jdp08050

Have have been to Rome several times for 8 Hrs Via Ship and always promised to return. Now I will, for seven nights in July. Have been to all of the "Wait on line" spots. Would like some tips on day trips from Rome and how to enjoy the city.

annhig

hi, jdp,

having been to Rome before, you'll know just how rich in sights it is. you say that you've been to all the "waiting line" sights, but just to help us, perhaps you could specify where exactly you've been - what we think are "wait in line sights" may not be what you mean by the phrase.

Also, what are your interests? paintings? sculpture? architecture? food? roman history? ancient churches and mosaics?

you might also look at a few guide books, not just to see what they suggest but also to look at suggested itineraries - most have ideas for what you can do with a week in Rome - which might help.

for day trips, you could try Orvieto [about 90 mins on the train, then take the funicular and bus up to the town on the top of the hill] Ostia Antica [a suburban train this time, takes about 30 mins] or Tivoli - which is a metro and bus trip. Again, a good guide book should be able to give you more details.

As for how to enjoy the city, take your time to work out the transport system, which will mean your feet get less tired and you can see more, don't try to do too much, and above all, make time for just wandering around [and sitting and people watching of course]. Some of our most memorable experiences were when we came across things by chance and didn't feel driven to pass them by because we had some agenda to follow.

sandralist

Ostia Antica
Napoli
Tarquinia

There are lots of nighttime summer events in the city: music events at the Baths of Caracalla, movies on the island in the Tiber, performances around the Castel Sant'Angelo, and the nightly zoo of tourists and street performers in the tourist piazze. So make sure to go out in the evenings.

In July, do as the Romans do and get out of the sun/heat in the middle of the day -- take a refreshing nap -- then get out around 6pm for the evening stroll on the main streets (via del Corso is popular, or wander into Trastevere). Eat some gelato. Have a pizza if you get hungry again.

You will want air conditioning wherever you stay, plus also invest in some mosquito repellent so you can enjoy sitting outdoors and near fountains in the twillight and evenings. All the pharmacies sell moquito spray. Best is Autan.

http://www.autanrepellente.it

PalenQ

I agree with Ostia Antica and Orvieto and Tivoli being sweet easy day trips from Rome"

Ostia Antica - port of ancient Rome - extensive ruins of fish market, houses, etc in a stark setting - take the Rome metro out there:

https://www.google.com/search?q=osti...HYHCCD4QsAQIGw

Tivoli - two fine sights: The Villa d'Este water gardens:

https://www.google.com/search?q=vill...Hd1BBtEQsAQIGw

and Hadrian's Villa - first is in the town of Tivoli with train and buses service from Rome - Hadrian's country retreat where a lot of debauchery was practiced by the emperor is also a great sight - again in a stark setting - take buses from Tivoli here and then onto Rome - the Villa is a few miles west of Tivoli and the Villa d'Este:

https://www.google.com/search?q=hadr...HappAR0QsAQIGw

Tivoli is a nice regional town with other monumental Roman ruins such as a large damn.

Orvieto is about an hour by train from Rome and is one of those iconic hill towns - built on a house of cards they say as the volcanic pile the city gloriously tops is full of tunnels hewn out thru the ages (great tours thru them) causing speculation that a good quake could bring it all down. Take a funicular up to the old town from the train station.

Pompeii is a possible day trip if you want to travel 3 hours by train each way to get to it and back but Pompeii is Pompeii and something many folks really want to see once in their lives if not twice.

Other easy day trips I like from Rome include the Castelli Romani - a group of several ancient cities in the hills south of Rome that served as summer retreats for the rich and saintly - Pope still has a retreat here at Castelo Gondolfo - trains go from outside of Rome's train station to Frascati, a really neat old town just at the start of the hills, and to each of the Castelli Romani:

https://www.google.com/search?q=cast...HaopDYcQsAQIGw

And there are oodles of special interest day trips like to Nettuno and Anzio - scene of the great Invasion of Anzio in WW2 where the Allies breached the Italian mainland - poignant military monuments and cemeteries today attest to that. Again trains go to each (southwest of Rome on the way to Naples).

rbciao47

Ostia Antica offers two amenities conspicuously absent from Pompeii: shade and a breeze blowing in from the sea.

Pompeii makes for an interesting day trip, but it will be a very long day.

The church of San Clemente, a few blocks from the Colosseum, has three or four levels of archeological floors dating back before the Romans.

The Capuchin Crypt attached to the Church of Santa Maria Concensione dei Cappuccini on Via Veneto, just up from the Piazza Barbarini is an intersting and weird place to spend an hour. It's decorated with the bones of 3,700 Cappucin monks.

The Catacombs of San Calixto and San Sebastian on Via Appia Antica are both interesting locations and both are very near each other.

The Pope's summer home in Castel Gandolfo is an easy trip outside of the city.

If you are near the Pantheon stop at Cafe Eustacio in Piazza Eustacio for the best espresso in Roma. They've won numerous awards for their coffee. We always bring a few bags of beans home with us.

Orviieto is a 75 minute train ride from Roma and a great place to spend the day.

Buon viaggio,

bvlenci

Assisi is another fairly easy day trip, especially if you take one of the direct trains. Spello is a very pretty little town, near Assisi, on the same train line.

Several towns on Lake Bracciano are easily reached by train or bus.

I'm not sure about visiting Tarquinia by public transportation; it's certainly worth a visit, for its Etruscan necropolis and the Etruscan museum. However, the necropolis are not near the museum, and the train station isn't near either one of them. There's a bus, but I've found it hard to find service that links well with the trains. We drove there and stayed in Tarquinia Lido, to visit a number of Etruscan sites.

Cerveteri is a bit nearer to Rome, and also has an impressive Etruscan necropolis, which is within walking distance of the train station (although there is also a bus). We didn't visit the museum in Cerveteri, although I believe it's fairly

There are several beautiful, untouristy, hill towns in Umbria and Abruzzo that are within day trip range.

As Annhig says, it would help to know your interests.

PalenQ

Several towns on Lake Bracciano are easily reached by train or bus.>

I liked Bracciano the town, overlooking the volcanic lake of the same name - neat old castle where Brad Pitt and XXXX famously got married just before I went there - easy train ride from Rome.

PalenQ

I also have done a day trip to Viterbo from Rome - a classic iconic hill town and one of the very best - along with Orvieto.

So many options - I'd do a couple if I had nearly a week in Rome, which can be fatiguing, especially in very hot mid-summer heat.

AJPeabody

Check out Context Tours in the Public Interest. They go to unusual or otherwise unavailable places with professionals as guides at little or no cost. We did their tour of Livia's Villa, 6 people plus archeologist guide, to a location not open to the public. It was amazing.

PalenQ

A close but unique day trip goes to outer Rome and the EUR - a vast office park built by Mussolini in the so-called Fascist architecture featuring sleek modern buildings that were quite the contrast to much of Rome (Termini station and others in Italy like Florence and Venice stations also show this Fascist architecture in their sleek buildings.

https://www.google.com/search?q=rome...HZGBDWYQsAQIGw