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Rome has followed another Italian city, Venice, in drawing up plans to tax tourists in an attempt to raise revenue.

Guests staying at four- and five-star luxury hotels in Rome will pay 3 euros (£2.50/$4) a night from January 1st next year, and there will be a 2 euros (£1.70/$2.66) a night tax on all other accommodation.

Tourists will be advised about the Contributo di Soggiorno tax on arrival and they’ll have to pay the levy before they check out. The maximum number of nights taxable per stay is 10, a charge of up to £25 ($40). Children under two and youth hostels will be exempt.

It’s understood that five per cent of the income generated by the tax will be used to improve tourist facilities in the Eternal City, although further details have not been released. Nine million people visit Rome every year.

The tax could still be challenged in the courts. The European Tour Operators’ Association has criticised the levy, likening it to ‘being on a plane and then being charged to leave’.

by Andy Moreton

Luxique offers a selection of luxury hotels in Rome, as well as a handy city guide.

I wrote recently about the renovation of the Sistine Chapel frescoes. Across Rome, another world famous landmark is due for the mother of all clean-ups: the Colosseum.

As well as a thorough refurbishment, the Italian government wants to add additional facilities and make the Colosseum a much more satisfying visitor experience.

“The one problem with all these ambitions is money,” says the BBC’s Rome correspondent, Duncan Kennedy. “In these austere times, the government does not have enough of it to do the job. So it’s turning to private business to come up with some of the cash to help. Yes, the Colosseum is to be sponsored.”

Mario Resca, the head of Italy’s museums and heritage, used to run McDonald’s operations across Europe, so he’s familiar with the world of commercialism. “There’s no problem in bringing in private money, as long as it’s done responsibly,” he says.

But sponsoring the Colosseum has raised concerns about how it can be done tastefully. “We already see that much of central Rome is beginning to look like Times Square,” says Darius Arya, from the American Institute for Roman Culture. “It can be overwhelming to see some of the advertising hoardings on existing classical buildings.”

The Colosseum is one of the most widely known buildings in the world,” says Mr Arya. “They have to get it right.”

• The Colosseum is currently running tours at night – between 9pm and midnight. They’re on Saturdays until October 2nd.

by Andy Moreton

Luxique offers a selection of luxury hotels in Rome and a handy city guide.

Michelangelo and the other Renaissance masters who created the frescoes in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican could never have imagined that four-and-a-half million people a year would wander through to admire their handiwork.

The problem is that those tourists breathe, perspire and give off hair and dust – and that’s not good news for paintings that are 500 years old.

Following the first cleaning operation for four years, experts have expressed alarm at the state of the exquisite works.

The Director of the Vatican Museums, Prof Antonio Paolucci, said: “All the 4.5 million tourists who visit the Sistine Chapel each year bring in dust on their clothes and shoes.

“They shed tiny particles of skin and of course they breathe. We can’t do anything about that — if you don’t breathe, you die – but each human body increases the humidity inside the chapel. All this produces an accumulation of dust on the frescoes. They are not going to start crumbling tomorrow, but over a long period of time there is a danger that they will be damaged.”

Prof Paolucci said that with advanced technical instruments it was possible to maintain constant levels of humidity and temperature, but the systems used at the moment were between 15 and 20 years old and needed replacing. Vatican officials will work with technicians to ascertain how to replace the climate control system, with the cost as yet unknown.

by Andy Moreton

If you’re planning a visit to the Italian capital to take in the Vatican, don’t miss Luxique’s selection of luxury hotels in Rome.

It was reported by the Daily Telegraph newspaper last week that the Vatican’s Swiss Guards are the latest authority figures to clamp down on skimpy clothing worn by tourists (see previous posts about Barcelona and Salou).

It’s always been the norm to dress modestly when entering St Peter’s Basilica – or indeed any place of worship – but the paper reports that the Pope’s private army has now extended this to the whole of the Vatican state.

The guards apparently drew aside men in shorts, and women with uncovered shoulders and short skirts, to tell them that they were improperly dressed. Some of the female tourists bought shawls and scarves from stalls close by, while a few men had to wander off to the nearest shops to buy long trousers.

The tough dress code also applies to Romans using the Vatican’s pharmacy, supermarket and post office.

The Daily Telegraph quoted visitors as saying that at a time when the Catholic Church was battling scandals over paedophile priests and decades of cover-ups, it should have more important things to worry about.

by Andy Moreton

If you’re planning a visit to the Italian capital to take in the Vatican, don’t miss Luxique’s selection of luxury hotels in Rome.

The perils of buying counterfeit designer label goods in Italy (which I’ve written about before) have been brought sharply into focus in an incident in the resort of Jesolo near Venice.

A pensioner from Austria, Ursula Corel, was fined 1000 euros (£825/$1,195) for buying a fake Louis Vuitton handbag from a street vendor.

She was spotted handing over seven euros (£6/$8) by police officers as they scanned crowds with high-powered binoculars from a lifeguard’s watchtower.

Hotel owners, worried that tourists will be put off visiting Jesolo on holiday, have clubbed together to help pay Mrs Corel’s fine.

A spokesman for the Jesolo Hoteliers’ Association said: “We understand what the Mayor is trying to do, but at the same time there should be more communication with tourists explaining the risks they run … there are no signs warning they face fines if they buy from street vendors.”

The Mayor, Francesco Calzavara, said: “If it takes fines of this level to stop this sort of thing taking place then so be it. Tourists coming to Jesolo should think twice about buying fake goods from street vendors.”

by Andy Moreton

If you’re planning a visit to Italy, take a look at Luxique’s comprehensive selection of luxury hotels in Rome, Venice, Florence, Milan and many other cities.

The palm trees that offer welcome shade along the sun-drenched coasts of Italy are being attacked by voracious bugs.

Up and down the country, tens of thousands of trees are being eaten by an army of red palm weevils. Parks, gardens and seafronts have been targeted in some of Italy’s best-known tourist destinations, including the beach resorts of Tuscany, Sardinia and the Adriatic.

Palms are not indigenous to Italy, but were introduced in the 18th and 19th centuries by wealthy collectors and aristocrats keen to give their estates an exotic look.

“It is really a disaster, there are tens of thousands of palms which are dead or dying,” said Valeria Francatti, an entomologist who is researching ways of combating the weevils. “The weevil gets right into the heart of the tree, so by the time the damage becomes apparent on the outside, it’s already too late.”

In Rome, the bug has caused severe damage to the capital’s historic parks, many of them formerly private gardens surrounding sumptuous private villas such as Villa Sciarra and Villa Torlonia.

A scientist in Rome said it was not possible to use chemicals because many palms were planted near beaches or in towns and cities, where insecticides would pose a risk to human health.

Researchers in Sicily have found they can capture the bugs using traps laced with pheromones, but deploying the contraptions is time-consuming and costly.

by Andy Moreton, with Nick Squires in Rome

If you’re planning to visit Italy, take a look at Luxique’s comprehensive selection of luxury hotels in Rome, Venice, Florence, Milan and many other cities.

Part of Nero’s Golden Palace, a popular tourist site in Rome, has collapsed.

A large piece of the vault ceiling, which topped one of the corridors linking the many halls and chambers of the sprawling complex, crumbled and fell to the ground – possibly because of water seepage. No-one was injured.

The city’s, Mayor, Gianni Alemanno, said he was very worried, and ordered an investigation to determine the exact cause of the collapse. The site, which is situated in central Rome not far from the Colosseum, was cordoned off as sand bags were placed to support the remaining parts of the corridor’s walls.

Nero built his ornate palace, the Domus Aurea, after the great fire of Rome in 64 A.D. to use as a party villa rather than a residence. Covered in part by gold leaf, it also had walls decorated with semi-precious stones and frescoes.

The incident has raised fresh concern about the state of one of Rome’s most prized archaeological treasures. It was closed in late 2005 for more than a year after the culture ministry said it couldn’t guarantee the safety of visitors and staff.

The site superintendent, Luciano Marchetti, said the collapse needed to be seen as a warning – more finance for the site’s upkeep was urgently needed.

by Andy Moreton

If you’re thinking of heading for The Eternal City, Luxique can offer you an unrivalled choice of luxury hotels in Rome – both traditional and modern.

Archaeologists in Rome believe they may have uncovered the fabled banqueting hall that Nero built to impress guests at his Golden Palace.

Experts on the four-month dig on top of the Palatine Hill have found remains of the foundations of the hall and the mechanism for its elaborate revolving wooden floor. This platform allowed guests to survey a ceiling painted with stars and equipped with ivory panels from which flower petals and perfume would fall.

The Roman historian Suetonius described the unique revolving room in his Lives of the Caesars, written about 60 years after Nero’s death. “The chief banqueting room was circular and revolved perpetually, night and day, in imitation of the motion of the celestial bodies,” he wrote.

The leader of the dig, Françoise Villedieu, said her team had discovered part of a circular room which was supported by a pillar with a diameter of more than 13 feet. Funds are to be made available to help the archaeologists carry out further investigations.

Nero, who ruled from 54 to 68 AD, was famed for his cruelty and hedonism. He didn’t enjoy his Golden Palace for very long – he committed suicide in the same year it was completed.

by Andy Moreton

The Eternal City beckons you – and Luxique can offer you an unrivalled choice of luxury hotels in Rome – both traditional and modern.

The beautiful and vibrant Spanish city of Barcelona has just earned a less welcome tag – the pickpocket capital of the world.

In a survey carried out by a major the holiday review site, the Catalan capital was even ranked ahead of Rome, where the problem has been deep-rooted and much-publicised. Prague was third.

The travel review site based its rankings mainly on comments made by its website users. Particularly notorious was Barcelona’s famous boulevard, La Rambla, which has also recently become a magnet for street prostitutes. One tourist commented: “The place is rife with pickpockets …. I know of three people who were victims in the four days we were there!”

A spokesperson for the travel review site said: “The combination of an awe-struck traveller and a bag bulging with local currency, not to mention passports, cameras and credit cards, is an appealing prospect for any light-fingered thief.”

Don’t be put off from going to this delightful city, but read the useful safety tips on the Barcelona Tourist Guide website: http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/general/barcelona-safety.html. And for accommodation, you can do no better than browse Luxique’s comprehensive selection of luxury hotels in Barcelona.

by Andy Moreton

One of the most famous landmarks in the world, the Colosseum in Rome, is crumbling and in need of restoration.

The Italian government puts the cost at around 5 million euros (£4.5 million / $7.3 million) and is calling for international sponsors to help fund the work.

“Some bits of it are falling off,” said the Under-Secretary for Culture and Heritage, Francesco Giro. He added that the arena where gladiators once engaged in combat needed ‘immediate restoration’. The Mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, said ‘a huge intervention’ was required – and soon.

The restoration of the Colosseum is part of a broader plan to tidy up the nearby Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, the collection of ruined temples and palaces which formed the heart of the Roman Empire.

The Culture and Heritage department is to ask the government for more funds for historic sites because 60 per cent of Rome’s archaeological areas are inaccessible – a situation it calls ‘alarming’.

The Colosseum attracts about four million visitors a year.

by Andy Moreton

Luxique guides you through the process of finding and booking the finest luxury hotels in Rome.