Rome's visitors stay almost entirely inside a two-kilometre zone between the Vatican and the Colosseum. The city has more green space than most European capitals and it is nearly all empty.
The Appian Way
The best outdoor half-day in Rome.
The Via Appia Antica, begun in 312 BC, runs southeast out of the city with original basalt paving surviving in long stretches, lined with tombs, umbrella pines and the remains of villas.
It is closed to most traffic on Sundays, and bikes can be hired at the park information point near the start. Cycling it is the way to do it — the good sections begin two or three kilometres out, beyond where most walkers turn back.
The catacombs of San Callisto and San Sebastiano are along the route and are ticketed.
Reach the start by bus 118 from Circo Massimo.
Parco degli Acquedotti
A public park in the southeast where long runs of ancient aqueduct arches stride across open grassland.
Free, on Metro line A, and almost entirely empty of visitors. It gives a sense of the scale of Roman engineering that the fragments in the city centre do not — these are kilometres of arches in open country, still standing.
Villa Doria Pamphili
The largest park in Rome, on the Janiculum hill west of Trastevere, and almost entirely local. Formal gardens, pine woods, a lake, and joggers rather than tour groups.
Combine it with a walk along the Janiculum ridge, which has the best panorama of Rome and is free.
Villa Ada and Villa Torlonia in the north are the same idea at smaller scale.
Getting out of the city
| Destination | Time | How |
|---|---|---|
| Ostia Antica | 40 min | Suburban train, ordinary ticket |
| Tivoli (Villa d'Este, Hadrian's Villa) | 1h | Train or bus |
| Lake Bracciano | 1h | Train, swimming in summer |
| Castelli Romani | 45 min | Train, wine towns in the hills |
| Sperlonga | 1h30 | Train, best beach near Rome |
Ostia Antica is the standout — Rome's port city, extensively preserved with streets, apartment blocks, baths, a theatre and mosaics. Forty minutes on a suburban train with an ordinary Metro ticket, and it receives a small fraction of Pompeii's visitors.
Tivoli has Hadrian's Villa, an enormous imperial estate, and Villa d'Este with its water gardens.
Practical for outdoor Rome
Timing. July and August midday is genuinely punishing, and the archaeological sites have no shade. Early morning or the last two hours before closing.
Water. The nasoni — around 2,500 small street fountains running continuously — deliver clean cold water from the aqueduct system. Carry a refillable bottle; block the spout with a finger and water jets from a hole on top.
Shoes. Rome's sampietrini cobbles are uneven and worn smooth, and a day covers twelve to fifteen kilometres. Broken-in shoes with grip.
Why this is worth doing
The centre of Rome in summer is a queue with a monument at the end of it. The Appian Way on a Sunday morning is empty, two thousand years old, and free.
Most visitors never leave the zone, which is precisely what keeps the rest of the city open.