Rome Hotels

Rome, Italy - Guide

Rome - General Information

The Eternal City: you only have to spend a few days in Rome to appreciate why it still fully justifies this unofficial title. It’s a place saturated with history. Iconic landmarks include the Colosseum, the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, St Peter’s Basicila, the Roman Forum and the Pantheon. Yet the array of broken marble columns and ruins of temples in the Forum aside, Rome is far more than just an open-air museum. It is also a vibrant 21st century capital, with hip new eateries serving haute Italian cuisine, trendy clubs in the Testaccio area and all the most exclusive boutique shopping available on the Via Condotti and the Via del Corso. But perhaps the best moment to enjoy Rome is in the late afternoon, when you can sit at a café table in one of the elegant piazzas and watch the pink dusk turn to gold and copper before night falls. It is at such moments that the city offers the most perfect expression of the other phrase most often associated with it: ‘la dolce vita’ (the sweet life).

Rome

Most shops and businesses don't open until lunchtime or late afternoon on a Monday. During the rest of the week, opening times are generally Tuesday to Saturday, 9.00am to around 1.00pm, then 4.00pm until around 7.30pm. Having said that, there are a few places in the city centre that are open right through the day. Most places are closed on Sundays. All but the most widely visited churches keep fairly predictable hours, opening early each morning, at 7.00am or 8.00am, closing at around noon, then opening again from 4.00pm until around 7.00pm. Most museums are closed on Mondays, then open from around 1.00pm to 6.00pm, Tuesday to Saturday, and for half the day on Sunday.

If you can, you should avoid visiting Rome in July/August, when the weather is at its hottest and most humid, and those Romans who don't make their living exclusively from the tourist industry have left town. During this period many businesses are closed and the cafes and restaurants are mainly full of fellow visitors from elsewhere. The weather is more comfortable in May, June and September, when most days will be warm but not unbearably so, though you'll still find the city busy during these times. April (Easter aside) and October are quieter and the weather can still be clement, making early spring and late autumn in many ways the ideal times to visit. The winter months can be nice, with many of the city's more popular sights pleasantly uncrowded: the weather in winter is sometimes rainy but the temperatures are usually mild.