By Gary Walther
Good Deal, Unique Destination “The city of visible history,” English novelist George Eliot rightly called Rome. Just walk to Piazza della Minerva, behind the Pantheon, and you’ll see what he meant. There is Rome’s only Gothic church, Santa Maria sopra Minerva, so called because it is built over a Roman temple to Minerva, goddess of wisdom. (“Sopra” means “above” in Italian.) In the square itself is a sculpture of an elephant, created by the great Baroque sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini in 1667, with an obelisk on its back that is far older and was salvaged from the ruins of a nearby temple to Isis. And this is just a nook in this vast city.
The Deal
Rome is eternal but this deal is all present tense: The purchase deadline is March 30. There’s also a bit of calendar calculus to do, as the ticket must be purchased at least 30 days in advance of departure, and the departure window is small—April 18 through the 29. The return window is April 23 through May 11, and the minimum stay is three days.
Sample of Promotional Business Class Fares to Rome on Major Airlines
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The Destination
Sights: Information about the major attractions—among them; the Forum, Colosseum, Piazza Navona, the Spanish Steps—is plentiful
online and in guide books, so here are three gems easily overlooked in this avalanche of material. Doria-Pamphilij Gallery One of the world’s great private collections of 17th-century European masters in an eyepopping palace right in the heart of the city on the via del Corso.
Borghese Gallery Fabulous collection of art assembled by the very worldly Cardinal Scipione Borghese and displayed in his villa on the Pincian Hill. Ticket reservation required. Colonna Gallery Rent the movie Roman Holiday and fastforward to the final scene, which was shot in this astonishing vaulted space packed with paintings and sculptures. It’s part of the vast Palazzo Colonna and is only open on Saturday from 9am to 1pm (closed in August). The entrance is through a tiny door at Piazza SS Apostoli 66.
Shopping: The via Condotti, which begins at the foot of the Spanish steps, is a parade of luxury brands, most of them international. I prefer wandering the warren of streets between via del Corso and the Tiber, where you’ll find local stores and a lot of charming restaurants.
Hotels: The St. Regis Grand Hotel lives up to its name all right, with princely suites and rooms. If it’s all about “location, location, and location,” as Conrad Hilton said, then The Hassler is just about perfect, perched at the top of the Spanish Steps. The hotel has pedigree and suites with fabulous views, although some of the double rooms are tiny (yet expensive). The de Russie, on via Babuino, a top shopping street, is a modern hotel in the grand vein, with an impressive courtyard and garden. Babuino 181 and Portrait Suites are something fairly new to Rome: small hotels in renovated palazzi with clean modern design. Both are near the Spanish Steps.