Nobu Hotel Roma

The property brings Nobu's signature blend of Japanese restraint and contemporary hospitality to Rome's Ludovisi neighbourhood, part of Municipio I, the city's historic and administrative heart. Step outside and you're immediately within the fabric of the Eternal City: Via Veneto sweeps past just blocks away, its Belle Époque cafés and embassies still echoing the dolce vita glamour of the 1960s. The Tiber winds through the valley below, its banks lined with umbrella pines and ochre palazzi.

This is a city built on 28 centuries of continuous habitation, where Baroque fountains spill into medieval piazzas, where you can trace the curve of an ancient aqueduct and then turn the corner into a modernist wine bar. The Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, and the Borghese Gardens all lie within walking distance.

Vatican City, an entire sovereign state enclosed within Rome's boundaries, sits three kilometres west. Fiumicino airport is 23 kilometres southwest, connected by the Leonardo Express train and taxi.

The property's restaurant interprets Nobu Matsuhisa's signature style for the Roman palate, though the city's dining landscape extends well beyond the hotel's doors. ACQUOLINA | Nuova Cucina Mediterranea holds two Michelin stars just over a kilometre north near Piazza del Popolo, where creative Mediterranean cooking unfolds in contemporary surroundings. For the ultimate Roman gastronomic experience, La Pergola's three stars shine from its perch 3.8 kilometres northwest, offering Mediterranean cuisine beneath a ceiling that seems to breathe with the city's travertine and terracotta hues. Book either table weeks in advance.

The Ara Pacis museum preserves Augustus's altar of peace from 8 BC beneath Richard Meier's travertine-and-glass pavilion along the Tiber. Campo de' Fiori's market erupts each morning two kilometres south with mounds of romanesco broccoli and bunches of agretti, the vegetable vendors calling out prices in Romanesco dialect. Trajan's Column spirals upward with its marble frieze depicting the Dacian Wars, while the Circus Maximus archaeological site stretches across the valley where 250,000 spectators once watched chariot races. Don't miss the Mercato di Monti, 1.5 kilometres east, where vintage dealers and artisan jewellers set up stalls on weekend mornings.

Rome rewards visitors in spring and autumn, when temperatures hover between 15 and 26 degrees and the city's ochre walls glow in soft, slanting light. May brings wisteria tumbling over garden walls and café tables spilling onto cobblestones. September and October offer warm days and cooler evenings, ideal for long walks through the historic centre without the pressing heat.

Summer stretches from June through August, with highs reaching 31 degrees in July; the city empties as locals flee to the coast, leaving streets quiet but the sun relentless.

Winter is mild by northern European standards, rarely dipping below freezing, though rain arrives frequently from October through March and the city takes on a silvered, contemplative quality.