Here's your essential guide to getting the best out of a city-break in Rome.

Location nickname: The Eternal City

Don't miss: Colosseum

Best avoid: Termini station at night

Don't miss: Carbonara

Best avoid: Industrial gelato - head somewhere like Grom for the real deal.

Bus Tour:  The value of hop-on-hop-off tourist buses is often debated but there's no doubt they provide a useful means of orientation for first time visitors.  Several companies operate very similar circular routes (check online for specifics) with regular open-top departures from Termini railway station.  Tickets cost from around €20 and are valid for 24 or 48 hours.

Colosseum: Completed in 80AD, Rome's immense amphitheatre held over 50,000.  What put bums on seats was blood.  Gladiatorial combat, starved wild animals set against each other and against people, battle re-enactments and executions all featured on a varied bill.  Russell Crow wannabes should avoid queues and buy combined Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill tickets at the latter's quieter entrance.

Galleria Borghese: 16th century Cardinal Scipione Borghese seems to have collected Caravaggios and works of pioneering Baroque sculpture Gian Lorenzo Bernini the way most of us do Nectar points.  Being the Pope's nephew may have helped.  Today Villa Borghese's 20 rooms exhibit art often originally designed for the very space it still occupies.

Get a taste for the city:  Rome's best flavours can sometimes be hidden by soggy pizza restaurants catering to tourist masses.  Fresh ingredients and uncomplicated combinations lie at the heart of the city's cuisine, and an expertly guided food tour is a sure-fire way to ensure that when in Rome you eat like a Roman.

Gianicolo Hill:  Above Trastevere, Gianicolo may not be one of Rome's legendary 'seven hills' but it's a rewarding ascent offering panoramic views over the city's cupolas, bell towers and triumphal arches.  Near the top a statue of Giuseppe Garibaldi, one of the 'Fathers of Italy', records a battle fought on the hill in 1849 against attacking French troops.

Musei Capitoline:  A cluster of uncrowded Medieval and Renaissance palaces atop Capitoline Hill, the museums are home to artistic and archaeological pieces from across the ancient world.  The Palazzo dei Conservatori houses the Capitoline Wolf, a bronze sculpture now synonymous with Rome, depicting Romulus and Remus, the city's mythic founders, being suckled by a wolf.

Piazza Navona:  The 15th century Fontana dei Quattro Fuimi by Gian Lorenzo Bernini lies at the heart of a square that is in fact an oval, a reminder of its Ancient Roman origins as the Circus Agonalis.  In front of the fountain rival artist and architect Francesco Borromini left his mark in the magnificent Baroque Church of Sant'Agnese in Agone.

St Peter's Basilica:  Designed in part by Michelangelo, and regarded as a superlative example of late Renaissance architecture, construction began in 1506 and took 120-years.  The building is the world's largest church, covering almost six acres of Vatican City, its instantly recognisable dome dominating St Peter's Square.

Trastevere:  West of the Tiber, these narrow cobbled streets have long welcomed communities from outside the city, whilst maintaining an authentic Roman feel. Near Piazza Santa Maria the washing lines of 'hard working families' fly defiantly in the face of creeping gentrification.  Elsewhere, funky shops and cafes complement night time clubs in an engaging, if chaotic mix.

Via Veneto:  Featuring large in Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita, life has to be very sweet indeed to afford the prices charged by the many high-end hotels, trendy bars and chic boutiques strewn fashionably along Via Veneto. From the gardens of Villa Borghese take several deep breaths, then walk on down, keeping your wallet under control.

This article has been produced in association with www.talkholiday.com