Rome hotels — Expedia and Hotels.com

Spring (April–May) and autumn (October–November) deliver the comfortable weather sweet-spot — warm enough for outdoor dining, cool enough for the Vatican queues. Trastevere and Monti offer better food and atmosphere than the heavily-touristed area immediately around Termini, and both are walkable to the major sites: Monti puts the Colosseum 10 minutes away, Trastevere puts the Vatican 25 minutes via the river path. August is the value trap — pricing is low because much of the city closes for Ferragosto, but heat tops 35°C and many family-run restaurants shut. Roma Pass is worth the €52 for a 72-hour stay (skip-the-line entry plus public transport). The new Metro Line C extension to Piazza Venezia is due 2027 — until then, line A and B remain the workhorses.

Typical nightly rate: £90–£280