at Trajan’s Column, you’ll move to Piazza Venezia—once the political stage of Mussolini’s regime—where he addressed vast crowds from the famous balcony. The walk continues into the Roman Forum, where Mussolini’s fascination with the ancient world left concrete marks on both the cityscape and its identity.
From there, the tour leads into the Jewish Ghetto, offering an insightful look into the long history of Rome’s Jewish community and the tragic events they faced during the war. Passing through Piazza Navona, you’ll reach the Tiber River to explore the complex role of the Church during Fascism and Nazi occupation. The experience concludes with the emotional story of Rome’s liberation in June 1944, when retreating Nazi forces fled and the U.S. Fifth Army entered the city to scenes of overwhelming joy. This tour connects past and present, offering a compelling journey through memory, resilience, and the lived history etched into Rome’s streets.
Expert Local Guide
Headsets for groups when appropriate
Transportation
Food and Drink
Gratuities
Comfortable walking shoes
Bottled water
Sunscreen and hat
Umbrella or rain cove
Public transportation nearby
Arrive 15 minutes before your scheduled start time
Follow current Italian COVID-19 regulations
Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Type in your hotel/accommodation to see how far the attraction or departure point is.
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Activity Provider: Roman Vacations
Customer Reviews
Rahul

Excellent tour, with a guide who took a lot of interest in the group explaining details from the world war era in the region. It was exciting to see some of the artifacts from the past and learn about life in this region both prior and post WW2
Bo

It was incredible! Highly recommended! The tour guide was amazing. She’s an incredible woman who made the whole history feel so vivid and real. She even shared that her grandmother lived through that time, which made the stories even more powerful. She also had a lot of materials to support her stories, which was really impressive! She gave me a completely new perspective: What if the Czech people hadn’t surrendered? What if they had fought and managed to hold on until the Allies arrived? Then the fate of the country and its people could have been totally different.
Michael

Pavel was very knowlegeable, entertaining, and explained the history in depth. The tour (as expected) is focused on in the history in Prague so it's interesting for those with basic-intermediate high-level WW2 knowledge.
Karen

Amazing and fascinating tour. Hannah, our guide was awesome! She was so knowledgeable and passionate and she really brought history to life. I feel so fortunate to have had her as our guide. The crypt is amazing and the staff are helpful and proud of their heritage. A tour well worth every cent.
Mary

We learned so much. James was great! I would recommend this to anyone.
Jennifer

Incredible tour! We definitely got more than we could have imagined. Three hours of incredible information - that as someone who really enjoys WWII history, both did not know previously, and allowed our other days in Rome to be heightened. If you’re wondering if you should do this… YES! Best tour and guide we had in Rome over our 6 day stay.
Anat

This was one of the best walking tours we've ever done. I only knew the bare bones about Czechia in WW2, and was fascinated by the full story as told by our guide. Very highly recommended.
Annette

A really exciting trip where we learned a lot about Rome during World War II. James, our guide, was a nerd in a good way. 😃 He had answers to all our questions and showed us the little things to look for if we wanted to identify monuments, buildings, columns, and more that were built by the fascists before and during World War II. There were 4 of us on the tour, so we had plenty of time for questions and reflection.
Chris

We had a fantastic tour back in May! It was just the two of us and so we had lots of opportunities to ask questions. Our guide was so knowledgeable it was unreal! They went above and beyond to show us things we would usually have walked past and to give us an overall experience of the city, even guiding us back towards where we were staying and pointing out great places to eat etc. There was SO much to see from that period in history which was just fascinating. This was the highlight of our trip!
