In Rome, culture is thriving, neighborhoods are evolving, and kitchens are turning out the finest saltimobocca, salumi, pizza, and more.
Campo Marzio: Commonly referred to as Centro, this aristocratic neighborhood offers the best of Italian luxury-goods shops (Fendi, Bulgari, Valentino).
Prati: Edging the western bank of the Tiber River, this lesser-known suburb is filled with affordable boutiques and excellent gelaterie.
Testaccio: This formerly working-class district is not terrifically picturesque, but authentic pleasures abound in it, including artisanal butchers, shops, and trattorias.
Trastevere: The chic quartiere trades in medieval Rome’s most reliable postcard perfection, from its cobblestoned lanes to the Basilica of Santa Maria.
Vatican City: Come here to explore treasured sites such as the Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica.
Getting Around: Expect to walk a lot. For long hauls, try the metro or a taxi.
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The city’s hottest hotel openings and longtime favorites.
Margutta 54: Owned by nobleman Alberto Moncada di Paternò, Margutta 54 is utterly private (set in an enclosed courtyard) and awash in history (Picasso painted here). But the sleek suites are the draw, with their ample sitting areas and cleverly configured bathrooms. $$
Hotel St. George: Rooms at this 16th-century palazzo, restored in 2008, range from the most welcoming single room (French double bed; large bath with a raincan showerhead; a lovely window seat) to “family” accommodations measuring upwards of 500 square feet. Bonus: the subterranean spa. $$$
First Hotel: This stylish newcomer won’t be to all tastes; the bright white lobby with its small, overlit bar and preponderance of questionable art lacks coziness. The 29 rooms and suites are infinitely more appealing—spacious for Rome, and done up in soft shades of taupe. $$$
St. Regis: The former Grand Hotel, built in 1894, was completely renovated in 2000; its 161 rooms are suitably vast, with Regency, Louis XVI, and Neoclassical elements. $$$
Hotel Hassler Roma: Rich French silks, gilded furniture, and playful frescoes make up the interiors of this celeb favorite. $$$
Hotel De Russie: With its sprawling tiered gardens and mix of earthy pastels and dark woods, the Russie feels like a quiet urban oasis. $$$
Hotel Eden: Traditions live on here: guests are greeted by a top-hatted doorman before entering the opulent lobby, which has an imposing staircase with ornamental wrought-iron railings. $$$
Portrait Suites: Interior designer Michele Bönan has outfitted the sexy, Ferragamo family–owned hotel with black-stained oak, white-marble bathrooms, and ice-blue flannel chairs. $$$$
Eyes on J.K. Place Roma: The team behind the seminally stylish J.K. Place hotels in Florence and Capri are bringing their deft blend of high style and genuine warmth to the heart of the centro storico. Expect a late-spring 2013 opening.
Hotel Pricing Key
$ Less than $200
$$ $200 to $350
$$$ $350 to $500
$$$$ $500 to $1,000
$$$$$ More than $1,000
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Here’s where to get your style fix.
Delfina Delettrez: Though she hails from a first family of Roman design (her mother is Silvia Venturini Fendi), jeweler Delfina Delettrez’s creations are anything but traditional: golden bees float in resin bubbles on a stunning choker; brown diamonds and pearls are piled into cube-shaped casings atop a square ring.
Wonderfool: Proving yet again that Italians still have the lock on consummately cool men’s style, this hybrid of boutique, barbershop, and spa offers rigorous treatments and gorgeous guys’ stuff, from exclusive swim trunks by Orlebar Brown to unisex jewelry designs by Natsuko Toyofuku.
Saddlers Union: This top-flight leather-goods maker—decades ago a stalwart of the Via Condotti—was resuscitated by a young PR exec with a nostalgia for finely crafted bags and totes. The shop displays them as well as the briefcases and signature drawstring bucket bags that made the brand in the 1950’s.
Laura Tonatto Profumi Italiani: Rare and adventurous fragrances are the Turinese perfumer’s stock-in-trade. At the late-19th-century apothecary counter in the showroom, specialists sell bespoke concoctions; in the back room, interactive displays educate visitors, who experience scent in the context of music, cinema, and fine art.
Patrizia Pieroni: One of the first presences on Via del Governo Vecchio, where her shop, Arsenale, became a cult favorite, Pieroni now presides over a slick atelier specializing in knits and unstructured dresses in poplin, lace, and linen.
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Rome’s contemporary art scene is booming: four venues not to miss.
Palazzo delle Esposizioni: This 1883 palazzo is once again the jewel in the city’s cultural crown. After a five-year renovation, the more than 100,000-square-foot gallery hosts accessible shows that put challenging works face to face with expository exhibits that span centuries.
MAXXI: If the Palazzo delle Esposizioni is lots of things to a wide audience, the Zaha Hadid–designed National Museum of XXI Century Arts proposes a more resolutely modern agenda: solo shows from first-rate artists such as South African William Kentridge share space with architecture retrospectives celebrating talents such as Carlo Scarpa.
Gagosian Gallery Rome: Housed in a 1921 former bank, Gagosian’s first European outpost outside of London has become a fixture since it opened in 2007. From Cy Twombly to Rachel Feinstein, whose fantastical, multimedia installation marked her Rome debut, the consistent flow of marquee names is no surprise.
Galleria Lorcan O’Neill: In Trastevere sits one of Rome’s most esteemed galleries, run by Lorcan O’Neill, an Irish dealer formerly based in London who brought with him Kiki Smith, Rachel Whiteread, and others of a similarly blue-chip stature. The shows are all top-tier, but the multilingual staff is welcoming to browsers of all knowledge levels.
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Craving fresh mozzarella? Pizza napoletana? Or ravioli? Dig in.
From the team that brought Rome Primo comes Rosti, an über-cool pizzeria-osteria in the edgy Pigneto quarter. There’s an omaggio a Katz’s pastrami panino, six variations on the burger and prodigious grill options for carnivores, and a dozen choices each of the cracker-thin pizze rosse and pizze bianche. $$
A hybrid of L.A.-style organic eatery and caffè-trattoria, Ginger is all bright white tile and high marble-topped tables. Indulge in a signature garden salad—think mozzarella DOP from Campania and mixed organic seeds. $$
Settembrini Café is a local favorite for aperitivi, thanks to barman Pino Mondello’s creative drinks and wine supervisor Luca Boccoli’s wide-ranging choices by the glass. The interior, with its oak-plank floors and cozy tables, invites you to linger during the cold months, and the sidewalk setups are perfect for summer. $$$
Nestled in the Parione quarter, Bar del Fico is a model of success for that elusive balance of tourist-local commingling. The studied casualness of yore has succumbed to a mildly controversial glamming-up. (Why the Bar Tabac sign? This is Rome, not Paris.) Still, the sophisticated cocktails and affordable salumi spreads attract both the Converse and cravatta sets. $$$
At Testaccio’s most recent hit, Flavio al Velavevodetto, bells and whistles are kept to a minimum. Guanciale, cacio, and chicory make lots of appearances, and the chefs get bold with meat (oxtail takes many forms, and there’s a sublime suckling pig). $$$
This alliance between the buzziest names in Rome’s food scene—brothers Pierluigi and Alessandro Roscoli and Cristina Bowerman—recently opened in Prati. The design of Romeo is a bit of a bizarre marriage (a traditional alimentari counter sits under spaceship-like ceiling panels), but the food is unparalleled. The pillowy ravioli with Castelmagno cheese and pumpkin velouté is a standout. $$$
Gone are the days when the centro storico sequestered the city’s finest ice cream. Now a trip to the (near) suburb of Prati is de rigueur for the most adventurous flavors.
At Gelateria dei Gracchi, it’s about seasonal fruits (from persimmon and quince to mandarin orange) and nuts (pistachio, pignoli, roasted chestnut). Fatamorgana takes the prize for most out-there ingredients and combos—chocolate-tobacco; basil-walnut-honey. But the farthest from town is the holy grail; at otherwise ho-hum-looking Al Settimo Gelo, the door plastered with plaudits from top food guides is the tip-off to the selection inside, from vine-inspired Barolo and plum to Persian-inflected rose water and saffron.
Restaurant Pricing Key
$ Less than $25
$$ $25 to $75
$$$ $75 to $150
$$$$ More than $150
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Four romani share their go-to spots in the city.
“Rome has beautiful gardens—we adore the Villa Sciarra and Villa Doria Pamphilj. The best way to explore them is by bike (for rentals, see collaltibici.com); the path from Ponte del Risorgimento to Villa Ada passes by the Villa Borghese gardens. For the perfect torta di ricotta, head to Pasticceria La Deliziosa (39-06/6880-3155). Two must-visit shops: Iosselliani’s iR-01-IOS, in Pigneto, for cutting-edge jewelry, and Altroquando, an excellent cinema bookstore.”
“I was born in Sicily, but Rome has been my home for eleven years. I opened Trattoria, my first restaurant, here in 2005. A place I often go, especially for lunch on Saturday, is Cesaretto (23 Via Pietro Cavalli; no phone; $$); it has fantastic Roman cuisine. If I’m craving sushi, there’s no place like Shinto ($$$), a sleek white and gray restaurant in the centro storico. I’m also a big fan of Il Caminetto (89 Viale Parioli $$$). It opened in 1959 and still draws crowds, thanks to its classic regional dishes. ”
“One of my favorite sites in the city is the ancient Roman frescoed dining room in the Palazzo Massimo museum, near Termini station. The frescoes are stunning and evocative and transport you back in time to that culture. Another, of a very different era, is the Coppedé district, around Piazza Mincio, which has amazing early-1900’s houses with great flourishes, all built by Gino Coppedé. For excellent pizza, cooked in an open oven, don’t miss Ai Marmi, in Trastevere (39-06/580-0919; $$).”
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Three creative ways to see Rome.
With Scooteroma, you can take in the major landmarks from the back of a scooter; choose the “Roamin’ Holiday” trip for a ride on a vintage Vespa.
Explore the city’s sights and sounds on a bicycle tour with Bici & Baci, which includes a cruise of the Via dei Coronari and Piazza Navona, with stops at gelaterie.
Consider a bespoke chauffeured excursion to Rome’s shopping, gastronomic, or cultural highlights with Italy Hotline.
