IS THERE be a more romantic city on earth? With its grand crumbling ruins, lavish fountains, fashionable streets and relics on every corner, Rome has earned a reputation for romantic weekends and inducing proposals from even the most steely hearted visitor.

Behind its fine facades, however, lurks a grisly past of cruelty, bloodshed and gore. Gladiators with fierce faces and comical costumes will re-enact that history for a few euros, while the perimeters of the Colosseum, Vatican City and Pantheon are brimming with guides and touts desperate to talk about the past.

My five friends and I, in Rome for a long weekend, were shown around by Max, one of many tour guides doing the rounds of the Colosseum and The Forum.

The museum inside the Colosseum has plenty of information, should you prefer to wander around alone, but a good guide can bring ancient Rome to life.

In the Colosseum’s heyday, Max told us, 50,000 spectators could fit inside to watch gladiatorial contests and public spectacles.

It is estimated that around 500,000 people and more than a million wild animals died in Colosseum games, while crowds roared around the sides.

Earthquakes, stone-robbers and time have stripped the building of its grandeur, along with much of its marble.

“If you want to know where it is now, ask the Pope,” said Max. “It is mostly in the Vatican City.”

The hypogeum is one of the best preserved parts: a two-level subterranean network of tunnels and cages beneath the arena where gladiators and animals were held before contests began.

You can also see displays of tiny ceramic lanterns, once used by servants to light the dark passages near the animals’ cages.

Our tour lasted around 45 minutes before an English guide took over and led the way to The Forum.

Well versed on this centre of political, commercial and judicial life in ancient Rome, he explained that The Forum was where Mark Anthony made his speech giving everything he had to the city. It is also where you will find The Temple of Julius Caesar, where Caesar’s body was cremated after his assassination in 44 BC.

The climb around the ruined temples and basilicas and orange trees tests your legs, but the view of the city below is rewarding.

Anyway, Rome is not just about ruins. There is romance, wine and good food, too. There are many restaurants in the cobbled streets around the Colosseum, The Forum and Palazzo Venezia, the impressive marble monument often called the Wedding Cake.

Feet blistered from hours of tours, we feasted on lasagne and spaghetti arrabiata dusted with fresh parmesan and washed down with Chianti at ten euros a bottle; never before has house red tasted so good.

The picturesque area of Travestere, on the west bank of the River Tiber, was our home for the weekend. Our apartment was hidden along narrow lanes and faded palazzo, among plants hanging down from garden terraces, flower stalls, chipped statues and water fountains.

In Travestere, gelateria, pizzerias and delis spill on to the streets, serving fresh paninis and panna cotta in glass pots.

It is a great place to chill out, refuel and re-orientate and has good tram and bus links to the tourist attractions.

After a confusing tram ride, we learned it pays to research where you are going before you get to Rome. Queues can be long, attractions expensive and it can take longer than you think to get around them.

Researching transport, how much things cost and queuing times can save hours, and you can beat the crowds by booking ahead.

Have a budget and decide beforehand whether or not to do a tour – it sidesteps the business of feeling vulnerable when you are touted.

While we enjoyed the tour of the Colusseum, the touts outside Vatican City wanted 40 euros for a four-hour tour of St Peter’s Basilica and the museum. We would queue for hours just to enter St Peter’s, they warned us, but we walked straight in.

Cool, peaceful and undeniably beautiful, the lavishly decorated St Peter’s and the monumental colonnade and square outside are worthy of a few hours. If there is time, the museum holds Emperor Nero’s bath, the Sistine Chapel and many great paintings, sculptures and tapestries.

As for the romance, a couple were posing for their wedding photographs in St Peter’s Square.

Anyway, we had more to see, and wandered along the fashionable streets of Rome, graced by the likes of Jimmy Choo and Gucci, to get there.

The Spanish Steps, climbing a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, were crowded with tourists and school children.

Red roses were thrust into our hands before we could refuse, but they made good props for pictures by the Fontana di Trevi, surely one of the most beautiful pieces of architecture in the world.

Apparently, 3,000 euros a day are thrown into the water by superstitious sightseers. However, caution is best advised.

The song might tell you to throw “Three Coins In A Fountain”, but according to legend, that would herald a divorce. Throw one over your left shoulder with your right hand instead to ensure your return to Rome, or two coins to encourage a proposal. I played safe and threw in two.

And did it work? Yes! Proof of if ever there was that Rome really is the most romantic city in the world.

Fact file

• Charlotte flew to Rome from Leeds Bradford with Jet2.

• Jet2.com provides a direct service from Leeds Bradford Airport to Rome, four times a week.

• Flights start from £29.99 one way, including all taxes.

• For more information visit www.jet2.com