Rome ( Roma ). A voyage to Rome, Italy, Europe - Imperial Forums, Colosseum, Vatican, Piazza Navona, Villa Borghese...

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="destinationMapLink clearfix"><a class="pin toggleMap closed" href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/rome#" id="pinToggleMap" style="display: block;"><span class="showMapText"></span></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AXcdBK8Zz9s/UwLpqDUNiiI/AAAAAAABsnw/ol49qdvW0BU/s1600/Rome+50+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="368" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AXcdBK8Zz9s/UwLpqDUNiiI/AAAAAAABsnw/ol49qdvW0BU/s1600/Rome+50+2.jpg" width="640" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0W9rhNpVPpg/TzLJtAk5eHI/AAAAAAAACJ8/JJwnL7sM-7c/s1600/Rome+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="502" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0W9rhNpVPpg/TzLJtAk5eHI/AAAAAAAACJ8/JJwnL7sM-7c/s640/Rome+4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NBAUQZU777c/UofyfV3IxpI/AAAAAAABCwE/N3dTTp0HyrQ/s1600/Rome+53+Italy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="380" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NBAUQZU777c/UofyfV3IxpI/AAAAAAABCwE/N3dTTp0HyrQ/s640/Rome+53+Italy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E6V_jhUem9o/TzLJuavp8fI/AAAAAAAACKQ/dAkdxWa7xUA/s1600/Rome+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="145" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E6V_jhUem9o/TzLJuavp8fI/AAAAAAAACKQ/dAkdxWa7xUA/s320/Rome+6.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-66IXBh_OQIM/UofyfVlFdII/AAAAAAABCwQ/ZEiQRxYlq2A/s1600/Rome+50+Italy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="117" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-66IXBh_OQIM/UofyfVlFdII/AAAAAAABCwQ/ZEiQRxYlq2A/s640/Rome+50+Italy.jpg" width="200" /></a>No other city comes close. It may no longer be <i>caput mundi</i> (capital of the world), but Rome is an epic, bubbling-over metropolis harbouring lost empires. One visit and you’ll be hooked. Rome has a glorious monumentality that it wears without reverence. Its architectural heirlooms are buzzed around by car and Vespa as if they were no more than traffic islands.</div>The city bombards you with images: elderly ladies with dyed hair chatting in <a href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/rome/sights/389097">Trastevere</a>; priests with cigars strolling the <a href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/rome/sights/389379">Imperial Forums</a>; traffic jams around the <a href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/rome/sights/389095">Colosseum</a>; plateloads of pasta in <a href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/rome/sights/389091">Piazza Navona</a>; sinuous trees beside the <a href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/rome/sights/390027">Villa Borghese</a>; barrages of pastel-coloured scooters revving up at traffic lights as if preparing for a race.<br /><br /><a name="more"></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSCrYhjRzoDUSdfCyPpbRbtOBOq6eb94-i03NERykjkQX_JfPSlMhupj6mVDjUPAX8GwTFSvhJCuKGLQNxJBrM-alSaL3KjEfJb-5Gmdzc5mepc-9yR_jk-hxV4qg7rt-apSHjrOAyxZVK/s1600/Rome+15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSCrYhjRzoDUSdfCyPpbRbtOBOq6eb94-i03NERykjkQX_JfPSlMhupj6mVDjUPAX8GwTFSvhJCuKGLQNxJBrM-alSaL3KjEfJb-5Gmdzc5mepc-9yR_jk-hxV4qg7rt-apSHjrOAyxZVK/s200/Rome+15.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-039wTwCy4G4/TzLJrmAH4wI/AAAAAAAACJo/qHvSl3tYN1g/s1600/Rome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-039wTwCy4G4/TzLJrmAH4wI/AAAAAAAACJo/qHvSl3tYN1g/s200/Rome.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S_giBv48VA4/TzLJvL0wrLI/AAAAAAAACKY/eWNBhYdR4FI/s1600/Rome+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S_giBv48VA4/TzLJvL0wrLI/AAAAAAAACKY/eWNBhYdR4FI/s200/Rome+7.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />People in Rome encapsulate the spirit of the city. Pass a central café and the tables outside are animated with people, downing fast shots of espresso and sporting big black sunglasses. They are neither posing nor hung over. Nuns flutter through the streets, on the trip of a lifetime or secondment from the <a href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinationRedirector?atlasId=357304">Philippines</a>, bustling across the road before treating themselves to an ice cream. Churches fill during Mass, and the priests, dressed in purple, cream or red silk (right down to their socks), read the rites to a hushed congregation (mostly from out of town). Here the national preoccupation with the aesthetic fuses with incredible urban scenery to make Rome a city where you feel cool just strolling through the streets, catching the sunlight on your face outside a café, or eating a long lunch. It’s a place that almost encourages you to take things easy. Don’t feel like going to a museum? What’s the need when it’s all outside on the streets?<br /><b> Ready to go? Our recommended tours make it easy:</b><br /><ul class="inBody"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uRdw45zso4c/TzLJsNKL8BI/AAAAAAAACJs/gZZo7eCgauw/s1600/Rome+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uRdw45zso4c/TzLJsNKL8BI/AAAAAAAACJs/gZZo7eCgauw/s320/Rome+2.jpg" width="320" /></a><li> Check out the <a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=ct5zp*BDP2w&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=http%253A%252F%252Fitunes.apple.com%252Fau%252Fapp%252Flonely-planet-rome-city-guide%252Fid317284169%253Fmt%253D8%2526partnerId%253D30&u1=Lpdest-rome">Lonely Planet Rome City Guide app</a> available via iTunes. Guidebook content, recommended experiences and maps that work offline.</li><li>Skip the line for an <a href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/rome/activities/walking-tours/skip-line-ancient?lpaffil=fbta1">ancient Rome and Colosseum walking tour</a></li><li>Take the <a href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/rome/activities/walking-tours/skip-line-vatican?lpaffil=fbta1">Vatican museums walking tour</a><a class="pin toggleMap closed" href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/rome#" id="pinToggleMap" style="display: block;"><span class="showMapText">Show in Lonely Planet</span></a></li></ul><div class="relatedLinks clearfix"><h3 class="themeHeading"> More about Rome </h3><ul><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gAO-kpgpj8c/TzLJsZK0nyI/AAAAAAAACJ0/R7voqhkxBKg/s1600/Rome+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gAO-kpgpj8c/TzLJsZK0nyI/AAAAAAAACJ0/R7voqhkxBKg/s400/Rome+3.jpg" width="400" /></a><li> <a class="linkChevron" href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/rome/weather">When to go & weather <span class="bottom"></span> </a> </li><li> <a class="linkChevron" href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/rome/transport/getting-there-around">Getting there & around <span class="bottom"></span> </a> </li><li> <a class="linkChevron" href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/rome/practical-information/money-costs">Practical information <span class="bottom"></span> </a> </li><li> <a class="linkChevron" href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/rome/history">History <span class="bottom"></span> </a> </li><li> <a class="linkChevron" href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/rome/work-study-volunteering/study">Work & study <span class="bottom"></span> </a> </li><li> <a class="linkChevron" href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/rome/travel-tips-and-articles">Tips & articles <span class="bottom"></span> </a> </li><li><a class="linkChevron" href="http://hotels.lonelyplanet.com/hotel/?RegionId=402">Hotels</a></li></ul></div><div class="relatedLinks clearfix"><h3 class="themeHeading"> Make it happen</h3><ul><li><a class="linkChevron" href="http://shop.lonelyplanet.com/shopSearch?q=rome%5E2+or+Italy">Shop for travel guides</a></li><li><a class="linkChevron" href="http://hotels.lonelyplanet.com/hotel/?RegionId=402">Search hotels</a></li><li><a class="linkChevron" href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/bookings/flights.do">Cheap flights</a></li><li><a class="linkChevron" href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/bookings/insurance.do">Travel insurance</a></li></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3RR0eQcMWYttPLWZAChx0JxvUFUkOckQTKFx5QtZUY3_93J_H7-7vqWAtbJ3Woh3XzSWN5euthT3hXHJZJhaDFt3Yq8g-BX-LH1mKGFdDMb-wMf6l-rb_zU_LPtjm61-PQuXsAHD7YorD/s1600/Rome+54+Italy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3RR0eQcMWYttPLWZAChx0JxvUFUkOckQTKFx5QtZUY3_93J_H7-7vqWAtbJ3Woh3XzSWN5euthT3hXHJZJhaDFt3Yq8g-BX-LH1mKGFdDMb-wMf6l-rb_zU_LPtjm61-PQuXsAHD7YorD/s640/Rome+54+Italy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/click;h=v8/3c15/0/0/%2a/b;44306;0-0;0;56529921;33734-479/303;0/0/0;;%7Eokv=;ctt=europe;cnty=italy;dest=rome;tnm=overview;tnm=sponsor-large;rsi=J08781_10159;rsi=J08781_10291;rsi=J08781_10287;rsi=J08781_10052;rsi=J08781_10205;%7Esscs=%3f" target="_top"><img alt="Click here to find out more!" border="0" src="http://s0.2mdn.net/viewad/817-grey.gif" /></a> </div></div>

Rome ( Roma ). A voyage to Rome, Italy, Europe - Imperial Forums, Colosseum, Vatican, Piazza Navona, Villa Borghese...

No other city comes close. It may no longer be caput mundi (capital of the world), but Rome is an epic, bubbling-over metropolis h...

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Vatican City ( Stato della Città del Vaticano ). A voyage to Vatican City, West Europe, Italy, Rome, St Peter’s Basilica and Piazza San Pietro.

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUGH_bKLZDSkcdmu7_N53rrLC9goziwLIBp_zZzFw4bIbXRXlknXsGIcY1ozLdcVzvDDarJbo3YTSqTQ-IfBZfv78ppwV-khyWk_LIJNONnunpt9VEtxu03ovLADDActFl_k1FV5hF1bJJ/s1600/Vatican+25+CityWallpapersHD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUGH_bKLZDSkcdmu7_N53rrLC9goziwLIBp_zZzFw4bIbXRXlknXsGIcY1ozLdcVzvDDarJbo3YTSqTQ-IfBZfv78ppwV-khyWk_LIJNONnunpt9VEtxu03ovLADDActFl_k1FV5hF1bJJ/s640/Vatican+25+CityWallpapersHD.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="destinationMapLink clearfix"></div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-spTq09UO7Ig/TysV6TAtlfI/AAAAAAAABsY/FrLXcaOiVL8/s1600/Vatican+city+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-spTq09UO7Ig/TysV6TAtlfI/AAAAAAAABsY/FrLXcaOiVL8/s320/Vatican+city+1.jpg" width="320" /></a>The world’s smallest sovereign state (a mere 0.44 sq km), the Vatican sits atop the low-lying Vatican hill just a few hundred metres west of the River Tiber. Centred on the domed bulk of St Peter’s Basilica and Piazza San Pietro, it is the capital of the Catholic world, a spiritual superpower whose law is gospel to the world’s one billion Catholics. On a more temporal level, it’s one of <a href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinationRedirector?atlasId=359975">Rome</a>’s most visited areas and you’ll almost certainly have to queue to get into St Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museums.<br />Established under the terms of the 1929 Lateran Treaty, the State of the Vatican City is the modern vestige of the Papal States. For more than a thousand years, the Papal States encompassed <a href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinationRedirector?atlasId=359975">Rome</a> and much of central <a href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinationRedirector?atlasId=359845">Italy</a>, but when <a href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinationRedirector?atlasId=359845">Italy</a> was unified in 1861 and <a href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinationRedirector?atlasId=359975">Rome</a> fell to Italian troops in 1870, Pope Pius IX was forced to give up the last of his territorial possessions. Relations between <a href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinationRedirector?atlasId=359845">Italy</a> and the landless papacy remained strained until Mussolini and Pope Pius XI agreed to form the Vatican State in 1929.<br /><br /><a name="more"></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eJpnrNOfMmY/TysV-aUhDeI/AAAAAAAABso/3N4yG2NyI_Q/s1600/Vatican+city+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eJpnrNOfMmY/TysV-aUhDeI/AAAAAAAABso/3N4yG2NyI_Q/s320/Vatican+city+3.jpg" width="320" /></a>Under the terms of the Lateran Treaty, the Holy See was also given extraterritorial authority over a further 28 sites in and around <a href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinationRedirector?atlasId=359975">Rome</a>, including the basilicas of San Giovanni in Laterano, Santa Maria Maggiore and San Paolo fuori le Mura; the catacombs, and the pope’s summer residence at Castel Gandolfo.<br />As an independent state, the Vatican has its own postal service, currency, newspaper, radio station and army. The flamboyantly dressed Swiss Guards were founded in 1506 by Julius II to defend the Papal States against invading armies and are still today responsible for the pope’s personal security. <br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VgN-Rhf8cig/TysWE2WuemI/AAAAAAAABtA/66nfrxG1zK0/s1600/Vatican+city+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VgN-Rhf8cig/TysWE2WuemI/AAAAAAAABtA/66nfrxG1zK0/s320/Vatican+city+7.jpg" width="320" /></a>The Vatican’s current look is the culmination of more than 1000 years of chipping and chopping. The Leonine walls date to 846, when Pope Leo IV had them put up after a series of Saracen raids, while the Vatican palace, now home to the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, was originally constructed by Pope Eugenius III in the 12th century. Subsequent popes extended, fortified and decorated it according to their political and artistic whims. The original 4th-century St Peter’s Basilica was almost entirely rebuilt in the 16th century by a phalanx of Renaissance greats – Bramante, Raphael, Antonio da Sangallo and Michelangelo. Later Giacomo della Porta and Carlo Maderno added further contributions. Outside, Piazza San Pietro was designed by the baroque genius Gian Lorenzo Bernini.<br />The easiest way to get to the Vatican is to take metro line A to Ottaviano-San Pietro. Otherwise buses 40 and 64 run to the Vatican from Stazione Termini.<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-30aohMCpLWU/TysWAmsWMII/AAAAAAAABsw/kYja0DWhT5A/s1600/Vatican+city+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-30aohMCpLWU/TysWAmsWMII/AAAAAAAABsw/kYja0DWhT5A/s400/Vatican+city+4.jpg" width="400" /></a><a class="pin toggleMap closed" href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/vatican-city#" id="pinToggleMap" style="display: block;"><span class="showMapText">Show in Lonely Planet</span></a><br /><div class="relatedLinks clearfix"><h3 class="themeHeading"> More about Vatican City </h3><ul><li> <a class="linkChevron" href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/vatican-city/travel-tips-and-articles">Tips & articles <span class="bottom"></span> </a> </li><li><a class="linkChevron" href="http://hotels.lonelyplanet.com/vatican-city-&-borgo/">Hotels</a></li></ul></div><div class="relatedLinks clearfix"><h3 class="themeHeading"> Make it happen</h3><ul><li><a class="linkChevron" href="http://shop.lonelyplanet.com/shopSearch?q=vatican+city+%26+borgo">Shop for travel guides</a></li><li><a class="linkChevron" href="http://hotels.lonelyplanet.com/vatican-city-&-borgo/">Search hotels</a></li><li><a class="linkChevron" href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/bookings/flights.do">Cheap flights</a></li><li><a class="linkChevron" href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/bookings/insurance.do">Travel insurance</a></li></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lU-Qv1KM5Qk/TysWDJrhxcI/AAAAAAAABs4/wjz1aOIiUIU/s1600/Vatican+city+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lU-Qv1KM5Qk/TysWDJrhxcI/AAAAAAAABs4/wjz1aOIiUIU/s640/Vatican+city+6.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><ul></ul></div><div class="mpuWrapper " id="mpuSponsorLrg"><div class="mpuInner"><div class="adContainer" id="adContainer_mpuSponsorLrg"><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/click;h=v8/3c0f/0/0/%2a/b;44306;0-0;0;56529921;33734-479/303;0/0/0;;%7Eokv=;ctt=europe;cnty=vatican-city;tnm=overview;tnm=sponsor-large;rsi=J08781_10159;rsi=J08781_10291;rsi=J08781_10287;rsi=J08781_10052;rsi=J08781_10205;rsi=J08781_10335;%7Esscs=%3f" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_top"><img alt="Click here to find out more!" border="0" src="http://s0.2mdn.net/viewad/817-grey.gif" /></a> </div></div></div><h3> </h3></div>

Vatican City ( Stato della Città del Vaticano ). A voyage to Vatican City, West Europe, Italy, Rome, St Peter’s Basilica and Piazza San Pietro.

The world’s smallest sovereign state (a mere 0.44 sq km), the Vatican sits atop the low-lying Vatican hill just a few hundred metres west ...

Read more »