I have the 2017 Rick Steves Italy guidebook and I noticed that the section on Ostia Antica is no longer included! We were planning a day trip out of Rome to visit it. We saw it on his PBS show and it looked fascinating.
Does anyone know why they haven't included it? Is it still open to tour? Any advice from anyone who has visited Ostia Antica in the past would be appreciated! Thanks, folks!
Yes, it is still open to tour. I went on a Rick Steves' 7 Days in Rome tour just a month ago and we did a day trip to Ostia Antica, fascinating place! I'm surprised to hear it's not in his 2017 Italy guidebook. I would definitely do your day trip there. I also went to Pompeii on my own after tour ended and that is also very interesting.
Enjoy!
Judy B
Yes, it's very much open to tourists and I've no idea why it's not in the book anymore. Here's his page from this website:
https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/ostia-antica-near-rome
You may download his audio tour here :
https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/audio/audio-tours/italy
This will also be helpful:
http://www.ostiaantica.beniculturali.it/en/index.php
Get an older copy of Rick's Italy book at your library. We followed his explicit instructions on how to get there using the subway and found the directions to be simple. The site is amazing and we were so glad we went !
Thank you so much Judy B, Kathy and Carla! I'm glad to read it's worth the effort. I appreciate the links and advice so much!
We took the 2013 My Way Italy Tour and went to Ostia Antica when in Rome. We loved it as much, if not more, than Pompeii. We linked a scrapbook of the trip on Rick's website if you are interested in looking at the photos. Just click on scrapbook archives and then 2013 and scroll down to My Way Italy, Theresa and William Barr. It is easy to get to there and makes a wonderful day trip from Rome.
You're most welcome!
I have a dear friend in England who assists with archeological digs in her spare time, and she thought it was just as interesting, if not more, than Pompeii so definitely worth the trip!
And there were trees ! We had a great picnic lunch there on the grounds - we popped into a grocery store (one of our favorite things to do ANYWHERE we travel) before we left Rome.
Ostia Antica is definitely worth the making the trip.
We used the RS audio guide and thoroughly enjoyed our visit. Highly recommend having the audio guide.
When we went a couple years ago we had to work our schedule around the fact it is closed on Mondays.
We took a day trip from Rome to Ostia Antica the first week of April. We really enjoyed our time there. Great to get out of Rome for a while. We took the train from Piramide station. It took about 30 minutes and the cost was 1.5 Euros each way. Ostia Antica is a 5-7 minute walk from the station. Trains run frequently. There is a cafeteria onsite and the food was good. Not many people were visiting the Friday we were there. We took our time exploring and used Rick's audio guide. It was one of our highlights of the week we spent in Rome.
You may want to check the RS Rome guidebook rather than the Italy one--it used to be covered there as a Rome day trip and may still be!
It's a very interesting place. Enjoy!
Get the Rome book. Well worth it.
