When in Rome do as the Romans do...stroll down the streets, take in a few sites and stop for a reviving coffee.
Spring is a magical time to visit this beautiful city - warm, sunny days where you can sit outside and avoid the crowds of the peak summer months.
Rome is all about style and you'll find the locals take this very seriously.
Sit in any piazza and you're in for a treat and an instant fashion show.
Here are some things that you just must not miss:
The Vatican and the Sistine Chapel - get there early (it opens at 8.30am) to avoid queues. Michael-angelo's famous ceiling painting has recently been restored which has revealed its magnificent original colours.
The Spanish Steps - a great meeting place for students and ideally placed for an attack on the classiest shops in town. The house at the bottom of the Steps is where poets Keats and Shelley lived - now a mall museum and worth a visit.
The Colosseum - it's impossible to visit this city without a visit to this Roman monument. Wonderful atmosphere and it's easy to imagine 55,000 spectators watching the gladiators, or lions fighting elephants.
The Forum - the original heart of the city during the height of the Roman Empire.
The shopping - some of the best in Europe with prices to match. There is a mass of small boutiques and one-off shops on Via Condotti and Via Frattini and other streets near the Spanish Steps. Heading down towards the river through Piazza Navona, you'll find jewellery, antique and craft shops. There's a large and colourful flea market on Sunday morning at Porta Portese. Leather is a very good buy in Rome.
There is a vast range of restaurants where you can get good value bowls of pasta and stunning salads for around pounds 7 each.
Local specialities include deep fried artichoke, pasta made with clams, veal with ham and marsala wine and many varieties of salami.
There's a pizza outlet on every corner for quick and delicious snacks.
Cafes in squares are where you can sit and relax for hours with a cappacino, while the functional stand-up bars are where you can get a swift expresso to fortify your stamina for sightseeing.
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