Rome Travel Blog

With less than four days until Italy’s Settimana della Cultura, cultural week from April 9 to 17 where all state museums (and even some city-run) are free to all visitors, I should have organized by now my top list of museums that I want to visit and already started training for my  contest- how...

Guest writer Brian Zygo on Rome and football: Although it has been over sixteen centuries since gladiators in the Colosseum, gladiators and the other blood sports of the Roman Empire continue to hold a fascination in western popular culture, from movies such as Ben Hur and Gladiator to the Starz network...

Happy 150th anniversary, Italy!  Italy is celebrating its unification on March 17 with a one-off national holiday, Festa dell’Unità.   Along with all schools, offices and businesses closed for the national celebration, Rome, Turin, Milan, Florence, Naples and Cosenza will get a jump start on...

Martedì Grasso is in less than five days, announcing the arrival of more leaner times– but there are still four days of  carnival season in Rome.  This Saturday March 5 through  Tuesday Tuesday March 8, Rome shows off its carnival best with Carnevale Romano with festivities, parades, and musical...

Thirty years ago, the Roman Forum was like the Wild West. The more-than-3,000-year-old archaeological site in the center of the city was practically a playground where visitors could be found counting coins on the floor of the Basilica Aemilia, climbing the steps of the Temple to Antonino Pio, and...

The Provincia di Roma, the governing and informational entity for Rome and its surroundings, has just unwrapped the gift that keeps on giving:  Roma & Pìu, a website focusing on culture, events, gastronomy, lodging, environment and everything else located in and pertaining to the 2100 square mile...

Wish you could be in Rome? A fly on the wall, spying the monuments, festivities, piazzas and people? I have one word for you: webcam. Thanks to the myriads of hotels, weather channels and the wide world of the internet, you and I can live stream the Eternal City even when in Rome, indoors on a rainy...

So you’ve planned your vigilia, Christmas eve, with a whopping feast in a posh ristorante or traditional trattoria.  You’ve organized Santa to scale the palazzo walls for Christmas day.  What’s on the agenda for the 26th? In Italy, December 26 is the feast of Santo Stefano, an official holiday...

Rome for the Holidays? The Eternal City was designed for winter holiday celebration thanks to its beautiful architecture, the open and festively decorated piazzas, the not-too-chilly weather and most importantly, the century-old traditions and celebrations during the holiday season.  If you are lucky...

You’ve just been told you have six hours to kill at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport (FCO).  What are you going to do?  First, thank the stars that it is the 21st century because FCO has finally stopped putting the . . . er. . . in International.  Second, head back to the Eternal City! With 45...