Is this the best bar in the world? Well, it is set in a beautiful crumbling piazza, serves Frascati that will amaze you, does a nice line in salads and shows the Italian football on the TV indoors. All this without attracting too many tourists.

Pop into the Museum of Trastevere opposite, clock the art, come here after and have some frascati with a pear salad while pretending to read La Repubblica over your fake Gucci sunglasses. Now that's civilised.

The bar staff are really sexy too.

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Every morning this gorgeous piazza hosts a food market. I am not going to be able to do it justice. It is full of tomatoes, chillies, fruit, garlic, onions. But not as we know them. The bland unripe unseasonal rubbish that you find on the shelves of British supermarkets bears absolutely no relation to the stuff you can buy (for pennies) in Campo dei Fiori.

For a cheap lunch just come here early, buy a few tomatoes and some foccaccia, stuff them in your bag, and eat them at a Bernini fountain in nearby Navonna while laughing at the fessi (gullible ones) who have paid through the nose to eat tourist junk at the inauthentic cafes.

At Campo dei Fiori of course. Just north of the Jewish ghetto along the east bank of the Tiber

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Rome is obsessed with football - even more so than most Italian cities - and a match at the Olimpico can be an exhilarating experience. The stadium itself is an interesting Mussolini-era construction that has typically grand avenues approaching it from the south, lined with statues of fascist heroes and paved with crumbling mosaics glorifying "Honour and Enemies". Inside, you will soon discover that Italian fans make the game a far louder and more colourful affair than their British counterparts. Tip 1 - sit in the tribuna along the side of the pitch rather than behind the goal (where the nutters congregate); Tip 2 - watch Roma rather than Lazio, who have neo-Nazi connections that may cause offence; Tip 3 - set off early as the stadium is shockingly badly served by the otherwise excellent public transport system.

Two miles north of Piazza del Popolo. You can take a bus there, but expect it to be rammed with supporters and make very slow progress through the Eternal City's eternal traffic jam

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These are possibly the two best places to eat in Trastevere, and they're opposite one another down a small side street just north of Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere.

Augusto is a legendary restaurant with a very limited and traditional Roman menu. There are no frills here - you'll have to share a table with complete strangers, there's only house wine available, and the bill is scrawled on the tablecloth by a rushed waitress who doesn't make a fuss of tourists - but the food is great and punters flock here from all over the city for a proper Roman nosh.

Cassetta opposite lacks the charm and the history of Da Augusto, but the food is similarly authentic and (whisper it) even better. Both places are amazingly cheap, with a three course meal with a litre of wine costing about 30-40 pounds for a couple.

A small street just 20 metres north of Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere

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Pizza House is a very cheap diner-style eatery at the north end of via del Corso, about a hundred metres from Piazza del Popolo. It does great stodge as only the Romans can. There is a selection of (mostly excellent) pizza al taglio in the Roman bianca style; lovely traditional suppli (these tomato-flavoured rice balls can't be had in Britain and they're a huge fuss to make for yourself); baked pasta of incredible quality; and wine as cheap as the amazing food. The place is an Atkins-dieter's hell, but since the Romans are all slim and Atkins was a fat bloke with heart disease, I know what I'm having for lunch when I find myself in the Centro Storico.

Via del Corso. North end near del Popolo

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This hotel specialises in catering for Jewish visitors to Rome, but it's also great value for anyone who wants somewhere basic but friendly and well-located. In the middle of arty Trastevere, at the foot of the stunning Janiculum Hill, the Mamelli is surrounded by the some of the best bars and restaurants in Rome. Trastevere is a great base from which to explore the city because it comes alive at night; this allows you to spend the day on the other side of the river doing the tourist thing before returning over the Tiber for a night out within staggering distance of home.

Via Goffredo Mamelli

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