Pantheon

Piazza della Rotonda | 8.30am-7.30pm Mon-Sat, 9am-6pm Sun

Competition is fierce, but the Pantheon is surely ancient Rome’s most astonishing building. This Roman temple has been standing for almost 2000 years, and it’s a unique, unparalleled experience to enter its great doors and have your vision directed upwards, just as it would have been for the ancient Romans. Its current form dates to around AD 120, when the emperor Hadrian built the Pantheon over Marcus Agrippa’s original temple (27 BC). For centuries, historians read the name Agrippa in the inscription on the pediment and thought that Hadrian’s version was the 1st-century-BC original. When excavations in the 19th century revealed traces of the earlier temple, they realised their mistake.

Colosseum

Piazza del Colosseo | 8.30am-6.15pm Apr-Aug, to 6pm Sep, to 5.30pm Oct, to 4.30pm mid-end Mar, to 4pm mid-Feb–mid-Mar, to 3.30pm Nov–mid-Feb

The Colosseum is the most extraordinary of all Rome’s monuments. It’s not just the amazing completeness of the place, or its size, but the sense of its gory history that resonates: it was here that gladiators met in mortal combat and condemned prisoners fought off hungry lions. Two thousand or so years on, it’s still hauling in the crowds. Don’t let the lengthy queue put you off: just pop down to the Palatine ticket office, buy your combined ticket there, and on returning march straight in.

Trevi Fountain

Piazza di Trevi |

Immortalised by Anita Ekberg’s dip in La Dolce Vita, the Trevi Fountain (Fontana di Trevi) is Rome’s largest and most famous fountain. The flamboyant baroque ensemble was designed by Nicola Salvi in 1732 and depicts Neptune’s chariot being led by Tritons with sea horses – one wild, one docile – representing the moods of the sea. The water comes from the aqua virgo, a 1st-century-BC underground aqueduct, and the name Trevi refers to the tre vie (three roads) that converge at the fountain. The famous custom is to throw a coin into the fountain, thus ensuring your return to the Eternal City. According to the same tradition if you throw in a second coin you’ll fall in love with an Italian, while a third will have you marrying him or her. And in case you were wondering, the €3000 or so that is thrown away on an average day is hoovered up and donated to charity.

St Peter’s Basilica

Piazza San Pietro | 7am-7pm Apr-Sep, 7am-6pm Oct-Mar

In Vatican City, a city of astounding churches, St Peter’s Basilica outdazzles them all. Awe-inspiringly huge, rich and spectacular, it’s a monument to centuries of artistic genius. On a busy day, around 20,000 visitors pass through here. If you want to be one of them, remember to dress appropriately – no shorts, miniskirts or bare shoulders. If you want to hire an audioguide (€5), they’re available at a desk in the cloakroom to the right of the entrance. Free English-language guided tours of the basilica are run from the Vatican tourist office, the Centro Servizi Pellegrini e Turisti, at 9.45am on Tuesday and Thursday and at 2.15pm every afternoon between Monday and Friday.

Vatican Museums

Viale Vaticano | entry 9am-4pm & closing 6pm Mon-Sat, entry 9am-12.30pm & closing 2pm last Sun of month

Visiting the Vatican Museums is an unforgettable experience that requires strength, stamina and patience. You’ll need to be on top of your game to endure the inevitable queues – if not for a ticket then for the security checks – and enjoy what is undoubtedly one of the world’s great museum complexes.

Founded by Pope Julius II in the early 16th century and enlarged by successive pontiffs, the museums are housed in what is known collectively as the Palazzo Apostolico Vaticano. This massive 5.5-hectare complex consists of two palaces – the Vatican palace nearest St Peter’s and the Belvedere Palace – joined by two long galleries. On the inside are three courtyards: the Cortile della Pigna, the Cortile della Biblioteca, and, to the south, the Cortile del Belvedere.

You’ll never manage to explore the whole complex in one go – you’d need several hours just for the highlights – so it pays to be selective. There are several suggested itineraries, or you can go it alone and make up your own route.

Each gallery contains priceless treasures, but for a whistlestop tour get to the Pinacoteca, the Museo Pio-Clementino, Galleria delle Carte Geografiche, Stanze di Raffaello (Raphael Rooms) and the Sistine Chapel. On the whole exhibits are not well labelled so you might find it useful to hire an audioguide (€7) or buy the Guide to the Vatican Museums and City (€10). There are also authorised guided tours (adult/concession €30/25), bookable on the Vatican’s online ticket office. The museums are well equipped for visitors with disabilities: there are four suggested itineraries, lifts and specially fitted toilets. Wheelchairs can also be reserved in advance – fax 06 698 85 433. Parents with young children can take prams into the museums.

Open Colonna

Via Milano 9a | noon-midnight

Spectacularly set at the back of Palazzo delle Esposizioni, superchef Antonello Colonna’s restaurant is tucked on a mezzanine floor under an extraordinary glass roof (wow factor before you’ve had a bite). The cuisine is new Roman: innovative takes on traditional dishes, cooked with wit and flair. The best thing of all? There’s a more basic but still impressive fixed two-course lunch for €15, and Saturday and Sunday brunch at €28, served in the larger downstairs room, so you can live the life without splashing the cash.

Osteria Sostegno

Via della Colonnelle 5 |

Here you have stumbled on a well-kept secret. It’s intimate, a favourite of journalists and politicians, with simple yet excellent dishes such as lasagnetto al forno con punte di asparagi (little lasagne with asparagus heads). There’s a charming tiny covered terrace.

Agata e Romeo

Via Carlo Alberto 45 | Mon-Fri

A match made in heaven: Agata’s food and Romeo’s wine cellar. This pioneering restaurant nowadays has more rivals, but still wields culinary clout. Agata specialises in innovating around traditional dishes, and presentation is sumptuous. Frequent crowd-pleasers include a delicate take on coda alla vaccinara (oxtail) and filetto di tonnocon semi di sesamo (tuna fillet with sesame seeds). Her millefoglie ( millefueilles; literally ‘thousand leaves’, small iced cakes made of puff pastry, filled with jam and cream) are legendary.

Freni e Frizioni

Via del Politeanna 4 | 10am-2am

Everyone’s favourite hip Trastevere hang-out: in a former life, this bar/café was a garage, hence its name (‘brakes and clutches’). The arty crowd flocks here to slurp well-priced drinks (especially mojitos) and pack the piazza in front. You can eat breakfast here, have lunch, munch brunch at the weekend, and feast on the good-value aperitivo. Hell, you could even move in here.

Ombre Rosse

Piazza Sant’Egidio 12 | 8am-2am

Another seminal Trastevere hang-out; grab a table on the terrace and watch the world go by. The cosmopolitan clientele ranges from elderly Italian wide boys to chic city slickers. Tunes are slinky and there’s live music (jazz, blues, world) on Thursday and Sunday evenings from October to May.

Ai Tre Scalini

Via Panisperna 251 | noon-1am Mon-Fri, 6pm-1am Sat & Sun

It’s almost obligatory to visit everyone’s favourite enoteca before or after dining at La Carbonara. ‘The Three Steps’ is always packed, with crowds spilling out into the street. Apart from a tasty choice of wines, it also sells the damn fine Menabrea beer, brewed in northern Italy. If you’ve missed out on dinner, you can tuck into a heart-warming array of cheeses, salami, and dishes such as porchetta di Ariccia con patate al forno (roasted Ariccia pork with roast potatoes).