Bring sunglasses and light cotton clothes for scorching summer days, dressy attire
for the evenings, and a big cultural appetite for historic sights.
Rome Year
Follow the torch-lit procession led by the Pope from the Colosseum to the Palatine on
Good Friday, then take inspiration and get snap happy at the Photography
Festival from late-April into early-May. Attend open-air cultural performances
during the Estate Romana summer festival from June to August, stay up eating,
drinking and shopping all night in September during Rome's Notte
Bianca, and feast on porchetta (spit-roast pork) in Piazza Navona
at the Christmas Fair in December.
New Year's Day (1 Jan), Epiphany (6 Jan), Easter Monday (Mar/Apr), Liberation Day (25
Apr), May Day (1 May), St Peter and Paul (29 Jun), Assumption Day (15 Aug), All
Saints' Day (1 Nov), Immaculate Conception (8 Dec), Christmas Day (25 Dec),
Boxing Day (26 Dec).
Il gran caldo (‘the great warmth') heats up Rome from the
end of June with temperatures soaring regularly to 40°C by August when the
city empties and many shops and restaurants shut. The chilliest months are January
to March, but even then temperatures rarely drop below 6°C. Autumns are
balmy and springs sunny but occasionally wet.
220V AC, 50 Hz, two pin plugs are standard.
+39 (national code), 06 (Rome).
Euro (€) is the currency.
+ 1 (+2 in summertime).
Rome Tourism website
Classic chic and black dominates wardrobes. Italians will frown upon you if you dress
for the beach while out in the city.
