Centro Storico

Orientation in the Centro Storico is rather simple.  The Via del Corso is the eponymous example of a Roman road which extends in a milelong straight line from Piazza del Popolo in the north, to Piazza Venezia and the kitsch ‘typewriter’ Vittorio Emanuele monument (take one look and you’ll understand the moniker). On one side are the Spanish Steps, Trevi fountain and Villa Borghese, while the other is a glorious labyrinth of streets towards the Pantheon and Piazza Navona and down towards the banks of the river and Castel Sant’Angelo.

Around the ruins of the Roman forum (behind the Vittorio Emanuele monument) is where the whole thing started, a piece of marshland which grew into a social and commercial centre and within the space of a few centuries ruled an empire which reached from Spain to Asia Minor.

Apart from sightseeing, shopping is the preferred pastime along the Via dei Condotti, Rome’s answer to Bond Street. Connecting the Spanish Steps to Piazza del Popolo is the Via del Babuino, another designer shopping mecca and where you’ll find cool concept store TAD, while Via del Governo Vecchio on the Centro Storico side is an essential bijou break from the crowds.

There are two places to buy icecream in the Centro Storico, San Crispino and Giolitti (see Snack). You won’t eat bad icecream elsewhere, but stray from this advice to your palette’s own loss.
For hassle-free high-speed cultural injections duck in and out of churches. They are often free galleries filled with masterpieces without the queues, crowds or tacky gift shops. Santa Maria del Popolo and San Luigi dei Francesi are easy vehicles to catch a few Caravaggio ‘chiaroscuro’ showstoppers.

The ebb and flow of tourist traffic and large, meandering groups from the Pantheon to the Spanish steps, along via del Corso to Piazza Navona, and the Trevi Fountain can be insanely infuriating, but unfortunately this is modern day Rome.
But for every rose-peddler that gets your goat there’s an equal measure of things to make your heart melt, just as long as you make sure you duck into glamorous establishments for a restorative prosecco (perfectly acceptable anytime after midday), or a cool café (just remember the no cappuccino after 11am rule.)

Look for the refuges such as Via Margutta behind the Spanish Steps, or stop off under the fig tree at Bar del Fico and watch the weather-beaten veterans battle it out over an afternoon game of chess.

When it all gets too much with crowds, heat and Stendhal’s syndrome (culture fatigue) it’s normally time for aperitivo. The Romans would do exactly the same.