Best Rome Day Trips/off beaten track for fall 2026

Ostia Antica is an easy trip on the train and well worth going to.
https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/ostia-antica-near-rome

Orvieto would be my choice.

Castel Gondolfo https://www.walksofitaly.com/blog/things-to-do/castel-gandolfo-pope-summer-palace-rome

Villa d’Este Gardens in TIvoli https://villae.cultura.gov.it/en/the-locations/villa-deste/

I greatly enjoyed walking back from the Catacombs of St Sebastian on the Appian Way late afternoon on a sunny, cold day in February. Unbusy and quiet, and few and far between drivers. Had the very good fortune to be semi-guided since the RST guide for the Best of Rome tour I was on offered to walk back to tour hotel from San Sebastiano with any tour members who wanted to go. Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli is stupendous, an imposing and incredible site of ruins and archaeological remains. Definitely visit if you can, this is a location you will not regret taking the time to bone up on in advance. Massive history, most literally. I've done a couple food tours in Rome, one included market visits in Centro Storico ending in pizza making at a pizzeria and the other was a Trastevere walking food tour. Both times I used small group tour companies Walks of Italy and The Tour Guy. Fun, fantastic, friendly fellow travelers in our groups and such a great way to get more insight into the society and culture you're visiting, along with the delicious food and wine. You should consider a Baths of Caracalla visit as an excellent option of another fascinating ancient Roman ruins complex that is WAY less visited and crowded than the 3 you reference. Here, I'd spring for a private guide to really make your time completely worthwhile and informative; I really appreciate receiving the details, background, scene setting that an expert guide provides.

Another vote for Ostia Antica which is easy to visit using local train service. With an early start you can beat the small crowds, have a through visit and be back in Rome by mid afternoon.

Do they have local guides at the ruins that explain what you are seeing?

Take a golf court tour on the Appian way!

Ostia Antica. First visit the ruins. Then take the train on out to the beach and enjoy a late lunch and the beach before you head back to Rome.

The food in the Ghetto isn't that great. I took a small group evening food tour that began in Campo de Fiori and included Trastevere (across the river from the Ghetto) that was excellent and very filling.

I also took a small group tour to Hadrian's Villa and Villa d'Este. We began with Hadrian's Villa and the guide's explanations made me understand and appreciate Villa d'Este much more than if I'd gone on my own. It was also easier than trying to get to Hadrian's Villa on my own. The tour ended around 3.30 and the minibus took us back to Rome. I had planned to stay in Tivoli and explore the town more and take the train back, but I was knackered and happy to sit for an hour or so in traffic and spend the rest of the day in Rome. I found the tour on Viator but I think I booked it directly with the operator. Whichever is cheaper is better.

Ostia Antica is an excellent choice.

hey hey elizabeth1103
so many things to see and do in and around rome. how many days & your dates in fall, will you be spending in rome and going anywhere else?
few things to think about, know your arrival and departure flight times. check-in 3-4pm, check-out 10-11am, count nights & be in departure city when flying back, usually 2-3 hours at airport for flight home. book hotel early since fall is very busy with harvest/celebration time. find a wine/olive oil festival and enjoy it. busy and crowded time during fall
search: beautiful countryside day trip: castelli romani (30-40 minute train ride from rome out of the hustle & bustle)
private tour through the frascati/nemi area. pope's summertime villa and gardens, winery are known for white wines, small villages
italymagazine.com/ lake nemi and it's wild berry
old article but info about the area, strawberries growing up the hills, diana of the woods "goddess of hunting", mysterious lake nemi and it's boat history, lucianopignataro.it (frascati, bread of forno cerallic and "best" porchetta" (forno ceralli 42 piazza rondanini neat pantheon) new opening in rome
oldfrascati.com
check out tours, take the train to frascati and catch your van tour
crowntours.com rome paint and sip class
marketsofrome.com
take your pick to roam around the many markets, one of my favorites things to do, buy goodies for snacks, fruit, salami & cheese
romeing.com quartiere coppede rome fantasy district in rome
rome.us jewish ghetto
if your feet are tired, catch a cab, keep address of your hotel with you. pick up taxi at a station/stop. no flagging one down
take a train ride down to the beaches near FCO airport
eatingeurope.com food tours
eatwith.com
rome see what they offer, some are lunch/dinners in a local residents home, click the headers
a list of things to see & do. enjoy and have a great time
aloha

I would also recommend Villa d'Este in Tivoli. Unbelievable fountains, hundreds of them.

Castel Sant'Angelo was cool, but just a couple of hours added to a visit to Vatican City.

If you can go beyond your 1.5 hour limit, consider Assisi. It is a little over 2 hour train ride (from Termini station), but a very beautiful place. The wife and I (old folk) did it as a day trip from Rome, and it was a highlight of our vacation. That's what espresso is for...

Have a great trip!

Thank you so much, I appreciate all the responses!