I grew up in the shadow of the volcano of Etna in Sicily, crossing the entire Italian peninsula to land in the financial capital of Milan just in time to join the fledgling Italian News Service in 1989.
A year later, I moved my few belongings to the Eternal City. I met my partner and raised two boys in the square mile that contains the Reuters bureau – where I am now bureau chief – my home, and the monumental gardens of Villa Borghese.
I am not sure how many of the events that have unfolded in Rome over the past 35 years will make it into the history books. Certainly, the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI in 2013, the first pontiff to do so in six centuries, will be one. Perhaps the 2022 appointment of Italy’s first female prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, will be another.
But for the time being, here is how I experience all that Rome has to offer.
Getting around: Weaving around layers of ancient ruins, metro lines are few and slow compared with other European capitals. Buses are often overcrowded. Finding a taxi during rush hours or when it is raining can mean long queues. So, when I feel like exploring, I pick an area of the city and get around on foot or by bike. There is so much to see and discover, and no neighbourhood has ever let me down. One time, just behind the Pyramid of Cestius, I bumped into the small entrance to the Non-Catholic Cemetery for Foreigners. The English poets John Keats and Percy Shelley, among others, are buried in this charming spot nestled within the Aurelian Walls.
Biking it: Founded on seven hills, Rome is full of ups and downs and cannot be described as bike-friendly. However, if you feel like riding a two-wheeler, hit the cycle route along the banks of the Tiber. It is only 5 kilometres (3 miles) from the ancient bridge of Ponte Milvio to the Gasometro, a huge industrial iron structure in the eastern part of Rome, but how many amazing views! Stop and take a break as you pass Castel Sant’Angelo, built as a mausoleum by the Emperor Hadrian, and Isola Tiberina, a place associated with healing for over 2,300 years. On this boat-shaped river island, the remains of a temple to Esculapius, the Greek god of medicine, can be seen just a few hundred meters from a hospital that is still in use.
What to wear: The sun is scorching in the summer, but it’s better to avoid shorts and sleeveless tops if you plan to visit places of worship like St. Peter’s Basilica, or the Vatican Museums. A dress code requiring the covering of shoulders and knees is enforced. You will also be asked to turn off your phones in churches, where silence is sacred.
Churches: Take the opportunity to visit every church you come across. Admission is often free and a treasure trove awaits to lift the spirits. It is hard to pick a favourite – each of them might have a fascinating fresco, a mosaic, a statue, a floor, a ceiling, an architectural form or a catacomb.
The Basilica of San Clemente reflects the history of the city.
Until January 6, 2026, Rome is the global centre of the Catholic Holy Year, which usually takes place once every quarter century. Also known as the Jubilee, it is a time of faith and pilgrimage for the world’s Catholics. Visitors can enter the four main basilicas of Rome – St. Peter’s, St. John Lateran, St. Paul Outside the Walls and St. Mary Major – through the so-called Holy Doors, which are open only during a Jubilee.
Eats: A classic of Roman cuisine is pasta alla carbonara, a sauce made with Italian pecorino cheese, cured pork cheek and eggs. If you remove the eggs and add black pepper, you will have pasta alla gricia. If you also take out the cured pork, then it becomes pasta cacio e pepe. Another classic is pasta all’amatriciana made with tomato sauce, pecorino cheese, and cured pork cheek. The quality of these simple dishes is not generally linked to how fancy the restaurant is.
I avoid restaurants in front of the main monuments or in the most luxurious squares. I also never engage with people handing me a menu on the street. Restaurants that are not tourist traps usually have a menu written in Italian on a blackboard, such as Pro Loco Pinciano, in via Bergamo, or Trattoria Valentino, in via del Boschetto.
Between October and early June, I always have artichokes. There are two main recipes: Carciofi alla romana, which are squeezed into a pan with garlic and mint; and Carciofi alla giudia, which have the aspect of a golden flower after being fried in two stages. Since I can make the former myself, I always opt for the latter when eating out. I recently ate them at the Ristorante da Vincenzo in via Castelfidardo and at the Trattoria da Luigi, in piazza Sforza Cesarini.
Hot tickets: If I am lucky, I get a ticket to see the world’s best tennis players at the Italian Open in May, which sells out early, especially since Italian player Jannik Sinner has climbed up the rankings.
Not my cup of tea, but soccer fans can catch Serie A teams AS Roma and Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico at the weekends.
The Auditorium and the Teatro dell’Opera have a full calendar of concerts, ballets and shows to suit everyone’s pocket. In summer, I never miss at least one night show amid the monumental remains of the thermal baths built by the Roman Emperor Caracalla. The acoustics are far from perfect, but the location is incomparable.
Going with the flow: Rome has been a city of fountains ever since the ancient Romans built long aqueducts to bring fresh water to the Caput Mundi. Many are monumental. The Fontana di Trevi, made a world icon by the film “La Dolce Vita,” is enclosed within the narrow streets of the centre and usually mobbed by tourists. Less visited is the Fontana dell’Acqua Paola, a towering structure at the top of the Gianicolo hill, offering one of the best views of Rome.
A fountain I particularly like is the Fontana dei Cavalli Marini in the Villa Borghese, one of Rome’s great green spaces. In a circular basin, four seahorses emerge from the water, their legs raised, and their bodies shaped like fish.
On almost every corner there are small fountains called nasoni, big noses, because of the shape of their pipes. Good for refilling canteens and keeping the body hydrated.
Faux pas: Italians have a caffe espresso after lunch. Never a cappuccino. I do not know why, but cappuccino is only for breakfast and ordering one after lunch or dinner marks you as a foreigner.
DATA POINTS
- Population: 4.23 million
- Price of cappuccino: from 1.50 euro ($1.55), FARO, via Piave
- Price of ice-cream: from 1.80 euro ($1.86), Fassi, Palazzo del Freddo, Esquilino
- Essential read: “History” by Elsa Morante, 1974
- Film: “The Great Beauty” by Paolo Sorrentino, 2013
- Great place to see a sunset: Pincio and Gianicolo hills
Sources: Italian National Institute of Statistics (Giselda Vagnoni/Reuters)
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