Day trips from Rome
 

We will be in Rome, only for 8 days, in January. I would like suggestions for a couple of day trips to get out of the city. Open to taking train out of city and renting a car to drive around the countryside, or just taking trains and buses. We will be traveling with a 16 year old and a 22 year old, so would like to do something they would find fun and interesting. Even though we will have an apartment in Rome for the whole time, we would consider spending one night somewhere else. Is Cinque Terra too far? Thanks!

The Cinque Terre are too far, and in January they are deader than the proverbial doornail.

Orvieto is about 1.5 hours by train from Rome and has an underground tour that young people might enjoy. Pompeii is about 2.5 hours away.

Kids will find Ostia Antica - the ancient port of Rome - to be more interesting than other day trips i think - have them read up on it - it's kind of like Pompeii IMO - and it's a simple short train ride there from Rome right to the entrance.

Hadrian's Villa is another such awesome classical Roman archaelogical site and it's near Tivoli where there are also the fantastic water gardens - research those as well.

Pompeii itself could be a possible day trip though it's about 3 hours each way by train from Rome - again right to the entrance to the Dead City.

And Florence is but 1.5 hrs away by train - not countryside but perhaps let the younger folk go there on their own and perhaps they could stay in a youth hostel, to experience something really different?

Having just gotten back, I highly recommend Orvieto and Florence as great towns within easy reach by train.

Hi

Here's the website for Ostia Antica - http://www.ostia-antica.org/. Pompeii is doable I believe but makes for a long day.

Hi NP - Assisi is another possibility. You're spoilt for choice really :)

If you decide to visit Pompeii, you could make that an overnight trip if you wish. That way you would also have time for other places, e.g. choose from -

Naples, Ercolano/Vesuvius, Capri or Amalfi Coast ...

Hope this helps ...

Steve

This has little to do with it, but you may want to check out Castello Dei Sorci, which I believe is in Umbria. One of my favorite places growing up, they make it all fresh daily according to a daily menu at a fixed rate and the food is excellent. The surrounding area is beautiful, you all eat medieval style at long wooden tables, and get a tour od the castle and grounds which I think anyone would find intriguing. You can totally go there for lunch and be back by nightfall with a lovely drive through the mountains to boot, so I would say go for it!

Hi Npiazza,

i have been struggling with the same question for our 1 week stay in February; we've been once before so have done the obvious ostia antica and Tivoli [not sure about that as a winter choice, anyway].

this is my list of possibles, in no particular order:

Assisi
Frascati
Viterbo
Orvieto

as the weather in January may not be terribly clement, I suggest researching 2 of them, on the basis that if it's tipping down, a day at Ostia may NOT be what the doctor ordered, whereas a relatively long train journey followed by a leisurely lunch and some window shopping/museum visiting could be very welcome.

have a great trip,

regards, ann

Assisi
Frascati
Viterbo
Orvieto

Frascati and the Castelli Romani (where in medieval times rich Romans and wealthy bishops built lavish retreats at a bit higher and cooler altitudes than low-lying plague-prone Rome) i enjoyed quite a bit, even in January - took train first to Frascati - some big villa there and an OK town - but enjoyed Castel Gondolfo and the lake near there more - did all in one day - frequent trains

Viterbo i went to for the first time January 2008 - again took train and yup a long slow train ride no matter which of two routes you take - i went via Orvieto but returned by a different rail line and got off at Bracciano where Tom Cruise and ?? got married in the really neat old castle that overlooks the lake far far below

Viterbo i thought was really really nice old town on a couple of hillocks

Orvieto i also loved a lot - more a classical hill town and you also have the subterranean tours in this volcanic pile - so many tunnels have been hewn out over the years some think the town is a house of cards waiting to collapse - not true locals say

Assisi really high up on a ridge is full of old churches, convents - trek out the mile or so to Saint Francis' rural retreat where he talked to birds

which would i chose in retrospect?
1-Orvieto
2-assisi
3- Viterbo
4- Frascati/Castelli Romani

hi Pal,

That's very helpful as I fancy Frascati, not least because the trains are amazingly cheap!

- how did you get from Frascati itself to Castel Gondolfo?

Hi Ann - You can get to C.Gandolfo from Frascati by bus (Cotral) - or by train via Ciampino.

For timetables see:

http://www.cotralspa.it/PDF_Orari_Comune/Frascati.pdf

http://www.trenitalia.it/homepage_en.html

Hope this helps ...

Steve

hi steve,

that's very helpful, thank you.

it looks as if you can get the train to Frascati, then bus to castelgandolfo, then train back to Ciampino. could be fun.

Ann - You can get the train from Castel Gandolfo right back to Rome, of course - no need to change in Ciampino.

C.G station is below the town, about 10 mins walk.

Steve

What about the Sabine Hills?


Here is a thread I began last January that might be helpful:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-near-rome.cfm

thanks again, steve.

I like the idea of my round trip even more!

regards, ann

If my Alzheimer's is not affecting my memory i do believe the trains to the Castelli Romani and Frascati (line splits after Ciampino airport station) leave from an appendange of Rome's Termini Station - way down on the west side i believe and not in the main area - a bit of a hike, if i remember right and it's getting harder and harder to remember if i remember right or not!

if you go to frascati go to the nearby town of morino

Yet another recommendation for Orvieto:absolutely charming, walkable, photgenic, etc.

LAGO ALBANO (from Britannica)
is a crater lake in the Alban Hills (Colli Albani), southeast of Rome. Elliptical in shape, formed by the fusion of two ancient volcanic craters, it lies 961 feet (293 m) above sea level and has an area of 2 square miles (5 square km) and a maximum depth of 558 feet (170 m). It is fed by underground sources and drained by an artificial outlet, reputedly built in 398–397 bc because the oracle at Delphi said that the Etruscan stronghold of Veii could be taken only when the waters of the lake reached the sea. Among the lakeside towns, the best known are the resorts of Albano Laziale and Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence.

annhigh - i went up to Castle Gandolfo in January and as days were short, etc. and it was raining i did not feel like descending from Castle Gandolfo, spectaculary perhced high above the lake, to the lake but in nice weather it is a popular thing to do - a volcanic crater with the interesting reference to the Delphi Oracle's advise to provide a drain for the lake.