Rome is in my humble opinion the greatest city on the planet. While I like many others as well, none comes close to Rome in terms of history, culture, architecture, and influence on the rest of the world. This together with all things that make Italy such a great place to visit - especially the food, of course - makes a combination that I don´t think can be beaten anywhere. For a visitor, Rome´s sights generally fall in two categories: Christendom and Antiquity, with some great Renaissance/Baroque monuments thrown in (Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps etc.) For both, Rome is the top place to visit (sorry, Athens, you are fascinating, too, but Rome was not called caput mundi for nothing). The Forum Romanum is just incredible, and the Colosseum, the Triumphal Arches, and the many other smaller ancient monuments (Augustus Mausoleum and the very cool Mamertine Prison, for example) should excite even people who usually have no interest in ancient history (if that is at all possible...). So while of the some things that are said about Rome are admittedly true (smog, heavy traffic, many strikes, enormous masses of tourists), who really cares? It´s Rome, and it´s a huge mistake not to see it at least once.