Day trips from Rome in summer

Ceist_Beag

Mrs Beag and myself are heading over to Rome in July for 4 nights. We're planning one day trip out of town (the rest of the time we plan to take in the main sights around town at a fairly leisurely pace!). I'm looking at either Tivoli or Ostia Antica (Pompeii is just a bit too far away I think). Has anyone been to both and have any tips on which would be better (taking into account the time of year)? I'm leaning towards Ostia Antica as it sounds lovely but would like to hear from anyone who has been to both for their experiences.

snowey07

I did a day trip to Florence.
Got the high speed after breakfast and spent the day wandering Florence, visiting the Campanile Tower, Duomo, the Uffizi, David statue, famous bridges etc. Sounds nuts but I had time for dinner, a drink and an obligatory ice cream before heading back to Rome . I booked the Uffizi tickets in advance to avoid wasting time queuing

solerina

Pompeii is not far away at all...we got the train from Rome to Naples and then got a local train to Pompeii...did it quite easily in a day trip !!!

Ceist_Beag

Thanks folks. Florence is tempting alright - we were there before and loved it and I can see it's only 90 minutes on the train so might check it out again. I've been reading up on Pompeii and from what I've read, it might not be the best idea at the height of summer as it is quite exposed and would be a long day and lots of reviews suggest that Ostia Antica would be more suitable in July.

Ceist_Beag

Just bumping this as we're heading in a couple of weeks, any other boardies out there who have done either day trip (or even better both!)?

killbillvol2

I've done the Ostia Antica trip. It's an easy journey to do independently (about 30 mins on the train) and the place itself is spectacular. I actually did it in August and it was quite pleasant.

I've been to Pompeii too, not on a day trip, and Ostia Antica is a far less stressful place to visit. Save Pompeii for when you're nearby.

simonw

One thing to note about Ostia Antica, it's closed on (I think) Mondays. I made that mistake last year, but you can go one or two more stops down the line to Osta Lido which is the beach

Evenstevens

Have heard that Orvieto is lovely too. I haven't been but it's only an hour from Rome I think.

Sheldons Brain

Tivoli is perfectly pleasant, although the Roman ruins might be rather shadeless in July.
Viterbo is another possible trip nearby, although I haven't been.

But if you are only in Rome for a few days you hardly need daytrips, Rome wasn't seen in a day!

House of Blaze

+1 for Ostia Antigua. Never had a better time at the beach.. or better gelato for that matter!

Ceist_Beag

Thanks all, appreciate the feedback. It looks like Ostia Antica is worth a look as I didn't realise we could pop out to the beach as well! Sheldons Brain we've been to Rome once before so will skip some of the sights we saw previously (probably won't visit the Vatican again for instance).

kindalen

Ostia antica a great spot, easy to get to and not too busy. One of romes hidden treasures.

sarkozy

As said, Ostia is where people go. You could theoretically do Pompeii in a day, but why rush things. A thing some Romans do is drive/train/bus to Orvieto, a small, nice medieval town on a rock with great places to eat, very atmospheric and a nice, more peaceful contrast to Rome.

draiochtanois

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Sunny Dayz

We did an organised day trip to Pompeii and Mt Vesuvuis. The tour operator was Dark Rome or something like that. I found Pompeii very hot to walk around, little or no shelter (we went in Sept) from the sun.

Pisa could also be done in a day. We did it (not by choice, our flight out to Italy had to go to Pisa instead - long story). Anyway we got the high speed train, took about 2.5 hours. There's not a whole lot to see in Pisa apart from the Leaning Tower (IMO).