Rome Travel Deals

At first glance, you may wonder where to start when it comes to shopping in a big, chaotic city like Rome. In fact the city is a more appealing shopping experience than you might think, abounding with pleasant shopping streets and colourful markets, most of which are in the city centre. Many shopping areas have been pedestrianized, and, perhaps best of all, the city hasn’t yet been entirely overrun by department stores and shopping malls, or by the international chain stores that characterize most European city centres. One-stop shopping opportunities are rare, but you will find corners of the city that have been colonized by stores featuring the same sort of merchandise - fashion, antiques, food - making it easy for you to check out the competition’s products and prices. You will also find true artisans in Rome, who take great pride in their crafts.

You can find the best of Italy in Rome. Fashion straight from the catwalk is well represented on the fashionable streets close to the Spanish Steps - Via Condotti, Via Borgognona , and Via Frattina - where you’ll find chic boutiques like Gucci, Prada and Valentino. If you want to do more than window-shop, head to Via del Tritone , Via Nazionale , below piazza della Repubblica, or Via Cola di Rienzo , near the Vatican, for more middle-range and affordable fashion. The stores on and around Via del Corso are a mixture, selling mainstream, and fairly youth-orientated, fashions, while Via Veneto , off Piazza Barberini, caters to those who were youthful when Fellini’s La Dolce Vita opened, and are now the fashionably well-off patrons of the street’s expensive leather shops and boutiques.

Antiques shops - a huge selection - line Via dei Coronari and neighbouring Via dell’Orso and Via dei Soldati , just north of Piazza Navona; Via Giulia , southwest of Campo dei Fiori, and Via del Babuino and Via Margutta , between Piazza del Popolo and the Spanish Steps, are also good sources of art and antiques. As for food , if you want to take home a bottle of extra virgin olive oil or some vacuum-packed porcini mushrooms, end your day visiting the food shops and markets around Campo de’ Fiori or Via Cola di Rienzo across the river.

The city’s many markets offer a change of pace from Rome’s busy shopping streets. Many of these are bustling local food markets, and, even in the centre, are still very much part of Roman life. The Campo de’ Fiori market is probably the most central of these. Otherwise there’s Trastevere’s Porta Portese flea market, a venue for antiques, clothing, books, and indeed virtually anything else, every Sunday morning.

These days some shops in the centre of Rome stay open all day. However, many still observe the city’s traditional hours - Monday 3.30-7.30pm, Tuesday-Saturday 9.30am-1.30pm & 3.30-7.30pm, and closed on Sunday. Food shops are also often closed on Thursday afternoon in the winter and Saturday afternoon during the summer; and most shops close for at least two weeks in summer, usually in August. Most places accept all major credit cards .

Let’s face it: Rome is a bit of a backwater for the performing arts . Northern Italy is where creativity in theatre and dance - and, of course, opera - flourishes, and very few international performers of renown in any of the arts regularly put in an appearance here. Nevertheless, there is cultural entertainment available, and the quality is sometimes better than you might expect. In any case, what the arts here may lack in professionalism, they often make up for in the charm of the setting. Rome’s summer festival , for example, organized by “Estate Romana”, means that there’s a good range of classical music, opera, theatre and cinema running throughout the warm months, often in picturesque locations - amidst ancient ruins with soaring columns, or perched on hills with brilliant panoramas of Rome by night - although obviously some of what’s on is of little interest if you don’t speak Italian. During the winter season, you’ll find a regular programme of classical music at the Accademia Santa Cecilia, and other sporadic musical offerings of mixed quality, sometimes in beautiful churches or palatial halls, and on occasions free. Opera is well established in Rome and on occasion approaches world-class levels, but not often enough. Good dance is a rarity in Rome, although international companies do show up from time to time, usually at the Teatro Olimpico and the Teatro Argentina. Finally, cinema -lovers will find an increasing number of films in the original language, as Italy gradually breaks away from its nationalistic dubbing mania.

For current information about what’s on where in English, consult the English section at the back of Romac’è (L2000, Thursdays) or Wanted in Rome , the English language bi-weekly (every other Wednesday), which you can pick up at almost any newsstand in the centre. Otherwise, in Italian, Time Out Roma (L4500, Thursdays) is your best bet. There’s also the ” Trova Roma ” insert in La Repubblica ’s Thursday edition.

Roman nightlife retains some of the smart ethos satirized in Fellini’s film La Dolce Vita, and designer-dressing-up is still very much a part of the mainstream scene. Entrance prices to the big clubs tend to be high (as much as L40,000, including a drink), but there are a few smaller, more alternative nightspots, where your travel-crumpled clothes will be perfectly acceptable. To get around the licensing laws, some of Rome’s night haunts are run as private clubs - usually known as “centri culturali” - a device that means you may be stung for a membership fee, particularly where there’s music, though as a one-off visitor some places will let you in without formalities; and some places charge no fee at all to be a member. In recent years these sorts of places have sprung up all over the city, particularly in the suburbs, and these are becoming the focus of political activity and the more avant-garde elements of the music and arts scene.

On the live music scene , summer offerings are plentiful, with several venues all over town, featuring concerts of every sort, including practically free events in Testaccio. However, the chances of catching major rock and pop acts are virtually nonexistent, and getting worse. Rome has been all but abandoned by most big UK and US acts because of its almost complete lack of organization and a suitable venue. Big promoters book the cities up north, especially Milan and Bologna, and leave Rome entirely out of the loop. However, there is a chance you can catch up-and-coming US and UK indie bands playing some of the city’s more alternative venues.

Rome’s clubs run the gamut. There are vast glitter palaces with stunning lights and sound systems, predictable dance music and an over-dressed, over-made-up clientele - good if you can afford it and just want to dance (and observe a good proportion of Romans in their natural Saturday-night element). But there are also places that are not much more than ritzy bars with music, and other, more down-to-earth places to dance, playing a more interesting selection of music to a younger, more cautious-spending crowd. There is also a small group of clubs catering specifically to gay or lesbian customers. Whichever you prefer, all tend to open and close late, and some charge a heavy entrance fee - as much as L25,000, which usually includes a drink. During the hot summer months, many clubs close down or move to outdoor locations.

As for location , Roman nightlife can be found all over the city, including neighbourhoods on the very edge of town. However, in the central zone the best areas tend to be Testaccio (especially in summer), Trastevere, and the centro storico from the Jewish Ghetto to the Pantheon.

For what’s on information, there’s Romac ‘è (L2000, Thursdays), with its helpful section in English, and, if you understand Italian, Time Out Roma (L4500, Thursdays). Otherwise the main Rome newspaper , Il Messaggero, lists major musical events, and ” Trova Roma ” in the Thursday edition of La Repubblica is another handy guide to current offerings.

Outside the Aurelian walls, to the north and northeast of the city, was once an area of market gardens, olive groves and patrician villas abutting the Via Salaria and Via Nomentana before trailing off into open country. During the Renaissance, these vast tracts of land were appropriated as summer estates for the city’s wealthy, particularly those affiliated in some way to the papal court. One of the most notable of these estates, the Villa Borghese , was the summer playground of the Borghese family and is now a public park, and home to the city’s most significant concentration of museums. Foremost among these are the Galleria Borghese , housing the resplendent art collection of the aristocratic family - a Roman must-see in anyone’s book - and the Villa Giulia , built by Pope Julius III for his summer repose and now the National Etruscan Museum. North of Villa Borghese stretch Rome’s post-Unification residential districts - not of much interest in themselves, except perhaps for Foro Italico , which is worth visiting either to see Roma or Lazio play at its Olympic Stadium, or simply to admire Mussolini’s stylish, of-its-time sports complex.

On the west bank of the Tiber, directly across from Rome’s historic centre, the VATICAN CITY was established as an independent sovereign state in 1929, a tiny territory surrounded by high walls on its far, western side and on the near side opening its doors to the rest of the city and its pilgrims in the form of St Peter’s and its colonnaded piazza.

The Latin name Mons Vaticanus (Vatican Hill) is a corruption of an Etruscan term, indicating a good place for observing the flights of birds and lightning on the horizon that was believed to prophesy the future. It’s believed that later St Peter himself was buried in a pagan cemetery here, giving rise to the building of a basilica to venerate his name and the siting of the headquarters of the Catholic Church here. After reaching an uneasy agreement with Mussolini, the Vatican became a sovereign state in 1929, and nowadays has its own radio station, newspaper, currency and postal service, and indeed security service in the colourfully dressed Swiss Guards. However, its relationship with the Italian state is not surprisingly anything but straightforward.

You wouldn’t know at any point that you had left Rome and entered the Vatican; indeed the area around the Vatican, known as the Borgo , is one of the most cosmopolitan districts of Rome, full of hotels and restaurants, and scurrying tourists and pilgrims - as indeed it always has been since the king of Wessex founded the first hotel for pilgrims here in the eighth century. You may find yourself staying in one of many mid-range hotels located here, although unless you’re a pilgrim it’s a better idea to base yourself in the more atmospheric city centre and travel back and forth on the useful bus #64. However much you try, one visit is never anywhere near enough.

Across the river from the centre of town, on the right bank of the Tiber, is the district of TRASTEVERE . A smallish district sheltered under the heights of the Janiculum Hill, it was the artisan area of the city in classical times, neatly placed for the trade that came upriver from Ostia and was unloaded nearby. Outside the city walls, Trastevere (the name means literally “across the Tiber”) was for centuries heavily populated by immigrants, and this uniqueness and separation lent the neighbourhood a strong identity that lasted well into this century. Nowadays the area is a long way from the working-class quarter it used to be, and although you’re still likely to hear Travestere’s strong Roman dialect here, you’re also likely to bump into some of its many foreign residents, lured by the charm of its narrow streets and closeted squares. However, even if the local Festa de’ Noantri (”celebration of we others”), held every July, seems to symbolize the slow decline of local spirit rather than celebrate its existence, there is good reason to come to Trastevere. It is among the more pleasant places to stroll in Rome, particularly peaceful in the morning, and lively come the evening, as dozens of trattorias set tables out along the cobblestone streets (Trastevere has long been known for its restaurants). The neighbourhood has also become the focus of the city’s alternative scene and is home to much of its most vibrant and youthful nightlife.

The word romance is associated with the very name of Rome itself, and one of the most romantic parts of the city is the area to the South , where there are plenty of reminders of the glory of ancient Rome. This area encompasses the start of the Via Appia , the most famous of Rome’s consular roads, which struck from the southeast end of the Circo Massimo straight as an arrow to the port of Brindisi 365 miles south. The road was built by the censor Appio Claudio in 312 BC, and is the only Roman landmark mentioned in the Bible. Immediately beyond the Palatine Hill, the Baths of Caracalla is the first major sight along the route, one of the city’s grandest ruins, and the venue until recently of inspirational performances of opera. Beyond, most visitors take public transport out to see the ancient catacombs , which line either side of the Via Appia Antica on its way through the outlying districts of the modern city. A little way west, Via Ostiense was another important traffic artery, linking - as it in fact still does - Rome to its port of Ostia. It’s home to a more recent, nineteenth-century attraction in the Protestant Cemetery , where the poets Keats and Shelley are buried, and the magnificent rebuilt basilica of St Paolo-fuori-le-Mura .

You may find there’s quite enough of interest in Rome to keep you occupied during your stay. But Rome can be a hot, oppressive city, its surfeit of churches and museums intensely wearying, and if you’re around long enough you really shouldn’t feel any guilt about freeing yourself from its weighty history to see something of the countryside around. Two of the main attractions visitable on a day-trip are, it’s true, Roman sites, but just the process of getting to them can be energizing.

Tivoli , about an hour by bus east of Rome, is a small provincial town famous for the travertine quarries nearby and its fine ancient Roman villa, complete with landscaped gardens and parks. Ostia , in the opposite direction from the city near the sea, and similarly easy to reach on public transport, is the city’s main seaside resort (though one worth avoiding), but was also the site of the port of Rome in classical times, the ruins of which - Ostia Antica - are well preserved and worth seeing.

Tivoli , about an hour by bus east of Rome, is a small provincial town famous for the travertine quarries nearby and its fine ancient Roman villa, complete with landscaped gardens and parks. Ostia , in the opposite direction from the city near the sea, and similarly easy to reach on public transport, is the city’s main seaside resort (though one worth avoiding), but was also the site of the port of Rome in classical times, the ruins of which - Ostia Antica - are well preserved and worth seeing.

On the far side of the main road, Via Labacana, from the Colosseum, the Esquiline Hill is the highest and largest of the city’s seven hills. Formerly a sparsely populated area, with vineyards, orchards and olive groves stretching out to the Aurelian wall, it was one of the most fashionable residential quarters of ancient Rome. In fact it consists of four separate summits; the Oppian (the part nearest the Colosseum, now a small park); the Subura, which was ancient Rome’s most notorious inner-city suburb; the Fagutalis : and - the highest (65m) and largest - the Cispius, which is the site of the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. Because of these four hills, this area of the city is called “Monti”. Nowadays it’s a mixed area, but one which almost every traveller to Rome encounters at some point - not just because of key sights like Nero’s Domus Aurea and the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore , and the grand developments of post-Unification Rome around Via Nazionale and Via XX Settembre , but also because of Stazione Termini , whose tawdry environs are home to the lion’s share of Rome’s budget hotels.

The triangular area on the eastern side of Via del Corso , bound by Piazza del Popolo, the Corso, the edge of the Villa Borghese and Piazza di Spagna, is travellers’ Rome, historically the artistic quarter of the city, for which eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Grand Tourists would make in search of the colourful, exotic city. Keats and Giorgio de Chirico are just two of those who used to live on Piazza di Spagna; Goethe had lodgings along Via del Corso; and institutions like Caffè Greco and Babington’s Tea Rooms were the meeting-places of a local artistic and expat community for close on a couple of centuries. Today these institutions have given ground to more latter-day traps for the tourist dollar: American Express and McDonald’s have settled into the area, while Via Condotti and around is these days strictly international designer territory, with some of Rome’s fanciest stores; the local residents are more likely to be investment bankers than artists or poets. But the air of a Rome being discovered, even colonized, by foreigners persists, even if most of them hanging out on the Spanish Steps are mostly flying-visit InterRailers.