Exploring Harry Styles' Rome: A Guide to His Favorite Italian Spots
In a small Roman café near Campo de’ Fiori, the queue moves at a leisurely pace. Staff briskly call out orders in Italian while customers gesture toward pizza sold by the centimetre and priced by the gram. I entered after recognizing the façade from an online photo captioned “Harry Styles spotted drinking coffee in Rome.” As my slice heats in the oven, I ask the woman behind me if this is indeed the place.
After a quick exchange with the counterman, she turns back. “Harry comes here all the time, apparently.” He nods with a shrug, feigning nonchalance, but a twinkle in his eyes and a subtle smirk betray his pride. “Both locals and tourists come hoping to spot him.” She adds, “I think I’ll start visiting more often too… Harry Styles… wow.” Clearly, I am not the only admirer present.
Finishing lunch with an espresso while observing stylish Romans pass by, I feel privy to Styles' secret. Fortunately, there are many more to uncover. Between concluding his latest tour and releasing his fourth studio album earlier this month, the singer has been frequently seen across Rome, which has become a sanctuary away from the public eye. What draws Britain's top pop artist back repeatedly? Is it the fashion, the cuisine? The Eternal City exerts a powerful pull, and I am determined to delve deeper.
Harry Styles' Hangouts: Trastevere's Flea Market
Styles describes his time in Italy—a city he has long adored, with rumors of a house purchase outside Rome in 2023—as a transformative phase teaching him to slow down and appreciate life. Porta Portese, the Sunday flea market in Trastevere, perfectly embodies this philosophy, offering an escape into another realm. Just when you think, “This must be the last stall with €3 designer trousers,” another endless row of Polo Ralph Lauren items and vintage toys emerges around the corner.
It makes sense that Styles strolls here. Vendors and buyers are so engrossed in haggling that they might overlook the global superstar beside them. Occasionally, he is recognized—a viral video shows him browsing a bargain shoe stall, caught off guard and visibly displeased by the intrusion, yet enjoying the market like any local. From the market, wander Trastevere's romantic cobblestone streets, and cross the Tiber to Testaccio, one of Rome's best-kept culinary secrets. At Trattoria Pennestri, bold dishes like fried brain and rigatoni con la pajata (intestines from a milk-fed calf) dominate the menu. Lacking such courage, I opt for meatballs and conclude with a chocolate mousse that reinforces Styles' lesson: slow down—savor every bite, or you are missing out.
Holy Grounds and Heavenly Tomatoes
On 8 May 2025, fans were puzzled to spot Styles in St Peter’s Square during the announcement of Pope Leo XIV. The backstory, as he later shared on Radio 1, enhances the tale: he was at a nearby salon when he heard “Habemus Papam!” and decided to investigate mid-haircut. This likely explains the cap he wore at the papal inauguration, reading “Techno is my boyfriend,” sparking online speculation about his sexuality and selling out within hours.
Vatican City showcases Rome at its most audacious. My Italian guide reveals a surprising fact about Michelangelo: on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, he painted God with a visible bare bottom as a rebellious act against the pope. For dinner, I head to Prati, an elegant district adjacent to Vatican City. At Cacio e Pepe, the pasta all’amatriciana tastes divinely inspired, as if made from tomatoes grown in the Garden of Eden. Perhaps this inspired Styles to release a “Tomato” edition LP of Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.
Cocktails Above the Pantheon
Styles frequents Chiltern Firehouse, the creative industry's favored spot in Marylebone, until its ironic demise by fire. Gigi Rigolatto, the rooftop restaurant at the Orient Express La Minerva Hotel near the Pantheon, serves as its Roman counterpart: the half-covered terrace and chic clientele evoke Chiltern’s courtyard on a sunny day.
From here, I admire the city's domes and terracotta rooftops stretching endlessly. The panoramic view and inventive cocktail menu alone justify a visit, but the seafood selection and generous veal escalope elevate the experience further. This luxury also caught Netflix's attention: Gigi Rigolatto featured in Emily in Paris, where the effervescent Emily briefly leaves the French capital. Kudos to the production team for accurately depicting where a real-life advertising expert would land in Rome.
During my Roman journey, I stay at The Social Hub in San Lorenzo—a hybrid site with student housing, hotel rooms, co-working spaces, and a rooftop pool, encircling a park built on a former parking lot. The spacious, loft-style lobby lives up to the hotel's name. The bar hums with creatives on laptops, and a packed schedule of events sustains energy into the evening. It attracts the same crowd Styles mingles with: unpretentious, international, and creatively expressive. A ten-minute walk leads to Piazza dell’Immacolata, where cafés double as bookshops and students in black attire sip €3.50 Aperol Spritzes. San Lorenzo feels akin to early Dalston—a place you visit not because of TikTok trends, but through local knowledge.
When Harry Styles Met Caravaggio
Last summer, Harry visited the National Gallery of Ancient Art in Palazzo Barberini, a baroque palace enjoying recent acclaim. The permanent collection has just acquired a rare Caravaggio portrait purchased by the Italian state for €30 million, and visitor numbers have more than tripled in two years. “Our Caravaggio exhibition alone drew almost half a million visitors—some flew from New York twice to see it,” museum director Thomas Clement Salomon explains. “Harry was among them. I personally guided him. He was genuinely curious and asked insightful questions. I was impressed by his understanding of the paintings.”
The museum recently hosted another wave of VIPs during Valentino's autumn/winter show. Creative director Alessandro Michele, a Roman native, chose the baroque palace as both backdrop and inspiration for the collection. This renewed buzz around such grandeur signals a broader shift from minimalism toward a revived appreciation for the ornate and maximalist. Consider Rosalía's latest album, weaving Latin phrases and sacred references into groundbreaking pop, or films like Poor Things, Saltburn, and Wuthering Heights, which celebrate Baroque aesthetics of theatricality, romance, and excess. Browsing the museum, it all becomes clear. Perhaps it is not merely the slow life that draws Harry to Rome, but the grandeur. The city outshines all—a welcome respite for a global superstar.
Experience Harry Styles' Rome Yourself
- Stay at The Social Hub Rome (from €85 per night in low season or €160 per night in high season) at thesocialhub.co/rome.
- Book a table at Gigi Rigolatto on gigi-restaurant.com/rome.
- Book tickets for Palazzo Barberini at barberinicorsini.org.
