Nearly three thousand years of history in one city
Rome is an open-air museum that happens to be a busy, noisy, wonderful capital. Ancient ruins sit beside Renaissance piazzas and baroque fountains, and within a day you can stand in the Colosseum, under the Pantheon's dome and beneath Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling. Book the big sights ahead, then leave time to wander: the best of Rome is often an unplanned church, alley or plate of pasta.