Galleria Doria Pamphilj
One of Rome's hidden splendours, Galleria Doria Pamphilj harbours some of the extraordinary wealth of the powerful Doria Pamphilj family, a pillar of Rome's papal aristocracy. Think gold, mirrors, red velvet and gilt, and walls smothered in art, including paintings by Correggio, Caravaggio, Titian, Velázquez, Brueghel, Massys, and Dürer. The free audio guide features the cut-glass British tones of Jonathan Doria Pamphilj, the half-British sibling and heir, along with his sister. This modern-day prince brings the palace alive, recalling childhood memories of roller skating along the parquet floor of the 18th-century ballroom - tiny indentations prove the truth of his tale. The rambling palace is still occupied, though the private apartments are closed to the public.

Piazza del Collegio Romano 2
Tel: 06 679 7323.
Website: www.doriapamphilj.it
Admission charge.

Campo de' Fiori
From Monday to Saturday, each day at dawn, stall holders at Rome's best-known and most picturesque fruit and vegetable market set up their wares at Campo de' Fiori. This down-to-earth square is surrounded by tumbledown orange-ochre facades, and is the only major piazza in Rome that is not overlooked by a church. It's a very different proposition to the more grandiose piazzas in other parts of the centro storico (historic centre), and is one of Rome's liveliest nightlife haunts (avoid after big football games). Come sunset, some of the city's liveliest wine bars and trattorie spill their tables out onto the cobbles, as locals and visitors alike flock here to eat and drink beneath the stars.

Campo de' Fiori 
Free admission.

Mercati e Foro di Traiano (Trajan's Forum and Trajan's Markets)
Inaugurated in AD112-113, Trajan's Forum was the last built and most impressive of the Fora. The complex contained a main square, a basilica and two libraries, and was completed by the markets of the same name, a sort of Roman, and remarkably well-preserved, equivalent of a shopping mall. The markets contained about 150 small shops spread over six storeys. The building now houses the impressive new Museum of the Imperial Fora, containing ancient artefacts discovered in the surrounding forums. Trajan's column (which stands 38m/125ft high) is a remarkable example of Roman art, and was probably set between the two libraries on a base containing the burial urns of the Emperor and his wife. Its beautifully carved reliefs tell the tale of Trajan's war campaigns in Dacia (now Romania). On the top of the column stood a statue of the emperor. This was removed by Pope Sixtus V in 1585 and replaced with a statue of St Peter that faced in the direction of the basilica dedicated to the saint that was being built at the time. The Imperial Fora (the forums of Caesar, August, Nerva and Vespasian) can be seen from the Via dei Fori Imperiali for free.

Via IV Novembre 94
Tel: 06 8205 9127.
Website: www.mercatiditraiano.it
Admission charge.

Centrale Montemartini (Montemartini Art Centre)
One of Rome's most intriguing and memorable museums, the Montematini Art Centre, displays 400 pieces of Roman sculpture from the Capitoline collection of ancient sculpture among the gleaming machinery and furnaces of a former electricity power plant. Initially intended as a stop-gap solution during renovations on the Capitoline Museums, its popularity has seen it become an essential part of the Roman museum scene.

Via Ostiense 106
Tel: 06 0608.
Website: www.centralemontemartini.org
Admission charge.

MACRO (Museo d'Arte Contemporanea di Roma)
Rome's municipal museum of modern and contemporary art is located not far from Piazza Fiume north of the city centre in a converted former Peroni brewery. The venue has recently had an extension of 10,000 sq m (107,639 sq ft) designed by French architect Odile Decq, with the courtyard between the brewery buildings topped by a graceful modernist glass pagoda. The venue pulls in big international names as well as young and local artists. Some shows are also displayed at another venue in the former slaughterhouse in Testaccio, MACRO Futura.

Via Reggio Emilia 54
Tel: 06 6710 70400.
Website: www.macro.roma.museum
Admission charge.