Visitors to Rome are often overwhelmed by its heady mix of beauty, brashness, charisma and chaos. Its eternal popularity comes from the fact that as well as offering probably the highest quotient of art and history of any city in the world, it is also an undeniably modern capital. Among its sun-drenched piazzas, cobble-stoned streets and russet-coloured palazzi visitors will find a vast array of traditional and trendy shopping, drinking and dining options, and, of course, the Romans themselves, with their maniacal driving habits and impassioned gesticulating ways. Over the past few years Rome’s public services have greatly improved, its squares and streets undergone major beautification and reorganisation work, and its historic sites and museums been restored, reopened, and their opening hours lengthened.

The oldest visible part of Rome are the Fora, where Roman life began and where all commercial, legal, bureaucratic and religious goings on were centred. Some of the monuments, such as Trajan’s markets (an ancient shopping mall in the Imperial Fora) are startlingly intact. Not far away is the Colosseum, the massive amphitheatre built to house gory gladiatorial spectacles. In the so-called centro storico (historic centre) must-see sights include: the mid-17th century oval-shaped Piazza Navona; the Pantheon, Rome’s best-preserved monument; Campo de’ Fiori, the site of a bustling daily market and a happening nightlife and cruising scene; and behind that the refined elegance of the Michelangelo-designed Palazzo Farnese in the piazza of the same name. The maze of medieval streets surrounding these two squares are crammed with art galleries, artisan’s boutiques, design stores and antique shops. For clothes-shopping head instead to the well-heeled fashion triangle which fans out from Piazza di Spagna and includes Via dei Condotti and Via di Borgognona for the most exclusive names in Italian and international high fashion.

For a more everyday perspective on Rome, some of its ‘real’ neighbourhoods in and around the centre, are worth visiting. The oldest and smallest, the so-called Jewish Ghetto, makes no effort to lure tourists but offers some of the city centre’s most atmospheric restaurants, delis and bakeries. Trastevere, across the river from the city centre, had different customs, traditions, and even another dialect for centuries and still today is a city within a city. Trawl its narrow picturesque streets for great bars, boutiques and a slice of Roman life. Testaccio, south-east of Trastevere, was built up with orderly rows of case popolari (council houses) in the 19th century for resident workers - this is where to head for a major dose of Roman nightlife in its many bars, discos and live music venues.