Rome does not need to be discovered. She simply needs to be felt. I have been coming here for decades and every visit reveals a new layer, a new shopkeeper who becomes a friend, a courtyard I somehow missed, a church that stops you in your tracks. This is not a conventional guide. It is my Rome, gathered slowly and worn like a well-loved coat. Walk without a fixed agenda. Let the city ambush you. But do keep these addresses close.
MODARI
There is something deeply comforting about a shop that has refused to modernise. Tucked into one of Rome’s most charming streets, Via di Campo Marzio, it is the address for accessories with genuine character, the kind that were made to last a lifetime and then be handed on. Old-fashioned in the best possible sense.
If you love jewellery with a past, Gonne al Vento is a treasure. Their collection of fashion jewellery from the 1970s is rich, bold and entirely wearable. These are pieces with presence, the kind that make an outfit rather than merely completing it. The seventies knew how to make jewellery feel important without taking itself too seriously.
Rome has a wonderful concentration of vintage stores and Cavalli e Nastri is among the finest, with their Rome location at Via del Boschetto, 140. The curation is thoughtful and the pieces span decades of Italian style. It is worth an afternoon to simply browse, try things on and surrender to the pleasure of the hunt. Rome rewards those who give it time.
ALO SPORTSWEAR
After a weekend in Rome, after the churches and the markets and the long dinners, you will want to move. ALO is the place to acquire what you need. Beautifully considered sportswear that makes the idea of a morning routine feel genuinely appealing. A Roman weekend has a way of reminding you that the body deserves attention too.
PICCIONI FABIO
There are jewellery shops and then there is Piccioni Fabio on Via del Boschetto. The antique pieces here are unlike anything you will find elsewhere in the city. Each one has a story and the owner knows it. This is not retail. It is a kind of connoisseurship, and you leave feeling richer for the experience regardless of what you purchase. Unique is a word used far too freely.
I found the most unexpected ring here, set with turquoise from Arizona. The combination of Italian craft and an American stone felt entirely right, a quietly global sensibility expressed in something you could wear every single day. This is the kind of discovery that makes you love a city all over again. I still think about that ring. That is the mark of a truly great find.
Valentino is of Rome. Born here, shaped here, and the Piazza di Spagna boutique carries that heritage in a way no other location in the world can replicate. It is the only boutique that holds genuine Haute Couture pieces in store. To visit is to understand the house not as a brand but as a living expression of the city. Rome gave Valentino his eye for red.
Named for its address at Piazza Mignanelli, 23, just steps from Piazza di Spagna, PM23 is the cultural space of the Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti Foundation, where Roman style is presented at its most considered. The proximity to the Valentino world is not coincidental. There is a shared understanding of elegance here that feels entirely of this city. The square outside and the space inside are in perfect conversation with each other.
MARTIN ALAIN GEORGES
Via del Pellegrino is one of those Roman streets that rewards wandering, and Martin Alain Georges at number 171 is its finest reward. The interior accessories here defy easy categorisation, which is precisely why they are worth seeking out. Objects that make you look twice and then immediately rearrange your entire home in your imagination. I always budget for something unexpected here.
A young Roman designer with a clear and confident vision. Botteghe Oscure represents exactly the kind of quiet creative ambition that Rome nurtures without fanfare. Worth visiting not only for what you might bring home but for the understanding it gives you of where Roman design is heading. Every great fashion city has its emerging voices. This is one of Rome’s.
GALLERIA NAZIONALE D’ARTE MODERNA E CONTEMPORANEA
Rome’s modern art museum at Viale delle Belle Arti, 131 is far less visited than it deserves to be, which means you can move through it with the kind of unhurried attention great art requires. The Cy Twombly room alone justifies the visit. Standing in front of his work in a Roman institution feels exactly right. Twombly lived here and the city is in his canvases if you know how to look. Cy Twombly chose Rome for a reason.
An essential address for anyone who takes photography seriously, whether as a practitioner or simply as a lover of the form. The exhibitions are consistently excellent. Currently showing Irving Penn, which is reason enough to visit immediately. Penn’s precision and elegance feel entirely at home in the Eternal City.
BASILICA DI SANTA MARIA IN ARACOELI
There are 124 steps leading up to the Aracoeli and most visitors decide against them. This is a gift to those who do not. Arrive early in the morning, before the city has fully woken, and you will have one of Rome’s most ancient and beautiful churches almost entirely to yourself. The light at that hour is extraordinary. The silence is a form of prayer even if you are not religious. The steps are the price of admission.
FONTANA DI TREVI
If you have only one hour of sightseeing, go here. But do not go at noon with every other visitor in the city. Arrive at dawn, when the square is quiet and the fountain is lit by the early light, and the water sounds the way it was always meant to sound. In that moment Rome gives you everything it has. Throw your coin. Come back. I have been to the Trevi more times than I can count and it has never once failed me. Go early. Always go early.
MARITOZZO
Before you do anything else in the morning, find a maritozzo. This soft, cream-filled Roman pastry is eaten at breakfast and at no other time, in Rome and nowhere else in the world. It is not delicate or refined. It is deeply, unapologetically delicious. Every bar has its own version. Your task is to find your favourite. You cannot understand Rome without eating one of these. It is not negotiable.
GIGI RIGOLATTO AT THE ORIENT EXPRESS LA MINERVA
Rome from above, at dusk, with a glass in hand. The rooftop terrace at the Orient Express La Minerva offers what may be the finest evening view in the city. The Pantheon is so close you feel you could touch it. Gigi Rigolatto makes the most of this position with a menu and an atmosphere that understand exactly where they are. Book well in advance. Arrive before sunset. There are views and then there is this view. Order something cold, sit down, and let Rome happen to you.
Rome will try to overwhelm you with its greatness. Let it. The city has been doing this for two thousand years and it has earned the right. Resist the temptation to see everything. Choose a few things and see them properly. Eat where the Italians eat. Walk when you are lost. Drink your espresso standing at the bar. And come back soon. Rome always has more to show you.