Forget the heat and crowds of summer, Rome reveals its cooler, magical side in the winter months, writes Lee Marshall.
I HAVE never understood why so many people visit Rome from late spring to early autumn, when queues, traffic fumes, heat haze and stressed shopkeepers, waiters and museum staff contribute to lower the tone of the Eternal City.
Things improve a little in March, April, October and November but Rome connoisseurs know that winter is the best time of all to capture some of the magic that those on the Grand Tour must have felt when they arrived, from the grey north, in this dazzling historical palimpsest.
In winter, the marble and travertine edges are sharper, the colours are more vivid and the low-flying sun turns Rome into a huge, baroque stage set. There are days in winter when the sky is a Volare shade of blue that I've never seen anywhere else. And days, too, when you find that you have deliriously beautiful sights, such as Raphael's frescoes in the Villa Farnesina, all to yourself.
Perhaps the only period you might want to avoid is the two weeks before Christmas. Italians tend to leave their shopping until late and traffic in the city is often reduced to gridlock. But even this can be a good time to come if you are more interested in culture than couture - and provided you stay somewhere central so that you can beat the traffic by walking everywhere.
Christmas in Rome is a low-key family event, still as much a religious holiday as a commercial circus. One of the nice things about Christmas Day and Boxing Day (known locally as Santo Stefano) is the way the city keeps going: although museums and shops are closed, many bars and restaurants stay open and public transport continues to run.
Younger children will enjoy the Fiera di Natale (Christmas market) in Piazza Navona, for all the tacky plastic toys and sticky sweets on sale at stalls. Nostalgic parents and children with retro tastes will love the Mary Poppins-style merry-go-round.
In the run-up to the festive season, monumental presepi (cribs) appear in churches and in some of Rome's more prominent civic spaces - notably St Peter's Square and the Spanish Steps. And although tiny, the outdoor Tiber-side skating rink set up in the precincts of Castel Sant'Angelo is a hugely atmospheric place to work up a healthy winter appetite.
New Year's Eve in Rome means fireworks - thousands of them, let off with huge glee from windows, balconies, tall trees and car roofs. You don't want to be at street level at midnight - but if you can find a rooftop vantage point, the citywide show is unforgettable.
No beat-the-gun Boxing Day discounts here, however: in Rome, the sales never start before the first Friday in January. The brand-name fashion district is sandwiched between the Spanish Steps and Via del Corso, while more alternative frocks, accessories and craft items can be found in the trendy Monti district north of the Colosseum and along Via del Governo Vecchio, west of Piazza Navona.
Wherever you go, shops are comfortingly small-scale: you end up with enough bags to feature on the cover of a chick-lit novel.
If you're lucky with the weather, it's in January and February that Rome is at its best. Late February, in particular, can be enchanting. One sometimes forgets what a difference that extra hour of daylight makes compared with mid-December; and there are almost always a few days of proper sunshine, when you can picnic in Villa Borghese or head out to Ostia Antica, the imperial port site that is Rome's Pompeii, and realise, back in the hotel, that you have caught the sun.
This is also a good time of year to find accommodation bargains. Even during Carnevale - big in Venice but strictly for the children in Rome - there's no sharp rise in the low-season rate. With flights also priced at annual lows, it's as if there were a conspiracy to get you over to Rome when the city is at its crisp and crystalline best.
What's the weather like?
Don't underestimate the cold: the mean temperature in the three central winter months is 9 degrees; and more rain falls in Rome over the winter than in London. However, it tends to come in the form of downpours or heavy showers rather than drizzle - so there is an average of only eight to 10 wet days a month from December to February. There can be perfect winter days when you can sit outside in a T-shirt at noon but they are the exceptions - and warm clothes and rain gear are still a must.
Where to keep warm
The world's first public museum - the Musei Capitolini (en.museicapitolini.org) in Piazza del Campidoglio - is also one of the world's cosiest. The dinky little rooms along the piazza side of the Palazzo dei Conservatori wing house such masterpieces as La Lupa Capitolina - the Etruscan bronze sculpture of a she-wolf that was adopted as a symbol of Rome.
Another good tip when the mercury plunges is to go underground. There are days when 11 degrees can seem positively warm - and that's the temperature you will find year round in the Catacombs (www.catacombe .roma.it). If a wee dram is called for, head for Salotto 42 (Piazza di Pietra 42; www.salotto42.it), an intimate New York-meets-Rome cocktail bar with comfy chairs and sofas, just off central Via del Corso. There's even a video fireplace to warm your virtual cockles.
Where to eat
So much of Rome's traditional cuisine - with its carbs and offal - seems designed for winter eating. To sample cucina romana, head for staid but reliable La Campana, Vicolo della Campana 18(+39 6 687 5273, ristorante lacampana .com). Tuck into classic dishes such as coda alla vaccinara - oxtail served in oxtail broth.
Warming Roman specialities such as pasta e ceci (a thick soup of chickpea puree, rosemary and short pasta) make the lunch-only trattoria Enoteca Corsi , Via del Gesu 87-88 (+39 6 679 0821, enotecacorsi.com), a good cold-weather standby.
And if the Sistine Chapel has given you an appetite, head for L'isola della Pizza, at Via degli Scipioni 45 (+39 6 3973 3483, www.isoladella pizza.com), in the nearby Prati district, where wood-oven pizzas are supplemented by steaks and cutlets from a huge open grill.
What's on this season
Rome's biggest exhibition this winter is dedicated to a northern painter with a Mediterranean soul. Vincent van Gogh: Timeless Country, Modern City compares the Dutch artist's competing urban and rural natures, and the works that emerged from them, in 70 paintings, with 30 more by artists who inspired or influenced van Gogh, from Millet to Cezanne. The exhibition runs in the cavernous interior of the Complesso del Vittoriano in Piazza Venezia until February 6.
Another northern artist, Lucas Cranach, is the focus of the Galleria Borghese's main winter show. Until February 13. galleriaborghese.it.
But easily the most exclusive winter cultural event in the Eternal City is the one-off opening of Palazzo Farnese (pictured) between December 17 and April 27. mostrapalazzofarnese.it.
Now home to the French embassy, and normally open only to groups booked months in advance, this magnificent Renaissance palazzo, designed in part by Michelangelo, is celebrating its half-millennium with a display of 150 works of art that chart the building's history, from its early years as home to the art-collecting Farnese dynasty to the present day.
Trip notes
Getting there
Qantas flies daily to Rome via Hong Kong or London (qantas.com.au). Emirates flies to Rome via Dubai (emirates.com).
Staying there
Outside the Christmas and New Year's rate rise, don't be afraid to look at places such as the luxuriously ornate Splendide Royal
(+39 6 8544 2500; www.splendideroyal.com) just off Via Veneto, where winter discount rates start at €188 ($261) a night for a double (eat elsewhere, though — the restaurant is expensive).
For true patrician elegance, it's difficult to beat Villa Spalletti Trivelli (doubles from €360), an aristocratic townhouse a mere hop and skip from the Trevi Fountain. Although some of the floors in the 12 rooms and suites are made of marble, there are fireplaces in two of the downstairs lounges and one of the suites, with alpaca or cashmere throws provided for guests' use. The hotel spa also has a stylish little hammam. +39 6 4890 7934, villaspalletti.it
Cheaper but with its own sense of funky antique-modern style, the 23-room Campo de' Fiori (doubles from €135) exudes warmth. It's in the heart of the Centro Storico and the cute roof terrace is a delightful suntrap on warm winter days. Book at the main hotel. +39 6 6880 6865, hotelcampodefiori.com.
More information
en.turismoroma.it.
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