Introducing Rome

It's hard to say what you'll find most breathtaking about the Eternal City - the arrogant opulence of the Vatican, the timelessness of the Forum, the top speed of a Fiat Bambino, the gory resonance of the Colosseum, trying to cross a major intersection, or the bill for your caffe latte.

Make like the locals and souse your senses in the glut of pleasures the city has to offer, from the grandiose thrill of feeling centuries of turbulent history under your feet to the small but potent intoxication of eating chestnut gelati on a hot day.

Rome is halfway down Italy's western coast, about 20km (12mi) inland. It's a vast city, but the historic centre is quite small. Most of the major sights are within a reasonable distance of the central railway station, Stazione Termini. It is, for instance, possible to walk from the Colosseum, through the Forum, up to Piazza di Spagna and across to the Vatican in one day, but you wouldn't really want to. All the major monuments are west of the train station, but make sure you use a map. While it can be enjoyable to get off the beaten track in Rome, it can also be very frustrating and time-consuming. The Palatine Hill and the Forum are the centre of ancient Rome. Via del Corso runs north from the Forum to Piazza del Popolo, with the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain just to its east. The Vatican is northwest of the Forum, across the River Tiber.

Rome's activities (apart from the mandatory sightseeing) usually involve nothing more strenuous than eating, drinking and listening to good music. Conceivably you could work up a sweat running up and down the Spanish Steps; though everyone will get excited thinking you're chasing a pickpocket.

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Holidays & Events:

During Holy Week (Easter) Catholics from around the world make pilgrimages to Rome's various basilicas and to hear the Pope give his address at the Vatican. On Good Friday there's a procession of the Cross from the Colosseum to Capitoline Hill. Testaccio is the place to be in summer, when one of Rome's best-preserved areas becomes a stomping ground for the young and hip. A festival of nightclubbery and general coolness goes down every evening from 22:00. There's lots of outdoor concerts over the summer, including atmospheric jjazz at the Villa Celimontana. From June to September, the Estate Romana (Roman Summer), encompasses many summer festivals as Rome comes alive with free concerts, outdoor cinema and much more. Tiberina Island, on the Tiber river, hosts bars, stalls, gigs and open-air films in July and August. Trastevere is filled with street theatre, craft stalls and food booths during the Festa di Noantri (20-28 July). In September the city cranks up on coffee and stays awake all night for the Notte Bianca (white night), when museums, galleries and shops open from 20:00-08:00, with free concerts and happenings all over Rome. Rome's public holidays include Liberation Day (25 April), Labour Day (1 May), the Feast of the Assumption (15 August), All Saints' Day (1 November), the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (8 December) and the Feast of Santo Stefano (26 December).

Photos:

Getting Here & Around:

getting around

Leonardo da Vinci (Fiumicino) airport is 26km (16mi) southwest of the city. One of the most convenient ways to get into town is by the Stazione Termini direct train, which usually runs hourly from the airport. You can also get a train from the airport to Trastevere, Ostiense and Tiburtina. A night bus runs to Stazione Tiburtina. If you're driving, an autostrada runs from the airport to the city via EUR - it's a 45-minute drive and will cost you a small fortune by taxi. Rome's other airport is Ciampino, about 20km (12mi) southeast of the city. From there you can catch a COTRAL bus to Metro Anagnina, at the end of Metro line A connecting with Stazione Termini, or you can drive down the Via Appia Nuova. The city bus company is ATAC, and most of the main buses terminate at the bus station outside Stazione Termini where you can get a map of the bus routes. Buses run from around 06:00 to 24:00, with some services running throughout the night. The city's Metro service (which is convenient for many of Rome's sights) has two lines, both of which go through Termini. It operates from 05:30-23.30 (Sat 00:30), but Line A is undergoing engineering work till 2008 and closes at 21:00. A bus ticket is also valid for the city's Metro and train services. You need to buy your ticket from a tobacconist, newsstand or vending machine before you get on the train or bus - there are hefty fines for travelling without a ticket, even if you are a dumb foreigner. Driving in Rome is the next best thing to suicide - especially on a motorbike. Most of the historic centre of Rome is closed to normal traffic, although you will be allowed to drive to your hotel. You'll need to get a parking permit from the traffic police if you wish to park anywhere in the centre, or you'll risk being towed. To rent a car you'll need to be at least 21 years old. If you organise your car in advance it will cost you less. There are several rental agencies for cars, motorbikes, mopeds and bicycles. If you'd rather leave the driving to someone else, you can pick up a cab from one of the city's many taxi ranks or phone one any time of day. If you call a cab, the meter is turned on as soon as you call, rather than when you are picked up.

getting there and away

Also known as Fiumicino, Leonardo da Vinci is Rome's main airport, the other being Ciampino. Eurolines is the main bus company for servicing other European destinations, and there are regular train connections to all the major cities in Italy and Europe.

Weather:

Rome's mild climate makes it visitable year-round; however, spring and autumn are without doubt the best times to visit, with generally sunny skies and mild temperatures (although late autumn, November, can be rainy). July and August are unpleasantly hot (many Romans desert the city in August so many businesses close at this time); from December to February there is briskly cold weather, although it's rarely grey and gloomy.

Jan
5º - 11º Rainfall: 71		 Feb
5º - 13º Rainfall: 62		 Mar
7º - 15º Rainfall: 57		 Apr
10º - 19º Rainfall: 51		 May
13º - 23º Rainfall: 46		 Jun
17º - 28º Rainfall: 37		 Jul
20º - 30º Rainfall: 15		 Aug
20º - 30º Rainfall: 21		 Sep
17º - 26º Rainfall: 63		 Oct
13º - 22º Rainfall: 99		 Nov
9º - 16º Rainfall: 129		 Dec
6º - 13º Rainfall: 93

Average temperature (ºC); Average total precipitation ( mm )

Places to go:

Museo e Galleria Borghese

Address: Piazzale Scipione Borghese 5, Flaminio
Hours:
Phone: 06 3 28 10
Price:
Website: www.galleriaborghese.it

The ground floor contains some important classical statuary and intricate Roman floor mosaics. But Bernini's spectacular carvings - flamboyant depictions of pagan myths - are the stars. His precocious talent is evident in works such as "Pluto and Proserpine" and "Apollo and Daphne", depicting the moment at which the nymph is transformed into a laurel tree, her fingers becoming leaves, her toes turning into tree roots, while Apollo watches helplessly. The Caravaggios include the wonderfully naturalistic "Madonna dei Palafrenieri" (Madonna with the Serpent), whose uninhibited realism led to its rejection by its ecclesiastical commissioners rejecting it. The paintings on the first floor include masterworks by Bellini, Giorgione, Veronese, Botticelli, Guercino, Domenichino and Rubens, among others.

This 'queen of all private collections' was formed by Cardinal Scipione Borghese, the most passionate and knowledgeable art collector of his day. The collection - including works by Caravaggio, Bernini, Botticelli and Raphael - and the mansion were acquired by the Italian state in 1902; a lengthy restoration took place in the 1990s.

Roman Forum

Address: Piazza Santa Maria Nova 53 & Via di Monte Tarpeo, Campitelli
Hours:
Phone: 06 399 67 700
Price: free admission
Website: www.capitolium.org

With the Renaissance came a renewed appreciation of all things classical, and as a result, the Forum provided fresh inspiration for artists and architects. The area was systematically excavated in the 18th and 19th centuries, and you can see archaeological teams at work in ongoing digs. The Forum is entered from the piazza leading from the Colosseum. You immediately enter another world: the past. Columns rise from grassy hillocks, and repositioned pediments and columns aid the work of the imagination. Tours are around 4 EUR for an audioguide or joining the daily 12:30 tour in English (around 4 EUR.50, departure from the Piazza di Santa Maria Nova entrance).

Built over the course of 900 years, the Roman Forum (Foro Romano) was the commercial, political and religious centre of ancient Rome from the Republican era until the 4th century AD. During medieval times the area was used to graze cattle and it was plundered for its precious marble.

Capuchin Cemetery

Address: Via Vittorio Veneto 27, Sallustiano
Hours: Fri-Wed 09:00-12:00 & 15:00-18:00
Phone: 06 487 11 85
Price: admission by donation
Website:

Between 1528 and 1870, the brown-clad Capuchin monks adorned this cemetery with the dried remains of their departed brothers. The message is appropriately pious: 'What you are now we used to be, what we are now you will be'. The effect is rather sensational. There is an arch crafted from hundreds of skulls, vertebrae used as fleurs-de-lys, and light fixtures made of limb bones. The monks who guard the cemetery request a 'compulsory' donation, so have some small notes handy. The Chiesa di Santa Maria della Concezione, above the cemetery, contains a gorgeous "St Michael" by Reni (in the first chapel to the right of the door) and Pietro da Cortona's "St Paul's Sight Being Restored" (first chapel on the left).

Long after memories of all the rest of Rome's interiors run together in an opulent blur, visitors vividly recall the particulars of the bizarre and macabre chapels of this cemetery, where the decorative elements - from the picture frames to the light fittings - are all made of human bones.

Trevi Fountain

Address: Via del Tritone, Quirinale
Hours:
Phone:
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Trevi refers to the three roads "(tre vie)" that converged here. Water for the fountain is supplied by one of Rome's earliest aqueducts. Work to clean the fountain and its water supply was completed in 1991, but pollution has already dulled the brilliant white of the clean marble. The famous custom is to throw a coin into the fountain over your shoulder to ensure you return to Rome. A second coin will have you falling in love with an Italian, and the third marrying him or her. Needless to say, the terraces around the fountain are always packed with tourists throwing coins.

Rome's largest and most famous fountain, Fontana di Trevi was completed by Nicola Salvi in 1762, and immortalised by Marcello Mastroianni and a frolicking Anita Ekberg in Fellini's "La Dolce Vita". This extravagant baroque work takes up most of the piazza, appears to meld into the "palazzo", and depicts Neptune's chariot being led by Tritons with seahorses - one wild, one docile - representing the moods of the sea.

Trastevere

Address: , Trastevere
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Phone:
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The lovely Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere is the area's heart. It's a true Roman square - by day peopled by mothers with strollers, chatting locals and guidebook-toting tourists, by night with artisans selling their craft work, young Romans looking for a good time, and the odd homeless person looking for a bed. The streets east of the piazza is where you'll find the most photographed washing in the world.

Although its traditionally proletarian nature is changing as the crumbling palazzi become gentrified, a stroll among the labyrinthine alleys of Trastevere still reaps small gems of a bygone past. Washing strung out from the apartments in best Mama-leone tradition has everyone sighing and reaching for the Kodaks.

Accademia di Santa Cecilia

Address: Viale Pietro de Coubertin 34, Parioli
Hours:
Phone: 06 802 42 501
Price:
Website: www.santacecilia.it

Rome's major classical-music organisation dates to the 16th century when it was founded by, among others, the composer Palestrina. The academy's programme includes a world-class symphonic season - featuring superstar guest conductors - and short festivals dedicated to single composers. The in-house orchestra is directed by Italian Antonio Pappano.

Teatro Ghione

Address: Via delle Fornaci 37, Aurelio
Hours:
Phone: 06 637 22 94
Price:
Website: www.ghione.it

A former cinema, the Teatro Ghione is asmall but beautiful theatre near St Peter'sthat offers a varied programme featuringmajor international performers. You cancatch anything from opera arias to Greektragedies, Shakespearian comedies andcontemporary Italian plays.

Bohemien

Address: Via degli Zingari 36, Monti
Hours:
Phone: 328 173 0158
Price:
Website:

This elegant little bar feels like something you might stumble on in left-bank Paris: small, with mismatched chairs and tables and an eclectic, fittingly boho crowd drinking wine by the glass or cups of tea. It's gay but attracts all types.

La Rosetta

Address: Via della Rosetta 8-9, Centro Storico
Hours:
Phone: 06 686 10 02
Price:
Website: www.larosetta.com

Outside you glimpse the Pantheon but it's better inside amid yellow hues and white tablecloths.

La Rosetta is so excellent that it doesn't have to be overly formal. Some say this is Rome's best fish restaurant; others say it's the best in Italy. Chef Massimo Riccioli's dishes are often startlingly simple - cuttlefish with lemon and olive oil or "linguine ai frutti di mare" (flat spaghetti with seafood) - but they're prepared with genius. He can also innovate, as his "moscardini" (baby octopus) with mint shows. Bookings are essential.

Il Bacaro

Address: Via degli Spagnoli 27, nr Pantheon
Hours:
Phone: 06 687 2554
Price:
Website: www.ilbacaro.com

You'll have to book, as Il Bacaro is the size of a postage stamp and always busy. It might be small but it's perfectly formed: the "primi" (first courses) are imaginative - try "spaghetti con gamberi, porcini, pecorino e tartufo" (spaghetti with prawns, porcini mushrooms, cheese and truffles) - the meat dishes are beefy and the wine list is well chosen. Summer seating spills out under a vine-covered pergola.

Da Lucia

Address: Vicolo del Mattonato 2, Trastevere
Hours: Tue-Sun 12:30-15:30 & 19:30-24:00
Phone: 06 580 36 01
Price:
Website:

Eat beneath the fluttering knickers of the neighbourhood at this terrific trattoria, frequented by hungry locals and tourists. On a cobbled backstreet that is classic Trastevere, it serves up a cavalcade of Roman specialities including "trippa all romana" (tripe with tomato sauce) and "pollo con peperoni" (chicken with capsicum), as well as bountiful antipasti.

Useful Info:

Language Spoken: Italian, Italian

Currency Used: Euro, EUR

Cuisine: The "trattoria" is usually a family-run concern serving home-cooking. A "ristorante" is more formal, with a wider selection of dishes. The "osteria" is an inn, usually with only a few local dishes and endless wine. Pizzerias can serve antipasto, pasta, meat and vegetable dishes as well as pizza.

Time Zone: +1

Area Code: 06

Country Dialing Code:

Electricity Voltage: 220V

Electrical Plugs Used:

European plug with two circular metal pins

Books:

  1. Daily Life in Ancient Rome
    By: Jerome Carcopino
    This social history is a good read if you want the nitty gritty of ancient Roman life.
  2. Traveller's Literary Companion to Italy
    By: Martin Garrett
    A handy potted edition with insights on how great writers saw the country.
  3. Rome: Biography of a City
    By: Christopher Hibbert
    This life of the city makes an excellent background read.
  4. Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
    By: Edward Gibbon
    The hands-down classic on life in the Roman empire, but at a couple of hefty volumes it can be a challenging read.
  5. Diane Seed's Rome for All Seasons
    By: Diane Seed
    A delicious primer for the flavours of the city that'll have you cooking up the Eternal City in your kitchen.
  6. M
    By: Peter Robb
    A 'faction' biography of Caravaggio that brings 16th- and 17th-century Rome to life.
  7. Roman Architecture
    By: Frank Sear
    Impress you dinner party pals with your erudite building knowledge with this university text.
  8. A Handbook of Roman Art
    By: Martin Henig
    Want to know what all the pretty pictures are about? Pick up a copy of this in-depth tome.
  9. Rome: an Interactive Guide to Ancient Rome
    By: Anne Pearson
    Bored with words? Try this interactive guide which includes models and games about the classical city.
  10. I, Claudius
    By: Robert Graves
    Graves' historofictional page-turner is packed with deceit, poisoning, incest and otter's noses.
  11. Aenid
    By: Virgil
    The original word from one who was there.