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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.
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The main tourist season starts at Easter and runs until October; peak periods are in spring and autumn, when the tour buses pour in and tourists are herded around like cattle.
Numerous outdoor festivals and concerts and the fact that Romans desert the city for the beaches and mountains, which means very light traffic and a less-crowded city centre, makes summer almost worth the heat. |
| If you do visit in summer, try to hit the sights early, take a long lunch and a nap, and then head out again around 18:00 to take advantage of the cooler evening.
Be aware some restaurants and shops close for the month of August. Winters are usually mild with few tourists and some fun events around Christmas time.
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Of all the monuments in Rome, the Colosseum thrills the most. It was here that gladiators met in mortal combat and condemned prisoners fought off hungry lions. This great symbol of eternal Rome still excites the imagination as you'll see from the hordes waiting to get in.
Its construction was started by Emperor Vespasian in AD72 in the grounds of Nero's private Domus Aurea and it was inaugurated by his son Titus in AD80. Thereafter, inaugural games lasted for 100 days and nights, during which some 5000 animals were slaughtered.
With the fall of the Empire, the Colosseum was abandoned and became overgrown with exotic plants; seeds had inadvertently been transported with the wild beasts that appeared in the arena (including crocodiles, bears, tigers, elephants and hippos.) In the Middle Ages it became a fortress, occupied by two of the city's warrior families.
Damaged several times by earthquake, it was later used as a quarry for travertine and marble for Palazzo Venezia and other buildings. To this day, it remains an evocative place to explore.
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