driving from ancona to rome
Dec 1st, 2016 | 12:55 PM
#3
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 8,336
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I live near Ancona, and we've driven the eastern part of this route often.
First, there are two routes you can take. The faster route is autostrada almost the whole way, and the somewhat slower route is national highways all the way, but passing through some towns and taking about 20-30 minutes longer. The autostrada route mostly passes along the coast of Le Marche, and then through rural Abruzzo. The other route passes mostly through rural Le Marche and Umbria. There are interesting stopovers on both routes. One difference is that if you take the autostrada, you have fewer places to get off the road. Also, the route through Abruzzo passes mostly through a very sparsely populated region, with not many towns. You won't find many restaurants apart from the Autogrills at the rest stops.
I'll suggest possibilities on each route, but it would help if you could tell us what sorts of things would interest you most.
<b> Autostrada route </b>
Following this route, you would take the A14 south to near Giulianova, where you would change to the A24. You have to leave the autostrada and drive a short distance on a limited-access highway before entering the A24 at Teramo. Follow the signs for Teramo and Rome.
Along the Marchigiano coast, the town of Fermo has a nice medieval center, and a bit further south, the charming little walled town of Torre di Palme, on a cliff overlooking the sea, is worth a stop. We've eaten several times at Lu Focarò, in Torre di Palme, and had excellent meals. Since you don't have much time, I would suggest skipping Fermo. To visit Torre di Palme, you'd exit the autostrada at Fermo and drive south on the SS16. You'll see a turnoff for Torre di Palme. Afterwards, you can continue south on the SS16 and get back on the autostrada at Pedaso.
Further south, Giulianova is well-known for its seafood, but I don't know any restaurants there, and don't know the town.
The first major town in Abruzzo you'll pass once you've left Teramo is L'Aquila, a very beautiful small city that was unfortunately badly damaged by a major earthquake in 2009. It still has a lot of damage, and the center has a lot of construction going on. I haven't been back since the earthquake. Getting off at L'Aquila would allow you to take a drive through beautiful mountain scenery, with lots of tiny villages, but the driving is very slow on minor mountain roads. If this interests you, I can give more precise directions.
Near Rome, the E45 passes through the area known as the Castelli Romani, with several nice little towns in a region of lakes and hills. Frascati and Castelgandolfo are two examples. The town of Palestrina is also nearby.
The next possible stop would be Tivoli, mentioned above by Palenq, and right on the doorstep of Rome. Here there are three well-known villas you can visit: the Villa Adriana, summer home of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, consisting of many ruined buildings, artificial lakes, etc.; Villa d'Este, the Renaissance summer home of a Roman cardinal, with a famous water garden; and the Villa Gregoriana, a 19th century Romantic-style villa, with waterfall, grotto, ancient temple, etc. You probably wouldn't have time for all three.
<b> Inland route </b>
This route follows the SS76 to the vicinity of Fossato di Vico, and then the SS3 (along the route of the ancient Via Flaminia) until you get near Rome. At that point, you can choose to follow the slower SS3 or the limited access E45 the rest of the way; for a while they share the same route.
The first interesting places to stop are in the vicinity of Genga, in Le Marche. Here the road passes through a series of tunnels under the mountains, but if you get off at Genga, you can drive through the pretty gorge that leads to the Grotte di Frasassi, one of Europe's largest cavern systems, and definitely the most beautiful I've seen (not that I've seen more than three or four caverns). Near the town is the village of San Vittore Terme, where there is a thermal spa, which explains the odor of minerals in the air. In this village there is a good restaurant just as you enter, and a beautiful little Romanesque church (San Vittore) at the foot of a mountain, very scenic. The church now houses a speleological museum; the ticket to the cavern also gives you admission to this museum. On summer weekends, the cavern can get very crowded and you might have to wait to get in.
Fabriano is another nice stop, a fair-sized town with a small and charming medieval center. This was one of Europe's earliest centers of paper making in the middle ages, and the Fabriano brand is still well-known for its artists' paper. There is a museum in the old factory which has very interesting tours, also available in English, which demonstrate how paper was made in medieval times. The gift shop has lots of paper-themed gift ideas.
After you've crossed into Umbria, near Foligno, you can turn off for Assisi, where you could easily spend three or four hours, visiting the Upper and Lower Basilicas of Saint Francis, and other spots related to the patron saint of Italy. The Upper Basilica has gorgeous frescoes painted by Giotto, painstakingly restored after the earthquakes of 1997-98. Assisi is a beautiful Umbrian hill town, aside from St. Francis, with lots of shops selling crafts (including items using a type of embroidery typical of Assisi).
If you don't have time to do justice to Assisi, the smaller town of Spello is nearer the main highway. I consider it one of the prettiest towns in Italy. Both Assisi and Spello have good restaurants.
Further south, the towns of Trevi, Spoleto, and Terni are all worth a stop. Trevi is little more than a village. I've never been there, but it looks like a little jewel on a hilltop when I pass it on the train. I know that it has a very charming medieval center with narrow streets and great views over the countryside.
Spoleto is a larger town, with a number of things to see. One of the most impressive is the immense medieval bridge/aqueduct that spans a gorge on the edge of town. There is also a beautiful (but poorly maintained) Romanesque church just outside of town.
Terni is the home of St. Valentine, who was a bishop there. They have a big festival there on the 14th of February, as you might imagine. You can see his relics in the basilica, although his head is in Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome (the church which has the Mouth of Truth outside). Just outside of Terni, you can visit the impressive Cascata del Marmore, a beautiful waterfall. It was created when the ancient Romans drained a swamp on the highlands above by diverting the water over the edge of a nearby cliff. Most of the water is diverted to a hydroelectric plant, but several times a day they turn off the plant and send all the water down the waterfall. It's a sight to see when the water arrives! First they blow a siren to warn people to get away from the course of the water. At other times, you can hike along the paths near the falls.
After you come to the Rome Ring Road (Grande Accordo Anulare) you can turn off to Tivoli, which I've mentioned on the first route.
First, there are two routes you can take. The faster route is autostrada almost the whole way, and the somewhat slower route is national highways all the way, but passing through some towns and taking about 20-30 minutes longer. The autostrada route mostly passes along the coast of Le Marche, and then through rural Abruzzo. The other route passes mostly through rural Le Marche and Umbria. There are interesting stopovers on both routes. One difference is that if you take the autostrada, you have fewer places to get off the road. Also, the route through Abruzzo passes mostly through a very sparsely populated region, with not many towns. You won't find many restaurants apart from the Autogrills at the rest stops.
I'll suggest possibilities on each route, but it would help if you could tell us what sorts of things would interest you most.
<b> Autostrada route </b>
Following this route, you would take the A14 south to near Giulianova, where you would change to the A24. You have to leave the autostrada and drive a short distance on a limited-access highway before entering the A24 at Teramo. Follow the signs for Teramo and Rome.
Along the Marchigiano coast, the town of Fermo has a nice medieval center, and a bit further south, the charming little walled town of Torre di Palme, on a cliff overlooking the sea, is worth a stop. We've eaten several times at Lu Focarò, in Torre di Palme, and had excellent meals. Since you don't have much time, I would suggest skipping Fermo. To visit Torre di Palme, you'd exit the autostrada at Fermo and drive south on the SS16. You'll see a turnoff for Torre di Palme. Afterwards, you can continue south on the SS16 and get back on the autostrada at Pedaso.
Further south, Giulianova is well-known for its seafood, but I don't know any restaurants there, and don't know the town.
The first major town in Abruzzo you'll pass once you've left Teramo is L'Aquila, a very beautiful small city that was unfortunately badly damaged by a major earthquake in 2009. It still has a lot of damage, and the center has a lot of construction going on. I haven't been back since the earthquake. Getting off at L'Aquila would allow you to take a drive through beautiful mountain scenery, with lots of tiny villages, but the driving is very slow on minor mountain roads. If this interests you, I can give more precise directions.
Near Rome, the E45 passes through the area known as the Castelli Romani, with several nice little towns in a region of lakes and hills. Frascati and Castelgandolfo are two examples. The town of Palestrina is also nearby.
The next possible stop would be Tivoli, mentioned above by Palenq, and right on the doorstep of Rome. Here there are three well-known villas you can visit: the Villa Adriana, summer home of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, consisting of many ruined buildings, artificial lakes, etc.; Villa d'Este, the Renaissance summer home of a Roman cardinal, with a famous water garden; and the Villa Gregoriana, a 19th century Romantic-style villa, with waterfall, grotto, ancient temple, etc. You probably wouldn't have time for all three.
<b> Inland route </b>
This route follows the SS76 to the vicinity of Fossato di Vico, and then the SS3 (along the route of the ancient Via Flaminia) until you get near Rome. At that point, you can choose to follow the slower SS3 or the limited access E45 the rest of the way; for a while they share the same route.
The first interesting places to stop are in the vicinity of Genga, in Le Marche. Here the road passes through a series of tunnels under the mountains, but if you get off at Genga, you can drive through the pretty gorge that leads to the Grotte di Frasassi, one of Europe's largest cavern systems, and definitely the most beautiful I've seen (not that I've seen more than three or four caverns). Near the town is the village of San Vittore Terme, where there is a thermal spa, which explains the odor of minerals in the air. In this village there is a good restaurant just as you enter, and a beautiful little Romanesque church (San Vittore) at the foot of a mountain, very scenic. The church now houses a speleological museum; the ticket to the cavern also gives you admission to this museum. On summer weekends, the cavern can get very crowded and you might have to wait to get in.
Fabriano is another nice stop, a fair-sized town with a small and charming medieval center. This was one of Europe's earliest centers of paper making in the middle ages, and the Fabriano brand is still well-known for its artists' paper. There is a museum in the old factory which has very interesting tours, also available in English, which demonstrate how paper was made in medieval times. The gift shop has lots of paper-themed gift ideas.
After you've crossed into Umbria, near Foligno, you can turn off for Assisi, where you could easily spend three or four hours, visiting the Upper and Lower Basilicas of Saint Francis, and other spots related to the patron saint of Italy. The Upper Basilica has gorgeous frescoes painted by Giotto, painstakingly restored after the earthquakes of 1997-98. Assisi is a beautiful Umbrian hill town, aside from St. Francis, with lots of shops selling crafts (including items using a type of embroidery typical of Assisi).
If you don't have time to do justice to Assisi, the smaller town of Spello is nearer the main highway. I consider it one of the prettiest towns in Italy. Both Assisi and Spello have good restaurants.
Further south, the towns of Trevi, Spoleto, and Terni are all worth a stop. Trevi is little more than a village. I've never been there, but it looks like a little jewel on a hilltop when I pass it on the train. I know that it has a very charming medieval center with narrow streets and great views over the countryside.
Spoleto is a larger town, with a number of things to see. One of the most impressive is the immense medieval bridge/aqueduct that spans a gorge on the edge of town. There is also a beautiful (but poorly maintained) Romanesque church just outside of town.
Terni is the home of St. Valentine, who was a bishop there. They have a big festival there on the 14th of February, as you might imagine. You can see his relics in the basilica, although his head is in Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome (the church which has the Mouth of Truth outside). Just outside of Terni, you can visit the impressive Cascata del Marmore, a beautiful waterfall. It was created when the ancient Romans drained a swamp on the highlands above by diverting the water over the edge of a nearby cliff. Most of the water is diverted to a hydroelectric plant, but several times a day they turn off the plant and send all the water down the waterfall. It's a sight to see when the water arrives! First they blow a siren to warn people to get away from the course of the water. At other times, you can hike along the paths near the falls.
After you come to the Rome Ring Road (Grande Accordo Anulare) you can turn off to Tivoli, which I've mentioned on the first route.
Jan 23rd, 2017 | 03:56 PM
#6
Original Poster
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
Dear PalenQ, thank you so much for your in-depth advice and information.
you must be a very nice person. Since we had to change our schedule we actually have an extra day either to add to Rome or just take our time between Ancona and Rome and stay overnight in one of those towns on the slow route. any suggestions on that.
thanks, EGN
you must be a very nice person. Since we had to change our schedule we actually have an extra day either to add to Rome or just take our time between Ancona and Rome and stay overnight in one of those towns on the slow route. any suggestions on that.
thanks, EGN
