Hire a Bodyguard in Rome
Can you hire a bodyguard in Rome?
Yes. Italian private security law licenses the guarding of property, not the protection of people: personal protection is not licensed, and not expressly banned either, so the provider is what matters. Algoz arranges vetted Italian officers with Carabinieri, Polizia di Stato and military backgrounds who meet you at Fiumicino or Ciampino, stay beside you at St Peter’s, on Via dei Condotti and at the last table of the evening, and work with a security driver whose car may lawfully enter the restricted-traffic centre. Any guarding of property, a residence, a villa or valuables, goes through Prefettura-licensed Italian security institutes. Send your dates for a reply within 24 hours and a written proposal with the final rate, without obligation.
Hiring a bodyguard in Rome: the questions people ask first.
Is it legal to hire a bodyguard in Rome?
Yes. Italian law licenses the guarding of property, not people, and, as Italian legal commentary reads it, a private officer works with a citizen’s powers.
What a bodyguard costs in Rome
From EUR 950 a day for one officer on twelve-hour cover. The security driver and vehicle are quoted separately; armed requests, armoured vehicles, extra officers and peak dates sit above the base.
How much notice we need
At least seven days. Shorter notice is looked at case by case, and under 48 hours is an urgency case: additional fees, and no guarantee. Armed requests need a minimum 30-day lead and may be refused.
Armed or unarmed protection
Unarmed, almost always. Armed private protection of a client is in practice almost never possible in Italy, and a trained officer with a security driver is the right detail.
Where we cover
Rome and Lazio, from Fiumicino, Ciampino and Civitavecchia to Ostia and the Castelli Romani, then Florence, Milan, Venice, Naples, Capri, Lake Como and Porto Cervo.
Who your protection officer is
Vetted Italian officers with Carabinieri, Polizia di Stato and military backgrounds: NDA-bound, working in Italian and English, with Russian, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese speakers and female officers on request.
How to check a Rome bodyguard, when Italy has no bodyguard licence.
In Paris you would ask for the officer’s licence number. In Rome there is none, so ask five things instead. Who employs the officer and answers for him: a named company and a written contract. Where property is guarded, a residence, a villa or valuables, the institute must hold the Prefetto’s licence under article 134 of the TULPS, issued by the Prefettura of the province where the institute has its main seat (the Prefettura di Roma for a Rome-based institute), with the Questura supervising the guards. Who insures the work. Whether an NDA is signed before your name reaches the team. And what the officer has done before.
Two answers should end the conversation: an armed bodyguard offered as a routine option, or a sworn guard’s status presented as a licence to protect people. The Prefetto’s licence is open only to Italian and EU citizens, and Italian law makes no provision for a UK SIA licence or a US permit, so neither gives standing in Italy. Algoz answers all five questions in writing on request and defaults every Roman detail to unarmed. Bodyguard laws by country sets out the same test elsewhere.
What EUR 950 a day includes, and what sits on top.
The officer, twelve hours
One vetted officer beside you for a twelve-hour day, in plain tailoring and supervised throughout. Hours beyond the twelve are charged at the rate written on the quotation.
Planning and advance
Hotel liaison, Vatican tickets and timings, the entrance used at each venue, and a lawful holding point for the car.
NDA and one contact
Every officer NDA-bound before your name is shared, one Algoz contact from proposal to departure, and a written rate before you commit.
Security driver and vehicle
An executive saloon or SUV with a security-trained driver, in a car that may lawfully enter the centre, quoted separately. In Rome most briefs need both driver and officer.
Second officer, nights, residence
A two-officer rotation for long event days, overnight cover, and the guarding of a villa through a Prefettura-licensed institute, quoted to the brief.
Armed, armoured, peak dates
Armed requests need a minimum 30-day lead, may be refused and are never guaranteed. Armoured vehicles and peak dates such as Easter week sit above the base.
Six Rome briefs, and the team we propose for each.
A Wednesday audience and the Museums
One officer and a security driver. Free tickets from the Prefecture of the Papal Household, the Square entered early, the Museums at a quieter hour, the car held outside the walls.
A couple on Via dei Condotti
One officer and a security driver. Appointments arranged privately in the Tridente, purchases carried by the team, dinner in Trastevere without a taxi queue.
Ten days with children in high summer
One officer by day, a female officer where the family prefers one, and a driver the children get to know. Early starts, afternoons at the hotel.
Ministry or embassy meetings
A security driver first, an officer for arrivals and private dinners, and a detail that stays in the background because confidentiality outweighs visibility.
Film Fest or Internazionali week
Two officers in rotation, a driver and venue advances at the Auditorium Parco della Musica or the Foro Italico.
A Ciampino arrival and a day out
Officer and vehicle at the General Aviation terminal, luggage counted, then the Castelli Romani, Castel Gandolfo or the coast at Ostia and Fregene.
English-speaking bodyguards in Rome, and a desk that answers 24/7.
Every officer on an Algoz detail in Rome works in Italian and English, with Russian, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese speakers assigned where the brief asks, and our Rome concierge desk has concierges who work in Russian and in Chinese, so bookings, Vatican tickets and boutique appointments are arranged in the language you think in.
The desk answers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A Sunday night arrival at Fiumicino, a single day for a Wednesday audience, a month of residential cover in Parioli: one contact, one standard, from EUR 950 a day for the officer. Send the dates for your Rome stay.
Bodyguard, close protection or security driver in Rome?
Bodyguard, in Italian guardia del corpo, describes a job, not a licence: Italian law has none, and nobody can show you one. Close protection (protezione ravvicinata) is the discipline behind the word: advance work, route and venue planning, protective driving and the early read of a crowd. Executive protection is its corporate framing, usually with driver and vehicle included.
The terms with legal weight are about property. A guardia particolare giurata is a sworn guard approved by the Prefetto to guard property for a licensed istituto di vigilanza or an owner, which is why a villa or a collection is guarded through such an institute. Confusing that with personal protection is the most common mistake we see in Rome.
The security driver is often the most useful person on a Roman detail. The hire car with driver, the NCC (noleggio con conducente), is licensed by a municipality, and only one licensed in Rome enters the restricted centre without registering. Sometimes the driver alone is enough, and we say so. Read how our close protection works and how a private driver and bodyguard in Rome share one day.
Why Hire a Bodyguard in Rome?
Rome is the only capital on earth that encloses a second sovereign state. The Quirinale, Palazzo Chigi and Montecitorio sit across the river from the Vatican walls, the city carries two diplomatic corps at once, and three United Nations food agencies keep their headquarters here, while the historic centre itself is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. No other city compresses state protocol, sacred ground and mass tourism into so few square kilometres.
Algoz provides bodyguard services in Rome through vetted Italian officers, selected for judgement rather than presence. Our principals are visiting families, executives, collectors, guests of the Holy See and producers on location, and one team plans the route, drives it, walks it and answers for it.
Diplomatic protocol meets the highest luxury.
Organised Luxury Theft
A fine watch is read in a second in the shopping streets and at hotel doors, and a guest waiting on the pavement for a car is at his most predictable.
Paparazzi Presence
The word itself was coined in Rome. Photographers know the hotel doors above the Spanish Steps, and a recognisable principal is photographed by default.
Vatican & Political Protocol
Audiences, ministry meetings and embassy calls each carry their own accreditation, timing and screening. Advance work turns protocol into a schedule.
Pickpocket Networks
Pickpockets work Metro line A, tram 19 and the Termini forecourt, where recent Carabinieri sweeps made arrests, and the Polizia di Stato metro unit has made arrests at Colosseo.
High-Season Crowds
The Jubilee closed on 6 January 2026, but Easter week, the summer and the great liturgies still fill St Peter’s Square and the centro storico.
Restricted Traffic Zones
The centro storico ZTL is camera-enforced, the lanes are narrow, and kerbside stopping is often impossible. Without a local driver, the car is never where you leave a building.
Bodyguard Services in Rome
Close Protection Officers
Vetted Italian officers who dress to the room, from a Vatican audience to La Pergola, bound by NDA, unarmed and supervised throughout.
Secure Transportation
Executive saloons and SUVs that may lawfully enter the centre, with security-trained drivers, and armoured options where the threat justifies them.
Family & Residence Details
Cover for spouses and children on school runs and days out, residence awareness for long stays in Parioli, Prati, the Aventino and Olgiata, female officers available.
Vatican & Heritage Details
Officers who work the Vatican Museums, St Peter’s, the Colosseum and the Galleria Borghese as routine, planning entrance, dwell points and vehicle position in advance.
Event & Film Protection
Cover for Cinecittà shoots, festival premieres and private dinners, with anti-paparazzi strategy where the profile calls for it.
Concierge + Protection
Vatican Museums tickets and guided visits, restaurant tables, Galleria Borghese slots and shopping appointments, arranged by our Rome concierge desk and delivered by the same team.
The Vatican, St Peter’s & the Museums
Vatican City is a sovereign state with its own security: the Pontifical Swiss Guard protects the Pope and guards the access points, and the Gendarmerie Corps is the state’s police force. St Peter’s Square is Vatican territory normally open to the public, and under article 3 of the 1929 Lateran Treaty, as generally read, the Italian police keep order there up to the foot of the Basilica steps. A private detail works up to and around those lines, not through them. We prepare the approach: the ticket for the Wednesday General Audience, usually in the Square from 10h00, sometimes moved to the Paul VI Hall in winter or bad weather, the screening at the colonnade, the meeting point afterwards, and an officer where the Square narrows. Tickets are always free, requested from the Prefecture of the Papal Household through the Vatican’s booking page for audiences. The Vatican Museums open Monday to Saturday from 08h00 to 20h00, last entry 18h00; entry is free on the last Sunday of each month, from 09h00 to 14h00, last entry 12h30, unless the official calendar lists a closure that day. The vehicle waits outside the walls for a clean departure.
The Spanish Steps hotels & the palazzo addresses
Most of our principals stay around the Spanish Steps and Via Veneto: the Hassler at the top of the Steps, the Hotel de Russie near Piazza del Popolo, the Eden, the Bulgari facing the Mausoleum of Augustus, and, further out, the St Regis by Piazza della Repubblica and the Rome Cavalieri on Monte Mario for those who prefer a garden. Each address has its own entrance logic: liaison with hotel security, arrival timing, floor and lift planning, and an officer who reads a lobby without appearing to watch it. The forecourt matters as much as the lobby, because Rome’s hotel thieves work arrivals and departures, when luggage is on the pavement and a stranger stops to ask for directions.
Via dei Condotti & the maisons
Via dei Condotti runs from the Spanish Steps to the Corso and carries the Italian houses at their most concentrated, with Via Borgognona, Via Frattina and Via del Babuino completing the Tridente. It is a short, highly observed walk inside its own restricted zone, the Tridente ZTL, closed to unauthorised cars from 06h30 to 19h00 on weekdays and 10h00 to 19h00 on Saturdays. Our officers work it in plain tailoring: appointments arranged privately, the vehicle at the nearest lawful stopping point, purchases carried by the team, and a rhythm that lets you look into the windows instead of over your shoulder.
Ancient Rome & the open piazzas
The Colosseum, the Forum and the Palatine share one archaeological park, the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain fill from mid-morning, and the Galleria Borghese admits by timed slot only. At the Colosseo Metro station in March 2026, the Polizia di Stato metro unit arrested a pickpocket pair who had robbed a tourist on a train, one blocking while the other lifted. We pair officer and driver for each visit: the entrance used, the first hour rather than the busiest, the spot where a car may wait.
Driving the ZTL: why a Rome-licensed driver matters
The daytime ZTL Centro Storico runs Monday to Friday from 06h30 to 18h00 and Saturday from 14h00 to 18h00, and the night zone Friday and Saturday from 23h00 to 03h00, except in August. A hire car with driver licensed in Rome is exempt; one licensed elsewhere in Italy must register every entry online, and one licensed abroad may not run a car-with-driver service in Rome at all. Since 1 July 2026 even electric cars need a paid permit, with taxis and hire cars with driver exempt. So the car that brought you from Milan or Monaco cannot simply collect you from the Pantheon. The hotel front shows why it matters: in July 2026 Rome press reported a Patek Philippe worth some EUR 80,000 torn from an American visitor’s wrist outside a hotel in Monti while he waited on the pavement for an app-booked car. On an Algoz detail the car is already at the door and the officer walks the few metres between. Rome’s mobility agency publishes the current ZTL hours for the centre.
Cinecittà, the Film Fest & the event calendar
Cinecittà has made pictures on the Via Tuscolana since the 1930s and still draws international productions, so talent and photographers move between a studio lot, a hotel and a location in one day. The Rome Film Fest fills the Auditorium Parco della Musica every October (13 to 25 October in 2026), the Internazionali BNL d’Italia brings tennis to the Foro Italico from 27 April to 16 May 2027, and the Stadio Olimpico beside it holds the Six Nations, AS Roma and Lazio. Event work is decided in the days before: which gate is in use, where the car can sit, which exit the lenses miss. Faces the public knows are covered under high-profile protection doctrine.
Fiumicino, Ciampino & protected transfers
Fiumicino handled over 50 million passengers in 2025, and its Arrivals hall is where a visitor is most easily approached. Licensed Rome taxis charge a fixed EUR 55 to the centre inside the Aurelian Walls, and the airport operator warns that other vehicles soliciting in Arrivals may not be authorised, as the Fiumicino taxi fare page explains. We meet you inside the terminal with a vehicle already positioned. Ciampino, about 15 km from the centre, has a dedicated General Aviation terminal open every day from 07h00 to 23h00 and is generally Rome’s business aviation airport; a private arrival begins there, officer and vehicle positioned, luggage counted. Roma Urbe, on the Via Salaria, serves helicopters and light aircraft, and the same standard covers the cruise terminals at Civitavecchia. See executive transportation in Rome.
How a Rome detail is actually run
A headcount is the last thing we decide. We read the days as they will be lived, hour by hour, and propose the smallest team that honestly covers them: usually one officer and a security driver, a rotation of two when the evening runs past midnight, a fuller detail with venue advances when the face is a known one. Names reach the team only after the NDA is signed, and one Algoz contact stays with the file to the departure gate. How close protection works.
Beyond Rome: the Castelli, Tuscany & the coast
Few Italian itineraries stop at the Aurelian Walls. The same team covers the Castelli Romani, Castel Gandolfo and the coast at Ostia and Fregene, then follows the principal north to Florence, Milan, Venice and Lake Como, or south to Naples, Capri and the Amalfi Coast, and across to Porto Cervo in season. One brief, one standard, one point of contact from the first city to the last.
From the first message to the departure gate.
The brief
Dates, party, hotels and the shape of each day, sent through the enquiry form. It stays confidential from the first message.
A reply within 24 hours
Questions on whatever changes the plan: an audience, an event week, a private arrival.
The written proposal
The team we recommend and the final rate in writing. No obligation, and no names shared until you accept.
NDA and the officer
Every officer signs before your name reaches the team. On request, the officer’s profile and any institute’s licence details.
Advance work
Routes and ZTL timings, the hotel briefed, venue entrances checked, audience or museum tickets requested, the terminal meeting point fixed.
On the ground
Officer and driver from arrival to departure, one contact throughout, the plan adjusted live.
What Italian law licenses, and what it leaves to the provider.
Italian private security law is written around property, not people. Under article 134 of the TULPS (Royal Decree 773/1931), nobody may offer guarding or custody of property, or private investigations, without the Prefetto’s licence, and the same article bars any licence for work involving public functions or restricting personal liberty. Article 133 lets owners employ sworn guards for their own property; article 138 sets the requirements for the sworn guard, the guardia particolare giurata, approved by the Prefetto for two years and only while employed by a licensed institute or such an owner. DM 269/2010 classes licensed security work from A to E, and neither it nor the 1940 regulation’s list of services reserved to sworn guards includes protecting a person: the only protected transport is of cash, valuables, weapons and explosives. Italian legal commentary treats protecting a person as a police function. Read the text of TULPS article 134.
As Italian legal commentary reads the law, a private protection officer in Rome has only an ordinary citizen’s powers: no identity checks, no searches without consent, force only in lawful defence, and arrest only in the narrow in-flagrante cases open to any citizen. A personal-defence carry licence under article 42 is granted by the Prefetto only on demonstrated need, for the holder’s own safety, for one year; it is not a licence to protect a client. Unlicensed guarding of property is an offence under article 140, with up to two years’ arrest and a fine of EUR 206 to 619.
So the question is not who holds a bodyguard licence, because nobody does, but who stands behind the officer. Algoz works through Prefettura-licensed Italian security institutes for anything touching the guarding of property: residence, villa, valuables. The officers who move with you are vetted, with Carabinieri, Polizia di Stato and military backgrounds, NDA-bound, unarmed and low profile; their skill is the early read that keeps a principal out of the incident. Spain, by contrast, licenses protection officers under Ley 5/2014 and France cards them through CNAPS: compare a bodyguard in Barcelona or in Paris, or add concierge across Italy and destination management.
The moments that specifically call for protection in Rome.
Holy Week and the great liturgies fill St Peter’s Square and the Via della Conciliazione, and high summer keeps the Colosseum and the Pantheon full all day and the Trevi crowded until late at night. Arrivals and evening movement to Trastevere are where even a short stay earns its officer and driver. For families: the children look at the Colosseum while somebody else watches everything approaching them.
The dates to book early in 2027: the Six Nations at the Stadio Olimpico, Italy v Ireland on Saturday 13 February, Italy v France on Saturday 6 March and Italy v Wales on Saturday 13 March 2027, all at 15h10 Rome time; Run Rome The Marathon on Sunday 14 March 2027, starting near the Colosseum with road closures; Holy Week, 21 to 28 March 2027, Easter Sunday on 28 March; the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, 27 April to 16 May 2027; and the Rome Film Fest each October. Most weeks bring the General Audience on Wednesday mornings and the Angelus at noon on Sundays; the papal calendar can change at short notice.
What actually happens to visitors in Rome, and what the officer does about it.
Violent crime against visitors is uncommon in central Rome; practised theft is not. The Il Sole 24 Ore crime index, 2025 data, puts the province of Rome at 28,760 reported pickpocketing thefts, 680.7 per 100,000 residents, fourth in Italy behind Florence, Milan and Venice, down from 791.5 and second place in 2024, and third in Italy for total reported crime. These are reports across the whole province, and thefts that visitors never report are not counted.
Police releases show the pattern. Carabinieri sweeps in November 2025 and at Easter 2026 made arrests on Metro line A at Spagna, Termini and Repubblica, around Piazza dei Cinquecento, on tram 19 and in Monti. In 2024 the Polizia di Stato arrested a gang that worked hotel entrances as tourists arrived and left: one asked for directions while another took the luggage. The July 2026 watch robbery in Monti followed the same logic: a visitor alone on the pavement.
All of it is predictable, which is why one officer changes a stay: the car replaces the Metro and the taxi rank, and the officer stands between you and the approach. For the wider picture, read Is Rome safe for American tourists?
"A Roman day is won in the hour before it begins: the car cleared for the restricted centre, the approach to St Peter’s, and the photographer already waiting at the hotel door."
Your US security detail has no standing in Rome. Ours is local.
Why your home team stops at the border
Italy has no bodyguard licence: the TULPS licenses the guarding of property through Prefettura-licensed institutes, not the protection of people. A US executive protection agent has no Italian standing in Rome, and no US permit allows anyone to go armed in Italy. What we do instead: a vetted Italian officer, briefed by us against your itinerary, who works alongside your security director rather than replacing them.
Officers who work the way your US team does
English-speaking as standard, NDA-bound, and run to the same advance, arrival and departure discipline a US executive protection team expects. Your security director gets a named coordinator and a written plan before anyone arrives, and the officer reports to that plan, not around it.
Car plus officer, and a reply on your clock
Most US visits are best covered by one security-trained driver with an executive vehicle, adding a second officer for events, show weeks and evenings out. Rates are quoted in EUR, with an indicative USD figure alongside for visitors from outside Europe. A person reads every message and replies within 24 hours, on Eastern and Pacific hours as well as ours; members and known clients hear back sooner.
Flying in from New York, Miami, Los Angeles or Texas? Read the guide written for you: executive protection and travel security in Europe for US clients.
The next big dates in Rome, and how we get you in and out.
Six Nations: Italy v Ireland
To the Olimpico and out ahead of the crowd. Stadio Olimpico, Foro Italico.
Six Nations: Italy v France
To the Olimpico and out ahead of the crowd. Stadio Olimpico, Foro Italico.
Six Nations: Italy v Wales
A weekend planned around two sets of closures. Stadio Olimpico, Foro Italico.
See the full events calendar with transport and protection offers
Hire a Bodyguard in Rome
Share your dates, party size and itinerary, confidential from the first message. At least seven days, and earlier is better: vetting the brief, releasing the right officer and the advance work take that long. Shorter notice is looked at case by case; under 48 hours is an urgency case, with additional fees and never a guarantee.
EnquireWhat a bodyguard in Rome costs.
Close protection in Italy starts from EUR 950 per day for one officer on a standard twelve-hour day. In Rome a security driver whose car may lawfully enter the restricted centre is the most useful addition and is quoted separately with the vehicle, and Holy Week, the Six Nations weekends and the Internazionali compress officer availability early. Armed requests, armoured vehicles, multi-officer teams and peak dates sit above the base and are quoted to the brief, as the day-rate cards above set out, and the final rate is confirmed on enquiry with no obligation.
Further reading: what a bodyguard costs, our full close protection pricing guide, how a security driver works, and how modern close protection is run.
One officer, one brief: specialist protection in Rome.
Student Protection Abroad
Low-profile cover for sons and daughters at school and university far from home.
Senior Travel Protection
A vetted officer who travels with an older parent, door to door.
Medical Travel Protection
Airport to clinic, an officer who waits, and nobody who needs to know.
Hand-Carry Courier
One officer, one journey, no handovers, for watches, jewellery and documents.
TSCM Bug Sweep
Hidden cameras, microphones and trackers found before you walk into the room.
Separation and Harassment Protection
One discreet officer when the risk has a name you know.
Protection in related destinations.
Protecting celebrities & public figures
Actors, musicians, athletes, royals and the people the world recognises: celebrity protection is its own discipline, with anti-paparazzi strategy, leak-proof operations, crowd and stalker management, and details that switch from red carpet to invisible in the same day.
Celebrity Close ProtectionAlgoz FZ-LLC (Trade License 5033995 | TRN 105119056700001) is licensed for Businessmen Services and Lifestyle Development Consultancy by RAKEZ. Operational services such as security, transportation and concierge are delivered through vetted, licensed specialist partners, selected, contracted and overseen by Algoz. All operational execution is performed by vetted third-party partners holding the local permits the law requires (in Italy: Prefettura-licensed security institutes under the TULPS, Royal Decree 773/1931, for the activities that law licenses). We provide direct assistance and support in partnership with local regulated providers, complying with local laws. Clients are responsible for obtaining any required approvals. Armed services require a minimum 30-day lead time for authorisation, which may be refused. All activities comply with UAE laws and RAKEZ regulations.
Bodyguard in Rome - Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a bodyguard in Rome cost?
From EUR 950 per day for one close protection officer on a standard twelve-hour day. A security driver with an executive vehicle is quoted separately and is the most useful addition in Rome. Armed requests, armoured vehicles, multi-officer teams and peak dates sit above the base and are quoted to the brief, and the final rate is confirmed in writing, with no obligation.
What does the EUR 950 day rate include?
One vetted close protection officer for a twelve-hour day, the planning and advance work for your itinerary, hotel liaison, an NDA signed before your name is shared, and one Algoz contact throughout. The driver and vehicle, a second officer, overnight cover, guarding of a residence and peak dates are quoted on top, in writing. Hours beyond the twelve are charged at the rate written on the quotation.
Is there a bodyguard licence in Italy?
No. Italian law has no bodyguard licence. The TULPS (Royal Decree 773/1931) licenses the guarding of property and private investigations under article 134, and bars any licence for work involving public functions or restricting personal liberty. The sworn guard, the guardia particolare giurata, is approved by the Prefetto to guard property, not to protect people. With no licence to check, you rely on who employs the officer and who answers for the detail.
Is it legal to hire a bodyguard in Rome?
Yes. Hiring an unarmed private protection officer in Italy is not licensed, and not expressly banned either. What the law regulates is the guarding of property, so anything touching your residence, a villa or valuables is done through a security institute holding the Prefetto's licence under article 134 of the TULPS. Algoz works exactly that way, with vetted officers who are NDA-bound, unarmed and low profile.
Can a bodyguard stop a thief in Italy?
Only with the powers any citizen has, as Italian legal commentary reads the law. A private protection officer cannot check identities or search anyone without consent, may use force only in lawful defence, and may arrest only in the narrow in-flagrante cases open to every citizen. Good protection in Rome is therefore prevention: reading the approach at the station or the hotel door, keeping the car at the kerb, and moving you on before a thief gets close.
How do I check a bodyguard or security company in Rome before booking?
Ask, in writing, who employs the officer and who answers for him. For any guarding of property, ask for the institute's Prefetto licence under article 134 of the TULPS and which Prefettura issued it. Ask who insures the work, whether an NDA is signed first, and what the officer has done before. A routine offer of armed protection is a warning sign. Algoz answers each question in writing on request.
Why use Algoz rather than hiring a local security agency in Rome directly?
Because Italy has no bodyguard licence to separate good providers from the rest, and judging that from abroad is the real gamble. We have already measured the Roman market, working repeatedly with its providers and keeping only those who meet our standard, and we compose, NDA-bind and supervise each detail through a single point of contact.
Can you arrange armed protection in Rome?
Very rarely. In Italy armed private protection of a client is in practice almost never possible: a personal-defence carry licence under article 42 of the TULPS is granted only on demonstrated need, for the holder's own safety and for one year, and it is not a licence to protect someone else. Any armed request needs a minimum 30-day lead time, may be refused and is never guaranteed. The right Roman detail is a trained unarmed officer with a security driver.
How far ahead should I book a bodyguard in Rome?
At least seven days, so the brief can be vetted, the right officer assigned and the advance work on routes, the ZTL and venues actually done. Shorter notice is looked at case by case, but anything under 48 hours is an urgency case, carries additional fees and is not guaranteed. For Easter week, the Six Nations weekends and the Internazionali, book weeks ahead. Armed requests need a minimum of 30 days and may be refused.
Can you provide close protection at the Vatican and the Vatican Museums?
Yes, around it rather than inside its own arrangements: the Swiss Guard protects the Pope and the access points, and the Gendarmerie polices the state. We prepare the approach, hold the vehicle outside the walls and position an officer where St Peter's Square narrows. The General Audience is usually on Wednesday at 10h00, with free tickets from the Prefecture of the Papal Household, and the Museums open Monday to Saturday, 08h00 to 20h00.
Which Rome dates should I book early in 2027?
The Six Nations at the Stadio Olimpico: Italy v Ireland on 13 February, Italy v France on 6 March and Italy v Wales on 13 March 2027, all at 15h10 Rome time. Run Rome The Marathon on Sunday 14 March 2027, with road closures. Holy Week, 21 to 28 March 2027. The Internazionali BNL d'Italia at the Foro Italico, 27 April to 16 May 2027. And the Rome Film Fest at the Auditorium Parco della Musica each October.
We land at Ciampino on a private jet. How does the arrival work?
Ciampino has a dedicated General Aviation terminal for private and business flights, open every day from 07h00 to 23h00, about 15 km from central Rome. Your officer and vehicle are positioned there before the aircraft lands, the luggage is counted and the route into the city or out to the Castelli Romani is confirmed in advance. For a movement outside those hours we check with the handler first.
Is there a fixed taxi fare from Fiumicino, and should we use the drivers in Arrivals?
Licensed Rome taxis charge a fixed EUR 55, surcharges included, between Fiumicino and central Rome inside the Aurelian Walls, in either direction. The airport operator warns that other vehicles soliciting in Arrivals may not be authorised, so decline anyone who approaches you. With an Algoz detail the question does not arise: the officer meets you inside the terminal and the driver is already positioned.
Can our car drive into the ZTL in Rome's historic centre?
Only if it is exempt or registered. The daytime ZTL runs Monday to Friday 06h30 to 18h00 and Saturday 14h00 to 18h00, and the Tridente around Via dei Condotti until 19h00. A hire car with driver (NCC) licensed in Rome is exempt; one licensed elsewhere in Italy must register each entry, and one licensed abroad may not operate in Rome. Since 1 July 2026 electric cars need a paid permit too. We arrange a driver whose car may lawfully enter the centre.
Do you provide female close protection officers in Rome?
Yes. Female officers are available for family details, residence and hotel work, shopping and school runs, and for principals who prefer a female officer close by. Availability is better with notice, so please raise it at the enquiry stage.
Do your Rome officers speak English, Russian or Chinese?
Every officer on an Algoz detail in Rome works in Italian and English, and officers speaking Russian, French, Spanish, Portuguese or Chinese are assigned when the brief asks. Our Rome concierge desk has Russian-speaking and Chinese-speaking concierges, so bookings and appointments for those families are arranged in their own language, and the operations desk answers 24 hours a day.
Is Rome dangerous for wealthy visitors?
Violent crime against visitors is uncommon in Rome, but it is a city of practised theft. The Il Sole 24 Ore crime index, 2025 data, puts the province of Rome fourth in Italy for reported pickpocketing, and police releases describe luggage thefts at hotel entrances. A discreet officer works on the chain that leads to those incidents: reading the approach, keeping the car at the door, managing photographers at entrances.
Do you cover the rest of Italy from Rome?
Yes, under one brief and one point of contact: the Castelli Romani and the Lazio coast, Florence, Milan, Venice and Lake Como, Naples, Capri and the Amalfi Coast, and Porto Cervo in season, with the right local team positioned in each city. Please share the full Italian itinerary when you enquire.
How much does a bodyguard cost in Rome in US dollars?
Close protection in Rome starts from EUR 950 per day for one officer on a twelve-hour day. We quote in EUR and show an indicative USD figure alongside for visitors from outside Europe; it moves with the exchange rate. The figure buys a vetted, English-speaking officer, NDA-bound and briefed against your itinerary, with the driver and vehicle quoted separately.
Can my own US security team work in Rome?
They can travel with you, advise and help write the plan, and we welcome them into it. But no US licence or permit has any standing in Italy, so on Italian soil your team has the same powers as any visitor and a US carry permit allows nobody to go armed. Our Italian officers do the work on the ground and report to the plan your team helped write.
Can I hire a bodyguard for my vacation in Rome, as an American?
Yes. Most American clients book a single officer, often with an executive car and driver, for the days that matter: the arrival, the Vatican and the centre, Via Condotti, dinners in Trastevere and the late return. The officer speaks English, is vetted and NDA-bound, works unarmed and is briefed before you land. From EUR 950 per day, with an indicative USD figure alongside. Allow seven days.
Is Rome safe for American tourists right now?
Yes, for almost every visitor. Violent crime against visitors is uncommon. What happens to Americans in Rome is pickpocketing around Termini, on Metro line A and at the major sights, unauthorised drivers in the Fiumicino Arrivals hall, and, for visible wealth, the occasional watch theft outside a hotel. A driver, and for a visible profile one officer, remove nearly all of it. See our guide, Is Rome safe for American tourists.