In September, we're flying into Rome but don't plan to stay there. We'd like to spend our time in Italy in a nice seaside village or city. We do not plan to rent a car so we'll be traveling by train. We like to stay active, so hiking, exploring nearby sites and beach swimming would be on our preferred list. Of course, beautiful scenery and great food are always appreciated. It would also be great to have a kitchen so you can make your own breakfast but I'm not sure how common this option is. Any suggestions on an ideal city choice and recommended lodging would be greatly appreciated!
Posted by
Ontario, Canada
5080 posts
What time of year?
Posted by
OP
Irvine, CA
2 posts
In the month of September.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23457 posts
WHEN ?????? You get a kitchen by renting an apartment.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15452 posts
The most important question is: how far do you need to be from Rome?
The shortest distance by public transit would be OSTIA.
Within one hour from Rome via train would be SANTA MARINELLA, which has cleaner sea water than Ostia.
Any other place worth staying is too far or inconvenient to be used as a base to visit Rome, especially without a car.
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11464 posts
Look at Porto Santo Stefano. It is about 2 hours from Rome and offers beautiful views, looks like a Cinque Terre town, hiking on Monte Argentario, and day trips to Isola del Giglio also with hiking and lovely beaches. Should be able to find an apartment with VRBO.
Posted by
12 posts
DH and I had a wonderful 24 hours or so in Anzio. Beautiful port area with lots of restaurants and a giant cathedral that we didn't get a chance to visit. Anzio was the site of the Allies landing in Italy - a serene and sobering British cemetery in Anzio proper and a huge American cemetery (with an interesting museum/welcome center) in the next town. (I'm assuming it is accessible by bus but close enough that uber or taxi wouldn't be that expensive.
Posted by
4603 posts
I love the Monte Argentario idea--there are plenty of rentals in Porto Ercole and Porto Santo Stefano as well as in nearby Orbetello. While a car would be best if you wanted to explore further afield, I could easily fill a few to several days just exploring the promontory and beaches, plus ferry day trips to Giglio. You can get to Orbetello by train and then you will have to change to bus. I don't know how feasible day trips would be, but you can find pretty much any bus schedule online these days. Let us know how much days you have and how important getting around is to you--it can be heavenly to just be in a place and not sight see (otoh, there are some fascinating Etruscan sites in this area--perhaps you could hire a driver for a day if you are interested.)
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15452 posts
Porto Santo Stefano and the Argentario, albeit one of the most beautiful spots on the Tuscan coast, fails the test of being within striking distance from Rome (if one needs to be close enough for day trips to the eternal city). You can probably cover the distance in a bit over two hours by car, but without a car it will take a while longer. If one doesn’t care about visiting Rome from the location, then it is a great place.
I like to stay at this hotel, on top of town.
http://www.hvittoria.com/
Posted by
Corvallis OR
7063 posts
I didn't notice that the OP said they wanted to be close enough to daytrip to Rome, only that they were flying into Rome but weren't planning on staying there. To me that says that Rome is just a gateway, not a destination.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15452 posts
The OP updated the post to remove the reference about being “near Rome”.
If being near Rome is not an issue, one could even consider the islands then. For example:
Ponza
Giglio
Elba
Although Argentario used to be an island too, about 3000 years ago, when temperatures were warmer during the Minoan warming period and the sea level higher, and the sediments had not formed the two sand barriers (tomboli in Italian) connecting it to the mainland.