Wow, it seems like it has been a long time since I have asked a question here on Fodors. It has been 4 long years since my last trip across the pond.

For those of you who have been to Rome, where is your favorite spot to watch ( and in my case, photograph) the sun set over the city?

One spot comes to mind. The top of the Spanish Steps. What are yours and why? Thanks in advance.

Tom

PS If you are interested, here is a link to some sunsets I took in Arizona www.pbase.com./trsw/azsunsets

Welcome back, Tom!

- From the Cavalieri Hilton over the whole city.
- From Ponte Sant Angelo over the Tiber and the Vatican.

I hate your Arizona sunsets. They make me jealous.

From the Pincio overlooking the Piazza di Popolo towards the Vatican.

Is that magazine Arizona Sunsets still being published?

You have to pay for admission, but I learned on my first trip to Rome that the view from the top of Castel Sant'Angelo at sunset is one of the most fabulous experiences I've ever had in my life. (I was up there on a Saturday in winter. The sky was turning pink and the lights of the Vatican and the city itself were coming on and it was all reflecting off the Tiber below. A little bit of heaven on earth if indeed there is such a thing.)

BC

Anywhere with the sort of view of the action that these people found:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i__DnggGLHA

Have to agree with the lady, "That is amazing"... talk about right place, right time!

Peter

The wine bar terrace on top of the Rome Forum hotel overlooking roman forum. Watching the shadows lengthen as the sun sets over the ruins of the forun is surreal.

Peter- We were in Rome Fall 2009 and saw the same event from our hotel window over the Piazza Rotunda. I urgently called my husband (away from his computer) to the window and he managed to get a few still shots. It was truly amazing. It actually took minutes for the full flock to fly by, swooping down past the Pantheon. I later learned that such an event or behavior is called murmuration.

Peter, hanabilly, OMG I want to see that!

I'm visiting Tom's thread because I just booked 5 nights in Rome in October. I'm going to be watching the sky for this.

And bookchick, despite several trips to Rome, I've never been inside Castel San Angelo. I will get a time for sunset and head there one evening.

My husband is a photographer and he likes to shoot sunsets. Me, I like to look at them.

October should be very good, but they're certainly there for more than just that one month - probably December when we saw them, way too far away to photograph!

And remember too that sunsets aren't only visible in the sky...

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/image/64451173

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/image/102151576

http://www.pbase.com/image/143807753

Peter

Thanks everybody for the suggestions. I should mention that the day that my friend and I will be in Rome, the sunsets at 7:45 and we are having dinner at Trattoria Monti near the train station.

Peter, great photos!! And the video of the birds was amazing!

Tom

Around back of the Capitolini (keep walking past the ticket entrance to the museum), overlooking the Forum. On the opposite side, there is another overlook (left side of Piazza Venezia) where you can go around back (above the Mamertine prison). The end of Via del Fagutate overlooks the Colosseum, but is much higher than the other streets around the Colosseum.

Like tarquin, I loved the sunset view from the Pincio with the Vatican in sight.