Italy, Europe
Rome is ringed by day trips the capital itself can overshadow. Renaissance water gardens, a Roman port frozen in time, hill-town white wine, and an Umbrian cathedral town are all inside about an hour by train.
| Where | Getting there | Why go |
|---|---|---|
| Tivoli | About 1 hr by regional train or bus | Two UNESCO sites in one town. Villa d'Este for its Renaissance fountain gardens, Hadrian's Villa for the sprawling ruins of the emperor's country estate. |
| Ostia Antica | About 40 min on the Roma-Lido train | The remarkably intact ruins of Rome's ancient port city. Quieter and far closer than Pompeii, with streets, baths, and a theater you can walk freely. |
| Castelli Romani | 40 to 60 min by regional train | The hill towns south of Rome, including Frascati for crisp white wine and Castel Gandolfo for the lakeside former papal summer palace. |
| Orvieto | About 1 hr 15 by train | An Umbrian town on a volcanic outcrop, crowned by one of the most dramatic striped Gothic cathedral facades in Italy. |
| Naples and Pompeii | About 1 hr 10 by high-speed train to Naples, then the Circumvesuviana to Pompeii | A long but doable day. The Roman city buried by Vesuvius, paired with pizza in the city that invented it. |