A Rome day among the ruins

Book a Roma Pass online and enter at 07:30 through the Palatine gate rather than the main Forum gate. You'll have the imperial palaces almost to yourself for an hour before the tour groups arrive.

Walk down into the Forum from the Palatine. The paving stones run from Trajan's Column past the Arch of Titus — stand at the House of the Vestals and listen for the echo off the walls.

Your combined ticket gets you in. Go directly to the upper tier via the western stairs — the view down onto the hypogeum is the photograph you came for. Ninety minutes is enough.

A kosher Roman trattoria. Order the carciofi alla giudia (twice-fried artichokes), the fettuccine alfredo, the agnello alla scottadito. The Ghetto around it has been continuously inhabited for two thousand years.

The 2nd-century temple with the oculus in its dome. Enter, walk to the centre, look up. Raphael is buried in the second alcove on the left. Free, no ticket — just modest dress.

A 12th-century basilica built on a 4th-century church built on a 2nd-century Mithraic temple. Descend through the three layers; the sound of an underground spring still runs in the lowest level. Small entry fee below.

A bronze door with a keyhole that frames St. Peter's at the end of a cypress alley — a fifteen-minute queue in season. The Orange Garden (Giardino degli Aranci) next door is where you walk afterwards for the sunset over Rome.

A Trastevere trattoria with ivy on the façade. Order the cacio e pepe, the saltimbocca, a carafe of house red. The cobbled street outside fills with tables in summer and the noise carries into the evening.