Rome, Italy

I started to feel Rome and get in love with this city only after my fifth visit.

Rome can provide you with variety of emotions: from admiration and surprise to the anger and boredom, but every single time it will be something new and different.

You will definitely form your own personal impression and attitude to this city, but you have to see it at least once in a life time!

You can plan your trip to Rome for any time of the year.
Winter is very mild here and the majority of the days are sunny and comfortable for walking around. There might be some inconvenience in terms of heating in low and middle rate hotels. The Europeans are not used to have too much warmer temperature inside homes vs what is outside.
March and April is the real spring time. Summer starts from May.
July and August are the hottest months of the year and it's is better to spend them somewhere by the seaside.

And, Rome during Christmas in December is a real fairy tale!

Are you looking for the professional photographer in Rome? Me and my colleagues will be happy to enrich you with wonderful pictures from Rome. The fees are from 120 EUR per hour of the shoot.

If you have only one day to spend in Rome and you wish to take maximum of it I recommend starting your city tour from the metro station Colosseo around 7 a.m. while the city is just waking up.
 

If you are not going inside the Colosseum and very good photographs with it on the background will do for you, below are few very good spots around the metro station that the majority of tourists are not aware of.

1) Via della Domus Aurea – from the left side of the entrance to the park you can climb the hill and take photos from there;

2) The pedestrian bridge over the street Via degli Annibaldi;
3) From the bridge towards Via del Monte Oppio there is a small piece of green ground that offers the best "tourists-free" view.

From the Colosseum, a 10-15 minute walk will take you to the Capitoline Hills where you have to allocate at least two hours for a walk around the Capitol Square, Capitoline Museums, Basilica di Santa Maria in Ara coeli and the Roman Forum.
 

There is a wonderful spot behind the church that is even more amazing at the dawn or during the sunset - you can find it through Google Maps as Scala dell'Arce Capitolina.

If you want to have a bird's- eye sight of the Eternal City you can find it right here in the panoramic terrace “Rome from the Sky”.

Open hours are: 
9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p. m. on working days, and till 7:30 p. m. on week- ends.

You can climb here with the elevator. This panoramic view will cost you 7 EUR.

From the Capitoline hill there is a very short distance to Piazza Venezia. It is one of the most beautiful sites of Rome. And right here in "Cesar Pizza" you can try the best pizza in the city, confirmed by the majority of visitors! Coffee and lemonade here are also referred as top!
 

At the Venice Square you can pop in the National Museumof Renaissance that displays the art works from XVIII-XX centuries and narrates the legacy of this period in the Italian history. Here you can look at different items of house ware, weapon and army cloths dated to the period of the Napoleonic wars and Garibaldi period and lots of other stuff.
 

Open hours: daily from 9:30 a. m. to 6:30 p. m.
Free entrance.

From the Venice Square you can turn into the street Via del Corso. If you still full of energy you are welcome to the land of shopping. This is the main shopping street if Rome!

Via del Corso is few miles long but you don't have to walk through the entire street and finish your shopping trip at the Trevi Fountain and drop the coin “in a proper way" (see how to do it in my story here) and then, stroll the same street up to the Pantheon.

If you want see the Trevi Fountain without a crowd come here at sunrise as it will get filled with tourists already at 8 a. m.!

Just 5 minutes away from Trevi there are Spanish Steps in the Piazza di Spagna.

You can enjoy this place without a crowd and take such "people-free" pictures only during at the dawn as you will not find a single empty square meter during the day!

You can sit on the steps but eating is not allowed.

Despite of the abundance of gelateria around this place you can’t sit on the steps with the ice- cream. This place is watched by the policemen walking around, shouting and whistling, to make sure the rules are obeyed.

Once have climbed the Spanish Steps and turned to the left in the direction of Villa Borghese you will get to the Pincho Hill from where you can observe one of the best panoramas of Rome!

And after that, you can have a walk around Villa Borghese.

If your watched the movie "Roman Holiday" with Audrey Hepburn, you will definitely want to see the “Mouth of Truth” in the Piazza della Boca fella Verita, 18. You have to allow at least half an hour for the queue and some money to pay for the entrance that is not for free.

You can finish your trip by visiting Vatican. It is easy to get there by taxi or metro, or, you can walk there by crossing the bridge Ponte Elio or Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II.

My personal recommendation regarding the best time for visiting Vatican is either early in the morning around 7 a.m., when the square Piazza San Pietro is absolutely empty, or at night time, when the beauty of the Basilica di San Pietro will be fully highlighted with the fascinating illumination on the background of starry sky.

After you have done such a long tour, you will hardly have more energy to search for a good dining place, so, I recommend you to stop in a small cozy restaurant  The San Pietrini Restaurant (it has very good references in the Trip advisor reviews together with my own experience and has quite affordable prices as well). It takes just a 5 minute walk from the Piazza San Pietro to the street Via delle Fornaci, 89. Open until 11 p. m.