The Spanish Steps azaleas in 2027

When will the azaleas be on the Spanish Steps in 2027?

Not announced yet. Past displays started between 12 and 21 April and ran for about four weeks, so mid-April to mid-May 2027 is the safe bet.

The start date follows the weather and the plants, not a fixed calendar day. Turismo Roma puts the length at "about one month" and warns that a sudden heat wave or a run of rainy days can shorten the flowering. In every year we could source, the azaleas were in place for Rome's birthday on 21 April, which falls on a Wednesday in 2027.

The table below holds only dates we could source. We could not find an official record of the 2025 dates, so we left that year out rather than guess.

When does Rome announce the azalea dates?

Late, usually on the day the pots go up. Roma Capitale published its 2026 notice on 16 April, the first day of the display, and its 2024 notice on 12 April.

There is no spring press conference weeks ahead. The city's gardening service brings the plants from its nursery when they are ready to flower, and the notice on comune.roma.it appears the same day, followed by the Turismo Roma event page. The end date is soft too: "tempo permettendo", weather permitting, as one Roman news site put it in 2024.

In practice: if your Rome dates are flexible, aim for 21 April to 5 May 2027. That window sat inside every display we could source. If you are coming in early April or late May, treat the azaleas as a bonus, not the reason for the trip.

What will you see, and where do the plants come from?

More than 200 potted azaleas in white and lilac on the flights and landings. They spend the rest of the year in the city's old nursery, the Semenzaio di San Sisto.

The 2026 display used over 200 plants of two varieties, the white "Bianca di Spagna" and the lilac "Fenicia", according to Roma Capitale. The white one is home-grown: the city's 2024 notice calls it a variety hybridised and propagated at San Sisto, on the slopes of the Celio. Counts change from year to year; in 2024 the city spoke of about 380 plants.

The idea is older than its address. The first azalea show was set up in the early 1930s in the garden of Villa Aldobrandini, and moved to the Spanish Steps for good in 1952. In 2026 the pots also ran along Via dei Condotti for the first time, so the street now leads you into the display. Whether that comes back in 2027 is not known yet.

Can you sit on the Spanish Steps during the azalea display?

No. The sitting ban applies all year, flowers or not: €250, up to €400 if you dirty or damage the Steps. You can walk up and down and stop for photos.

Rome's urban police regulation has banned sitting and lying on the Spanish Steps since August 2019, and the police patrol the azalea weeks like the rest of the year. Leaning into a flower pot for a selfie, putting a coffee cup on a step or letting a child climb among the plants are the quick ways to get called over. Our guide to sitting on the Spanish Steps covers the fines in detail.

Want a seat with the view? The edge of the Barcaccia fountain is the classic perch, and the balustrade of Piazza Trinità dei Monti at the top gives you the flowers from above with Via dei Condotti beyond.

What are the best hours to photograph the azaleas?

Before 9:00 for an empty staircase in soft, even light; after 17:00 for warm sun on the flowers. Midday is flat and crowded.

The Steps face west, down Via dei Condotti. In the morning the sun is behind Trinità dei Monti, so the staircase sits in open shade: no hard shadows, true colours on the white and lilac blooms, and very few people before 9:00. Sunrise is around 6:30 in mid-April and 5:50 by mid-May.

From late afternoon the sun swings round and lights the flights from the front, and the travertine turns gold. Sunset is about 19:50 in mid-April and 20:20 in mid-May (Rome times from timeanddate). That is also the busiest hour. Shoot from the Barcaccia for the classic frame, from the corner of Via dei Condotti for the long view, or from the top terrace looking down. Our best time to visit guide covers crowds hour by hour.

Which tours pass the azaleas on the Spanish Steps?

Any tour that stops at the Steps in late April or early May. The LivTours walk starts at the foot of the Steps, the Tix & Tours walk gives them 30 minutes, the golf cart 15.

You do not need a tour to see the flowers: the Steps are free and open day and night. A tour makes sense if you want the walk onward to Trevi and the Pantheon with someone who knows the stories. The LivTours small-group walk meets in front of Babington's Tea Room, right beside the azaleas, in a group of up to six. The Tix & Tours walk starts in Piazza del Popolo and spends the longest at the Steps, 30 minutes. The golf cart tour stops for 15 minutes, which is enough for photos if walking is hard.

Skip the Carpe Diem evening walk and the Vespa sidecar tour if the flowers are the point: neither goes to the Spanish Steps. The tour comparison lists the time each tour spends there.

Starts at the foot of the Spanish Steps, six people at most, Pantheon entry and gelato or coffee included.

★ 5.0 · 2 hours · from $148

Explore the small-group walk with gelato → Tour details

Frequently asked questions