Filming locations in Rome

Rome has played itself for cinema as long as cinema has existed, but two films above all turned its streets into pilgrimage sites. Roman Holiday gave a runaway princess a Vespa and a gelato in 1953, and Fellini's La Dolce Vita gave the world the word paparazzi seven years later. Both can be retraced in a single wander through the centre.

The Roman Holiday spots are the headline stops. The Spanish Steps are where the princess eats her ice cream in one of the most copied scenes ever shot; sitting on them is now banned and fined, so admire from the square below. A short walk south brings you to the Mouth of Truth, the ancient marble face in the portico of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, where the couple dare each other to test the legend that it bites a liar's hand.

For La Dolce Vita, head to the Trevi Fountain, where Anita Ekberg wades in for cinema's most famous midnight bathe. Paddling is firmly off-limits now, so toss a coin from the edge instead, and come at first light if you want the great baroque sweep almost to yourself. Up the hill, the café-lined Via Veneto was the heart of the film's nightlife and the street that gave the world its name for celebrity photographers.

What makes Rome such an easy set-jetting day is how tightly it all packs together. The Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps are ten minutes apart on foot, the Mouth of Truth sits near the Circus Maximus and the Tiber, and Via Veneto climbs from Piazza Barberini just above. You can string the lot between a coffee and a long lunch.

A few additions to fold in. The Keats-Shelley House sits right beside the Spanish Steps, the round Temple of Hercules faces the Mouth of Truth across its square, and the Villa Borghese gardens crown the top of Via Veneto. Walk at dawn or dusk and the famous facades belong to you before the crowds arrive.