Rome Overview
By Carolyn Batt
What to see first? Gaze in awe at the near 2000-year-old Colosseum, throw a coin in the Trevi Fountain, dating back a mere two-and-a-half centuries, or peruse the current season’s fashions in the expensive shops along the Via Condotti? Few cities juxtapose the old and new as effortlessly as Rome does, a city where your hotel, even if it boasts five-star modern luxuries, is more likely to be housed in historic palazzo or villa than a building erected in the last few decades.
Rome is rich in architectural and artistic delights and, particularly if you plan to explore by foot, warrants several days of your itinerary – more if you can spare them. The ancient Roman forum, complete with brothels and temples, will alone take half a day to fully explore. Rome is littered with Baroque monuments and fountains, but some of the most famous are found in the Piazza Navona, where they can be appreciated from one of the cafes lining one side of the square. Also not to be missed are the Pantheon, an astonishingly well-preserved temple built in the first century AD, the Spanish Steps, and, of course, the enormous St Peter’s basilica and the Vatican. Go!
