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Rome’s most central disco has remained popular for years, with a pizzeria in the evening and dance music cranking up at midnight. High cover charge on weekends, but always an A-list crowd.

This 19th-century landmark café is widely regarded as serving Rome’s best ice cream.

Formerly the villa of a countess, the atmosphere is still decidedly aristocratic. Chandeliers, antiques, paintings, Oriental carpets and a grand piano typify the public rooms. Mirror-lined hallways lead to elegant bedrooms with marble baths.

These tiny potato-and-flour dumplings, dense and chewy, originated in northern Italy, but Rome has since adopted them as her own – the city even has a traditional “gnocchi day” every Thursday, when they are added to most restaurant menus. Gnocchi are best served with a fresh tomato sauce, although they’re also good with a gorgonzola cheese sauce or simply with sage leaves and melted butter.

The prolific American writer (b.1925) has been a resident of Rome and Ravello, south of Naples, for decades. His Roman experiences have informed such books as The Judgment of Paris ,Julian and his memoir Palimpsest .

Still the top café on the famous Via Veneto, but long past its prime as the heartbeat (along with rival Café de Paris across the road) of Rome’s 1950s heyday – when celebrities in sunglasses hobnobbed with starlets draped over the outdoor tables. The lifestyle was documented in (and in part created by) Fellini’s seminal film La Dolce Vita (see La Dolce Vita), whose shutterbug character Paparazzo lent a name to his profession of bloodhound photographers (see Gran Caffè Doney).

One of the best spots in the world to sit under the magnolias, sip cappuccino and watch passers-by - although they’re mostly tourists now not the celebrities of old (see Cafés and Gelaterie).

Located in an elegant curve of the street, with outdoor tables at the bottom of a broad staircase. A great spot to linger over your cappuccino and newspaper.