Day Trips From Rome
 

Can anyone provide us some information on day trips from Rome?
We may have an opportunity to go to Rome for a week in October 2014.
Do you have any information on the high speed trains that can take you to some other areas such as Ostia Antica or Tivoli?
Any information or sites to visit would be greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone.

Ostia Antica is very near Rome, no high speed needed.
http://www.rometoolkit.com/whattodo/ostia_antica.html

Orvieto makes an excellent day trip.

Hadrian's Villa and Tivoli's Villa d'Este's fabulous water-statue park gardens both can be reached by cheap and frequent buses from an end of a Rome metro line - same buses serve both - slow slow regional trains also do a round-about route to Tivoli itself. I think doing both of those on the same day trip is easy and a great a day trip as there can be from Rome.

Orvieto is a must do for a day trip, not a huge distance so you aren't traveling so much.

Orvieto, Ostia Antica and Tivoli's Voilla d'Este and Hadrian's Villa are to me by far the finest day trips from Rome - that is fairly close to Rome - not like Pompeii - three hours at least by train or so is great but too much travel for most. Another nice but longer day trip goes to Viterbo by train - classic hill town or to the Castelli Romani - a string of castle-dominated towns dotting the Alban volcanic hills just south of Rome - trains go to them all.

The town of Orvieto appears to close down for siesta(read all shops and restaurants,etc.) from 2-4pm which makes it difficult for those of us who do day trips.

I went to Orvieto in December very near Christmas and I had no feeling that it closed down for siesta. Restaurants were open for lunch as were the shops, the duomo and even an outdoor market on a square in the back streets. It didn't feel in the least difficult.

I was in Rome and August and thought about some of the day trips that others have mentioned, but I had no time!

I did do the darkrome tour called Tuscany in one Day. They took us to Montelpulciano, the Abbey of Sant'Antimo, Montalcino, and Pienza. I booked the tour because I was alone and didn't want to waste an entire day getting lost and wandering around, and I was so glad that I did because it was a highlight for me!

Restaurants in Orvieto closed for lunch??? Not my experience in October. I'm not a shopper, but I recall most shops being open. Shops that were closed seemed to be things geared for locals, like the tiny office supply place, the little hardware store, etc.

Another vote for Orvieto. I was there recently and as some others have mentioned I don't recall it being shut down for siesta. I am sure some places are closed, but I believe you would still have plenty to do.

churches tend to be closed for a few hours starting around noon and POrvieto is another ABC town - Another Bloody Church on every corner and neat old ones too - don't miss the subterranean Orvieto tours!