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Rome, the capital city of Italy, is one of Europe's treasures; a city so steeped in history its legacy is hard to avoid. The city resembles a vast open-air museum where the present persists on top of the past, as it has for more than two-and-a-half millennia. With so many monuments, museums and masterpieces to view, the decision on where to begin can be overwhelming.

One cannot wander amongst Rome’s treasures of antiquity, set against the bustle of a modern and energetic city, without a sense of wonder. Rome is where history, religion, grandiose art and architecture and music take on elevated status – it’s a feast of intoxicating sights, tastes and experiences that has its own demands on the visitor: even the most avid scholars and academics can excuse a certain blasé tendency after days of passing so many archaeological wonders, Renaissance masterpieces, Baroque churches and religious icons.

The centro storico contains the greatest concentration of classical Roman and Christian sites in a comparatively small area, but almost every palazzo, piazza and park has its own heritage, permeated with history, from Etruscan to Renaissance and more recently through cinema classics by film-makers such as Federico Fellini and Vittorio De Sica.

At night, Rome’s monuments take on an even more imposing aspect, seductively lit for an incomparable backdrop when dining al fresco in the city’s famous piazzas, walking its romantic streets or stopping atop one of the city’s famous hills.

There is also much to see below ground: Rome’s collection of subterranean churches, burial grounds and grottos are renowned, the most famous being the Coliseum where archaeologists are still digging up gladiator and animal bones secreted below. Take a look beneath the Vatican City, Nero’s Domus Aurea and the Basilica of San Clemente.

Rome Attractions

Colosseo (Colosseum)
Piazza del Colosseo, 00184 Rome
Tel: +39 06 3996 7700

Fontana di Trevi (Trevi Fountain)
Piazza di Trevi, 00187 Rome

Scalla di Spagna (Spanish Steps)
Piazza di Spagna and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, 00187 Rome

Basilica di San Pietro (St Peter's Basilica)
Piazza San Pietro, 00193 Rome


Città del Vaticano (Vatican City)
Vatican Hill, 00120 Rome


Cappella Sistina (Sistine Chapel)
Viale Vaticano, 00165 Rome
Tel: +39 06 6988 4947 | Fax: +39 06 6988 5061

Musei Vaticani (Vatican Museums)
Viale Vaticano, 00165 Rome
Tel: +39 06 6988 4947 | Fax: +39 06 6988 5061

Piazza Navona
Junction of Via della Cuccagna and Corsa Agonale, Via di Sant'Agnese, 00186 Rome


Foro Romano (Roman Forum)
Between the Capitol, the Imperial Forums, the Colosseum and the Palatine, Rome
Tel: +39 06 699 0110

Panteone (Pantheon)
Piazza della Rotunda, 00186 Rome
Tel: +39 06 6830 0230 | Fax: +39 06 588 3340

Castel Sant'Angelo (Saint Angelo's Castle)
Lungotevere Castello 50, 00193 Rome
Tel: +39 06 687 5036

Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano
Piazza di San Giovanni in Laterano, 00152 Rome
Tel: +39 06 6988 6452

Santa Maria Maggiore
Piazza di Santa Maria Maggiore, 00185 Rome
Tel: +39 06 446 5836