Day trips from Rome

Probably a lot that you could still see in Rome -- Appain Way, catacombs. Further away -- Hadrian's Villa, Tivoli, Ostia Antica. Any good guide book will cover these suggestions and more.

We haven't been there yet, but Orvieto and Civita Bagnoregio seem interesting. We are stopping in Orvieto overnight on our way from Rome to Florence, and adding in the Monster Park on the way, but my understanding is that it can be done as a day trip, also (better done by car or tour than by transit, I think).

Civita and the “Monster Park” are indeed best done by car. Late November may not be the best time so you’d want to pick a day based on weather. Ditto Tivoli and Villa d’Este there: while a car is not needed, you’ll want fine weather so it may be a decision a day or two in advance.

Orvieto is an easy day trip by train.

A short trip and enjoyable in good weather is Castel Gandolfo. Visit the Papal Place and have lunch overlooking the lake. The Vatican Museums website has some organized tours of the gardens or you can visit the Apostolic Palace on your own.

There's plenty in Orvieto to keep you busy for a full day. It's even worth spending a night or two there. My stay was in May, so I don't know what it's like in November. It might be livelier on the weekend; I had the impression it was a popular weekend destination for Romans.

hey hey caryngrant
check out withlocals.com/Rome/day trips
beautiful countryside day trip: castelli Romani
take train to frascati, 25-30 minutes from rome, with pick up at station.
visit wine growing region, pope’s summer home and gardens, lake nemi, ceralli.it (well known bake shop with Nonna/pizza oven, other small villages.
italymagazine.com/lake nemi and it’s wild berry
lacucinaitaliana.com/the buxom cookie from frascati.
ceralli.it. family owned bake shop/pizza oven. saw a TV special how they have the best”porchetta”
enjoy a day away from the hustle and bustle of rome
aloha

I would second, or by now fourths or fifth, Orvieto. It is a classic Umbrian hill town with some Etruscan history to boot, a nice change of pace from Rome.

Fast trains put a number of places in range of a day trip, the problem is, do you try to stuff, Venice for example, into a few hours, or save it for another trip. For many, Naples is a prime thought, by fast train, it is only just over an hour to an hour and a half. While Naples is an interesting city, most focus on Pompeii, the Archeological Museum, and pizza.

You could be at Pompeii when it opens at 9:00 AM, see the site, head in for a pizza lunch, hit the museum, and be back in Rome for dinner. Yes, there is Capri, Sorrento, and the Amalfi coast, but transport to those seemingly near sights is very time consuming, best saved for a stay in the area.

Thanks so much for all of your great ideas! Many of them I have not even seen in the Rick Steve's book. Catacombs are definitely on our list and we were hoping to do an underground Colosseum tour but sadly it seems to stop after October. We are hoping that since November is the rainy month it doesn't interfere with too much we want to do. Withlocals.com looks like a great website! I have lots of homework to do!

If you’re an early riser you can catch the 8a train to Assisi from the Roma Termini station (2h 15m) and return early evening. It would be a long day but doable.
You can also take a direct train from Roma Termini to Naples (1h 15m). Rick Steves guide book recommends a couple good places to eat pizza and also provides a self-guided walking tour. I would even consider hiring a guide and dive deep into the Spanish section. That’s what I would do anyway. I wouldn’t carry valuables though.

caryngrant, we are booked to do the Colosseum underground in November. Where did you see that it stops after October?

I doubt the Colosseum Underground is suspended in November, but if you are staying in Rome on a week-end you can visit the underground Palace of Nero, the Domus Aurea. The visit is shorter than usual because of Covid, but it's an interesting site.

Another possible day trip, on a sunny day, would be the Lake of Bracciano.

Has anyone already mentioned Volterra?

...we were hoping to do an underground Colosseum tour but sadly it
seems to stop after October.

Cary, I'm not sure where you got that info but it's definitely not the case, More likely, if you were using the Coopculture website, you were looking to book too far in advance. They ARE running tours of the underground in November, and available slots are booking up quickly! Reference this:

https://ecm.coopculture.it/index.php?option=com_snapp&view=event&id=490E25D6-2465-ED3A-6A13-016ED583FB68&catalogid=238D971A-D296-07C6-7A82-0174490F9C7B&lang=en

Click the calendar over to November; dates in green boxes still have open slots, and it'll tell you how many of those slots are left and at what time.

And this, if you happen to be in Rome on a Friday or Sat. and there are still openings left:
https://www.coopculture.it/en/products/colosseum-by-night-00002/

Underground tours run all year and are very likely the hottest ticket in Rome; they tend to sell out very quickly once they become available.

Good day,
We have been to Rome many times and we often take day trips while there. We have utilized trains and planes (easyJet) for these trips so I will talk about both. You have already visited Florence so I will leave that out. We really enjoyed taking the train to Naples/Pompeii. We typically use Trenitalia but for this trip we used Italo and it was perfectly fine. If you have never taken the train to Pompeii, which requires changing stations in Naples, I'd suggest watching so YouTube videos to familiarize yourself with the transfer from Napoli Centrale to Napoli Garibaldi. It is really quite simple once you actually do it so don't worry. The Circumvesuviana train is a slow (makes many stops) train but I have found it to be very efficiant but often very crowded. This is also the train that you take to Sorrento, which I also recommend but it may be a bit much for a day trip. Our other favorite day trip from Rome is Venice. We have taken Trenitalia from Rome to Venice before but it takes 3-4 hours each way. Our preferred method is to take an early taxi to the airport and fly into Venice on easyJet. While the total travel time may be similar, we can often get very early flights into Venice and very late flights back to Rome and this maximizes our time in Venice. Also, easyJet flights are typically much cheaper than train tickets. We also enjoy the vapporetto/water taxis as it gives you a unique view of the lagoon and a picturesque view of the city as you approach. A few of the other day trips we have taken were to Tivoli, Viterbo, Terni, Perugia, Orvieto and Piombino.
Good luck with your travels! We havent been to Europe since January 2020 but we are tentatively set to return in late May 2022. Have fun and be safe!

There’s a great guided bike tour (electric assist bikes) from near the coliseum to the appliance way, catacombs and aqueduct park, with a stop for wine and cheese at a sheep farm along the way. It’s quite safe to bike and easily done in an afternoon.

Patricia Don't you like auto-correct?

Is APPLIANCE WAY where you can purchase ancient refrigerators?

We have taken Trenitalia from Rome to Venice before but it takes 3-4
hours each way. Our preferred method is to take an early taxi to the
airport and fly into Venice on easyJet. While the total travel time
may be similar, we can often get very early flights into Venice and
very late flights back to Rome and this maximizes our time in Venice.
Also, easyJet flights are typically much cheaper than train tickets.
We also enjoy the vapporetto/water taxis as it gives you a unique view
of the lagoon and a picturesque view of the city as you approach.

Obviously this method works for this traveler - and whatever works is fine! - but I'd personally never consider Venice as a day trip from Rome, However one chooses to get there, it's just too far and eats up too much time in transport. If one WAS to do it, I'd go with train over plane as you can board one in central Rome versus the outskirts, and get off in historic Venice versus the mainland. Total time is going to roughly be the same (abt. 4 hours each way) but the trains do not involve additional costs/hassle for transport to/from airports, security checks, etc. A taxi from central Rome to Fumicino (where easy jet flies) is € 50,00; same the other direction. Using public transit will reduce that cost but you get the idea? Then there's the emissions issue with short flights.... :O(

However it's done, IMHO most other options which have been offered up are preferable to the 8 hours or more in transit it would take to do Venice as a day trip.

Thanks Kathy!
Your comments were an excellent reiteration of what I said in my first post. The factors to consider here are cost and aesthetics . I have gotten flights from FCO to VCE for less than 30 Euro per person so flying can be much cheaper, a consideration for some but I am thankful you're not in that boat! The other thing I made a point to mention was the overwhelming beauty you can experience on the boat ride from Marco Polo Airport into Venice. I want to thank you for commenting on my post because it made me think of another time I took a train from Rome to Venice. In March 2018 we were completely stopped on the tracks just south of Florence for almost an hour making our into Venice trip nearly 5 hours. In my experience there are seldom delays at the airport for the first flights of the day and were never late arriving when we flew. I understand that the length of this trip makes it less than perfect but I've learned to be flexible and to go with the flow when the family says "hey, let's go to Venice." I do agree and this wouldn't be something to do on a tight schedule but sometimes, after a long night out on the town, it makes sense to get on a plane/train, take a nap and wake up in a new city. Kathy, it gives me great joy to relive these memories (it all I've been doing for the past 20 months) and I will end this today by saying this...Venice is best experienced by staying in the city center. We have spent a week in Venice on two separate occasions and, after that, day trips pale in comparison.
Happy travels and thanks for engaging in the conversation!

Thanks for all of the great info. Glad to see that there are Underground Colosseum tours! I contacted a guide we used in the past and he told me that they stop scheduling them after Oct. After seeing this I guess I need to go back and do a bit more research. Our trip is in less that 2 weeks and we are very excited to use some of this great information for our trip. Just hoping the weather isn't too rainy!!

Caryn, I've no idea why they told you that unless that particular guide service doesn't do the underground after October, or there's some sort of guide licensing issue (that came up for someone in a post a couple months ago). I'm looking at the calendar for the coopculture Full Experience tour of the Colosseum underground + arena and there are open dates for the entire remaining month of the November and up through Dec. 8th. December availability dates will be expanded as the November progresses. The link for the tour I'm talking about again:

https://ecm.coopculture.it/index.php?option=com_snapp&view=event&id=490E25D6-2465-ED3A-6A13-016ED583FB68&catalogid=238D971A-D296-07C6-7A82-0174490F9C7B&lang=en

I'd book sooner rather than later, if at all possible? It's possible they won't book up as fast as during the spring/summer/fall months but you never know! :O)