Hidden gems in Rome, the spots even repeat visitors miss

Quartiere Coppedè, the fairytale neighborhood

Five metro stops from Termini in the Trieste district sits a perfect six-block bubble of Art Nouveau / Baroque / medieval mashup architecture, built by Gino Coppedè between 1915 and 1927. The Fontana delle Rane (Frog Fountain) and the Palazzo del Ragno are the headline sights. Almost nobody knows about it. Twenty minutes is enough to walk it all.

San Clemente, three centuries in one stairwell

Five minutes from the Colosseum, behind a plain Romanesque facade, sits one of the most extraordinary archaeological sites in the city. The current basilica (1100s) sits on top of a 4th-century basilica, which sits on top of a 1st-century Mithraic temple. You walk DOWN through time. €15, takes 40 minutes, has zero queue.

Mercato Trionfale, the actual food market

Campo de' Fiori is for tourists. The real Roman food market is Trionfale in Prati, 270 stalls, working chefs shopping at 7am, butchers slicing prosciutto thinner than a credit card. Open Monday–Saturday morning. Bring cash, point at things, eat them.

The Aventine keyhole

On the Aventine Hill there's a green wooden door at Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta. Look through the keyhole. Through three layers of hedge you see St. Peter's Basilica perfectly framed. It is silly. It is the most photographed two-second experience in Rome. The Giardino degli Aranci viewpoint is 200m away, combine.

Espresso bars Romans actually use

Tourist espresso bars are €1.20 and forgettable. Local Roman institutions:

• -Sciascia Caffè (Prati), cup glazed with dark chocolate. The crew's favourite trick.
• -Faro (Trastevere), roastery + bar, the espresso the third-wave coffee crowd talks about.
• -Cul de Sac (Piazza Navona), the wine list nobody mentions, the cured meats nobody pictures, exactly two blocks from the most touristed square.
• -Roscioli Caffè Pasticceria, the deli is famous, the standing espresso bar in the back is not.

The Garbatella neighborhood

15 minutes south of the centre by metro, a 1920s workers' garden city of pastel blocks, internal courtyards, and trattorias where the menu is a chalkboard and the bill is under €25 a head. Almost completely tourist-free. Take the B line to Garbatella, walk anywhere.

Capuchin Crypt at Via Veneto

Under the church of Santa Maria della Concezione, five small chapels are decorated entirely in human bones, the remains of about 3,700 Capuchin monks arranged into chandeliers, archways, and crests. It is exactly as strange as it sounds. €8.50, takes 30 minutes, ranks among the trip's memorable hours.