. © Tonetti Francesco

Viva Roma! Italy’s capital is called the Eternal City, not only because its mesmerizing millennia-stretching past is still evident today at iconic landmarks such as the Colosseum, Forum, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain and Vatican, but also because Rome continues to pulsate with ever-evolving contemporary culture, cuisine, creativity and charisma. This much-buzzed-about vacation destination is anticipated to draw 35 million tourists in 2025—up from 22.2 million in 2024, according to Italy’s National Tourist Research Institute—driven by a major religious event, molto popolare music concerts and sports competitions. Its allure is lauded in Roma Eterna (Eternal Rome), a swanky and sizable (10-by-13-inch, 320-page, five-pound) coffee-table book, brand-new this month from luxury publisher Assouline. For armchair travelers, for those actively planning their first Roman holiday and for experienced globetrotters who have previously swooned under the municipality’s spell, Roma Eterna delivers inspiration. “Rome is a deeply sensual place,” says its author James Horncastle. “It is hard not to succumb to…overwhelming beauty.”

. © 2025 Assouline Publishing

Horncastle—an English writer and broadcaster with vast knowledge of Italy, who has been honored with the rank of Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy—weaves engaging words. As a correspondent for The New York Times, he covers European football, too. Thus, Horncastle brings a capacious sensibility to focusing the essence of Roma Eterna, steering readers to the commune’s coveted charms, must-see sights and off-the-beaten-path escapes, both ancient and modern. “To live in Rome is to constantly travel from one dimension to another,” explains Horncastle, who reveres Rome as “magical, a place of wonder.”

Supermodel and actress Claudia Schiffer at the foot of a reclining Roman statue, touching its marble toes. © Arthur Elgort/Condé Nast/Getty Images

Rome: Where Culture Daily Embraces You

Roma Eterna is not a listicle guidebook. It is a sumptuous, eye-opening dive into Rome’s distinctiveness with more than 200 evocative photographs and illustrations on heavy-stock paper. I sometimes fantasize about “stepping” inside travel books, particularly those with extraordinary visuals. If you are like me, you are encouraged to daydream within Roma Eterna’s purview. Featured are family-run restaurants (such as Osteria da Secondo), chic hotels (such as five-star Hotel Hassler Roma), prime people-watching venues (such as Ciampini Roma in Piazza di San Lorenzo), panoramic perches (such as Piazzale Giuseppe Garibaldi, a peaceful retreat), breathtaking sunset-and-nightcap rendezvous (such as terraced 47 Circus Roof Garden) and gathering oases for artists, writers and celebrities (such as Antico Caffè della Pace near Piazza Navona). Imagine renting a snazzy convertible or cherry-red Vespa to zip among Rome’s notable neighborhoods and up to its hills beyond the city. To stop for a morning biscotti and cappuccino: a shot of high-quality espresso, topped by velvety froth of steamed whole milk, perhaps dusted with chocolate powder. To sightsee impressive architecture, palazzos, monuments, obelisks and fountains. To admire chiseled marble galore. To fuel a wanderer’s quest, assured that here, there, almost everywhere in Rome—on streets, piazzali, promenades; in parks, gardens, museums, galleries—statues, paintings, etchings and frescoes are encountered. Daily life intermingling amid artistry and masterpieces.

View of Saint Peter’s Basilica from the Knights of Malta secret garden. © Susan Wright

Cesare Cunaccia, Assouline’s resident Italy expert, recommends his favorite haunts in the book’s foreword. “Rome stuns and invades you,” he opines. “Just look up or peek through the telescope of a dark portico or inside a portal…[to see] carousels of domes, towers, attics and bell towers.” Among Cunaccia’s stellar suggestions to savor: an aperitif at Salotto42 set in Piazza di Pietra between the Pantheon and Via del Corso; lunch at Nino in Via Borgognona, steps from Piazza di Spagna, an in-the-know spot since 1934, where “you can see everyone, really everyone”; and late dinner at Ristorante Camponeschi in Piazza Farnese.

Actress Anita Ekberg dances in Rome’s Trevi Fountain for La Dolce Vita, an award-winning classic film directed by Federico Fellini. © Pierluigi/Riama-Pathe/Kobal/Shutterstock

Horncastle zooms his lens on Italian directors (such as Federico Fellini and Roberto Rossellini), writing frankly about the 1937 origin and development of Rome’s significant filmmaking biz. Its Cinecittà Studios—the largest movie studio in Europe; nicknamed “Hollywood on the Tiber”—has been involved with more than 3,000 productions, boasting 47 Academy Award winners. Tours are available. American cinephiles will delight in his references to yesteryear mega-actors who headlined shows filmed in Italy: Audrey Hepburn, Ava Gardner, Cary Grant, Elizabeth Taylor, Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly and Gregory Peck.

The ornate interior of Saint Peter’s Basilica. © ArtHouse Studio:Pexels

Vatican City celebrates its Jubilee 2025 (Holy Year) now through January 6, 2026. With enthusiasm for the new Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost in the U.S.A., Roman Catholics worldwide as well as travelers interested in religion and art will find expanded access to Vatican City. Horncastle shares insider accounts about church goings-on in recent history alongside photos of the Sistine Chapel (located in the Apostolic Palace, the Pope’s official residence), Saint Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museum.

While Milan often is the magnet for Italy’s fashion glory, Rome is a strong sartorial champion on its own. Horncastle unfolds lively background info about preeminent fashion houses (such as Fendi) and designers (such as Valentino). Even if you are not a clothing aficionado, his narrative offers insight into this impactful industry.

Rome: Where Eating and Drinking Equals Happiness

The Pantheon and Piazza della Rotonda. © Susan Wright

To understand Rome, it is best to feel it. Food is a key emotional connection. “To queue outside Regoli Pasticceria in Via dello Statuto and order a maritozzo, a bun with a gaping smile full of cream, is to feel Roman,” muses Horncastle, who praises “a slice of ricotta and visciole (sour cherry) cake from Boccione. The champagne ice cream at Giolitti, where parliamentarians take breaks.” Then comes the savory. “Rome is a slice of oily pizza bianca from Forno Campo de’ Fiori…. It is pizza with potato and rosemary at Ai Marmi on Viale di Trastevere, where the pizzaioli work on marble slabs,” he says. “It is pulling open a suppli al telefono, a fried-rice ball filled with mozzarella, tomato and ragù, which gets its name from the cheese stringing out like the cord of a telephone. It is biting into a battered zucchini flower, which blossoms with ricotta and anchovy…. It is watching the old-timers play Roman card games like Scopa outside Bar San Calisto and ordering an aperitivo at the bar.”

Rome has graced my horizon on a handful of visits over decades, sparking ample romance, dining extravaganzas and artistic exploration. A cherished personal memory of the exuberant Roman spirit, epitomized in Roma Eterna, crystalized for me many years ago, when my family and I dined at an outdoor restaurant on Rome’s famous Piazza Navona. It was a very hot August afternoon. My young daughter peered at the cool bubbling of a nearby fountain and dashed toward its splashes, quickly dunking her long hair for a few seconds. Water streamed down her grinning face and dress. Observing her from their lunch table, several businessmen, dapperly attired in Armani and the like, stood up and cheered her, applauding and laughing: “Brava! Brava!” I don’t know the present-day rules regarding tourists’ interactions with fountains, but in that lovely and unexpected moment, my heart swelled with a forever kind of travel passion. Benvenuto, Roma Eterna!

For more travel articles by Laura Manske: New Season of Netflix Hit Show ‘Somebody Feed Phil’ Inspires Travel Joy and In Stanley Tucci’s New Travel Show, ‘Eating Well Is Inspiring’