PRESENT PERFECT

Sated with swirly Baroque and classical splendour? Best tonic is the Ara Pacis Museum (Via Ripetta, Lungotevere, in Augusta; 00 39 068 205 9127, www.arapacis.it; £5.50). To squeals of outrage from conservative Romans – ‘It’s a shopping mall! It’s a petrol station!’ – celebrated American architect Richard Meier maxed out on minimalism when he built this glass-and-travertine cube, sassily perched on the banks of the Tiber. Inside is a surprise: a first-century BC altar, carved with scenes of Emperor Augustus’s family life. It’s the ancient Roman equivalent of a home movie.

You want to bop ’til you drop. Your significant other wants to discover their inner Damien Hirst. So trip out to the Testaccio district. It once sheltered the inner-city port, now it trumpets some of the city’s sexiest nightclubs. It’s also home to Macro Future (Piazza Orazio Giustiniani 4; 00 39 065 742647, www.macro.roma.museum; 80p), a new contemporary-art museum in

an old slaughterhouse open until the witching hour. Take a turn around the installations and videos that bedeck the iron girders left over from gorier days. Then party in current club favourite Akab (Via di Monte Testaccio 69; 00 39 065 725 0585, www.akabcave.com).

The Sunday Times Travel Magazine - December

The Luxe guide to Rome

Exclusive: plan your trip with the newest, sexiest guide to the city

When in the real Rome...

Stanley Stewart picks 20 ingredients for a more authentic weekend in the Eternal City

• The Roman sin city

• Be happy at Pompeii's ruins

BACKGROUND

• To Rome by rail

• Where to eat in Rome

• Welcome to Rome, open city...

• Rome's heart of darkness

• Campania: the Roman sin city

Rome: the complete guide

The Eternal City brims with classic attractions – but it’s found a perfect present tense too

• The Luxe guide to Rome

Related Links

• The Luxe guide to Rome

OK, it’s a two-bus hike into Rome’s periphery, but unless you consider Le Corbusier the anti-Christ, you’ll be stunned by the spectacular, sail-like curves of the arctic-white Jubilee Church (Via Francesco Tovaglieri; 00 39 062 315833, www.diopadremisericordioso.it). Another Richard Meier creation, it owes its dazzle factor to a strange-but-true combination of self-cleaning cement (some scary science involving photocatalyst particles, apparently) and glazed skylights.

Come summertime, Rome flocks en masse to Renzo Piano’s new concert hall, Auditorium Parco della Musica (Viale Pietro de Coubertin 30; 00 39 068 024 1281, www.auditorium.com). Behind its broad appeal lies a hugely varied musical menu – from Mozart to Mick Jagger – and soaring acoustics. Hot tickets for summer 2008 include Björk.

EYE SPY: Look through the keyhole of the priory of the Knights of Malta (Villa del Priorata di Malta 3), and you will see an optical wonder: the dome of St Peter’s framed by a tree-lined avenue. DRINK UP: Hardworking Romans relax at lunchtime over a Crodino – a Campari-like non-alcoholic bitter. DIVINE DRAINS: Rome is home to one of the world’s first sewage systems, the Cloaca Maxima, which was protected by its very own goddess, Cloacina. £15 BUYS: A three-day Roma Pass (www.romapass.it), which covers public transport, and entrance to two sights, plus reduced-price tickets for all other sights and galleries as well as a map and vocab guide. Trust us, it’s worth it. NOSE ABOUT THE FOUNTAINS: Rome’s little stand-alone fountains go by the affectionate nickname of Nasone (Big Nose) because of their hooter-like spouts.

WHERE TO STAY

NO EXPENSE SPARED

Hotel de Russie, Via del Babuino 9 (0800 988 4040, www.roccofortecollection.com). A pale, citrus palette, abstract artworks and forests of fresh flowers transform this 19th-century palace into a Zen-calm haven. Take a steam bath and sauna in the azure-tiled spa, then join Rome’s great and glamorous as they gather for cocktails in the terraced garden. Doubles from £335, B&B.

St George, Via Giulia 62 (00 39 066 86611, www.stgeorgehotel.it).

Lined with antiques shops and ivy-robed houses, Via Giulia is a picturesque location for this new five-star. There’s a ‘cosy minimalist’ look. But it has lingered because regulars love it so much. Ditto the spa with its little indoor pool. From £300, B&B.

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