No Place Like Rome

Perhaps more than any other city on earth, Rome is the perfect tourist location. Blessed with an amazing Mediterranean climate, a cheap cost of living, and some of the finest history and buildings in the world, it’s an amazing place to visit.

Rome is wonderfully set out when it comes to tourism, the city is relatively small – you can walk from one side of it to the other in under an hour – and it is all based around the central train station, Termini, where all the buses, the underground, and all the overland trains stop. From Termini you can get to any part of Rome in no more than half an hour, to Florence in just over two hours, to Venice in four, and to the beach in little more than 50 minutes.

The best place to stay in Rome is undoubtedly the Trastevere tourist region. Trastevere is a wonderful area, the other side of the river to the main Roman centres. It has hundreds of bars, restaurants and is always busy, particularly at night when the region is filled with quality musicians and thousands of people. Further out of the main region, up on the hillside, there are parks and a few small woodland areas, and some amazing hotels and villas.

The major tourist destinations in Rome are well known, but there are some hidden gems that you have to check out. The church of San Giovanni, some twenty minutes walk from the Colosseum is one of the most beautiful and little known buildings in Rome, it’s an enormous baroque church, reminiscent of St Peter’s gate and it dominates the landscape for a kilometre around.

Another place that you really have to visit is the Circus Maximus. The area looks largely like a large field, slightly out of the centre of Rome, but at night it’s absolutely magical. On the far side of the Circus to the Colosseum and the Roman remains there are a few benches built on gravel, and you can sit and watch the sun fall over the Palatine. The effect of the shadows in the ruins of the enormous old buildings is entrancing, and you can really feel the kind of awe that Rome must have brought to those who visited it when it was at its height two thousand years ago.

Italy is not a very expensive place to visit, particularly with the weak euro, so if you’re looking for an all inclusive break then Rome is a great place to visit. The best time to visit is early summer, as it can get incredibly hot during July and August, and if you book now companies like Thomas Cook are offering some great all inclusive holidays. If you’re going to go anywhere this summer, there could be no better choice than Rome.