Day Trip Suggestion from Rome??
 

I'm going to be in Rome for full 6 days in the last week of May and I was wondering if someone could give me some suggestions of good day trips leaving from Rome? Should I opt for day trip tour or take the euro rail around city close to Rome and how safe is traveling around Rome at night for two women? Any suggestion would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Take the train headed to Florence and get off for the day in Orvieto. It's about an hour and 15 minutes from Rome Termini.

Another option about a 30 minute train ride from Rome is Tivoli to see Villa d'Este and Hadrian's villa.

Trenitalia is the name of the train service in Italy. The trains are Frecciarossa, Frecciargento and Frecciabianca

You don't need to take a tour. You can do this on your own and you just buy your tickets at the automated kiosks in the station.

www.seat61.com is a great resource for train info.

Eurorail is not a train system - it is just a reseller of train passes and tickets to people outside of europe. There is no reason to buy anything from them unless you will be doing MANY train trips. If doing only a few just buy tickets on the spot after you arrive and know what days you will want to travel.

Understand that this is intercity trains. For travel via subway or bus inside Rome (although you are probably better off walking most places) you need separate tickets.

Tourist areas of Rome are perfectly safe - as long as you don't wander down dark alleys in the wee hours after having too much to drink. If in any doubt you can always just hop a cab - they are quite inexpensive in Rome.

Go to Naples. It's only a bit over an hour away - so much to do and a great metro to get you around.

http://www.napoliunplugged.com/

I love Naples. I would NOT go there as a day trip from ANY where -- I would wait until I could give it the several days or week it deserves. JMO.

If I were committed to taking a day trip from Rome -- and I admit that I did not feel a need to do so -- I would go somewhere nearby that could actually be seen in the time I could give it. Maybe Orvieto, maybe Ostia Antica, maybe ...

Any good guidebook should give you information about day trip options, all the information you need to make the trip on your own and without a tour, and all sorts of information you never even thought to solicit -- not just about day trips, but also about your time in Rome. The cost of a guidebook or two will be nominal in comparison to the cost of your trip, but you can also consult them at a library.

Enjoy!

If you're into history, Pompeii might be an option. We did a day tour to Pompeii from Rome last year. I organised a private guide to meet us at the Pompeii train station and spent a few hours there. We had a great time.

I agree with NOT doing Naples in a day (can't possibly do it justice in one day) and the Villas suggested above by denisea are lovely.

You might also want to try seeing I Castelli Romani…such as Frascati, Castel Gandolfo, and Nemi. They are quite picturesque, easy to get to, fresh mountain air, great eats, and work at a slower pace to Rome, which can be a delight after a while.

Best

Laura

Most of the trains to Florence don't stop in Orvieto. You should just look for trains to Orvieto (and other destinations) on the http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en website. The trains mentioned by denisea are high-speed long-distance trains. For most day trips you wouldn't use those; instead you'd mostly use regional trains.

Orvieto is a great day trip to an Umbrian hill town with a very beautiful Italian Gothic Duomo, and other interesting things to see.

There's plenty to occupy you in Rome itself for six days. Most people barely scratch the surface of what the city offers. However, there are also many other great daytrips from Rome. Some others are:

Ostia Antica, the ancient port city of Rome, is an archaelogical site even larger than Pompeii, and more interesting from a historical point of view. It's actually within the city limits of Rome, about half an hour from the center by metro and urban train.

Assisi is a little over two hours from Rome by train, passing through beautiful countryside. There is a direct train at 7:58, or you can change trains in Foligno. A bus takes you up to the town fron the station. It's a beautiful Umbrian hil town, with some of Italy's most spsctacular frescoes in the two 13th century basilicas of Saint Francis.

Tivoli, which has been mentioned, is a bit more complicated to get to, by bus or train. There are three villas to see there, from very different periods: the ancient Roman Villa Adriana (a bit out of town); the Renaissance Villa d'Este, with its famous water garden; and the Villa Gregoriana, representing the Romantic period. It's not easy in a single day to see both the Villa Adriana and one of the other two (which are both in town).

Towns in the Castelli Romani area, a region of lakes and hills south of Rome. Some are easily reached by bus or train, or both.

Viterbo, an interesting small city with a nice medieval center, easily reached by train.

Lake Bracciano, by bus or train.

Cerveteri has a fascinating Etruscan necropolis, and there's a direct bus from Rome.

Anzio and Nettuno are two coastal towns on a train line south of Rome. Anzio was the site of an Allied landing in World War II. There is a British Commonwealth war cemetery in Anzio, and an archaelogical park at the site of the Emperor Nero's villa. Nettuno has a medieval center and soms other Roman remains.

I think a lot depends on what interests you.

I have been to Rome twice.. and both to Venice and Florence( but not as daytrips).. so on my bucket list would be Pompeii.. I understand its not an easy close by one.. but I would really really love to visit it.. so next time I go to Rome ( having got many of the "main " tourist sites done.. I would plan on doing Pompeii. However.. for others this would not even be on their radar.

Actually, Florence is not a bad day trip from Rome. You wouldn't have time to visit more than one of the smaller museums or a few churches, but the city itself is small and you can have a good look around.

Here's my opinion on some of the options mentioned above (all of these I have been to)

Florence and Naples - pros - wonderful cities with lots of great sites, easily traveled to from Rome in that you can take a direct train (no need to change, and therefore coordinate train schedules). Trains are frequent so pretty easy to make work with whatever your time frame is. Yes, you could spend days (weeks) in these cities, but don't quite get why you wouldn't want to go there just because you can't 'devote' the 'appropriate' amount of time. If they were difficult to get to then it might not be 'worth' it, but they are easy to get to so why not. Just realize you won't see all of either of them.

Viterbo - had some really interesting spots, but overall not as interesting as some of the other places mentioned. And while it is close to Rome, it's not particularly easy to get to. If you actually look at the train schedules (and which stations in Rome those trains leave from) it takes a bit of doing to get there. I personally don't think it's 'worth' it as a day trip from Rome if this is your first trip.

Orvieto - that would be my choice. But as mentioned above, you don't take a train 'headed for Florence'. Take a train going to Orvieto. But it's a wonderful contrast to Rome, only takes a little over an hour, is nice and small and manageable for a day trip. Incredible Duomo, but also nice old hill town.

Assisi - also wonderful small town, but as it's further than Orvieto if you haven't been to either I'd just go with the closest, which is Orvieto

This gallery has photos of Orvieto, Assisi and Viterbo: www.pbase.com/annforcier/umbria

Tivoli is also close, but not as easy as to get to as you might think. Unless you have a specific interest in one of the sites there I'd go with one of the 'easier to get to' places.

Pompeii is of course, amazing, but it involves the train to Naples and then a transfer to the local commuter train. Not that hard and certainly lots of people do it as a day trip (although a long one) from Rome but you have to decide if you want a town/city or a site like Pompeii.

No one is suggesting the OP 'see Naples in a day' - that is absurd.

They can see the Naples Archaeological Museum, take a walk to the waterfront and eat some pizza.

It's no different to suggesting Florence in a day. Just target a few specific sights.

I would have thought that was self-evident.

Isabel wrote: "don't quite get why you wouldn't want to go there just because you can't 'devote' the 'appropriate' amount of time"

Without judging the "appropriate" amount of time for any specific location for any specific traveler, I will say that I, personally, make a concerted effort to tailor my travel options to the time I have available because I am acutely aware that every moment I have to travel is incredibly precious and potentially comes at the cost of never seeing other things. I don't want to sacrifice a day in one place that has more than enough to see just to go somewhere else for a limited glimpse of an area that I want to see in greater depth on another trip. JMO.

Isn't it wonderful that we all travel for different reasons, and with different perspectives? And isn't it a GOOD thing that Fodorites take different positions on some of these things, thereby providing OPs with a range of things to consider?

Florence is a fantastic day trip from Rome. We took the high speed train and were very happy. We walked from the train station to the center of Florence. I think one full day is more than enough time to see the sites. The churches in Florence are truly breathtaking.

I never felt unsafe in Rome. That said we walked, took guided tours (very recommended), and taxis. We never used the public transportation. We also stayed on well lit, main streets with a lot of people. You shouldn't have any problems.

You will love it...Rome is AMAZING!

" Florence. I think one full day is more than enough time to see the sites."

Again -- it depends! I spent 5 full days in Florence and did NOT see everything that I would have liked to see just in the city itself, not counting any day trips into other parts of Tuscany.

To each his/her own!

We day tripped from Rome a few years ago to Ovieto and loved it. We splurged on some plush train seats-a wonderful treat.

We also took a day trip to Casperia to take an "Olive Oil" tour. It was fabulous!

http://www.johnnymadge.com/viewpage.php?page_id=1

We were in Rome for nearly 3 weeks on that trip. We utilized public transportation just about exclusively and found it to be very safe. Rome indeed is Amazing. Sigh, if our pocketbook allowed we would have a home there!

See our 2012 trip report...
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-rome-2012.cfm

This May we did a day trip to Pompeii and loved it. We did not do a tour. We took the first morning high speed train to Naples and the local train to Pompeii Scavi. We did a self guided tour using their book that I had purchased in advance off of Amazon, but we would have gotten more out of it if we used a tour guide to explain what we were seeing. We had more than enough time to see Pompeii, have a meal in Naples, and catch our train back to Rome.

I am puzzled that Tivoli is "hard to get to", we were there a couple of years ago, and it was a direct train from Rome Tiburtina station. Admittly Hadrian's Villa is more complicated.

We were just there in May and did a fantastic tour of Amalfi coast. It is a full day, and you are driven by van limited to small group of 6/8 I think. The tour takes you to the coastline little towns, what views, and stops in Amalfi, and Postiano for lunch, and then you end with a small group guided tour in Pompei. Pricey but well worth it. Pickup at your hotel, drop off too. No regrets, great trip. Lemoncello tastings, great lunch (not included) at the beachside restaurant if you would like during your free time. It is a well worth it trip. We booked it thru viator.

Thank you very much for all the wonderful suggestions. I think I will go to Orvieto and Ostia Antica if I have time. This is our first trip to Italy there are a lot of places we want to see so we want to pace ourselves and enjoy it without feeling rush. We will be spending one week in Rome and one in Florence.

I want to see all the beautiful architectures and paintings I learned about in my studies. Thanks again for all your suggestions.

Tmac

tmac - Sounds like a great trip. Here's some info on Ostia from my blog
http://www.somuchmoretosee.com/2014/...q=ostia+antica

If you decide to see something closer than Orvieto and have any interest in modern architecture we found EUR fascinating.

http://www.somuchmoretosee.com/2014/...ase.html?q=eur

Here are the rest of our Rome suggestions on the blog incase they're useful.
http://www.somuchmoretosee.com/search/label/Rome

Willit, I didn't say that Tivoli was "hard to get to". I said it was "a bit more complicated" to get to than some of the other destinations mentioned. And that's obviously the case. Lots of tourists make the trip on their own, but it's not duck soup. Tiburtina station isn't in the center of Rome, and the train station in Tivoli is more than a mile from the center of town, where the Villa d'Este is. There's also a bus to Tivoli, leaving from a bus depot at the Ponte Mammolo metro stop. This takes you right into the center of Tivoli, but the Ponte Mammolo metro station is a bit of a hike from central Rome, and the bus takes longer than the train.