Half-day tours to the surroundings of Rome - Tours to Tivoli: Villa D'Este and Hadrian's Villa , Castelgandolfo: Pope's Summer Residence, Nemi, Ostia Antica and more...

Half-day tours in the surroundings of Rome with English speaking driver-guide by private car or minivan. Villa D'Este in Tivoli, Castelgandolfo: Pope's Summer Residence; Nemi: Caligula's lake; Ostia Antica: the ruins of the Roman port

Half-day tours

Not far from Rome, in its immediate surroundings, are some enchanting places to visit: Tivoli, Ostia, Castelgandolfo, Nemi

You can choose between spending a half day visiting the unique Villa D'Este in Tivoli or walk through the ruins of Ostia Antica, an abandoned Roman city like Pompeii, but less crowded and more romantic. If none of these are for you, you can drive to the relaxing hilltop towns and the lakes, the beautiful area where the Pope has his Summer Residence and where they are famous for producing a lovely white wine and taste some of it!

Full-day tours

Combine together two of the half-day tours in the surroundings of Rome to have a really delightful day. You can visit Tivoli and Ostia or Castelgandolfo, Nemi and Tivoli; Tivoli and Ostia Antica or make your own combination.

If the day is right and traffic isn't too bad, you might also visit Tivoli in the morning, have lunch in Castelgandolfo and walk through the ruins of Ostia Antica, in the afternoon. You can be sure you'll have a memorable day.

I promise, you'll see more than you expect to see!

Full-day excursions

A wonderful excursion off the beaten path to discover places that are unimaginable for most tourists. Tour areas just about 50 miles south of Rome uncontaminated by mass tourism yet. Experience visiting perfectly medieval walled in towns, the silence of abbeys in the mountains, the silent panoramas with sheep grazing and hilltop medieval villages. Enjoy an authentic meal prepared only with local products and eventually visit a winery.

Travel a few miles in distance but a few centuries in time!

Day trips

If you're in Rome with time constraints In a day's time one can travel to visit the highlights of Florence, the cradle of the Italian Renaissance and the home of Michelangelo. Visit the world famous excavations of Pompeii, drive to Positano on the road to Amalfi and enjoy Sorrento. You can travel to Assisi, the city of Saint Francis, and Orvieto a lovely little town on top of a rocky hill famous for the white wine and the ceramics. You can tour the famous Isle of Capri and visit Pompeii in the same day.

Tour to Villa D'Este and Hadrian's Villa, Tivoli

Excursion to Villa D'Este and Hadrian's Villa. 4 hours

Not on Mondays !

A half day spent in Tivoli, between Hadrian's Villa and Villa D'Este. You'll get to see the sumptuous residence of the Cardinal Ippolito II D'Este and the ruins of Hadrian's. Walk around the street of medieval Tivoli and take pictures of the castle. See the quarries where the Roman's got the Travertine marble from, to build the Colosseum and the rest of Rome. Eventually we'll stop to taste the famous olive oil from this area, if you're interested and if there's time.	Tivoli, Villa D'Este	Tivoli, Hadrian's Villa	Tivoli, Villa D'Este

Short description of the itinerary for the excursion to Tivoli, 4 hours:

We meet at your hotel in Rome at the time you like and drive to Tivoli. In Tivoli we'll visit Hadrian's Villa first (optional) and then we drive up the town and visit Villa D'Este. At the end of the tour you'll be driven back to your hotel.

More about this tour:

We will be driving on the motorway towards Tivoli and reach it within 45 minutes. Before driving up to the city, we'll visit the ruins of the famous residence of the Emperor Hadrian: Hadrian's Villa. The villa was the Emperor's "ideal city", a retreat from the chaos of Rome and the classical buildings in it reproduced the best elements of the material cultures of Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Tivoli is in fact the place where the ancient Romans quarried the Travertine marble which was used in the construction of the famous buildings like the Colosseum. Between the visits to the two Villas it will be possible to make a stop at local restaurant for a typical lunch. After visiting Villa D'Este we will visit Villa D'Este, built in the 16th Century for the Cardinal Ippolito D'Este (son of the famous Lucrezia Borgia) who had it built for himself when he became the governor of Tivoli. became the governor of Tivoli. The beautiful building is world known for its astounding garden which is decorated by hundreds of artistic water fountains. Time permitting we will stop to look at the marble quarries at the foot of the hill on the way back to the hotel.

You may want to skip Hadrian's Villa, it's not an easy place to visit, you have to walk a lot, an instead stroll down the streets of medieval Tivoli.

Rates per vehicle for this shore excursion:
sedan (1/4 persons) 290 €;
minivan (4 persons) 310 €;
minivan (5/6 persons) 350 €;
minivan (7/8 persons) 370 €.

Driving time:
Rome to Tivoli: 45'

Tivoli/Rome: 45'

These rates include:

4 hours of touring (including pick up and drop off) in the requested vehicle conducted by experienced driving guide and VAT (value added tax).

Rates do not include entrance fees or meals and drinks.

Tour to Castelgandolfo and Nemi, the Roman Castles

Excursion to Castelgandolfo and Nemi. Wine tasting tour. 4 hours

This excursion takes you to a beautiful area south east of Rome known for the wine, the food and the good air. The area is so beautiful that one of the towns, Castelgandolfo, has been the Pope's Summer Residence since the sixteen hundreds. You go to visit charming little medieval hilltop towns and enjoy them as well as you'll enjoy the scenery driving from one to another, You can also stop for lunch at some nice restaurant with outstanding view, food and wine. Wine tasting at one of the local wineries can be arranged.	Castelgandolfo	Nemi	Papal Palace

Short description of the itinerary for the excursion to the Roman Castles, 4 hours:

We meet at your hotel in Rome at the time you like and drive to the hilltop towns south east of Rome. We will visit the towns of: Grottaferrata, Frascati, Marino, Castelgandolfo and Nemi and then return to your hotel.

More about this tour:

They call this area the Roman Castles since these towns originated from the castles the Roman nobles built on the most suitable hill in their property. Over the years the people built their homes outside the castles so to be protected by it and finally they built walls around the city for more protection. When better times came, in the Renaissance, those castles were made into villas and the nobles spent their summers there in better climate than Rome. The location and the climate were ideal for cultivating grape vines and the area has always been known for producing wonderful white wines. The wines are usually named after the town where they are produced and, to my advice, the most famous is the wine produced in the town of Frascati. The area has beautiful hills and lakes and the little towns have a special quaint atmosphere. The first one of the towns we reach is Grottaferrata, there we can visit the Abbey founded in the 10th Century by St. Nilo. Later we proceed driving on the beautiful "Via dei Laghi" (the road of the lakes) to Nemi. The road climbs the hills between the woods of the Alban Hills and offers breath taking panoramas of the towns and the lakes. Nemi is a lovely little town overlooking the homonymous lake and known for producing special strawberries. Finally we'll reach Castelgandolfo which is the most charming of the small towns in the area. It will be possible to make a stop at local restaurant for a typical lunch. Castelgandolfo was chosen in the 17th Century by Pope Urban VIII Barberini to be the Summer Residence of the Popes, so that's where still today the Pope spends there the months of July and August. The Papal Residence cannot be visited, but the Palace can be seen from the outside. In Castelgandolfo are also shops that represent the local wineries, so you can go wine tasting. The area is also well known for its food and willingly you could have a nice lunch in one of the restaurants in the area. Wine tasting can also be arranged at one of the local wineries.

Rates per vehicle for this shore excursion:
sedan (1/4 persons) 290 €;
minivan (4 persons) 310 €;
minivan (5/6 persons) 350 €;
minivan (7/8 persons) 370 €.

Driving time:
Rome/Grottaferrata: 30'

Grottaferrata to Nemi: 30'

Nemi to Castelgandolfo: 30'

Castelgandolfo/Rome: 30'

These rates include:

4 hours of touring (including pick up and drop off) in the requested vehicle conducted by experienced driving guide and VAT (value added tax).

Rates do not include entrance fees or meals and drinks.

Tour of the ruins of Ostia Antica

Excursion to Ostia Antica. 4 hours

Not on Mondays !

This is a tour that will take you to one of the most interesting places outside of Rome: the excavations of Ostia. You'll go back in history to the days of the splendor of the Roman Empire in Ostia. Very similar to Pompeii, Ostia is yet different. In Ostia you can really see how the Romans lived and worked, in Pompeii you can see how they vacationed! Ostia is not nearly as well known as Pompeii and you can stroll through it almost alone, away from the masses of loud tourists.	Ostia, the public latrine	Ostia, fish shops	Ostia, village gate

Short description of the itinerary for the shore excursion to Roman Castles and Ostia, 9 hours:

We meet at your hotel in Rome at the time you like and drive to Ostia via the oldest motorway in Italy. We'll be there in half an hour and tour the excavations. If time allows it we can stroll around the old walled in village or stop to visit St. Paul's Outside the Walls, or do both. Finally we'll return to your hotel.

More about this tour:

Located at the mouth of the Tiber river, only a half-hour drive from Rome, the visit of Ostia is like the visit of Tivoli and the Roman Castles: a relaxing trip. Ostia Antica (Ancient Ostia) was founded Ostia in the seventh century B.C., as a military fort, called Castrum, that guarded the river mouth against sea borne invasions. Ostia later gained prominence as the domestic landing for cargo boats. According to ancient sources it was the oldest Roman colony. Ostia is easily comparable to Pompeii: you walk through the ruins of a city that was abandoned in the fifth century A.D.. It is in fact a magical alternative to the crowded, and far from Rome, Pompeii as well as it is complementary to it. Ostia was for one thousand and five hundred years a ghost town, covered by marshy swamp and infested with malaria. In the early nineteen hundreds, the Italian Government ordered the first systematic archaeological excavations, and to this day, with every unearthed stone, they add to our knowledge and understanding of a city that once stood next to Rome in grandeur.

Rates per vehicle for this shore excursion:
sedan (1/4 persons) 290 €;
minivan (4 persons) 310 €;
minivan (5/6 persons) 350 €;
minivan (7/8 persons) 370 €.

Driving time:
Rome/Ostia: 30'

Ostia/Rome: 30'

These rates include:

9 hours of touring (including pick up and drop off) in the requested vehicle conducted by experienced driving guide and VAT (value added tax).

Rates do not include entrance fees or meals and drinks.