Rome Day Trip
 

Hi, thinking about a potential Rome day trip.

As far as I know, these are the standard suggestions:

-- Ostia Antica
-- Tivoli + Villa d'Este
-- Orvieto

I'm thinking about Assisi, as I'm interested in the Cimabue / Giotto frescoes.

I've been to Rome a number of times and have seen the major attractions (except for Castel Sant'Angelo), and I've also been to Florence, which I suppose is possible for a day trip.

What would you suggest and why? Thanks.

Naples is also an easy day trip now that the fast train only takes 1 hour.

If you decide on Assisi (I would prefer on overnight), you might want to look at the Sulga bus.
http://www.sulga.it/

Thanks, I've been to Naples as well, but I've been thinking of visiting the Capodimonte, which I missed the time I was there.

I've been to Pompeii as well, just in case this comes up as a suggestion.

Unfortunately I can't do an overnight.

You can do Assisi as a long day trip, just check trenitalia. I've done it as an overnight (I love the frescoes in the Basilica). You'll get the worst, most crowded time in Assisi but knowing you, you won't care. And you'll certainly move fast.

Have fun!

There's also a lot of little towns south of Rome (Frascati, Castel Gandolfo, etc.). Caserta is a bit further (if the palace interests you) and requires a train change.

If you train to Assisi, you might look at bus transfer from Foligno to Assisi. You would have to change trains there anyway and the train you would change to only takes you to S. Maria degli Angeli where you have to catch the bus up to Assisi. I think there are frequent buses from Foligno, but you would need to locate schedules.

The buses are not all THAT frequent:
http://www.umbriamobilita.it/public/...rnale/E415.pdf
(It's the winter schedule; they might be somewhat more frequent in summer.)

We did Assisi as a daytrip - we actually had time for the Rick Steves walking tour (from the book) of the town, then a nice lunch and the frescos / cathedral at the end. No time for shopping tho. It is a lovely town and our time in the cathedral was a bit ruched but I think we could have optied for a later train. So yes its doable but if I went again, I would probably try for an overnight.

The obvious choices are Ostia Antica, Tivoli (as you know), Palestrina, Cerveteri, Subiaco. Everywhere else is either of limited interest (Frascati for instance) or way too distant, not just because one day is just one day, but above all because you'd already travel to regions that are culturally completely different from Lazio (the region around Rome). Foreigners tend to underestimate the diversity of regions within Italy. Daytripping from Rome to Orvieto or Assisi or Naples is like daytripping from New York to Costa Rica - not in terms of time and practicability, of course, but in terms of cultural difference.

Thanks. There are some complications I've now thought of.

It will need to be a Sunday for Assisi. Is this going to complicate my visit because of all the masses? Can I still see the frescoes?

The train schedule does not seem very convenient on Sundays. I think one problem is the connection in Foligno. I'm flying out of Rome that night, so I can't risk a delay. Is the Foligno train mostly on time? I guess my backup plan can be that I take a taxi from Assisi to Foligno, but I still need the train from Foligno to run on schedule. Any thoughts on what to do if there's a delay?

Is the bus schedule for Foligno-Assisi above the most accurate? I did a search and some people mentioned a website called spoletino.it (I think), but when I tried it, it leads me to a different site, and I'm not sure where to find the bus schedule there.

I think it's between Assisi or Tivoli + Villa d'Este, unless there are other suggestions.

Thanks again.

Umbria Mobilita is a recent fusion of Spoletina, Ferrovia Centrale Umbra and a bunch of other Umbrian transport companies. It's the only thing out there now.

I don't think I would risk it on a Sunday, particularly not if you're flying out of Rome that night.

Does it have to be a day trip? Have you looked to see which art exhibitions are on while you're in Rome? This is the newest all singing all dancing Web site for exhibitions in Rome:
http://english.romaexhibit.it

bookmarking...we are interested in the same

If you are flying out of Rome that night, I think you are well advised to stay within an orbit of Rome that, if all else fails, you take a taxi to the airport.

I would go to Ostia Antica, and if it is raining, to EUR. I've never been to E.U.R. except to pick up a car, but I'm curious to explore it. Talk about going to a different culture.

http://www.romeartlover.it/Eur.html

This museum in E.U.R. has intrigued me:

http://www.aviewoncities.com/rome/mu...iltaromana.htm

>>Is the bus schedule for Foligno-Assisi above the most accurate? <<<

Umbria Mobilita will have all your bus schedules for the area. If it's like Tuscany, many buses will not be running on Sunday.

I'm still thinking this over, but doing some surfing on the Assisi frescoes.

This old Telegraph article is an interesting read. Basically the St Francis cycle is not by Giotto. The theory was first put forth in 1912, and authorship has been hotly disputed ever since.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4...ut-Giotto.html

We loved Ostia. We actually had planned on Pompeii, but our flight was delayed so we missed our train. We heard about Ostia and were so glad we did. There was literally nobody else there -- we had the entire ancient city to ourselves to explore, and the mosaics and intact ruins were incredible. You could touch things that you normally couldn't in Rome, and you really got a sense of how people lived. We are taking our kids in April to Rome and we will definitely go back and take them there.

Hi again, I guess I'm having a hard time deciding. I'd like to go to Assisi, but it seems a little risky not to have a good backup plan. Also it seems like there are at least four masses on Sundays at San Francesco. So I'm not sure how it's going to affect things. I can call them and find out.

As for Villa d'Este, what is it like during the winter time?

Thanks again!

The winter mass schedule is on their website. The upper church only lists one service. The lower church doesn't have anything listed from around noon until 5. Scroll down to the chart.
http://www.sanfrancescoassisi.org/SF...PUNTAMENTI.htm

Bookmarking also - Thanks everyone for their information

Thanks, as is typical of these things, there's conflicting info on the website. Compare, for example, with this:

http://www.sanfrancescoassisi.org/SF...ARIOSOLARE.htm

Anyway I called them and it's clear now. All the masses in the winter time are held in the Lower Church. They typically last at least 45 minutes. Since there's one at noon, the Lower Church will be free afterwards.

I have come up with what I think is a reasonable working plan, so I have a few more questions.

1. It seems reasonable to take the Sulga bus from Assisi to Rome. It takes about 3 hours because it goes to Perguia first, but the train connections are complicated as well, so I think this is reasonable.

"Festivo" means Sundays, right? So the way I read this, there's a bus that leaves Assisi at 1:45 that gets me into Rome Tiburtina at 4:55 pm? I think this should give me enough of a cushion. If the bus doesn't run, I still have the train to fall back on. And it seems to me that the bus could be more reliable than the train.

2. I am a little confused about the Assisi layout. As I understand from the schedule, I catch the Sulga bus at Piazza San Pietro. It looks like a 10 minute walk to San Francesco. Does this seem reasonable? Has anyone taken this bus before? Where do I buy tickets, etc.?

3. Going to Assisi, I may take a train, and I need to transfer to bus C to go up the hill. I get off at Piazza Matteoti, is that right? That looks like another 10-minute walk from San Francesco?

Greatly appreciate any other tips, thanks!