Rome at night is “simply a lovely place to stroll,” said Ian Fisher in The New York Times. The best time and place to begin exploring the city is at sunset on the Capitoline Hill, where Rome itself began. In one dramatic sweep, so much of the city’s history is visible, from ancient temples to Renaissance churches to modern monuments. The Colosseum lies to the south, and a heroic statue of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius dominates the nearby Piazza del Campidoglio, designed by Michelangelo. Its three palaces are among the Renaissance’s greatest buildings.
Most every evening, the “Eternal City” teems with activity, like an “immense theater.” From the Piazza del Popolo—where locals shop and teenagers work hard to look cool—pedestrians cruise into the Piazza di Spagna, whose famous Spanish Steps were admired by Byron, Shelley, and
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