Hi, I'd like to visit Ostia Antica, but unlike the museums in Rome there aren't any local guides, or are there? How can one learn the most while visiting this site without paying hundreds of dollars for a private guide? Thank you.
Yvonne
Posted by
Pa and Italy
4152 posts
There is an audio guide you can rent at the site. It gives good information but is a little hard to use at first. Donna
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
7737 posts
The RS guide is quite good. It's in his Rome book. Have fun. We loved Ostia.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23357 posts
It is not a popular site so you are correct in that there are not private guides hanging around the front door. The Rick Steves' Rome book has a decent walking guide. He may have something in audio.
Posted by
Wichita
831 posts
Yvonne,
This might help http://www.ostia-antica.org/
Posted by
Marion, Ohio, USA
36 posts
We enjoyed Ostia Antica more then Pompei. Felt like it was better preserved. not so massive and there is a nice little museum on the grounds. All in all it was a nice leisurely afternoon out of Rome. Rick Steves has good info in his book and there are maps in English at the site. We were dismayed upon touring Pompei that most of the significant art and frescos and mosaics were moved to the museum in Naples. Several years later we made it a point to visit the Museum in Naples only to find many sections closed! We still didn't get to see what we wnated! The Secret Room was closed also
Posted by
San Jose, CA
1994 posts
Yvonne, you might also consider a tour originating from Rome. I ALWAYS enjoy things more on my own and have toured many archaeological sites on my own (Europe and Middle East), yet I found Ostia Antica to be confusing. I was following a printed walking guide, but somewhere made a wrong turn or something... and never figured out again where I was. I still enjoyed the site, but decided I would have been better off with someone to have helped me orient. When I was there, they were out of printed materials at the entrance booth.