Rome

1. ~8:00a●Cornetto & cappuccino, standing

   Do it like a Roman — a cornetto and a cappuccino taken al banco, standing at the bar (Sant'Eustachio Il Caffè near the Pantheon pulls the city's most famous espresso). Milky coffee is a before-noon-only rule here.

2. 8:30a◆Colosseum, Forum & Palatine

   Book the first timed slot and start at the Colosseum — the arena-floor or underground add-on gives the gladiator's-eye view. Then the Roman Forum, the political heart of the ancient world, and up the Palatine where the city was founded.

3. ~12:00p◆Capitoline Hill & the museums

   Michelangelo's Piazza del Campidoglio and, if time allows, the Capitoline Museums — the she-wolf, the colossal Constantine fragments, and a terrace view over the Forum.

4. ~1:00p●A Roman pasta in Monti

   In the lanes of Monti, one of the holy trinity: cacio e pepe (just Pecorino Romano and pepper, whipped glossy) or carbonara (guanciale, egg, pecorino, pepper — never cream) at a proper trattoria.

5. ~3:00p◆Pantheon, Trevi & Piazza Navona

   The 2,000-year-old Pantheon with its open oculus, a coin thrown into the Trevi Fountain, and Bernini's fountains in Piazza Navona — a gelato from Giolitti or a grattachecca on the walk between.

6. 8:00p✦La Pergola ★★★Anchor table

   Heinz Beck's rooftop three-star — Rome's only one — with the city and St Peter's dome laid out below. The fagottelli 'carbonara' is the dish. Jacket required; book weeks ahead as the trip's fixed point.

Ancient Rome rewards the early timed ticket — by mid-morning the Colosseum queue is brutal. La Pergola sits up on Monte Mario; budget a taxi each way and keep the evening clear for it.

1. ~8:00a●A maritozzo to start

   The Roman breakfast indulgence — a soft bun split and overstuffed with barely-sweet whipped cream (Roscioli Caffè or Regoli do the benchmark), with an espresso.

2. 9:00a◆Vatican Museums & the Sistine Chapel

   Book the earliest entry (or a before-hours tour) to reach Michelangelo's ceiling before the crush — it hits hardest in the quiet. The Raphael Rooms and the Gallery of Maps line the route.

3. ~12:00p◆St Peter's Basilica & the dome

   Into the basilica for Michelangelo's Pietà and Bernini's bronze baldachin, then climb the cupola for the panorama straight down the Via della Conciliazione.

4. ~1:30p●Pizza al taglio, by weight

   Off the tourist strip into Prati — Bonci's Pizzarium, the city's most famous pizza al taglio, sold by the slab and weighed; point at three or four and eat standing.

5. ~4:00p✦Castel Sant'Angelo & a Tiber crossing

   Cross the angel-lined bridge to Hadrian's drum-shaped mausoleum-turned-fortress and its ramparts, then follow the river south as the light goes gold.

6. ~7:30p●Trastevere after dark

   The cobbled, ivy-hung lanes come alive at night — cacio e pepe or saltimbocca alla romana in a checked-tablecloth trattoria, then a passeggiata and a scoop from Fatamorgana.

The Vatican is the one unmissable early booking — Wednesday mornings draw crowds for the papal audience, so aim another day. St Peter's enforces a dress code: shoulders and knees covered.

1. ~8:30a●A historic Roman caffè

   Espresso and a pastry at one of the centuries-old coffee houses near the Pantheon — the Roman institution of the standing morning coffee, done where they've done it for generations.

2. ~9:30a◆Spanish Steps & the Trevi at their quietest

   The baroque set-pieces before the crowds bank up — the Spanish Steps down to the Barcaccia fountain, and the Trevi for a daylight look.

3. ~10:30a◇Via dei Condotti & artisan Rome

   The luxury parade below the Steps — the flagship maisons — then duck to the artisans: a made-to-measure leather bag or a pair of gloves at a tiny Roman workshop, and Antica Manifattura Cappelli for hats.

4. ~1:00p●Carciofi alla giudia in the Ghetto

   Rome's oldest community and one of its great food pockets — the whole artichoke fried twice until the leaves splay into a crisp golden flower, with carciofi alla romana and fried baccalà at a Portico d'Ottavia institution.

5. ~3:30p→Campo de' Fiori & Tiber Island

   The morning market square (and its food stalls), then across to Tiber Island and toward Trastevere's edge — a grattachecca shaved-ice from the kiosk on the bridge if it's warm.

6. 5:00p◆The Janiculum terrace at golden hour

   Up the Gianicolo for the best rooftop panorama in the city as the light turns amber — every dome and bell tower below, the noon-cannon ritual if you time it.

7. ~8:00p●Trastevere supper

   Supplì to start (fried rice croquettes that pull a wire of mozzarella), then bucatini all'amatriciana, and a maritozzo or tiramisù to close.

This is the flat, central, shop-and-stroll day. Via dei Condotti is for windows and the artisans are the real finds; time the Janiculum for sunset — it's the terrace Romans themselves climb for the view.