DK Travel : Rome : The Spanish Steps and Villa Borghese

Here is rome at its most orderly and elegant, carefully laid out under 16th-century papal urban planning schemes. Baroque popes such as Leo X and Sixtus V redeveloped the all but abandoned area around the Corso, the extension of the ancient Via Flaminia from northern Italy, for their rapidly growing city. Romans now call it the Tridente after the trident of streets - Corso, Ripetta and Babuino - diverging from Piazza del Popolo. It’s an area stamped by a love of theatricality: the beautifully symmetrical Piazza del Popolo; long vistas that stretch down arrow-straight roads; the carefully landscaped Pincio gardens and the lush expanse of Villa Borghese; the stage-set backdrop of the Spanish Steps; the oversized and overwrought Trevi Fountain. It’s also Rome’s most stylishly self-conscious district, famous for its boutiques hawking frighteningly expensive high fashion. Artists have long made their home along Via Margutta, as numerous galleries and antiques shops attest, and Rome’s most elegant passeggiata (the traditional early evening see-and-be-seen stroll) unfolds down the length of Via del Corso.

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C.U.C.I.N.A.

The motto of this shop, carrying the best in minimalist kitchenware, is “How a kitchen inspires new appetites”.
Caffè Canova

The right-wing bastion in the long-standing Piazza del Popolo café war, with cheaper espresso , better ice cream and a restaurant upstairs (the Rosati is more stylish, though).
Caffè Rosati

Art Nouveau rival to the right-wing Canova across the piazza, this has long been the haunt of left-wing intellectuals.
Canova’s Studio

The artist’s studio walls are embedded with fragments of statuary.
Casa di Goethe

German author Goethe lived here from 1786 to 1788 (see Wolfgang Goethe), and his letters are on display.
Cravatterie Nazionali

Beautiful ties from Valentino, Gigli, Givenchy, Zenga, Gucci and Les Copains at reasonable (for designer) prices and all in one spot.
Dal Bolognese

This restaurant’s popularity rollercoaster is currently on the upswing, with international celebrities again gracing its tables on Piazza del Popolo for classic Roman cuisine in view of the Ferraris parked out front.
Dott. Cesare Lampronti

Although it resembles an art museum, you can buy the work on show here: still lifes, religious paintings, mythological compositions, scenes of Roman life and Neo-Classical statues, variously dating from the 16th to 19th centuries.
E&R Danon

Mostly 18th- to early 20th-century Oriental carpets and prayer rugs, from Persia and India, Tibet and China.
Edy

Some of the best food and lowest prices in this high-rent neighbourhood. Mix of seafood and Roman dishes. The candlelit tables out front are a nice touch.

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Restaurant price categories

For a three-course meal for one with half a bottle of wine (or equivalent meal), taxes and extra charges.
- under €30
- €30-40
- €40-50
- €50-60
- over €60