The city of Rome is over 2,700 years old. Although nowadays it's a very busy modern city, it's still steeped in history and exudes charm. It has become one of the most popular cities in the world.

There's an enormous amount of spectacular ancient Roman monuments to be seen here You'll be completely spoilt for choice. The most important (and impressive) ones are: The Vatican City, The Forum, the Collosseum and the ruins of the Circus Maximus - where the gladiators would fight against each other to their deaths, often up to 375,000 spectators would attend this barbaric sporting event.

Apart form the many Roman museums, there are plenty of Roman art galleries displaying world famous paintings and sculptures from such Italian greats as: Raphael, Bottecelli, Pinturicchio and Belini, to name but a few.

The Vatican City is home to none other than the Pope. It's where you'll find some of the most spectacular buildings and churches in the country; it's truly stunning. The Vatican City is the smallest independent sovereign state in the world. Its most famous tourist attraction is, of course the world famous Sistine Chapel, with its massive ceiling that was painted by Michelangelo back in 1508. The ceiling depicts the story of creation and took the artist over three years to complete. Apparently they didn't pay him very much for it too.

If you go to the Vatican, you'll have to visit St Peter's Basilica, the Vatican Library and the beautiful Vatican Gardens. St Peter's can hold up to 60,000 people, the library has more than one million books and manuscripts and the stunning gardens were first landscaped over 1,000 years ago. Now they are meticulously maintained by a team of up to thirty full time gardeners.

There's so much to do and see here you won't know where to begin. Your first stop should be the tourist office, there are several offices right in the in the city centre. They can provide you with up to date information on Rome tourist attractions, museums, events, Rome festivals, Rome travel, Rome sightseeing and general Rome tourism.

Nowadays, Rome is a modern, vibrant and youthful city, full of busting markets and busy shopping areas. The legacy of Rome's ancient past still remains; it can be seen on almost every city street. A great deal of life takes place outdoors. You'll see the Romans relaxing in the many city squares, surrounded by majestic fountains that have been working for hundreds of years.

In the year 2000, the city of Rome spent a fortune cleaning up its many churches and monuments making their architecture more attractive than ever before. The city never looked better and has never been more popular.