In January 2022 this was the question in almost every message we received about Italy, and the answer kept moving. Rome was receiving visitors, but the conditions attached to arriving, and to entering museums and restaurants once you were there, were being revised at short notice.
Rather than repeat rules that changed within weeks of being written, it is more useful to set out how the picture looked that winter and where the reliable information actually sat.
How the picture looked
The city itself was operating
Museums, galleries and the major ancient sites were admitting visitors on timed tickets. Restaurants and bars were serving. What varied through the winter was the documentation asked for at the door and on public transport.
Entry conditions were set nationally
Requirements for arriving in Italy came from national government, not from the city, and were published on the foreign ministry and health ministry pages. Regional measures could add to them but not remove them.
Rules differed by where you were travelling from
Arrivals from within the European Union, from the wider European travel area and from further afield were treated differently, and the categories were adjusted more than once during the season.
Timed entry became permanent
One lasting effect was that advance booking for the largest sites stopped being optional. That has not reverted, and it is now simply how visiting Rome works.
Crowds were far lighter
For anyone who did travel that winter, the compensation was a version of the city that had not been seen for decades: short queues, quiet churches and space to stand in front of things.
The practical lesson outlasts the moment. When conditions are in flux, read the destination government's own pages and your own government's travel advice, check the date on the page, and treat everything else as commentary.