Rome to Sperlonga
 

What is the best way to get there train or car? June 6th is my travel date.

I believe the pokey little train that plies the coastal towns stops at Sperlonga, though I cannot confirm this as we always got off at Livinio and drove to Sperlonga. Check the Ialian train site, which I believe is www.trenitalia.com for details. Sperlonga is lovely!

Sperlonga station (Fondi-Sperlonga) is some distance from Sperlonga.

There is a bus from near the station, but I don't think it's too frequent - you may have a wait.

If I remember, the bus stop is on the main road a few hundred yards from the station - but check.

Steve

Is there a beach that is as nice that is easy to get to from Rome with my family of 5. If not Ill just rent a car and go there and to hadriens villa the next day for that is tough to get to by train.

I wouldn't especially recommend the beaches near Rome for swimming - they're too near the Tiber estuary.

The nicest IMO with easy access is Santa Marinella (north of Rome near Civitavecchia).
It's 40 mins by train from Roma S. Pietro or Trastevere.
Or 1 hour from Roma Termini.

A good alternative if you don't mind lake swimming is Lake Albano (Castel Gandolfo) - 40 mins by train from Rome.

Volcanic crater lake in a lovely setting. (Canoeing, windsurfing ...)
It's a 10 mins walk down from Castel Gandolfo station.
Avoid weekends as it's very popular.

Hope this helps ...

Steve

I have taken the train from Formia to Rome, I was not aware there was one that stopped in Sperlonga.Fondi is a more "inland" isn't it?
We also drove to Formia from Rome when we spent a week there, and kept our car.It took about 2 hrs. but it is about a half hr. further away than Sperlonga is.
Sperlonga is definitely lovely, although as we had a private beach at our hotel in Formia, we did not go for the beach itself.

Steve, Lake Albano, have you ever stayed over there ?

Many of these place names sound so familiar to me right now, because I just read the novel Two Women (title is La Ciociara in Italian) by Alberto Moravia. It is very good, much better than the movie, and I recommend it, especially it you'll be visiting that area (the area from Rome and south of Rome, north of Naples).

Nan - Yes, - I often stay there. I have family at Castel Gandolfo (above Lake Albano)

Steve

We spent about 5 days in Sperlonga, and had a car. We drove people to the Fondi train station which is as noted above. Car is best if you stay at a beach hotel, as you can tour the area. If you stay in the old town it may be hard to park. We were there in mid-May and it was cool for swimming but very relaxing. On the weekend, it got very crowded with day-trippers from Rome & Gaeta.

Steve, lucky lucky you!!

cmt,
Thanks for the book recommendation,I enjoyed the movie

I lived in Genzano which is 5 miles from Lake Albano... In summer the locals (LOTS!) go to the lake and bathe...but lately the news about the lake have been really negative: it is a volcanic lake, there is no river that flows into it therefore there is no constant flow of water and the bottom of the lake is slimy and yukky. During the last years the water level has lowered because the locals use the water for their orchards. Yes, the small beaches on one side of the lake have been improved, but preferring the lake to Sperlonga with its beautiful beaches and pretty clean water is hazardous...
I add another vote for Sperlonga. It is better to rent a car to go there. Near Sperlonga there is Terracina, San Felice Circeo, Sabaudia, Gaeta, much more interesting that Lake ALbano (worth just an afternoon there.... I have lived 33 years of my life in this Castelli Romani area)

Batuffolina, would you recommend renting a place in the area you mention for a week or two? Is it referred to as the Castelli Romani region?

I would like an area that has easy access to other towns but still has the beachy atmosphere.

Or anyone else! It looks like an interesting area and I need to branch out a little in my Italy travels.

Yes, it would be lovely for you to rent an apartment in that area. Considering that your travel time is the beginning of June, you won't have too many crowds yet, but I DO suggest that you start looking for apartments to rent ASAP. I would stick to areas like Sperlonga, Terracina, San Felice Circeo or Formia because they are easily accessible from the main roads (strada statale or/and highways), they are pretty close to each other, they are all seaside restorts, lively in summer... and also from there you can go and see the islands of Ponza and Ventotene. There are ferries leaving daily from Formia and the islands are lovely, surely worth a visit! San Felice Circeo has a WWF park too if you are interested in natural parks. From there you can go also to Gaeta, or if you like even to Naples and its islands. Naples is about 1 or 1 1/2 hours drive from there.
To your second question: no, this area is not the Castelli Romani area. The Castelli Romani are the towns and villages around Rome: Genzano, Ariccia, Albano Laziale, Frascati, Montecompatri, Lanuvio, Velletri, Rocca di Papa, Rocca Priora, Castel Gandolfo, Marino and a few others. Sperlonga, Terracina, San Felice Circeo belong to the so called RIVIERA D'ULISSE (Ulysses Riviera, because of legendary stories of Aeneas, the witch Circes etc...). There are many archaeological remains in this area (Riviera).
Also, another suggestion of mine: If you like camping there are lots of camping sites along the Riviera d'Ulisse. I am not positive if you can rent an RV there or if you need to go with your own RV....

Great! Thank you so much, I am going to look into this, does anyone have any apartment/villa recs for the Sperlonga area?

When I was looking for info on this area for our 2001 trip, I had a lot of difficulty finding any sites that concentrated on it.

There was a site I used for reference, www.atenatour.it, but their site seems to be off line now.

We ended up staying in a hotel in Formia which was lovely.

i think you will just have to google the town and see what comes up that way.

Venere, may have a few lsitings for the area.

I really enjoyued that area and so did my childrnee.
I made friends there and have been back to visit them once.

ah, how i love the web, and how I love looking at rentals.
anyway, i googled sperlonga, italy,
I found two places , one an apartment, and one was a small "villa"
(somewhere in the first four pages)
Wish i was there now !