Beyond Rome

The best day trips and sidetrips from Rome, Italy

Ostia Antica
Castelli Romani
Tivoli
Lazio Lakes
Abruzzi
Pompeii
Amalfi Coast
Capri
Florence
Tuscany/Umbria

Scavi di Ostia AnticaOstia Antica - An ancient Roman ghost town just a subway ride away from downtown Rome—like Pompeii, but trading its dusty heat and crushing tour bus crowds for a quiet, Romantically overgrown atmosphere of crumbling ruins, a weedy amphitheater, and stone-paved ancient streets. Also, the beach is just one more stop down the train line... Full story

The Castelli RomaniFrascati & the Castelli Romani - The hilltowns and villages of Lazio just south of Rome are famous for their white wines (especially Frascati), volcanic lakes steeped in ancient myth, medieval allure, and extravagant palaces—most notably, the summer residence of the Pope himself in Castelgandolfo... Full story

The Canopo at Hadrian's Villa in TivoliTivoli & Hadrian's Villa - East of Rome lies Tivoli, a hilltown home to lavish palaces (the Renaissance Villa d'Este is but the most famous of them), and, just outside town, the well-preserved ruins of Hadrian's Villa. This sumptuous summer palace was designed by the Spanish-born Emperor himself as a sort of sprawling, architectural souvenir scrapbook of the varied building styles he saw during his travels across the empire, from Middle Eastern to Egyptian to European... Full story

Lakes Bracciano and MartignanoThe Lazio Lake District - Medieval castles, Etruscan necropoli, and volcanic lake beaches are sprinkled around the lakes of Northern Lazio... Full story

Cerveteri and Tarquinia - North of Rome lie the archaeological wonders of Cerveteri and Tarquinia, collections of ancient Etruscan burial mounds that predate the Romans with megalithic tombs some preserving 2,500-year-old paintings.

Farther afield

AbruzziThe Abruzzi Mountains - The Abruzzi mountains that form Italy's green spine rise from the plains less than an hour's drive from Rome yet the peaks are snowcapped year round. Head into the mountains, exit off the autostrada (highway), and just meander along the back ways into the heart of the mountains where narrow roads barely wide enough for one car, let alone two, cling to one wall of a narrow, twisting canyon 800 feet above the surging waters of a mountain stream... Full story

The Forum at PompeiiPompeii - The famous ancient Roman ghost town buried by Vesuvius in AD 79... Full story

Positano on the Amalfi CoastThe Amalfi Coast and Capri - I wouldn't do this fabled coastal string of fishing-villages-turned-resorts as a day trip—better to spend a couple of days here (or at least one overnight) relaxing and enjoying the beach life after all those museums, churches, ruins, and art of Italy's big cities... Full story

Michelangelo's David int eh Accademia of FlorenceFlorence - Birthplace of the Renaissance, hometown to Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, Donatello, Giotto, and dozens other of Old Masters—and repository of Michelangelo's David, Botticelli's Birth of Venus, Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise, Brunelleschi's dome, and 1,001 other seminal works of art and architecture. To break up the Art History 101 nature of it you can peruse the artisan workshops of the Oltrarno, bargain in the San Lorenzo leather market, dig into a hearty meal of bistecca fiorentina steak with Chianti wine, and find a hotel for your own, perfect Room with a View moment... Full story

San GimginanoThe hilltowns of Tuscany & Umbria - From the Renaissance glories of Florence to the vineyards of the Chianti, the medieval hilltowns of Siena and San Gimignano to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the genteel city of Lucca to the wine-soaked hill town of Montepulciano to the cheese hamlet of Pienza to the holy village of Assisi... Full story

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This material was last updated August 2010. All information was accurate at the time.

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