Rome tourist attractions

Once the heart of the Mediterranean world, the Roman Forum is still an alluring place to wander or tour through today, even if the glories of ancient Rome are a little harder to glimpse. Across the site, which stretches two hectares, include the three remaining Corinthian columns to the Temple of Castor and Pollux (484BC), and the courtyard with its centred fountain for the House of the Vestal Virgins. You’ll need a little imagination to appreciate the place, but amidst the ruins and rubble, a guided tour of the Forum is simply one of the best things to do in Rome.

Piazza Navona is the city’s most famous square as far as Rome’s attractions go. Lined with cafes and restaurants, street artists and pigeons, the best time to really appreciate the square is at night, when it’s at its most vibrant: hang around the fountains to watch the buskers or enjoy the scene with a pricey drink at one of the bars.

During the Renaissance era, the market gardens and olive groves north of the city walls were the summer estates of Rome’s wealthy elite. Villa Borghese was the summer playground of the Borghese family and today is a public park and home to two of Rome’s best museums: the Galleria Borghese and the Villa Giulia. With its vast green expanses, this is about as near you can get to peace in the city centre - for Rome holidayswhere you can take a slower pace, a visit to the Villa Borghese should make the list.

As Rome tourist attractions go, the Castel Sant’Angelo sure covers a lot of ground, its great circular hulk marking the edge of the Vatican. Originally built by Emperor Hadrian to serve as his own mausoleum, different parts of the building has certainly been put to good use over the centuries: a refuge from the Vatican, a small palace and, as per the Pope Paul III’s instructions, renovated rooms with gilded ceilings. Elsewhere, rooms hold swords, armour, guns and the like, while below are dungeons and storerooms which can be glimpsed from the spiralling ramp, testament to the castle’s grisly past as the city’s most notorious Renaissance prison. And if that wasn’t enough, you can view a wad of Rome attractions from its high-and-mighty terrace.

This is Rome sightseeing at its finest: and no wonder. Rome’s most awe-inspiring ancient monument is an enormous amphitheatre that still stands relatively intact - pretty good going for a 2000-year-old building. Originally known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, it could seat 60,000 and have 10,000 standing spectators, who all came along to watch the savage games take place in the arena. Take a guided tour and visit early in the morning or in the evening to avoid the crowds.

The Basilica di San Pietro, better known to many as St Peter’s, is the principal shrine of the Catholic Church, built on the site of St Peter’s tomb, and worked on by the greatest Italian architects of the 16th and 17th centuries. Inside the basilica are graceful pieces by Michelangelo, a breathtaking (and ginormous) dome and striking sculptures. Take an entrance off the south aisle and view the treasury, Grottoes (where the majority of Popes are buried) and the underground necropolis, which contains a row of Roman tombs.

If you’ve found any of Rome’s other museums disappointing, the Vatican is probably the reason why: so much booty from the city’s history has ended up here. The complex holds a number of museums on very diverse subjects – displays of classical statuary, Renaissance painting, Etruscan relics and Egyptian artefacts, not to mention the furnishings and decoration of the building itself. There’s no point in trying to see everything, at least not on one visit, and the only features you really shouldn’t miss are the Raphael Rooms and the Sistine Chapel.

One of the Centro Storico’s busiest sights, the Pantheon is the most complete ancient Roman structure in the city. Originally built as a temple around 27BC and then rebuilt in 125AD, it went onto become a church. Apart from the sheer size of the place (its diameter is equal to its height, at 43m, the main object to see here is the tomb of Raphael, between the second and third chapels on the left.