Rome travel guide

Empire’s Worth of History, Food, Civilization, and Catholicism

Italy’s capital is enormous, sometimes bewildering, often stunning and exhilarating. What else could one expect from a city that once ran a vast empire and now contains an entire separate nation, the heart of a major religion, within its borders? Though the empire crumbled long ago, the city is constantly vibrant. Standing in the city center by the Forum, it’s easy to feel that you’re living inside a giant postcard, with crumbling ruins on one side and the commanding sight of the ancient Colosseum rising above the rooftops on the other. The evidence of more recent history is also omnipresent here; most spectacularly in Vatican City, where people pour into St. Peter’s Basilica and Square and the famous Vatican Museums to worship, gawk, and wonder at everything from the Pope to the Sistine Chapel. However, though aged sights are abundant in Rome, the city is anything but elderly, and it is certainly not tired. The fashion is high-class here, the shopping opportunities countless, the cuisine delicious, the gelato heavenly, and the traffic absolutely ferocious, in both speed and volume. If you want a fast-paced day of historical sightseeing or just a slow afternoon with a cappuccino, Rome offers both and everything in between.