Traffic around Rome

Rome is hectic everyday. You must be used to quick Italian driving. It is not as bad as Naples though. There are plenty of buses from Station Tiburtina going to Villa d’Este. It costs 3-4 euros per person but it would last around 2hours. If you have not much time I would suggest you get a taxi for around 60-70 euros to get to these places. Taxis in Rome are good

Rome's City center and most of its main attractions are within walking distances.

It is not advisable to directly drive in Rome's City center - many zones and many pedestrian-only areas.

Unless you are very familiar with Rome and its traffic patterns, it may not be a good idea.

Farther away are the Colosseum and Vatican City and The Borghese Gallery - unless of course you are staying in the area of these places.

Check out this link below to get a peek at some of Rome's City traffic around one of the main drags in Rome. During peak times during the day and into the evening, you will see the amount of traffic in the roundabout.

A lot of places on the outskirts of Rome's City centre can be reached by either bus or metro.

https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/italia/lazio/roma/piazza-venezia.html

Of course, clicking on other attractions in the Lazio area, you can also see The pedestrian crowding in other piazzas.

Someone who has lived in Rome or lives in Rome now, may be able to advise on the other towns or areas you would like to drive to that are farther out.

We found Sunday easy to drive out of Rome.

Getting out of town is not the issue; the issue is how crowded are the sites. Thursday should be the least crowded as Romans are working and going to school. Sunday’s are often for family outings so museums and other sites tend to be more crowded. I hope you will have a GPS. TomTom worked well for us. I was not as happy with my phone app for navigation.

If driving back and forth to Rome, you'll have to be vigilant to avoid the ZTL (limited traffic) zones, as you'll face hefty fines for each pass through one.

Also note that each driver listed on the rental form will require the compulsory International Driver's Permit, which is used in conjunction with your home D.L. You can easily obtain an IDP at any AAA / CAA office for a small fee.

Thanks everyone for your input. All good information to digest.

One year I had my car and we stayed one night on the GRA. From there the drive to Villa d'Este was easy. A bit less easy was parking for the fabulous watery attraction - and all that effort never resulted in him becoming Pope.... what a fail.

We would up driving around the nearby town areas and eventually found a parking space which we were happy with.

I haven't been to Hadrian's Villa - that's on the maybe one day list.

You might want to consider a compromise. Why not take Public Transportation to the outskirts of Rome and rent there? Given the location of Palestrina, you might consider renting from Ciampino, maybe the Airport, or pick a rental location along a commuter line in the general direction of Palestrina. That way you avoid the traffic and fewer chances of entering prohibited zones.

Thanks, Paul. This is a very good idea. I will look into it.