If you’ve had a heavy morning visiting the Colisseum, wandering back through the Forum and ending up close to the river Tiber, then there’s a little island where you can pause from the sightseeing and catch your breath. It’s known as Isola Tiberina or the Island in the Tiber.

First stop has to be the gelataria, you can’t miss it as you walk over the bridge and reward yourself with double scoops all round. While you savour each lick, contemplate the view of the river and the arches of the Ponte Rotto, an old Roman bridge, now cut off and marrooned mid-stream with nowhere to go. If you have time you can take your picnic down and enjoy it on the terrace by the river.

In Roman times the island was the site of the temple to the God of medicine and healing, which was shaped like the prow of a ship and the hospital which was built here in the 16th century is still operational. More recently, the island was featured as a setting in the best selling novel Angels and Demons by Dan Brown who also wrote the Da Vinci Code. In the novel the hero escapes, James Bond style, from an exploding helicopter using only a window cover as a parachute, to land on the island.

Once you’ve recovered your energy, you can cross to the other side of the river to wander round the narrow cobbled streets in the old Roman neighbourhood of Trastavere.

All photos by Heather on her travels