No other city comes close. It may no longer be caput mundi (capital of the world), but Rome is an epic, bubbling-over metropolis harbouring lost empires. One visit and you’ll be hooked.

Rome has a glorious monumentality that it wears without reverence. Its architectural heirlooms are buzzed around by car and Vespa as if they were no more than traffic islands. The city bombards you with images: Valentino, Bulgari, Dolce & Gabbana: elderly ladies with dyed hair the colour of autumn leaves; priests with cigars; traffic jams beneath Roman aqueducts; plateloads of pasta in shining cafés; sinuous trees beside rust-golden buildings; barrages of pastel-coloured scooters revving up at traffic lights as if preparing for a race.