AIRPORT ENQUIRIES Fiumicino tel 06.6595.3640/06.6595.4455; Ciampino tel 06.794.941.

AMERICAN EXPRESS Travel office and exchange facilities at Piazza di Spagna 38 (Mon-Fri 9am-5.30pm, Sat 9am-12.30; longer hours in the summer; tel 06.67.641).

AUTO CLUB D'ITALIA (ACI) tel 06.49.981; 24hr recorded information tel 06.44.77. Italy's automobile club has an English-speaking staff that can help you with driving or repair information at little or no cost. If you belong to an autoclub in your home country you may be entitled to free services. Call their free recorded number for weather and road closure information.

BIKE AND SCOOTER RENTAL Collalti, Via del Pellegrino 82 (tel 06.6880.1084; closed Mon) does bike rental and repairs; Rent-a-Scooter Motoservices, Via F. Turati 50 (tel 06.446.9222) is the best deal for scooters and offers a 10 percent discount to Rough Guide readers; Romarent, Vicolo dei Bovari 7a (tel 06.689.6555) and Roma Solutions, Corso Vittorio Emanuele II 204 (tel 06.446.9222/06.687.6922) rent both scooters and bikes.

CAR RENTAL All the usual suspects have desks at Fiumicino, and well-posted signs lead you to a number of rental booths in the parcheggio multipiano at Termini. In the city centre itself, there are, among others, Avis, Via Sardegna 38a (tel 06.4282.4728), Hertz, Via Veneto 156 (tel 06.321.6831), and Maggiore, Via Po 8 (tel 06.854.8698).

CAR REPAIR Call 116 for emergency breakdown service. Otherwise, consult the ACI or the Yellow Pages under Autoriparazioni for specialized repair shops.

CLUB ALPINO ITALIANO Corso Vittorio Emanuele 305 (tel 06.683.2684).

DENTIST The Ospedale di Odontoiatria G. Eastman, Viale Regina Elena 287b, has a 24-hour emergency service (tel 06.8448.3232). If you're an EU citizen be sure to take your E111 form, which entitles you to buy a "ticket" for a consultation - currently L26,400.

DISABLED TRAVELLERS Although changes are in the works, Rome can be quite a challenge for those with disabilities. Contact the Consorzio Cooperative Integrate-COIN, Via Enrico Giglioli 54a (tel 06.2326.7504, toll free in Italy tel 800.271.027), who have English-speaking 24hr information on their phone line, and produce a guide, Roma Accessible, which contains information on accessibility to major sites, museums, hotels and restaurants. Also, their Web sites - www.coin@inroma.roma.it and www.andi.casaccia.enea.it/hometur.htm - have additional information.

ELECTRICITY 220 volts. If coming from the US buy an adaptor before you come as they are more expensive once you get here.

EMBASSIES Australia, Corso Trieste 25c (tel 06.852.721 or for emergencies toll free at tel 800.877.790); Britain, Via XX Settembre 80a (tel 06.482.5441); Canada, Via Zara 30 (tel 06.445.981); Ireland, Piazza Campitelli 3 (tel 06.697.9121); New Zealand, Via Zara 28 (tel 06.441.7171); USA, Via Veneto 119 (tel 06.46.741).

EMERGENCIES tel 113. Both the Police and the Carabinieri have offices in Termini. Otherwise the most central police office is off Via del Corso in Piazza del Collegio Romano 3 (tel 06.46.861), and there's a Carabinieri office in Piazza Venezia to the right of Via del Corso.

EXCHANGE American Express; Thomas Cook, Piazza Barberini 21a (Mon-Sat 9am-8pm, Sun 9.30am-5pm), and Via della Conciliazione 23 (Mon-Sat 9am-8pm, Sun 9.30am-5pm). Post offices will exchange American Express traveller's cheques and cash commission free. The last resort should be any of the many Ufficio Cambio, almost always offering the worst rates (despite "no commission" signs).

HOSPITAL In case of emergency tel 113 or tel 118. Otherwise the most central hospitals are the Policlinico Umberto I, Viale del Policlinico 155 (tel 06.49.971), and the Santo Spirito, Lungotevere in Sassia 1 (tel 06.68.351), near the Vatican. The Rome American Hospital, Via E. Longoni 81 (tel 06.22.551) is a private multi-speciality hospital with bilingual staff.

INTERNET Museo del Corso, at Via del Corso 320 (Tues-Fri 10am-8pm, Sat 10am-10pm, Sun 10am-8pm, closed Mon; tel 06.678.6209); Netgate, Piazza Firenze 25 (Mon-Sat 10.30am-10.30pm; tel 06.689.3445); Internet Point, Via Gaeta 25, Mon-Sun 9am-12am; tel 06.4782.3862). All offer Internet access for around L10,000 an hour.

LAUNDRY Onda Blu, at Via Principe Amedeo 70b and Via Lamarmora 12 (both daily 8am-10pm); Wash and Dry, Via Della Pelliccia 35 and Via Della Chiesa Nuova 15/16 (both daily 8am-10pm). All offer a wash including soap and tumble-drying for about L15,000 for a 6kg (15lb) load.

LIBRARIES The British Council, Via delle Quattro Fontane 20 (Mon-Tues & Thu-Fri 10am-1pm, Wed 2-5pm; closed Aug & Christmas; tel 06.478.141), has a lending library, for which yearly membership costs L100,000. Non-members are, however, allowed to use it for reference purposes for free. There's also a library at the American church of Santa Susanna, Via XX Settembre 14 (tel 06.482.7510), which also has a good noticeboard for finding work, accommodation and so on, and at the American Studies Center, Via M. Caetani 32 (tel 06.6880.1613), though this last is for reference only.

LOST PROPERTY For property lost on a train call 06.4730.6682 (daily 7am-11pm); on a bus tel 06.581.6040 (Mon and Fri 8.30am-1pm, Tues-Thurs 2.30-6pm); on the metro tel 06.487.4309.

MODEM If you want to use your laptop's modem, bring a plug adapter and check with your Internet service provider to be sure you can access your account from Italy.

NEWSPAPERS English newspapers are available the same day of publication later in the afternoon at newsstands in Termini, Piazza Colonna and Via Veneto. The International Herald Tribune, available at most newsstands, is printed in Italy and includes an Italian news supplement.

PHARMACIES Piram, Via Nazionale 228 (tel 06.488.0754) and Farmicia della Stazione, Piazza dei Cinquecento (tel 06.488.0019) are both open 24hr, year-round.

POST OFFICES Rome's main post office is at Piazza San Silvestro 18/20 (Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 9am-2pm; closes midday last Sat of each month). Other post offices are usually open Mon-Sat 8.30am-1.30pm. The Vatican Post Office, located on each side of St Peter's Square and in the Vatican Museums (Mon-Fri 8.30-7pm, Sat 8.30-6), is run by the Swiss postal service and is more reliable, faster and a bit more expensive than the often unreliable Italian post.

RADIO Radio Centro Suono (101.3 FM), plays more interesting music than most of the local radio stations; for regular rock, try Radio Rock (106.6). Radio Citta' Futura (97.7) plays a variety of alternative sounds, and at 10.30am daily has information on what's on in Rome.

TELEPHONES All phones take phone cards available at most tabacchi, bars, and newsstands for denominations of L5000, L10,000 and L15,000. Very few Italian phones take coins, but those that do can be found around Termini.

TIME Rome is one hour ahead of GMT, six hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time, and nine hours ahead of Pacific Standard Time in North America.

TRAIN ENQUIRIES For general enquires about schedules and prices, tel 1478.88.088 (daily 7am-9pm).

TRAVEL AGENTS For discount tickets try the CTS offices at Via Genova 16 (tel 06.462.0431) and Corso Vittorio Emanuele II 297 (tel 06.687.2672), both open on Saturday mornings, when all the other travel agents are closed. Other good places to try are Viaggiare, Via San Nicola da Tolentino 15 (tel 06.421.171), who have some English-speaking staff, and Elsy Viaggi, Via di Torre Argentina 80 (tel 06.689.6460).