Valentine's Day in Rome

For the fourteenth of February Rome has no separate staged programmes — there is the ordinary catalogue, and on that day nine entries from it get taken. The core is countryside wine tasting: the three-hour version costs 146 dollars, the four-hour one with lunch 158. The estates are about an hour's drive away, and February is low season there, so the tasting rooms stand empty.

The self-driven option is the cheapest. A three-hour Vespa rental costs 63 dollars, a full day 85, and in both cases the route is your own: an ordinary car licence is enough. February in Rome suits this better than summer — the streets are freer and the temperature stays above zero.

The top of the list comes with a driver. A private ride in a vintage Fiat 500 with a wine tasting runs three hours at 459 dollars, and a golf cart through the historic centre with a local driver the same three hours at 163. A whole day goes to the combined programme with a bike tour, lunch and a golf cart: eight hours at 222 dollars. GetExperience lists 9 programmes in Rome for this date, from 63 to 459 dollars; the fourteenth goes early.