Public transportation:

If you have to get around, take a taxi. Rome’s public transportation generally lacks air-conditioning, and the buses have a tendency of blowing up from overheating. The rattling orange buses remained parked at the train station the other day, one driver explained, to prevent unnecessary implosions.

City efforts:

City officials said that as part of Rome’s “Heat Plan,” they were opening air-conditioned sports centers to older people and others at risk, and had made more than 9,000 bottles of water available in front of metros and tourist sites, including the Coliseum and Vatican. The Rome water flowing from the public drinking fountains is famously good and should be sipped early and often. But don’t even think about going in the fountains! After a rash of skinny dipping and other unacceptable behavior, Rome started cracking down on fountain-hopping a couple of years ago. You will be fined, and humiliated!

Escapes:

This is the time when many Romans abandon the city for the beaches or the mountains. If you can swing an overnight trip, join the Roman Hamptons set in the Argentario, just an hour or so north, or ditch the city and fly down to Sicily, which has somehow been spared the heat wave.

There aren’t a lot of swimming options within Rome unless you belong to a country club on the Tiber. But for a daily rate of around 30 euros (about $33), you can cool off at the outdoor pool at the Grand Hotel Gianicolo in the Monteverde neighborhood overlooking the city.

The best bet for keeping cool may be the city’s vast network of catacombs. The Catacombs of Priscilla, the so-called Queen of Catacombs, in the northern section of the city, are really impressive, especially if buried Christian martyrs is your thing. And instead of roasting inside the Coliseum, the arena of which now feels like its sits under a solar magnifying glass, take a five-minute walk down the road to the Basilica of San Clemente, a gorgeous church built on another church and then another and then ancient Roman rooms and streets where you can actually see the city’s spring water running. (But don’t jump in!)

And an escape from the heat could be an opportunity to visit some of the airy (and appropriately chilled) museums off the beaten path. The National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art opposite villa Borghese park is refreshing, also for its wonderfully curated collection.

— Jason Horowitz