There is a subtle difference: 1) Mi trovo in centro a Roma - it means in the politcal center, it's like saying "downtown" in the USA, it means maninly the most important area in the city, where there are all the government buildings. 2) mi trovo al centro di Roma - it means I am exactly in the center considering the size of the city, like saying "being in the center of a room", in the middle. Of course, "Mi trovo in centro" is the one we hear more often, but even if some people would say "mi trovo al centro" it would actually mean the same thing, since nobody would say "centro" in the sense of being in the precise middle part of a town. So in Italy we just say: Vado al centro sto al cento vado in centro sto in centro they mean the same thing and when we speak with someone who is in the same city like us, we never add the name of the city or town.

Ciao. 1. Mi trovo al centro di Roma: ok. 2. Mi trovo a Roma, in centro (anche senza virgola). Cinzia

Hi Mary usually the preposition A point at the mouvement towards or is less physical then IN (inside); for exemple "mi tuffo in mare" means " I dive into the sea" but "vado al mare" is "I go to the seaside" (not necessary to swim) So: "vado al centro" is mainly used in south of Italy (by my experience!) but is not the best expression, probably it is used because in some cases we consider the place of the center not as a phisical place but as a meeting/social place (in this case I heard it always without the city name because it is uses when we speak with someone staying in the same city as us, for exemple "dove vai stasera?" "vado al centro" ) Attenzione "in centro A Roma " oppure "nel centro DI Roma" those are the most correct (the first is clearly "the downtown", the second one is "the center" in a more physical acceptation) you might read here as well https://www.italki.com/question/326618?hl=it

1)Mi trovo al centro di Roma. Corretto 2) Mi trovo in centro di Roma. Non corretto 2) Mi trovo in centro a Roma. Corretto