With new portions of the historic city being opened up for the first time, visitors can get a true taste of everything Italy’s capital has to offer. When to go Italians do most things better (apart from driving), and Rome has a surfeit of everything: history, sights, sun-dappled piazzas, romance, pasta and wine.
Ancient though it is, there are more reasons than usual to go to the Italian capital this year, following a series of new openings and excavations. For the first time in centuries, visitors can tour the fifth level of the Colosseum, for extraordinary views down on the amphitheatre and the city beyond it. There’s the new two-day S.U.P.E.R ticket too (coopculture.it), which covers seven sights, including the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine, as well as several long off-limits imperial houses. The Palatine’s southern walkway opened in June after decades of closure, and for the first time in history, an excavated portion of the Circus Maximus is open for visits.
Villa della Fonte sits in the cobbled, ivy-cloaked lanes of Trastevere: rooms have beamed ceilings and terracotta floors, and there are flower-filled communal terraces. Doubles from €115 (£100), B&B. Between Piazza del Popolo and the Spanish Steps, and a short walk from Villa Borghese, Mario de’Fiori 37 is an intimate boutique hotel with contemporary rooms which feature fine Italian design and plush linen. Doubles from €190 (£166), room only.