Private · exterior only
Filming location · Piazza di Spagna, Rome
Spanish Steps
The 135 travertine steps where Princess Ann ate a gelato and tasted her first afternoon of freedom.
Public space41.9059° N / 12.4828° E
Coordinates from published sources · on-site check pending
The scene
What happened at Spanish Steps
In Roman Holiday, a newly shorn Audrey Hepburn settles onto the steps with a gelato just as Gregory Peck “happens” to walk by. It’s the moment the runaway princess stops running.
The staircase was built in the 1720s to connect the Spanish embassy square with the Trinità dei Monti church above. At the bottom, the half-sunken Barcaccia fountain has been cooling tourists’ hands since the 17th century.
Then & Now
On location today
The steps are as grand as ever and almost always busy. The Keats–Shelley House sits on the right as you face them, and Via Condotti runs straight out from the piazza.
Line up the shot
Stand near the Barcaccia fountain and shoot up and slightly left, keeping the church towers at the top of the frame.
Field notes from this spot
Add a field noteAccess updateSeptember 8, 2026
“Police were enforcing the no-sitting rule at 9 a.m. on a Tuesday. Stand on the landing halfway up for the best angle without getting whistled at.”
Nearby scenes
More in the Rome guide0.2 mi
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Public space
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Public space
Trevi, Rome
Trevi Fountain
Shot here: Roman Holiday (1953) · La Dolce Vita (1960)
41.9009° N / 12.4833° E