Roma

A little overdue, last but by no means least our train pulls into Roma Termini. We arrived fairly late in the evening, having spent the day in Florence. The area around Termini is populated with budget hotels, convenience stores and a very large bus/coach station. 

On a Saturday evening, the station acts as the pivotal interchange between the flocks of tourist families from the day and the inevitable influx of made up girls and groups of lads. We felt almost transported back to Manchester Piccadilly. That said, Rome will immediately captivate you - the al fresco diners lining the cobbled streets while cinquecentos zip past. We had just two and a half days. Ok, here we go... 

So the most important thing about Rome is planning. If you don't plan it properly, you will spend all your time in queues. For the Colosseum, there will be an overwhelming number of offers for tours, in all number of languages, all offering the very tempting perk of skipping the line. However, the best way to get the most reasonably priced ticket is to queue at the Forum, which is around the corner from the Colosseum's line, which can last several hours. We queued for about an hour, and the ticket gets you into the Forum, the Palatine and the Colosseum, without having to wait again. Whatever your preconception of these attractions, they are definitely worth it. Leave a whole day for them too. 

With only a few days, it is very much advisable to do some of the main attractions at night - namely the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. It is possible to do a relatively short walk, exploring the narrow streets of restaurants, gift shops and gelatrerias during the evening, when it is much cooler. Not, I must say, less busy, but definitely a nicer temperature and arguably atmosphere. Both the fountain (right) and the steps (below) are nicely lit at night too. 

The final thing that you really have to do is the Vatican Museums. Again, you will be overwhelmed by the number of tours on offer, all claiming to give great discounts. Book tickets online, then you don't have to queue. You don't get a tour, but we wanted to do it at our own pace, so were happy not to pay the premium. Have a look in St Peter's Square first, then head round and pick up tickets at the Vatican Museums. This gets you into the museums (it's massive, don't try and see it all, you will be museumed out. Make sure you see the Raphael rooms though), and the Sistine Chapel. 

The chapel itself is spectacular, if somewhat ruined but the number of people and the relentless announcements asking for 'Silencio' and 'No photo'. The only thing the ticket doesn't get you into, which the tours do, is the Basilica. By that point, we were all Vaticaned out, so headed over the bridge into the city centre again. 

Rome is a relentlessly fascinating city, if you only have a few days in this magical capital, you will need a lot of energy, decent footwear and, well, a plan!