Rome

Rome by zone, from the ancient core to the Vatican and Baroque centre

Rome pairs easily with Florence, Venice and the Amalfi coast, so decide early how many days the city itself gets.

Plan Rome by area. The ancient core spreads out from the Colosseum and the Forum; the Vatican lies across the Tiber; the Baroque lanes around the Pantheon and Piazza Navona fill the ground in between. Give each zone its own day and you will spend your time walking.

• One day: take the first Colosseum slot of the morning, walk the Forum and the Palatine Hill, then cross Piazza Venezia for the Pantheon. Leave the Trevi Fountain for after dark, when the coach groups have gone.
• Three days: add a Vatican morning for the Museums, the Sistine Chapel and St Peter's. Spend the last day south of the centre in Trastevere and Testaccio, which is where Romans themselves go out to eat.
• Five days or more: slow down with the Borghese Gallery and its park, the Capitoline Museums and the catacombs on the Appian Way, then take a day out of the city.

Day trips are easy. Ostia Antica, the excavated port of ancient Rome, has trains every 30 minutes from Piramide. Tivoli, for the fountains of Villa d'Este and Hadrian's Villa, has hourly trains from Tiburtina (fewer on Sundays). Naples is about an hour away by high-speed train, and the hill town of Orvieto makes a quieter alternative.

Reserve Colosseum and Vatican Museums tickets the moment your dates are settled, because both sell out in busy months. The Pantheon now needs a ticket too. Staying three days or more, look at the Roma Pass: it covers public transport and free entry to the first two museums or sites you visit. A hotel near the Pantheon or in Monti puts most of this within walking distance.

If you want to rent a car for the Castelli Romani or Etruscan towns, pick it up on the day you leave Rome.

Spring warmth, the Natale di Roma and summer feast days

Come in spring if you can choose. Afternoons sit near 20°C in April and near 25°C by May; the parks are green and the evenings are long enough for dinner outside. On 21 April the city marks its legendary founding (the Natale di Roma) with a costumed parade by the Gruppo Storico Romano.

June starts to bite at about 30°C. The feast of Saints Peter and Paul on 29 June is a public holiday in Rome, so expect closed offices and crowds at St Peter's. The Estate Romana season of open-air concerts runs from late June into early September.

July and August average 33°C, and the record of 42.9°C was set on 18 July 2023. For two weeks in August many Romans leave town; shops and trattorias post Chiuso per ferie (closed for holidays) on their doors. The streets are calmer then. Sightsee early and keep the afternoons for shade.

Winter is mild and cheap, with highs around 13°C and only the odd flurry of snow. Christmas and Easter are the exceptions, when pilgrims fill the Vatican. Holy years can double the usual visitor numbers. Avoid the first Sunday of each month if you dislike queues: entry to state-run sites costs nothing that day, and everyone knows it.

Offal in Testaccio, Ghetto artichokes and pizza by weight

Eating like a Roman means offal, artichokes and pizza sold by weight.

Roman cooking comes from the butchers of Testaccio and the cooks of the Jewish Ghetto. In Testaccio, the old slaughterhouse quarter, look for coda alla vaccinara (oxtail braised the butchers' way) and rigatoni with pajata. Around the Ghetto the dish is carciofi alla giudia, whole artichokes fried in olive oil. The pasta canon is short: carbonara with egg and pecorino, and cacio e pepe with pecorino and black pepper. Spring lamb (abbacchio) and veal saltimbocca follow as main courses.

Pizza is an evening meal. The Roman base is thin and crisp, and locals eat it with a knife and fork. Start with something fried: battered salt cod or supplì. Lunch is pizza al taglio from a tray. It is priced by weight; point at the one you want and show how big a piece. Better value lies across the river in Trastevere and up in the trattorias of Monteverde Vecchio. A picnic from a deli such as Volpetti on Via Marmorata is another good answer.

At a gelateria you pay first, then take the receipt to the counter; the server will ask panna, offering free whipped cream on top. Dull, natural colours are a good sign. Bring a bottle and fill it at the nasoni, the drinking fountains that run with cold spring water. Order cappuccino only in the morning, never after 11AM.

Roman queues clump into a crowd, so hold your place politely. If you bump someone on a crowded pavement, say mi scusi. Give up your seat on the bus to older passengers, and at St Peter's both shoulders and knees must be covered.