Rome Pictures
Roma Photos, Italy

Rome antics on the Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II.

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Photos of Main Attractions | Museums | Churches | The Vatican

Central Rome is a brilliant city for any traveller with an interest in culture, art or ancient history and is arguably the most fascinating city in all of Europe. The range of famous, spectacular sights within easy walking distance is staggering, the quality and quantity of art on display is massive, every building tells stories, every statue demands pictures and every cobbled street evokes historical scenes.

Photos of Rome's main attractions >>>

Rome is - and has been for 3,000 years - a magnet for the barbarian hordes, with troops of French sipping gee-up machiattos in one café, red-faced British squaddies poring over maps in another, platoons of Germans attacking the sights by numbers, waves of chattering Japanese disembarking from buses armed with bad hats and the latest digital weaponry, fashionable Chinese units in avant-garde UV face shades and American tank crews discussing strategies and sweating off the sky-highs on rye of LA's finest diners.

Photos of Rome Museums >>>

Rome's Attractions

• the endless variety of staggering structures that you've heard about for years - the Colosseum, the Forum, the Trevi Fountain, the Vatican...as well as thousands more you've never heard about.
• the little churches you stumble inside to cool off in and find a Michelangelo Moses in front of you or a kaleidoscopic heaven on the ceiling or a perfect marble skeleton at your feet.
• the drinking fountains ranging from simple taps to spitting gargoyles and leaking ships (Spanish Steps) where you can refill your bottles and wet your overheated head.
• the tiny alleys suddenly blossoming into magical piazzas.
• the incredible paintings you see that are painted on walls (especially the Vatican Museums) not hung on them.
• the stunning sculptures, good and mad.
• the wonderful coffees, ice-creams, pizzas and pastas.
• the freedom to bend the rules the Italian way; the way Rome traffic flows like water - dive in and it'll part around you.
• the sunshine.
• the sensational museums (and this from museophobes), especially the Vatican Museums, the Capitoline Museums and the Galleria Borghese.
• the funny fountains and caricatures in Piazza Navona.

Photos of Exquisite Churches >>>

Rome's Downsides

• the disappointingly unromantic Spanish Steps (well, the fountain's excellent, it's the steps that ain't).
• the impatient traffic.
• the untidy and unworked archeological digs.
• the pickpockets.
• the surly ticket collectors or security guards who prefer to pass the time chatting to each other or photographing themselves with their mobile phones than helping tourists.
• the open-top tourist buses that have 'pay as you enter' painted by the doors but send you off to queue at an office after you've lined up by the bus for an hour.
• the same old, same old menus, pizza, pasta, pizza, pasta.
• the dull, dirty suburbs.
• the lack of clear, logical, sequential signposting.
• slippery, wet cobblestones
• leaving Rome - but you'll be back if you threw a coin into the Trevi fountain

Photos of the Vatican >>>

Rome Weather

Best months to visit Rome are May, June, September, January-March.
The climate is, of course, Mediterranean, which means that winters tend to be mild but damp and summers hot and dry.
Statistically the wettest months are October and November, followed by December and April.
Mid summer of July and August gets very crowded and hot with average highs reaching 30C (86F) and lows around 18C (54F). Mid winter average highs hover around 12C (54F) and lows about 3C (37F).

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