There is an alternative to going to Rome as an out-and-out tourist. You can go as a pilgrim, as Christians have been doing for centuries, and as will fans of Angels and Demons, the film of the book by Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown, much of it set in and around the Vatican.
The Romans themselves may be cynical about the church but they are proprietorial about it, as you can only be if your city has been home to popes right back to St Peter.
So where do you stay? Casa di Santa Brigida is one possibility – if you can
find it. You look in vain on Piazza Farnese, its address – all you see is the church of St Bridget. If you are lucky, some kindly passer-by will direct you round the corner to an anonymous, enormous black door, with no indication whatever that it is a hotel. And the management appear to have gone to bed. At this point, you may be inclined to give up altogether. But phone the hotel and eventually you will be let in.
The reason why this hotel is so retiring is that it is home to a community of semi-enclosed nuns, the Brigettines, followers of a 14th-century Swedish visionary who had eight children and, after the death of her husband, founded a religious community.
The hotel is run by the order's nuns. Their most obvious feature is a little criss-cross pattern on the crown of their veils, which is meant to be a reminder of Christ's wounds but looks like a hot-cross bun. The community has a distinguished record for giving refuge to Rome's Jews in the war.
You are waited on by nuns at breakfast, and there is an austere aspect to the hard-boiled eggs and large rolls.
Down the street is the English College, where English seminarians are trained for the priesthood and which was a medieval hostel for English pilgrims. Around the corner, the Campo de' Fiori is not just Rome's best-known food market but also the place where Giordano Bruno, often considered an early martyr for science, was burnt by the Inquisition in 1600 – to this day people leave floral tributes at his statue.
The obvious destination is the Vatican, the Pope's state within a city. The obliging nuns at my hotel gave me a ticket to a papal audience, which are held most Wednesday mornings, when the Pope gives a blessing to pilgrims assembled in St Peter's Square. (You can book through the prefecture of the papal household.) When it happens in the open air, it is quite a spectacle. For those watching from a distance big screens show what is going on.
As for visiting St Peter's Basilica, go in the afternoon – mornings are packed. On a fine day, looking straight at the piazza, with Bernini's colonnades echoing the idea of the mother opening her arms to her children, it is one of the great sights of Europe.
Where else do you go as a pilgrim? You are spoiled for choice, quite apart from St Peter's and the Sistine Chapel or the great, ancient basilicas of St John Lateran and St Mary Major. One might be Rome's oldest prison, Mamertine, where St Peter and St Paul were incarcerated. It is tiny, unadorned and rather moving.
Not far away, and close to the Forum, there is the sixth-century church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli, built on the site of the temple of Juno Moneta. This has the added attraction of being home to a rather ugly little statue of the infant Jesus, crowned; children write letters to Jesus at this church, which end up around the statue.
It is also close to some of Rome's fine Jewish restaurants; the Jewish artichoke, with its top squashed in hot oil, is the must-eat.
For the best example of how everything in Rome is built on something else, make the trek to San Clemente, a layer cake of a church, with a temple of Mithras in the bottom layer and a notable 12th-century apse.
Another must-see is the one Gothic church in Rome – Baroque dominates this city – Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, which is built on the temple of Minerva and has its own Michaelangelo. It is within walking distance of what is reputedly the best cappuccino in Rome, at the Bar Sant' Eustachio. A little further off is the city's finest ice-cream, at Giolitti.
If you like your shopping with an ecclesiastical aspect, around the corner is Gammarelli, the discreet outfitters where bishops buy their socks – and so can you. Nearby is a little shop selling charming, old-fashioned holy pictures that fit inside prayer books.
Although Rome is easy to get around on foot, it takes nerves of steel to cross the road. You have to hurl yourself in front of the oncoming cars or wait for other people to cross, then tag along. All roads may lead to Rome, but getting to the other side of the one you're on is another story. SMFactfile romeHOW TO GET THERE
n Flights from Scotland to Rome start from £16 from Glasgow with Ryanair (0871 246 0000,
www.ryanair.com).
WHERE TO STAY
n Casa di Santa Brigida, Piazza Farnese (0039 06 68892596).
AND THERE'S MORE
n Santa Maria in Aracoeli, 12 Scala dell' Arca Capitolina.
San Clemente, Via di San Giovanni.
n Scotsman Reader Holidays offer four-day Rome trips from £289pp. Visit
www.holidays.scotsman.com