A lifetime would not be enough to visit Rome and its surroundings. During the pleasant seasons, not just summer, but also much of autumn and spring, it is well worth taking a trip just outside the city.
We have selected five magical places that are easily accessible for a day trip.

Ostia Antica

Ostia Antica is an extensive archaeological site, easily accessible from Rome, offering visitors a unique opportunity to discover what everyday life was like in a city during the Roman Empire. Located at the mouth of the River Tiber, it once served as Rome’s river and seaport. The site is renowned for the excellent state of preservation of its ancient buildings and its magnificent theatre. It is a wonderful place to wander through ancient streets and enjoy the surrounding natural landscape.

Ostia Antica is open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm during the winter months and from 8:30 am to 6:00 pm during the summer months.

Ticket office: +39 06 56350215

To reach Ostia Antica, take Metro Line B from Colosseo to Piramide. From there, take the train towards Ostia Lido and get off at Ostia Antica station.

 

Tivoli

Located east of Rome, among the green hills of the Sabina area, Tivoli is an ancient Latin city originally known as Tibur. Virgil referred to it as Tibur Superbum, and the city proudly claims to be older than Rome itself.

Tivoli is home to three exceptionally beautiful and fascinating attractions: Villa Adriana, Villa d’Este and Villa Gregoriana Park, managed by FAI (the Italian National Trust).

 

Villa Adriana

A place of extraordinary charm, the magnificent Villa Adriana in Tivoli is one of Italy’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Built at the behest of Emperor Hadrian, this monumental residential complex still evokes the splendour of the centres of power of ancient Rome.

Commissioned by Emperor Hadrian as his residence from 117 AD onwards, the villa consists of a series of interconnected buildings, each serving a specific purpose: the Building with Three Exedras, the Stadium Nymphaeum, the Building with Fishpond, as well as the Four-Sided Portico, the Small Baths, the Vestibule and the Praetorium Pavilion.

The emperor also wished to recreate within his residence the places and monuments that had fascinated him during his numerous travels.

Open daily from 9:00 am until one hour before sunset.

 

Villa d’Este

Villa d’Este, a masterpiece of Italian garden design and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is renowned for its extraordinary concentration of fountains, nymphaea, grottoes, water features and hydraulic-powered musical effects. It became a model that was widely imitated in European Mannerist and Baroque gardens.

Its imposing buildings and successive terraces evoke the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the wonders of the ancient world, while its sophisticated water supply system, featuring an aqueduct and a tunnel beneath the city, reflects the extraordinary engineering skills of the Romans.

Cardinal Ippolito II d’Este (son of Lucrezia Borgia), disappointed by his failure to be elected Pope, commissioned the villa and its gardens to the painter and architect Pirro Ligorio. Here, he sought to recreate the splendour of the courts of Ferrara, Rome and Fontainebleau, while restoring the magnificence of Villa Adriana.

Open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 8:30 am to 6:45 pm, or until one hour before sunset during the winter months.

 

Villa Gregoriana

Located in a panoramic setting at the foot of Tivoli’s Roman acropolis, this fascinating park boasts an extraordinary natural, historical and archaeological heritage.

The constant interaction between nature and human intervention has created an environment of exceptional natural beauty, featuring natural and artificial waterfalls, ravines and caves that have inspired poets and artists, as well as beautiful walking trails surrounded by lush vegetation.

Villa Gregoriana Park extends along both sides of a deep gorge, where the River Aniene once plunged more than 100 metres towards the Roman countryside. This particularly striking part of Tivoli’s landscape is characterised by dramatic cliffs, caves, waterfalls and evocative reminders of classical antiquity.

The park is unique in the way it perfectly expresses the aesthetics of the sublime, so deeply cherished by Romantic culture. Nature and human intervention blend so harmoniously that, during the 19th century, the park became one of the most popular subjects of artistic representations of Tivoli, which itself became an essential destination on the Grand Tour.

Open from Tuesday to Sunday:

• Winter: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
• Summer: 10:00 am – 6:30 pm

Also open every Monday from 1 April to 31 October.