An Aperitivo, an E-Bike, and a Terrace Over the Colosseum

Four hours after dark, and the electric motor is the point: Rome is built on seven hills and the classic bike tour of it is an endurance event. With assistance, the gradients stop mattering and you can look up.

It starts on Via Antonio Rosmini, near Santa Maria Maggiore, with time to get used to the bike and a briefing on riding in Roman traffic, which is worth listening to.

The route leaves through Monti, built on the old Suburra, the crowded working district of ancient Rome where Julius Caesar was born and which the emperors spent centuries trying to clean up. It climbs the Capitoline, the most sacred of the seven hills, for the Forum lit from above, then crosses into St Peter's Square, which at night is close to empty.

After that the historic centre: the alleys around Campo de' Fiori, the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, and the Trevi Fountain, where a coin over the left shoulder is the tradition and the city collects around a million and a half euros a year from people doing it.

Dinner comes halfway through the ride, a spread of cured meats, cheeses and wine, before the group sets off again. The tour finishes on a terrace looking at the Amphitheatrum Flavium, which everyone calls the Colosseum.

Bikes and helmets provided. Groups are capped at ten per guide. You need to know how to ride; children under twelve go in a cargo bike with a parent, and under-twos cannot come. Vegetarian and gluten-free options included. Guided in English, Italian, French or Spanish, though bookings made inside twenty-four hours default to English. Arrive fifteen minutes early: the tour leaves five minutes after the stated time at the latest.