Founded in mythology, the seat of Classical Antiquity, home to the Roman Catholic church and the world's largest collection of museums, Rome is many different things to different visitors.
And there is just so much to see. The Colosseum? The Roman Forum? What about the Vatican Museums? Through being the largest collection of art and cultural artefacts on the planet, that alone could occupy a month's vacation.
It's a nice problem to have of course ... too much to do. The essential thing is to plan your holiday and be realistic about what you can see. Of course you want to visit the Colosseum, the Forum and the Pantheon, and you must. The Spanish Steps cannot fail to evoke La Dolce Vita for anyone who's seen the movie, and the Vatican, the Sistine Chapel and St Peter's Square are unmissables on any tourist's itinerary.
But amidst all the tourist box-ticking, ensure you have time simply to wander. Got off the main drag and lose yourself in the delightful old working class centro storico of Trastevere. Walk the Jewish Ghetto, a marvellously higgledy-piggledy confusion of old, crumbling streets. You'll find fantastic markets and down to earth pizzerias and trattorias. Rome is, at heart, a working class town, with robust, hearty cuisine. And around the next corner there will be another museum, another ruin, another church, another discovery.
To the left you'll find a selection of hotels, to get you in the mood
- see also our full listings of Rome hotels.
