Worth getting out of bed for...

Viewpoint

Piazza del Campidoglio by night, for panoramas over the Forum and the Palatine, or the top of the Spanish Steps, for a view over the Centro Storico to St Peter’s – one Shelley and Keats doubtless swooned over.

Arts and culture

Wherever you wander, Rome’s importance to Western civilisation is inscribed in stone: the Colosseum, the Forum, St Peter’s, the Sistine Chapel, and the Pantheon are all worth eyeballing. Visiting the Vatican? Plan carefully: queues can be horrific and it will eat up your whole day. Galleria Doria Pamphilj (www.doriapamphilj.it) is a palazzo groaning with C15th–C18th treasures; Villa Borghese boasts spectacular grounds and a magnificent art collection (www.galleriaborghese.it); and Rome’s cake-layers of history are visible near the Colosseum at Basilica di San Clemente.

Something for nothing

An audience with the Pope is free (www.vatican.va). Or test the world’s oldest lie detector in the portico of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, where you can play at being Hepburn and Peck in Roman Holiday. No fibbing, though: if you lie while your hand is in the carved-marble Bocca della Verità (‘mouth of truth’), it will be bitten off.

Shopping

Via Condotti, starting at the foot of the Spanish Steps, is Rome’s most prominent shopping street; Via Frattina runs parallel, along the same lines. Via del Corso focuses on younger styles. If you prefer edgy and unusual, poke about near Piazza del Popolo; Via Sistina is good for small, stylish outlets. On Via Nazionale, you’ll find leather stores and a handful of boutiques. The open-air Porta Portese fleamarket in Trastevere is the largest in Europe, held every Sunday from 5am until around 2pm. But for vintage furniture and rummaging pleasure, you can't beat the Underground, a four-storey emporium of vintage trinkets and collectibles at 96 via Crispi, between Piazza del Popolo, Via Sistina and Via Veneto. Second Saturday and Sunday of the month: Saturday, 3pm to 8pm; Sunday, 10:30am to 7:30pm; closed in the summer.

Daytripper

Bypass the beaches and join the locals as they head for the cool waters of Lake Bracciano (www.lakebracciano.com), a picturesque reservoir about half an hour’s drive outside Rome. The catacombs along the Via Appia Antica are the ancient communal burial ground of the city, covering several kilometres of tunnels carved out of the soft rock. The catacombs of San Callisto are the most famous and it's possible to take a guided tour.

Perfect picnic

With so many amazing trattorie to try out, picnicking won’t be top of your to-do list; that said, if portable snacks are your thing, there are few pleasures as great as licking a hazlenut gelato while you stroll the sunny side of the streets. Try Giolitti at 40 via Uffici del Vicario (+39 06 699 1423; www.giolitti.it ); or Il Gelato di San Crispino – near the Trevi fountain at 42 via della Panetteria (+39 06 679 3924), or behind the Pantheon (+39 06 9760 1190; www.ilgelatodisancrispino.com).

Walks

A stroll at sunset in the lush Pincio Gardens, above Piazza del Popolo, is a pleasantly romantic way to wind down (and cool down) after a sunny day's sightseeing.

Children

Turn sibling rivalry into edutainment at the Roman Gladiator School, where a two-hour session will transform you and your mini-kin into fierce warriors (www.viator.com). After all the fancy art, crumbling buildings and not touching, let them get interactive at the Explora Children’s Museum (+39 06 361 3776; www.mdbr.it) – there's even a fire engine. Make an afternoon of your visit to the Villa Borghese gardens, a public park with an array of child-friendly charms, from a zoo (www.bioparco.it) to puppets.

Activities

Attend a wine-tasting class at the prestigious International Wine Academy (+39 06 699 0878; www.wineacademyroma.com), adjacent to one of our favourite Smith hotels, Il Palazetto. just off Piazza di Spagna. Row, row, row your boat gently across the lake at Villa Borghese (www.galleriaborghese.it). Saddle up and ride the catacomb-lined Appian Way with private guiding company Nerone (www.nerone.cc). There’s an air of the Colosseum about Stadio Olimpico, home to Rome’s two soccer teams: AS Roma and Lazio.

And

The Pantheon is the most perfectly preserved ancient building in the city. The enormous columns in the entrance were transported all the way from Egypt, and the dramatic interior is richly decorated in marbles beneath the massive masonry ceiling.