The public Capitoline Museums entrance is in Palazzo dei Conservatori, the palace on the right when you stand in Piazza del Campidoglio facing Palazzo Senatorio, Rome’s city hall. Do not start at the almost matching Palazzo Nuovo opposite. The normal museum route begins in Palazzo dei Conservatori, passes beneath the square through the Galleria Lapidaria and Tabularium, then reaches Palazzo Nuovo. For most walking visitors, Palazzo Nuovo is the final part of the visit.
Which building do you enter?
The official address is Piazza del Campidoglio 1. Once you reach the square, face the large Palazzo Senatorio straight ahead, with its clock tower and twin staircases. Palazzo dei Conservatori is on your right. Palazzo Nuovo, which looks deliberately similar, is on your left.
The distinction matters because the two palaces form one museum but are not two interchangeable public entrances. Palazzo dei Conservatori contains the ticketing and arrival facilities and is the correct starting point for the main collection.
If you are walking up from Piazza Venezia, use the broad, shallow Cordonata Capitolina leading to Piazza del Campidoglio. Do not confuse it with the much steeper staircase climbing to the Basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli beside it. At the top of the Cordonata, finding the correct palace is simply a matter of looking right.
What happens when you arrive
- Enter Palazzo dei Conservatori. Look for Ingresso, meaning entrance.
- Deal with your ticket. Same-day tickets can be purchased at the biglietteria. If you have booked in advance, keep the digital or printed ticket ready and follow the signs or staff instructions for ticket control. The museum’s official ticket page has the current purchase conditions.
- Use the cloakroom if requested. Staff may require bulky bags, backpacks, umbrellas or potentially damaging objects to be deposited.
- Begin in Palazzo dei Conservatori. The route leads through the major ceremonial rooms, ancient bronzes, archaeological displays and the Pinacoteca sections that are open on the day.
- Go down rather than walking outside. Follow signs toward the Galleria Lapidaria and Tabularium. This underground route takes you beneath Piazza del Campidoglio.
- Continue into Palazzo Nuovo. You emerge inside the second museum palace without needing another ticket or crossing the square outdoors.
The underground passage is part of the museum, not an exit
A common mistake is reaching the lower level of Palazzo dei Conservatori and assuming the museum is finished. It is not. The underground Galleria Lapidaria is the connection between the two principal palaces and forms part of the visit.
The passage also provides access to the Tabularium, where openings in the ancient structure look directly across the Roman Forum. From this lower section, continue following museum signs toward Palazzo Nuovo. You then rise into the building on the opposite side of Piazza del Campidoglio.
This is one reason the complex feels larger and less linear than it appears from outside. You are effectively crossing the piazza without realizing it. For a broader look at the collections and the main works in each building, see our Capitoline Museums overview.
Where does the visit actually end?
For the standard walking route, Palazzo Nuovo is normally the last museum building. Its galleries contain works including the Capitoline Venus, the Dying Gaul and the portrait collections in the halls of emperors and philosophers.
Once you have finished there, follow Uscita, meaning exit. Under the normal visitor flow, you can emerge back onto Piazza del Campidoglio, now from the opposite side of the square from where you began.
That means the museum itinerary and your physical exit do not necessarily finish at the same door. Temporary works, events and accessibility arrangements can change the permitted flow. If an exit is unavailable, staff may send visitors back through the internal connection toward Palazzo dei Conservatori. The museum specifically advises checking its current notices before visiting.
Knowing where you are likely to emerge is useful if the museum is one stop in a longer day around the Forum and Piazza Venezia. You can organize the rest of your Italy route around the side of the hill where you actually finish rather than assuming you will leave through the original doorway.
If you put a bag in the cloakroom, do not forget where it is
This is the practical catch with a museum that can finish in a different building. The official visitor information says the self-service cloakroom is free, and staff may require bulky bags, backpacks and umbrellas to be deposited. Items must be collected before the museum closes.
The cloakroom is on the Palazzo dei Conservatori side of the complex. If you deposited something there, do not simply follow an exterior exit from Palazzo Nuovo and assume you can walk around the square to collect it from outside. Before leaving the controlled museum area, tell an attendant that you need the guardaroba. You may need to retrace the underground route to Palazzo dei Conservatori.
This is especially worth remembering if you have a daypack containing passports, medication, chargers or anything needed immediately after the visit. The museum’s visitor-services page has the current cloakroom rules.
Useful Italian words on the signs
Ingresso means entrance, biglietteria is the ticket office, guardaroba is the cloakroom and uscita means exit. Palazzo dei Conservatori is your starting building. Galleria Lapidaria and Tabularium identify the underground section, while Palazzo Nuovo tells you that you have reached the palace across the square.
If the route seems to be sending you downstairs when you expected another gallery, that is often correct. The lower-level connection is precisely how you get from the first palace to the second.
Wheelchair access currently requires extra planning
The normal walking route should not be assumed to work identically for visitors using wheelchairs. The museum uses lifts, platforms and stairlifts through parts of the historic complex, and wheelchairs can also be requested from staff.
More importantly, there is a current temporary restriction: from 9 June 2026 until further notice, Palazzo Nuovo is not accessible to visitors in wheelchairs because restoration work affects the rooms providing access to its lift. Check the museum’s official Palazzo Nuovo accessibility notice shortly before your visit rather than relying on an older floor plan.
Baby prams are permitted inside the museum, but lifts and internal routing can still make a stroller visit different from the main stair route. Ask room staff before committing to a staircase if you are unsure where the corresponding lift or platform is located.
Do not arrive at the last admission time expecting the full route
The museum’s current standard hours are 9:30 to 19:30 daily, with last admission one hour before closing, subject to holiday schedules and temporary changes. The official practical-information page should be checked for your date.
Last admission is not the same thing as enough time for the whole complex. Starting close to closing can leave you with Palazzo dei Conservatori, the underground galleries and Palazzo Nuovo still ahead of you, and individual sections can occasionally close earlier for events or works. If the second palace matters to you, arrive with a substantial margin rather than treating the final admission time as a recommended starting time.
If you find yourself at the wrong palace
If you walk up to Palazzo Nuovo and cannot find the expected ticket entrance, nothing has gone badly wrong. Stay in Piazza del Campidoglio and cross directly to the matching palace opposite. Facing Palazzo Senatorio, you want the building on the right, Palazzo dei Conservatori.
Likewise, do not leave the museum in Palazzo dei Conservatori simply because you have returned to the ground floor and see daylight. Before exiting, check whether you have visited the Galleria Lapidaria, the Tabularium and Palazzo Nuovo. Unless a current closure changes the route, those sections are reached from inside the museum and are not a separate attraction requiring another entrance.