Visitor Information

For information before you go, contact the Italian Government Tourist Board.

In the United States: 630 Fifth Ave., Suite 1565, New York, NY 10111 (tel. 212/245-4822; fax 212/586-9249); 500 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 2240, Chicago, IL 60611 (tel. 312/644-0996; fax 312/644-3019); and 12400 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 550, Los Angeles, CA 90025 (tel. 310/820-1898; fax 310/820-6357).

In Canada: 175 Bloor St. E., South Tower, Suite 907, Toronto, ON, M4W 3R8 (tel. 416/925-4882; fax 416/925-4799).

In the United Kingdom: 1 Princes St., London W1B 2AY (tel. 020/7408-1254).

On the Web, the Italian National Tourist Board sponsors the sites www.italiantourism.com and www.enit.it.

For information on the Vatican, check out www.vatican.va.

In Italy (www.initaly.com) not only contains solid information on Italy and Rome presented in a very personal and friendly way, but it also has one of the best sets of links to other Italy-related sites on the Web.

Another good site, www.enjoyrome.com, contains information about walking tours, accommodations, restaurants, side trips from Rome, useful links, and maps. Other helpful sites are www.romaturismo.com and www.romeguide.it.

Information is available at two locations maintained by the Azienda di Promozione Turistica di Roma (APT): a kiosk at Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (tel. 06-65954471), and a kiosk and administrative headquarters at Via Parigi 5 (tel. 06-488991). The headquarters are open Monday to Saturday from 9am to 7pm. The office at the airport is open daily 8:15am to 7pm.

More helpful, and stocking maps and brochures, are the offices maintained by the Comune di Roma at various sites around the city, with red-and-orange or yellow-and-black signs saying COMUNE DI ROMA -- PUNTI DI INFORMAZIONE TURISTICA. The Comune di Roma has a call center for tourist information (tel. 06-36004399). They're staffed daily from 9am to 6pm, except the one at Termini (daily 8am-9pm). Here are the addresses and phone numbers: in Stazione Termini (no phone); on Piazza Cinque Lune near Piazza Navona (tel. 06-68809240); at Via Minghetti Marco near the Quirinale (tel. 06-6782988); on Piazza Sonnino in Trastevere (tel. 06-58333457); at Via Marsala, outside Termini (tel. 06-4740031); at Via del Tempio della Pace, near the Colosseum (tel. 06-69924307), and at Piazza del Campidoglio (tel. 06-6798921).

Enjoy Rome, Via Marghera 8A, near the train station (tel. 06-4451843; www.enjoyrome.com), was begun by an English-speaking couple, Fulvia and Pierluigi. They dispense information about almost everything in Rome and are far more pleasant and organized than the Board of Tourism. They'll also help you find a hotel room, with no service charge (in anything from a hostel to a three-star hotel). Summer hours are Monday to Friday 8:30am to 7pm, and Saturday 8:30am to 2pm; winter hours are Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm, and Saturday 9am to 2pm.

Maps -- Most local tourist offices will provide fairly detailed maps of their city or town plans. These are particularly helpful in that all of the major sightseeing attractions are usually marked. Since most of these attractions are in the historic core of a town or city, the highlights can usually be covered on foot, except in such spread out cities as Rome where you'll need to rely on public transportation to get around.

Frommers.com provides some detailed maps, and the Automobile Club d'Italia issues a free map, available at State Tourist offices, if you're planning a motor tour of Italy.

For general touring, you can also check out the following websites:

• www.marquest.com
• www.maporama.com
• www.michelin.com