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Why
Travel to Rome?
The home of one of the world's greatest ancient civilizations, this
magnificent city is loaded with history, artistic and architectural
treasures, piazzas, pizzas and the Pope.
Rome's 3,000 years old Centro Storico is a must-see even
for artphobes - and it's not an expensive city either, unlike Venice or Florence.
Climate guide:
Best: Apr-May, Sept-Oct.
Avoid: July-Aug [heat and crowds].
OK: Winter months are chilly but often sunny, and crowds and prices
are both down...
Main Attractions:
Rome is a very romantic, walkable experience and bikeable too, or you could
do the Dolce Vita thing and rent a scooter.
Apart from the vast numbers of lovely piazzas [as in square, not
thin crust], Roman relics and gorgeous Rome churches you will want to
see at least the mega-rich, independent state of the Vatican, its
museums [see left] and the vast Basilica of
St. Peters [not as interesting or spectacular internally
as many other Roman churches, but big], the Colosseum amphitheatre, the remains of the Roman Forum and its triumphal arches, the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain [try it at night], the Pantheon [built by angels according to Michelangelo; way more impressive
outside than in], Piazza Navona with
its fountains, artists and cafés, Campo
dei Fiori open air market and the bustling narrow streets
of Trastevere for a real Roman night dining experience.
Transport:
The metro/tube/subway system is efficient
but hardly comprehensive though useful for getting to the Colosseum,
Spanish Steps and Vatican Museums. Beware pickpockets at busy times,
the Bugcrew had their pockets felt in 2006. See 'Dipping'.
Cars: Car parks and directional signs
are more or less non-existant and outside the centre streets are
stuffed with cars parked higgledy-piggledy so don't bring a car
here unless you have GPS, nerves of steel and a hotel in Rome with parking!
A Smart car would be an excellent choice of vehicle, or - four wheels bad, two wheels good - travel by scooter, though beware
cobblestones in the rain.
Walking: Pedestrian crossings are common
but walkers need to develop a system to use them effectively because
vehicles will not stop at crossings unless compelled to do so. e.g.
by your lurching body. This is the way it works: stand at the beginning
of the crossing and look at driver's eyes. If they don't stop [most
unlikely], start to cross confidently when there is a reasonable
gap in the traffic, but maintain eye contact with drivers to check
they are actually slowing down. By law they should stop, though
Italians have a well-known disregard for the law - but at the same
time they really don't want to maim or kill you.
Day
trips out of the city:
Why bother when there's a lifetime of sights in the city?
Well, if you must escape for a few hours...
Try Ostia Antica for ancient Roman
ruins [n.b. not tacky Ostia seaside town]; Tivoli for Hadrian's spectacular Villa Adriana, fountains and landscaped
gardens [40kms out of Rome]; medieval Viterbo with its great town wall and nearby Bomarzo's tranquil, wacky scuplture garden Parco dei Mostri [a favourite
of Mr S. Dali]; Terracina for big,
calm, uncrowded white sand beaches with minimum life support or Sperlonga for the full monte Italian
beach resort experience.
Note that if you're driving signposting is dreadful and views are
generally not much better.
Arts/Culture:
Museums and Galleries: Rome has an amazing variety of art
offerings, not just a line up of pricey paintings; hundreds of spectacular
and sometimes bizarre marble statues for a start...The top three
museums are arguably:
The Vatican Museums, Musei Vaticani.
Perhaps the richest collection of art in the world, the 12 museums
include Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel and Raphael's four
fresco rooms as well as the best of Roman, Etruscan, Greek, Egyptian,
Assyrian and modern religious art, but are always crowded and a
long line may be anticipated to get in.
The full 7kms [4 miles] and 1,400 rooms of sights will need at least
two days of attention but there are colour-coded highlight walks.
The museums are not in St. Peters Basilica. They're a little
out of the city centre but easily walkable from the Piazza Navona
area or take the tube to Cipro-Musei Vatican.
More information at www.vatican.va
The queue for tickets is likely to be 100m or much more and may take over an hour at busy times. BUT, jump the Vatican and Borghese Gallery lines for a few $$! Go to www.museumrome.com, pay the fee and get a booking number which you deliver to an office at the front of the queue and kaboom! you're in [tho' you still have to pay the standard entry fee].
The Capitoline Museums are dead centre
Rome, built on the low hill where the city originated and designed
by the city's favourite artist, Michelangelo. No queues here, plenty
of space and focussed on wonderful Greek and Roman sculptures though
there are some excellent paintings too.
Galleria Borghese. A small but perfectly
formed collection of sculpture and paintings, including Bernini's Apollo and Daphne, this museum needs a reservation in advance
to get in. Visit www.museumrome.com
It's a hassle to get to as it's a bit north of centre and has no
metro running nearby so expect a long walk or taxi ride.
Dance/Opera:
Teatro Olimpico has the best reputation for dance.
The Filarmonica is for ethnic and contemporary.
The Opera season runs from Nov-Mar at Teatro dell' Opera; in summer
it moves outdoors [eg. Stadio Olimpico, Baths of Caracalla] and
the prices come down.
Theatre: Teatro Agora holds a short season of international theatre
in other languages, while the Colosseo Ridotto presents English
language shows every week.
Live Music: The city's more in favour of jazz than rock with plenty
of venues
Check 'Time Out' for event info/listings.
Ticket Office 'Orbis' is at Piazza Esquilino.
Thievery:
Termini station [Stazione Centrale Roma Termini]-
where the metro, overground rail networks, buses and tourist
buses all meet near Rome's centre - big, complex, busy and
not short of pickpockets, so don't leave wallets in unsecured
pockets and put shoulder bags around necks to the front.
Italy also apparently suffers from the less subtle snatching of
valuables by scippatori, who may rip jewelry, wallets,
handbags or even watches off and disappear, sometimes on scooters.
The Bugcrew saw no evidence of bag-snatching, but caught strange
fingers fumbling at a velcroed Bugpocket! It is advisable to tone
down the blatant wearing of expensive goodies. Save the flash
for Paris.
See
Safety Guide
Cuisine
guide:
Rome has plenty of little trattorias that serve excellent meals
at the right price, but don't expect much other than classic, low-end Italian
cuisine...pastas, pizzas, salads and excellent ice-cream [gelato].
International cuisine or even wildly different Italian is hard to
come by.
Fast foods and sandwiches are common.
Some establishments don't have English menus so if you are a gourmet
or even just like to know what you're eating then study up on the
Italian language of food.
BTW, one guide book of much repute had several pages of food names
but overlooked the translation of 'the bill please'! [il conto
per favore].
The Trastevere area on the left bank of the river is a bit of a
hike to reach [no metro stop] but interesting, evocative, very local
[as opposed to touristic] and bursting with tiny eateries, while
streets around Piazza Navona offer nice little places with
reasonable prices, though prices often get silly at restaurants on actual piazza's.
The oldest pizzeria is said be Da Ricci in Via Genova, the best
is Dar Poeta in Trastevere.
For vegetarians try Margutta Vegetariano in via Margutta.
Shopping:
Rome offers some stunning high quality goods in original
and imaginative designs and fantastic varieties of colours.
Shoes, gloves and other leatherwear, cotton clothing, kitchenware,
all stylish but reasonably priced.
Rome links | Venice Guide | Florence Guide | Siena Guide | Italian beaches
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