Sport and fitness

Rome’s cobbled streets and sweltering sun might seem like a hindrance to running but head out early in the morning and you’ll reap all the picturesque rewards that the city has to offer. Group running tours from a number of outfits kick off when the weather’s still cool and the tourists are asleep. These routes afford a plethora of unimpeded sights, such as Castel Sant’Angelo and the Colosseum. If you’re heading out alone, start at the crack of dawn and dart over to the Roman Forum – a singular spectacle at that hour.

Part of the Foro Italico sporting complex built by the fascists in the 1920s and 1930s, this pool – with seats for 2,000 spectators – was actually finished in 1959 by architects Enrico Del Debbio and Annibale Vitellozzi in anticipation of the 1960 Rome Olympics. The duo, along with designer Giulio Rossi, who adorned the walls with mosaics of nude athletes, Roman deities and aquatic creatures, stuck to the fascist-favoured neo-Roman style to maintain a uniform aesthetic. Since the Olympics it’s been home to professional water-polo teams but is open to the public outside of games.

The Baths of Caracalla are sadly not in use today but this Greco-Roman-meets-Turkish bath is as close to the ancient thermae as you can get. For €50, guests get a two-hour treatment that takes them through stonewalled chambers and pools of different temperatures, from the 45C and 100 per cent humid calidarium to the 28C frigidarium, before finishing off with a tea in the relaxation room. Although a spell here might seem counterintuitive in warm weather, it helps to regulate body temperature and will leave you feeling cooler under the sun.