Beyond Rome

The best day trips and sidetrips from Rome, Italy

Ostia Antica ★★

An ancient Roman ghost town just a subway ride away from downtown Rome—like Pompeii, but trading its dusty heat and crushing tour bus crowds for a quiet, Romantically overgrown atmosphere of crumbling ruins, a weedy amphitheater, and stone-paved ancient streets. Also, the beach is just one more stop down the train line... » more

Book a tour to Ostia Antica

Tivoli & Hadrian's Villa ★

East of Rome lies Tivoli, a hilltown home to lavish palaces (the Renaissance Villa d'Este is but the most famous of them), and, just outside town, the well-preserved ruins of Hadrian's Villa. This sumptuous summer palace was designed by the Spanish-born Emperor himself as a sort of sprawling, architectural souvenir scrapbook of the varied building styles he saw during his travels across the empire, from Middle Eastern to Egyptian to European... » more

Book a tour to Tivoli

Frascati & the Castelli Romani

The hilltowns and villages of Lazio just south of Rome are famous for their white wines (especially Frascati), volcanic lakes steeped in ancient myth, medieval allure, and extravagant palaces—most notably, the summer residence of the Pope himself in Castelgandolfo... » more

Book a tour to the Castelli Romani:

The Lazio Lake District

Medieval castles, Etruscan necropoli, and volcanic lake beaches are sprinkled around the lakes of Northern Lazio... » more

Book a tour to the Lazio lake district:

Full Day Excursion to Viterbo and Villa Lante from Rome

Cerveteri and Tarquinia - North of Rome lie the archaeological wonders of Cerveteri and Tarquinia, collections of ancient Etruscan burial mounds that predate the Romans with megalithic tombs some preserving 2,500-year-old paintings.

Book a tour to Cerveteri and Tarquinia:

Tarquinia and Etruscan Tombs: A Full Day Excursion from Rome

Farther afield

The Abruzzi Mountains

The Abruzzi mountains that form Italy's green spine rise from the plains less than an hour's drive from Rome yet the peaks are snowcapped year round. Head into the mountains, exit off the autostrada (highway), and just meander along the back ways into the heart of the mountains where narrow roads barely wide enough for one car, let alone two, cling to one wall of a narrow, twisting canyon 800 feet above the surging waters of a mountain stream... » more

Pompeii ★★★

The famous ancient Roman ghost town buried by Vesuvius in AD 79... » more

Book a Pompeii tour or shuttle service from Rome:

The Amalfi Coast ★★

I wouldn't do this fabled coastal string of fishing-villages-turned-resorts as a day trip—better to spend a couple of days here (or at least one overnight) relaxing and enjoying the beach life after all those museums, churches, ruins, and art of Italy's big cities... » more

Book a daytrip to the Amalfi Coast from Rome:

Florence ★★★

Birthplace of the Renaissance, hometown to Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, Donatello, Giotto, and dozens other of Old Masters—and repository of Michelangelo's David, Botticelli's Birth of Venus, Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise, Brunelleschi's dome, and 1,001 other seminal works of art and architecture. To break up the Art History 101 nature of it you can peruse the artisan workshops of the Oltrarno, bargain in the San Lorenzo leather market, dig into a hearty meal of bistecca fiorentina steak with Chianti wine, and find a hotel for your own, perfect Room with a View moment... » more

Book a daytrip to Florence from Rome:

Tuscany & Umbria

From the Renaissance glories of Florence to the vineyards of the Chianti, the medieval hilltowns of Siena and San Gimignano to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the genteel city of Lucca to the wine-soaked hill town of Montepulciano to the cheese hamlet of Pienza to the holy village of Assisi...... » more

Book a daytrip to Tuscany & Umbria from Rome:

Tips & links

Planning your time

For any of these trips, figure on spending a very full day.

It also might be nice to spend the night away from the bustle of the big city—certainly, you could explore the Lazio Lake District or the Castelli Romani much better with two days; same goes for sidetrips in the "farther afield" category—though with some (Pompeii comes to mind) you could easily do them in a single day.

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From Rome to Ostia Antica:

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From Rome to the Castelli Romani:

From RomeSouth to Campania:

From Rome North to Tuscany/Umbria:

Useful links

SIGHTS

Tourist info
Turismoroma.it

Other useful sites
060608.it (tourism info database)
Vatican.va (Vatican)
Coopculture.it (major sights/ruins)
Archeoroma.beniculturali.it (civic archaeology department)
Museiincomuneroma.it (civic museums)
Comune.roma.it (city site)
Sovraintendenzaroma.it (city cultural department)

LODGING

TRANSPORT

Public transportation:

Agenziamobilita.roma.it (all transit and driving/parking info)
Atac.roma.it (bus & Metro/subway)

plane

Rome airports:

Adr.it

Airport transfers:

Trenitalia.com (express train: €14)
Viator.com (private car: €14–€16.50)
Terravision.eu (bus: €4)
Cotralspa.it or Sitbusshuttle.com (bus: €5)
Taxi: €45–€55

Airfares:

train

Trains:

automobile

Driving/parking:

Sabait.it (Villa Borghese garage; €18/day)
Atac.roma.it (outlying commuter parking lots; from €5 per day)
Agenziamobilita.roma.it (more on the ZTL)

Car rentals:

Car resources
Emergency service/tow: tel. 803-116
Highway agency: Autostrade.it (traffic info, serivce areas, toll calculator, weather)
Italian automotive club (~AAA): Aci.it
ZTLs: Ztl-italia.blogspot.com (lightly outdated, but handy, links to cities' traffic-free zones)