Rome - Sightseeing

Sightseeing Overview

Rome's embarrassment of riches means that visitors have to pick and choose or end up footsore and frazzled. Bear in mind that the Vatican City alone can easily swallow up an entire weekend. The most relaxing and rewarding approach is to linger over a few monuments and museums rather than attempting to see it all, punctuating cultural trips with ice creams, coffees and serene walks in the city's parks (the Villa Borghese is one of the loveliest). For most holy sites, clothing that covers up midriffs, shoulders and legs is essential.

The Palatine Hill is the obvious starting point. Rome was founded here and it soon became the seat of political and religious power. During the Renaissance it was beautified and crowned with the Michelangelo-designed Piazza Campidoglio. To its right stands the stark-white monstrous yet marvellous Vittoriano monument celebrating the first king of united Italy, behind it lies the Roman Forum and Imperial Fora.

A short walk takes you to the centro storico (historic centre), which boasts the greatest concentration of classical and Christian sites enclosed in a relatively small space. Stumbling upon ancient frescoes, Renaissance fountains and beautiful piazzas are part of the pleasures of wandering around Rome's streets.

Rome has over 400 churches, and the Vatican is home to St Peter's, Christendom's most important basilica. Other major Rome churches include San Giovanni, St Mary in Maggiore and San Paolo. However, it is San Clemente (on Via San Giovanni in Laterano), which most perfectly encapsulates Rome's multi-layered history. At street level, there is a 12th-century basilica with beautiful mosaics. Down one level is a well-preserved Roman basilica. Deeper still are more ancient Roman remains, until finally, at the deepest level, is the temple to the oriental cult of Mithras, and from where you can hear the distant rushing sound of an underground river.

Tourist Information

Azienda di Promozione Turistica di Roma (APT)
Via Parigi 5
Tel: 06 0608.
Website: www.romaturismo.com
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 0900-1900.

There's another APT branch at Fiumicino Airport (Terminal B Arrivals, open daily 0800-1900). Commune di Roma runs an information office at Termini Station (opposite platform 4, open daily 0800-2100), plus other green tourist information kiosks dotted around the city near major tourist sights (open daily 0930-1930), including off Piazza Navona (in Piazza Cinque Lune), near the Imperial Fora (in Piazza del Tempio della Pace) and in Trastevere.

Another useful source of information is the Anglo-centric Enjoy Rome, Via Marghera 8A (tel: 06 445 1843; www.enjoyrome.com), near Termini Station. You can contact the Ente Nazionale per il Turismo (ENIT) (tel: 06 49711; www.enit.it), for information on Italian areas outside of Rome and the Lazio region; their offices are not open to the public however.