Study bars in Rome: the best cafes to concentrate on with books and Wi-Fi

Palombini

The MAXXI Museum, located in the heart of the Flaminio neighborhood, offers two distinct bars/restaurants—Palombini and Mediterraneo—with their respective pros and cons. However, they do have some commonalities worth highlighting right away: excellent Wi-Fi throughout the museum, mandatory drinks, and a dramatic increase in the number of screaming children on Sundays. Palombini faces directly onto the street and is easily recognizable because everything is so white and sterile. This makes it particularly bright and suitable for studying, thanks in part to the spaciousness of the tables (despite the less than comfortable chairs), which for the most part consist of long, white tables. It is open every day except Monday, from 8:00 a.m. during the week, and from 9:00 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays (well before the museum, which always opens at 11:00 a.m.). The bar does not offer table service; you must order at the counter, a benefit for students. A coffee costs €1, regardless of whether you drink standing or sitting. Be aware, however, that not all tables are designated for studying. There are some where, even if you're allowed to drink, studying is prohibited. At lunchtime, however, the legitimacy of coffee loses its appeal: either you order something to eat or you leave. Luckily, the café offers a wide selection of sandwiches and pizzas that can fill your stomach. The waiters, unfortunately, aren't the friendliest, but perhaps that's due to the unpleasant task they're forced to perform. They often find themselves having to demand mandatory drinks from all the students who sit at their tables without ordering. It must be admitted, however, that they seem empathetic: every time they remind customers of the mandatory drink, they look contrite. It seems their hearts are breaking. The clientele is very diverse; the Maxxi attracts all the neighborhood's diverse population, from people over sixty who spend the morning reading the newspaper's culture supplement to large families with children, to high school and university students.

Palombini, Via Guido Reni 4 – Tel. 345 718 4016.

Mediterranean

Less sterile and featuring more wood decor, Mediterraneo follows the Maxxi's opening hours, opening every day at 11 a.m. except Mondays, when the entire museum is closed. Table service is available and is paid for: a sit-down coffee costs €2. Although it's open until 8:30 p.m. (even longer, depending on the day of the week), studying becomes impossible after 6 p.m. Almost every day around this time, the restaurant's managers begin clearing the tables for late-night private events. Being more like a restaurant than a bar, the tables are numerous and smaller. This allows for greater concentration on studying and perhaps less chance of engaging in casual conversation with those sitting next to you. The restaurant's "restaurant-like" nature, however, makes the arrival of lunch a more intrusive affair than at Palombini. On weekends, the restaurant also offers a brunch buffet and tends to get crowded.

Mediterraneo, Via Guido Reni 4 – Tel. 391 705 3069.

Bramante Cloister

The Chiostro del Bramante café offers the opportunity to study just steps from Piazza Navona, in one of the many buildings with internal courtyards that fill central Rome. It always opens at 9:30 a.m. and is open all day. The Wi-Fi works well. The café is divided into two areas, one outside and one inside. The former consists of a series of tables along the covered loggia, but during the winter months the temperature tends to be too low to study outside. However, during the summer months, for high school students with material to catch up on or university students in session, the view of the courtyard is decidedly pleasant. The interior, on the other hand, is divided into two spaces: the café itself and the Sala delle Sibille. The latter is a very welcoming lounge seating about 20 people, with soft chairs, warm colors, and pleasant background music. The excessive comfort can make you unproductive. The stained glass window, from which the room takes its name, is also fascinating. It overlooks Raphael's fresco of the Sibyls inside the Church of Santa Maria della Pace. Every now and then, you can even hear the priest reciting mass. Coffee costs €1, but at lunchtime, you have to order something to eat. The menu offers numerous dishes of varying degrees of complexity. On Saturdays and Sundays, the waiters tend to shoo away students even earlier and more insistently. The clientele is divided into three main categories: students, radical chic who live downtown, and tired tourists who, after the exertion of the exhibition (mandatory to indulge their artistic sensibilities), arrive at the true destination of all their desires: the armchairs of the cafeteria.

Bramante Cloister Cafe, Arco della Pace 5 – tel. 06 6880 9035.

Macro Coffee

The Macro Asilo cafeteria on Via Nizza is perhaps the most suitable place for studying among those described so far. Besides the reasonable prices (a coffee is €1), drinks are not mandatory, and lunchtime goes unnoticed. On the downside, however, the cafe doesn't offer particularly interesting dishes: a few slices of cake and the occasional muffin. The lighting is good, thanks in part to the giant windows overlooking the museum's entrance path and the street. The cafeteria's colorful dining room attracts dozens of students from around the neighborhood every day, so much so that after a certain hour—from lunchtime onward, when the classrooms at the nearby Tasso and Righi high schools empty—it's very difficult to find a seat. However, the cafeteria recently removed its tables from the main dining room. This move is likely part of a renovation or management change for the cafeteria, similar to what's happening throughout the museum. Overall, however, the museum offers several study spaces in addition to the cafeteria.

Macro Caffè, Via Nizza 138 – Tel. 06 696271.

Achilli Coffee

Achilli Caffè in Prati is the bar that replaced the historic Caffè Settembrini a little less than a year ago. It's open daily from early in the morning (7 a.m. Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. on Sundays). In addition to several outdoor tables, the bar offers an indoor dining area with about twenty seats, comfortable chairs, and good lighting, but no Wi-Fi. Coffee at the table costs €2, and the selection of pastries is extensive and high-quality. Frequented mostly by writers, journalists, and RAI staff (whose headquarters and general management are located on Viale Mazzini), it's the place par excellence where the ethereal world of intellectual ideas and projects collides with the rugged terrain of Italian television's programming and production companies. Since the clientele is largely made up of workers, from midday onward the tables are reserved exclusively for lunch. Things are quieter on weekends, especially on Sundays, when the bar fills with older couples reading L'Espresso and the like.

Achilli Caffè, Via Luigi Settembrini, 21 – tel. 06 6945 5330.

Merulana Palace

We're in Esquilino, one of the most multicultural and authentic neighborhoods between the Colosseum and Termini Station. Thanks to a renovation lasting more than five years by the Elena and Claudio Cerasi Foundation and CoopCulture, the former Health Office on Via Merulana houses a museum of modern and contemporary art (and, of course, a café). Open every day except Tuesday, the café opens at 8:30 a.m. Drinks are not mandatory, and a coffee costs €1. The menu offers a variety of interesting options, from craft beers to thirst-quenching juices. The space is divided between an indoor dining room, with high ceilings and large windows at street level, and three tables in an internal courtyard. While students aren't usually kicked out at lunchtime, it can happen that on weekends there are several reservations and reserved tables, resulting in increased noise and general din. Generally, however, there's room and you can stay for several hours without any problems. The clientele is very diverse, from art enthusiasts to tourists looking for an escape from the souvenir shops downtown, to students and neighborhood residents. The only drawback: there aren't many electrical outlets.

Palazzo Merulana, via Merulana 121 – 06 3996 7800.