"Rome is my favourite city in the world. It's not an easy city to appreciate at first try, being noisy, dusty, and often hot and crowded. But in every trip I have made - over 20 years there must have been 100 - I have found something new to see or appreciate or learn."

Written by  James Dunford Wood

“Rome: Eternal love”

...At the same time, this is the most companionable of cities; a place that seems to make its visitors more tolerant of one another than any other tourist magnet on earth. Each day at the Spanish Steps, hundreds of people of every race and age congregate… Read more...

Written by press. First published 10th October 2008

The best things to do in Rome

The top 5 experiences in Rome. There are 59 more experiences in Rome. See all »
  • Sistine Chapel

    This famously and meticulously decorated chapel is best known for its Michelangelos and for being the site of the Papal conclav…

  • St Peters Basilica

    The most famous church in the world, St Peters is one of four great papal basilicas in Rome, and the place of pilgrimage for al…

  • The Pantheon

    Nothing less than a global icon, Rome's noble Pantheon was built during the beginning of the 2nd Century and its powerful Class…

  • Basilica of St. John Lateran

    Rome’s oldest and most important basilica, San Giovanni in Laterano is still active and regarded as the mother church of the Ca…

  • The Roman Forum

    The Roman Forum is a must visit site at any time of day - the ancient Roman market place, centre of Imperial power, location of…

Comments, reviews and questions

Photo of elaine

best time to visit rome

What time of the year is good to go to rome for a long weekend?

 
Question posted 24th October 2009 by elaine.

1 reply...

Photo of Jenny

I like Rome in the spring time, I like Rome in the fall, I like Rome in the Winter when the light is shorter, but the evenings are lit up and lovely... Summer is the busiest, so I guess most people prefer it then..

 
Reply posted 24th October 2009 by Jenny.
Photo of James Dunford Wood

My Favourite City

Rome is my favourite city in the world. It's not an easy city to appreciate at first try, being noisy, dusty, and often hot and crowded. But in every trip I have made - over 20 years there must have been 100 - I have found something new to see or appreciate or learn.The uniqueness of this city lies in the layering of history, and all in the context of a modern, thriving city, so that it has not become a relic or a museum piece like Venice.

This is a gritty metropolis, where the evidence and drama of human life lived at a similar intensity over 2500 years is all around you. From the Romans of the Republic to the Romans of the empire; through the Byzantine dark ages to the medieval popes; to the Renaissance and the baroque period, then italy of the Grand Tour and the Risorgimento; and right up to Mussolini and the present day - all roads lead to Rome, if not the cradle then at least the nursery of western civilisation.Wander the streets and look at the buildings - 17th century apartment blocks will often have old bits of roman temples embedded in their walls. The stock exchange has as one wall the columns of Hadrian's temple.

Meanwhile San Clemente, a spectacular church near the Colosseum, has three distinct layers to it - formerly a private home for clandestine christian worship in the first century, it developed into a temple to Mithras and finally a medieval basilica - the excavated layers reveal each period, one simply built on top of another.One of the best ways to get a sense of the legacy of Rome and its continuity is to rent a copy of Fellini's Roma - Amor spelled backward by the way.

The other is to rent a moped - and tear down the Via Appia, the Appian Way, the oldest road in Europe still in use, whose volcanic cobblestones have "felt the tread of Hannibal and St. Paul, Charlemagne, Lord Byron, and Mark Twain." If you have any historical imagination at all, it will blow your mind.

 
Review posted 17th June 2009 by James Dunford Wood.

1 reply...

Photo of Al James

Nice review James!

 
Reply posted 7th July 2009 by Al James.
Photo of ktrd1

Watch Out

Rome is a beautiful place and I would definately go again. We stayed at Camping Roma on the outskirts of Rome and they run a shuttle bus to the Vatican. We didn't go to the Vatican because the queue was astronomical but the Roman Forum was fantastic. We only went for one day as we were on a trip around Europe (!) - but I still enjoyed it. Two words of advice - watch out for pickpockets, especially in tourist areas and on crowded buses and always check the prices before you order in a restaurant: we ordered 2 cokes and found them to be more expensive then 2 pizzas!

 
Review posted 17th June 2009 by ktrd1.

1 reply...

Photo of Al James

I too have been stung with the unscrupulous restaurant pricing system in Rome. Its worth the effort to walk away from the tourist hot spots to get a better deal (as always).

 
Reply posted 7th July 2009 by Al James.

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